Bhadarwahi language

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Bhadarwahi
Bhadrawahi
𑚡𑚛𑚶𑚤𑚦𑚭𑚩𑚯 भद्रवाही بھدرواہی
Bhaderwahi.png
Bhadarwahi written in Takri, Devanagari and Perso-arabic scripts
Native to Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh
Region Bhaderwah, Doda district
Ethnicity Bhaderwahis
Native speakers
120,000 (2011) [1]
Dialects
  • Bhadrawahi proper
  • Khasali dialect
Devanagari, Takri, Perso-Arabic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3 bhd
Glottolog bhad1241
ELP Bhadrawahi

Bhadarwahi (Bhadrawahi) is an Indo-Aryan language of the Western Pahari group spoken by the Bhadarwahi people of the Bhaderwah region of Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir.

Contents

The name Bhadarwahi can be understood either in a narrow sense as referring to the dialect, locally known as Bhiḍlāi, native to the Bhadarwah valley, or in a broader sense to cover the group of related dialects spoken in the wider region where Bhadarwahi proper is used as a lingua franca. In addition to Bhadarwahi proper, this group also includes Bhalesi, and Khasali (Khashali) dialect. [2] The Churahi language is closely related.

The name of the language is spelt in the Takri as 𑚡𑚛𑚤𑚦𑚭𑚩𑚯. Variants include Bhaderwahi (𑚡𑚛𑚲𑚤𑚦𑚭𑚩𑚯), [3] Baderwali (𑚠𑚛𑚲𑚤𑚦𑚭𑚥𑚯), Bhadri (𑚡𑚛𑚤𑚯), Badrohi (𑚠𑚛𑚶𑚤𑚴𑚩𑚯), Bhadlayi (𑚡𑚛𑚥𑚭𑚣𑚯), and Bhadlai (𑚡𑚛𑚥𑚭𑚃).

Phonology

Vowels [4]
FrontCentralBack
High
Lower Highiu
Mide
Lower Midəo
Lowɑː
Consonants [4]
  Bilabial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal mnɳɲ
Stop voicelesspʈt͡ʃk
aspiratedt̪ʰʈʰt͡ʃʰ
voicedbɖd͡ʒɡ
breathyd̪ʱɖʱd͡ʒʱɡʱ
Fricative voicelesssʃççʰh
voicedz
Approximant wlj
Trill r
Flap or Tap ɽ

According to Masica (1991) there are a set of lateral retroflex affricates /ʈ͡ꞎɖ͡𝼅ɖ͡𝼅ʱ/ from old /Cr/ clusters. [5]

Status

The language is commonly called Pahari.[ citation needed ] Some speaker may even call it a dialect of Dogri. [6] The language has no official status. According to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the language is of definitely endangered category, i.e. many Bhadravahi parents are not teaching this language to the children with which the number of its native speakers is decreasing. Some other languages, such as Kashmiri and Urdu/Hindi are taking this place. This is an archetypical natural human tendency of picking up the language of people placed better economically and socially. [7]

Notable events

A daily news headlines program is broadcast by a news outlet The Chenab Times in Sarazi and Bhaderwahi languages to promote them. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kangri language</span> Language of northern India

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The Pahari people or Pahari-speaking people is a cover term for a number of heterogeneous communities inhabiting in Jammu and Kashmir and also some parts of Pakistan administered Azad Kashmir who speak Pahari languages/dialects.

Bhaderwahi people are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Bhaderwah Valley in the Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, India, who traditionally speak the Bhadarwahi language.

References

  1. Bhadarwahi at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. Kaul, Pritam Krishen (2006). Pahāṛi and Other Tribal Dialects of Jammu. Vol. 1. Delhi: Eastern Book Linkers. pp. 85–86. ISBN   8178541017.. The classification there includes Rodhari as a separate node, but elsewhere (pp.123–24), it is subsumed under Khasali.
  3. Phonological System of Bhaderwahi (PDF)
  4. 1 2
  5. Masica (1991), p. 210.
  6. Tiwari, Dr Siyaram. Bhartiya Bhashaon Ki Pahchan (in Hindi). Vani Prakashan. ISBN   978-93-5229-677-4.
  7. "Endangered languages". TheGuardian.com . 15 April 2011.
  8. "Cultural Academy Doda non-functional since long". Early Times (newspaper). 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  9. "چناب ٹائمز' کا وفد ڈپٹی کمشنر ڈوڈہ سے ملاقی" (in Urdu). Greater Kashmir. 7 August 2021.

Sources