CONTACT INDUCED CASE MARKING SYSTEM IN KHORTHA

The paper focuses on the grammatical relations and case marking in Khortha, a language spoken in the Malda District of West Bengal.The study employs a lexico-structural approach to analyze the noun phrases in Khortha.It also examines the impact of language contact on the evolution of the case marking system in Khortha, which has shown intense contact with Hindi and Bangla spoken in the region.The data suggests that Khortha's structural cases follow Syntax of Bangla, while inherent cases borrow strategies from both Hindi and Bangla.The language exhibits ACC-DAT-GEN syncretism, not attested in either Hindi or Bangla.The study highlights an interesting pattern in the use of oblique case markers, where speakers use markers from both Hindi and Bangla, depending on whether the noun phrase is headed by a pronoun or a noun.The research concludes that Khortha's case marking system has evolved as a result of language contact.