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Regional variation of the Rabha language is not distinct.
The three dialects of Rabha language namely, Rongdani, Maitori and Kocha are spoken by the three subgroups, Rongda , Maita, Songga respectively.
(i) All the phonemes of the Rabha languages are found in the Maitori dialect. On the other hand the voiced aspirated phonemes i.e. bh dh gh/ and / dzh/ are not distinct in the Rongdani and Kocha dialect. These phonemes are changed to /b d g / and / z/ in these dialects.
e.g. bhOrON> bOrON 'a kind of gigantic wild creeper and its round flat seeds.' madha> mada 'bear', dzhOra>dzOra, 'stream'.
(ii) In the Kocha dialect the aspirated stops/th/ and/kh/ are not distinct. Hence, these phonemes are changed to /t/ and /h/ respectively.
e.g. the > tei, 'fruit' tha > ta 'vein' kham > hem 'a long drum' khen > hen 'crab'
(iii) The phonemes / dz/ and /dzi/ are inter-changed in the Rongdani and Maitori dialects easily.
e.g. Rongdani Maitori gandi: ganzi 'loin loom' gandzi: gandi 'trunk' (head less body) ZarthuN: darthuN, 'to run'
(iv) The phoneme /r/ is changed to /l/ in the Maitori and / l/ or / n/ in the Kocha dialect.
e.g.
Rongdani Maitori Kocha
raNgre langre naret 'the moon'
ram ram lam 'the road'
ruN ruN nuN 'to drink'
tsaruN tsay ruN tsay luN 'to sing'
(v) The pheneme /n/ is changed to /m/ in the Maitori and Kocha dialect.
e.g.
Rongdani Maitori Kocha
nuken meken mUkUr 'eye'
nukhaN mukhuN mahaN/maN 'face'
nukhar mUkhar mUdzraN/dzuguni/ukuni 'sleep'
pidan pidam pidan 'new'
(vi) The phonemes /k/, /t/ and /p/ of Rongdani and Maitori dialect are changed to /g/, /d/ and /b/ in the Kocha dialect:
e.g.
k > g: kui > gui 'batel nut'
bak > bag 'boar'
t > d: tupu ; dUpu, 'the snake'
tikam > dUkUm 'the head'
p > b: pOtsO > bOtsOt, 'mango'
putshi > butsu, 'dirt'
(vii) The phoneme /a/ of the onset is changed to /U/ in the Kocha dialect:
e.g.
tsarpak > tsUlpag 'life'
madzu > mUdzu 'the female'
Rongdoni Maitori Kocha
- e -i -U (Udzun) 'infinitive suffix'
-eta -ita -ta / aa 'present continuous tense'
marker’.
-bayta -phayta -aN 'near future tense marker'
-no -no -na / iNa 'future tense marker'
nomUn nophaN -naN 'conditional past tense marker'
nata (mUn) nata (mamun) -itana 'past imperfect tense marker'
dzo dzo -dzou / you / au 'present perfect tense'
marker’.
ba/bamUn nata/nata mamun -pake 'past perfect tense marker'
taN taN -do 'plural suffix (Human)'
bidzan bidzam -par 'plural suffix' (non human)
nipara -ni para -nai priN 'optative case marker'
maba maba -mara / mala 'masculine suffix'
Rongdani Maitori Kocha baytshUNkiya baykeraN tsUIUNbUndi 'rainbow' baybadi baytera tsUrbagi 'thunder, bolt' kUrmataN baraytaN dzuku 'guest' aytsuN madzoN UtUi 'mother’s elder sister' amaN tshitshi Uti 'mothers younger sister' Umba miba dzUk/miya 'husband' tore horital bUrgUM 'the imperial parrot' rubak khodrak may khodam lubug hadudreg 'toad' kakaN makan kan 'meat' In tep brak / bak 'to say' khar/ra khar gasai 'to do' ruk patur rOk 'to drive out' kaphay tsatri kUtUyai 'near' karaN karay piray / pir 'on above' pimuN bhitraN pUmay 'in, under' badziN baheraN bUray 'in out' tsUpan namtsha apUitsha 'a little'
No sex variation is seen in the Rabha language.
The educated and newly conversed speakers usually speak the standard variety of the language in formal situation.
The variation among the generations is marked distinctly by in recent times. The school going boys and girls, particularly those residing in school hostel, use more Assamese, Hindi or English phrase and idioms in their conversation. The characteristic of Rabha language is still seen vividly in the conversation of aged and partially educated males and females. For e.g.
Idioms practiced by the older generations Idioms practiced by the new generations naN dzak naNi mitsik / Umba 'your wife, your husband' naNi muN aNi muN gOsan naNi za muN aNiba uwan 'your and my name is same' heNa reNa hoNa reNa heNa-hoNa bhanan brananbe / asa-zaowa kharan kharan 'moving to here and there' naN ribadoNbe aNba reNamUn naN dzOdi ribanamUn aNba reNa muN 'If you would come, I would go' aN naNo nukbara aN naNo bhal / nem mana 'I love you' etc. etc.
Diglossia is not so prominent. However the standard form based on the Rongdani dialect is treated as high or prestigious and others are treated as low or non-prestigious. The distinction may be marked in phonology, morphology or grammar, lexicon and syntax.
The Rongdani dialect is used in formal occasions and it is even used in written texts. Its earliest evidence was found in the Rongdani version of The prodigal son by A.F. Stephen in 1900 A.D. included in L.S.I. Vol. III, part II. “Jisuni badang Markni Saikai” a translation of the Gospel of Mark written in Bengali script, published by the British Foreign Bible society in 1909 A.D. was another earliest evidence of the dialect.
Moreover, within the same speech community, this standard variety is used for specialized activities like religion, education, radio, television, administration etc, in general and literature in particular. Most of the Pati Rabhas who is speak an ethno- dialect of Assamese (Rabhamese Creole) now developed a tendency to accept standard variety of Rabha language due to cultural awarness since 1980.
The other dialect i.e. Maitori and Kocha are used in day-to-day conversation for non-specialized purposes.
Not so prominent. However among the ozas (male priest) and the Deodhanis (female priest) some words and phrases of obscure origin are prevalent contextually.
Some of the Rabha technical terms used in the market are given below:
badaN 'to deal in business for commerce' badaN pimuN 'import' badaN baziN 'export' manna tIrkay 'invaluable' taka 'money' taka dzibra 'capital' taka tshabara 'interest' badaNkay 'business, commerce' badaNgiri 'businessman' badaNmara 'Profiteer' badaNdam 'bazaar, market' ay 'income' phalaNi 'broker' dOray 'to bargain' ay tsaN 'to profit' ghati tsha 'to loss' dam tsa 'cost' dam tsakay 'costly' dam tsatsakay 'cheapest' phar 'to sell' pri 'to buy' pharkhrOk 'seller, shopkeeper' prikhrOk 'customer'
i) Judiciary: In the judiciary some technical Rabha terms are coined and used recently. e.g. phatOk / akatsi 'prison', 'jail' kha matshabra / phukgIr 'prisoner' daygiri / maraNgiri 'accused' tshakgiri 'witness' gOr tikibra 'complainant' lartshidzrON 'complaint' khalas 'dismissal' ray/hoy rakhuba 'judgment' phan phatola 'enquiry' tshIka bhaka 'objection' day/partsit 'fine / penalty' khOna 'fee' aingiri / ainwala 'judicial magistrate' bitsar nok / katsari 'court' bitsar / ain 'law' hOytsharbra 'police' pentsekbra 'Detective' ram pOhari / tsOtakgiri 'spy' akhaNtsak 'constitution' Intshani/teptshraNi 'opinion, comment' tshar 'notice, appeal' kharbanda tsak 'ultimatum' dUbay tsak 'memorandum' dzOla 'fault, violation' mUntshaba 'attested' mUntshatsak 'gazette' tsaykaytsak 'license' dziuri 'lease' tshaktshini 'guarantee / warrant' tshetshini / tshetsak 'wills' tshutshraNtshini / pItarkay 'recommend' dhobaykay 'auction / mortgage' tOtstaykay 'application' dOlin / khatsak 'document / deed' phantsak 'document / testimonials' tsharitsak / khatsak 'record'
In the field of medicine some new Rabha terms are used. For eg: tshIli teremdam 'dispensary' bathandam 'veterinary' bakhudam / pantsakdam, 'pharmacy/clinic' tshIliterembra 'doctor' tshIlitharibra 'nurse' bakhuphaN 'pharmacist' teremtshini 'medical' dzabremuk 'Ayurvedic'
In the field of general education, some Rabha terminologies are used widely. trINdam 'school' adOt / tsamantshini triNdam 'primary school' trINdamdzimari 'college' bUtshatrINdam 'University' tsakaytshini 'training' trINdammariphaN 'principal' trINdammariphaN tshagri 'vice principal' phamanmukphaN 'chancellor' phamanmukphaN tsagri 'vice chancellor' hot 'department' hot phaN 'head of the department' thObOlphaN 'dean' aydagiri 'specialist' aydaphaNmari 'Professor' aydaphaNmazar 'Reader' aydaphaN 'Lecturer' kItrINgir 'teacher' mazartini 'secondary' muNdhaNbra 'metric' mUtpritshini 'intermediate' muNtshraNtshini 'graduate' pa-muNtshraNtshini 'post graduate' mukatshini habadhep 'result' kOmbatsak 'mark sheet' gIdhaNtsak / muNtshOntsak 'admit card' phamantsak 'indentity card' gIdhaNba / muNtshOnba 'admission' mUtshtsak 'certificate' mUttshini 'qualification' trINthrao 'class' pIrkha/tsitshraN 'examination' tsitshraNbra 'Examiner' tshitshraN matshaba 'Examinee' dzhaNdzhini 'passed' dzhaNdzhinitsa 'failed' thOphOr tsaK 'answer script' tshINtak 'question paper' nuken rakhuba / nOzOrgiri 'invigilator' trINgIr 'student' aotshangiri 'guardian' trINgirbada 'hostel' phantsharaN 'research' phantsharaNbra 'researcher' phantshraNdam 'laboratory' phantshini 'medium' tshenda 'chapter' ayda / habatshini 'subject' mUtshini 'knowledge' mUtmuk 'science'
Some of the newly coined administrative terms used in the Rabha language are given below. For e.g. thObOlgiri 'officer' tshutshraNtshini / ptarkay 'recommends' tshunthitshini 'forward' daNkatshini 'record' hatshONgiri / mari 'President of a nation' hatshONmukgiri 'Governor' tshilamukgiri 'Deputy Commissioner' tshOrtamukgiri 'SDO' tshaklamuk giri 'SDC' phaNgudzrangiri 'Prime Minister' murma gudzraNgiri 'Chief Minister' tshImdzagiri/mari 'Commissioner' bagONgiri 'Chairman' bagoN 'board' tIprandam 'secretariat' radzadam 'Director' gudzraNdam 'ministry' tshamlaytshini 'administration' tshamlaythOk 'government' hatshON khraNba / hatshONbadi 'ruler' hatshONtshami 'ambassador' hatshONdam 'capital'
kroraNtsi 'literature' raotsak 'prose' tsaytsak / tsaytshini 'poetry' tsaymandi 'verse' tsay phatshila 'satire' tsay mrIk 'lyric' pala / palatsak 'drama / play' tshatshikay 'farse' drItsha/nuktshini 'scene' lOtsOr 'character' palatshok / giri 'playwright' nataNgiri 'hero' nataNmari 'Heroine' tsaydzimari 'epic' tsaymandi khandra 'epic fragment' tshutsak 'essay' dzeptshuthar 'article' tsarpak ratshONtsak 'biography' khOpOr kroraNtsi 'journalism' kraNtshini tshutsak 'travel literature' gOpdra 'novel' gOptshani 'short story' dhektshari 'metre / prosody' kroraNtsigiri / kroraNtsimari 'littérateur' tsaytsOk / tsaytsakgiri 'poet' tshugIr 'writer / author' dibitsikay 'criticism' dibitsikhrOk 'critic' guduNtshini 'edition' katha 'story' got katha 'plot' prOtshera 'expression' tsapdzimaN 'picturesque' dzhayatsap 'symbol'
tsakmamuk / gIdam muk 'technology' tuN khOp 'thermometer' dzhan nOzOr 'telescope' dzhan khuraN / dzhan kro 'telephone' dzhan phurOtsh 'telegraph' dzhan tshutsak 'telegram' dzhan dzhaya 'television' raNkro / raNkhuraN 'radio' raNphenok 'planetariums' dzhaya dzhIrlap 'cinema' raodzhaya 'film'
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