Khandeshi language

"Ahirani" redirects here. For the village, see Ahirani, Pindra.

Not to be confused with Ahiri language (disambiguation).

Khandeshi
Ahirani, Khandeshi
खान्देशी, अहिराणी
Native to	Maharashtra, India
Region	Khandesh
Ethnicity	Khandeshi
Native speakers	1.86 million (2011 census) [1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Western [2] Khandeshi
Dialects	Khandeshi Dangri Ahirani
Writing system	Devanagari [3]
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: khn  – Khandeshi ahr  – Ahirani (dialect)
Glottolog	khan1272   Khandesi ahir1243   Ahirani (deprecated)
Distribution of Khandeshi speakers (2011)

Khandeshi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Khandesh region of north-west Maharashtra, and also in Gujarat. ^[4] It consists of Khandeshi proper, and the Dangri and Ahirani dialects. ^[5] Kunbi and Rangari are dialects. The Ahirani dialect of this language is mostly spoken. Devanagari script is used to write Khandeshi language. ^[6] The words "Ahirani" and "Khandeshi" are sometimes used interchangeably: Ahirani as the caste-based name (after Ahirs), and Khandesh as the region-based name. The Census of 1911, 1921 and 1931 counted the Ahirani speaking people as Gujaratis ^[7] but in later decades they have been recognized as a different language.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	voiced	m	n	(ɳ)		ŋ
	breathy	mʱ
Stop/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	ʈ	tʃ	k
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	ʈʰ		kʰ
	voiced	b	d	ɖ	dʒ	g
	breathy	bʱ	dʱ	ɖʱ	dʒʱ	gʱ
Fricative			s		ʃ		ɦ
Approximant	voiced	ʋ	l		j
	breathy	ʋʱ
Rhotic	voiced		r
	breathy		rʱ

• /n/ appears as a retroflex [ɳ] when before retroflex stops.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
Low-mid		ɐ
Low		a

All vowels can be short or long. ^[8]

References

1. "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
2. Ernst Kausen, 2006. Die Klassifikation der indogermanischen Sprachen (Microsoft Word, 133 KB)
3. "Khandeshi alphabet, pronunciation and language". omniglot.com. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
4. "Khandeshi alphabet, pronunciation and language". omniglot.com. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
5. Robert Vane Russell (1916). pt. II. Descriptive articles on the principal castes and tribes of the Central Provinces. Macmillan and Company, limited. pp. 19–.
6. "Khandeshi alphabet, pronunciation and language". omniglot.com. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
7. P. 12535 Parliamentary Debates, House of the People: Official Report By Indian Parliament, Lok Sabha
8. Chitnis, Vijaya Shridhar (1964). The Khandeshi dialect (as spoken by farmers in the village of Mohadi in the Dhulia Taluka). Poona: Deccan College.