The lexical variants presented in the note below are arranged according to their frequency of occurrence in the survey data-from most frequent to least frequent.

Directional words in the Marathi language show a lot of variation in the regional varieties. The topography of the region and the worldview of the speakers are two important factors that seem to influence the use of directional words. The perspective that the sun rises ‘below’ and sets ‘above’ was observed in all the districts surveyed. To refer to the ‘direction in which the sun rises’ the following lexical variants were reported: kʰalti, kʰaltikəḍə, kʰaltə, purwə, uɡwəti, uɡwət, kʰalyaṅɡə, kʰallakəḍ, ɡəṅɡamʰorə, ɡəṅɡekəḍə, heṭṭa, heṭya, suryəmukʰ, suryəmohri, madewača toṇḍi, suryədəyi, suryətəḷ, suryəsəmbər, kʰaltyali, etc.

For the concept of the ‘direction in which the sun sets’, the following words were observed: wərti, wəri, wəra, wərtikəḍ, pəščim, mawəḷti, wərlyaṅɡ, raksəmhorə, rəksakəḍ, mawəḷti, nəmta, dinbuḍti, hatmaṇgakəḍe, upral, doṇgər mohəri, etc. Among these, the words heṭya, yeṭya, and wəra were mainly reported in Dhule district; in Nashik, Satana, and Surgana talukas of Nashik district; Nandurbar district, and in Chopda taluka of Jalgaon district. Native speakers of Ahirani or Bhili have primarily reported the words heṭya, yeṭya, wəra. In Thane, Palghar, and Raigad districts, the words purwə, pəščim, and uɡwəti-mawəḷti are used predominantly. Words such as ɡəṅɡamʰorə, rakismhorə, and ɡəṅɡekəḍə-rəksakəḍ were reported only in Latur and Osmanabad districts. While kʰalti-wərti, suryəmukʰi, suryəmohri, ḍoṅɡərmohri, suryədəyi, din buḍti, suryətəḷ, nəmtə, suryəsəmbər, etc. were recorded primarily along with purwə in Amravati, Jalna and Jalgaon districts.

East/Direction in which the sun rises

The geographical and social distribution of lexical variants denoting the direction of the rising sun is described below.

The word purwə is widely used throughout Maharashtra. purəb, a Hindi word, is used infrequently in Nagpur, Amravati, Bhandara, Gondia, and Nanded districts of Maharashtra. It is mainly reported in communities such as Gond, Kohli, Bhalai, Koshti, etc., whose mother tongue is not Marathi. Some educated and Hindi, Chhattisgarhi-knowing people of the Kunbi community have also exceptionally reported this word. kʰaltə was attested predominantly in Latur, Jalna, Parbhani, and Buldhana districts. A few similar-sounding variants of this word were also noted. Among them, the word kʰalti is mainly used in Nashik, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, and Amaravati districts. kʰali, kʰaltikəḍə were recorded in Kolhapur district and in Miraj Taluka of Sangli district, while the word kʰayli is used in Shirala taluka of Sangli district. The word kʰallakəḍə has been observed to be in use in Solapur, Osmanabad, Ahmednagar, Beed, and Nanded districts. The words kʰalyaṅɡ and kʰalyaṅɡi were documented infrequently in Nashik, Jalgaon, Yavatmal, and Chandrapur districts. Apart from this, kʰaltyali, kʰalbi, kʰalna, kʰalwəs, kʰallakun, kʰalyabajula, kʰali, kʰalə, kʰalte, etc. phonetic variations were observed to be in use very rarely. uɡwət is widely used in Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Raigad districts. Whereas in Kolhapur Satara, Sangli, Nashik, and Ahmednagar districts, it is used sporadically. The word uṅɡwət was reported in Thane, Palghar, and Nashik districts on a large scale. Phonetic variants of this word include uɡəwti, uṅɡwət, uɡəwtiči baju, uɡəḷtə, uɡawta, uṅɡət, ubutə, uɡuti, etc. Along with these districts, this word was reported infrequently in Pune, Latur, Aurangabad, Washim, Chandrapur, Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara, Jalgaon, and Nandurbar districts. heṭya was noted in Dhule, Nandurbar, Jalgaon, and Nashik districts, especially in the case of native Ahirani speakers. Phonetic variations such as yetya, yeṭya, heṭya, heṭʰya, yetla, heṭṭa, etc. were reported.

The word suryəmukʰi was recorded in the Maratha community of Jamner taluka in Jalgoan district. Words similar to this were also reported infrequently in other parts of Maharashtra. suryəmohri and suryətəḷ were recorded in Aurangabad and Jalana districts. suryəsəmukʰ was documented in the Warli community of Goldari village in Trimbakeshwar taluka of Nashik district. suryəsəmbər was reported by the speakers in the Buddha community of Amravati district whose mother tongue is Ladshi, while suruɡəm was reported by Kannada speakers of the Lingayat community in Kasgi village of Umarga taluka in Osmanabad district. suryə uɡwəti was attested in the Gond community of Chandrapur district. The word ɡəṅɡəkəḍ is used to indicate the northern direction but it was sporadically noted for the eastern direction in Latur, Osmanabad, and Parbhani districts. The word was reported frequently, especially by women. This word was reported in Latur by some highly educated respondents. Phonetic variants of this word include ɡəṅɡamorə, ɡəṅɡekəḍə, etc.

The word ɡomyo was reported by the Korku community of Dharani taluka in Amravati district. The words dʰaḍu / dəhaḍu are used in the Payali community of the Raver taluka in Jalgaon district. təllako is reported by the speakers of Teli community in Waghari village of Jamner taluka in Jalgaon district. təlla means ‘bottom’ and təllako means ‘at the bottom.’ madewača toṇḍi has been reported by the speakers belonging to the Pradhan community of Kolura village of Ner taluka in Yavatmal district. diwəs niṅɡti was reported in the Kohli community of Duggipar village in Sadak-Arjuni taluka of Gondia district.

West/Direction in which the sun sets

The word wərtə was reported mostly in Latur, Osmanabad, Solapur, Beed, Ahmednagar, Nanded, Jalna, Buldhana, Parbhani, Hingoli, Akola, and Washim districts to refer to the direction in which the sun sets. In Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Dhule, Jalgaon, Palghar, Wardha, Amaravati, and Yavatmal districts, wərtə was observed sporadically. wərlakəḍ was recorded in Latur, Osmanabad, Solapur, Pune, Beed, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Nanded, Parbhani, and Hingoli districts. The variant wərtikəḍe was attested only in Kolhapur and Sangali districts. wəra, and wera were documented in Dhule, Jalgaon, Nandurbar, and Nashik districts. The word wərlyaṅɡ was noted in Satana and Surgana talukas of Nashik district. wərlakun was observed in Ahmednagar, Beed, and Parbhani districts. The variant wərwəs was recorded in the Kohli community of the Lobhi village in Tumsar taluka of Bhandara district. Apart from this, wər, wərti, wəri, wərtikəḍə, wərtya, wərya, etc. phonetic variations of this word were noted.

The variant pəščim is observed all over Maharashtra. Phonetic variations of this word are pəčim, pəsčim, pəčimi, pəčʰim, pəččʰim, pəkšim, pəššim, pəččim, pəkčim, pəcšim, pəšim, pəkčʰim, pətšim etc. The word mawḷət was recorded predominantly in Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg districts. Further, it was also reported rarely in Satara, Sangli, and Nashik districts. Phonetic variants of this word include mawlət, mawaḷtə, mauḷtə, mawəḷte, etc. mawḷəti was mostly noted in Pune, Solapur, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Nashik, Ahmednagar, and Aurangabad districts but was rarely observed in Nanded, Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara,

Gondia, Nandurbar, and Sindhudurg districts. The word buḍti was attested very infrequently in Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Wardha, Nagpur, and Nandurbar districts. The word was mostly reported by the Kunbi community of Rajura taluka and the Gond and Mahar communities of Chandrapur taluka in Chandrapur district; the Bhil community of Nandurbar district; the Mana community of Nagpur district, and by the speakers of the Gond community in Wardha district. (Phonetic) Variants of this word include buḍti baju, dih buḍti, buḍta, diwəs buḍti, suryə buḍti, etc. rakismorə was reported sporadically in Latur, Osmanabad, and Yavatmal districts. This word was mainly attested among speakers of the Lingayat, Jangam, Pradhan, Dhangar, and Maratha communities in these districts. Phonetic variations of this word include raksəmorə, raksakəḍə, rəksakəḍə, rakšisaca toṇḍi, etc.

The word ḍoṅɡərmukʰi is used infrequently in Jalgaon, Parbhani, and Jalna districts. This word was primarily reported in the Maratha community in these districts. Phonetic variants of this word include ḍoṅɡərmohri, ḍoṅɡərtəḷ, ḍoṅɡrakəḍ, etc.

The word bašəyat baju was reported in the Christian community of the Korlai village in Murud taluka of Raigad district. hatmaṅɡakəḍe was observed in the Lingayat community from Kasgi village in Umarga taluka of Osmanabad district. upral /upraṇḍa were reported mainly by the uneducated people of the Rajput Bhamta, Chamaru, and Muslim communities. All these communities are non-native speakers of Marathi. The word dʰaḍu buḍe was reported in Jalgaon district in the Pawara/Payli community. nelluče/neḷo was noted in the Pawara community of Jalgaon district. The variant ḍubti was reported by speakers of the Kohli community in Lobhi village of Tumsar taluka in Bhandara district. ḍupti was attested in the Mali community of Bori village in Tumsar taluka in Bhandara district. The word nəmta was received in Palghar district from the Warli community. nəmrulakʰe/ ɡomenmrula/ ɡoməyaməru were reported by the speakers of the Korku community in Dharni taluka of Amravati district.

3.26.2 Map showing the variation (East)



3.26.2 Map showing the variation (West)