Kishtwari

Last updated
Kishtwari
  • کشتواڑی
  • किश्तवाड़ी
Kishtwari written in Takri and Urdu Script.png
Kishtwari.svg
Native to Jammu and Kashmir
Ethnicity Kishtwaris
Native speakers
40,000 (2011 census) [1] [2]
Indo-European
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottolog kish1245

Kishtwari or Kashtwari is a northern Indo-Aryan language closely related to the Kashmiri language, with strong influences from neighboring Western Pahari varieties, spoken in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, India.

Contents

Classification

Kishtwari has historically been classified as a dialect of Kashmiri by scholars such as George Abraham Grierson, and is partially intelligible with Kashmiri, but Kishtwari speakers maintain a separate identity from Kashmiri people, culturally identifying more closely with neighboring Pahari populations of Paddar, Doda-Bhadarwah and the rest of the Chenab Valley [ citation needed ]. Linguists like Siddheshwar Varma consider Kishtwari an intermediate between Western Pahari languages and Kashmiri. If considered a divergent dialect of Kashmiri, Kishtwari is one of two Kashmiri varieties spoken outside of the Kashmir Valley (the other being Poguli, which is even more distinct and not intelligible with either Kashmiri or Kishtwari). Kishtwari is also tonal, like neighbouring languages such as Dogri and Punjabi. [3] [4]

Overview

Grierson, in his Linguistic Survey of India, classified Kishtwari as a highly divergent variety of Kashmiri that had been profoundly influenced by neighbouring Punjabi and Western Pahari languages. [5] Grierson noted that Kishtwari is more conservative in certain aspects than other Kashmiri dialects, as evidenced by the retention of subject pronoun thu, in addition to the present participle an, features that have disappeared in Standard Kashmiri. A wordlist and preliminary grammatical sketch of Kishtwari were compiled in The Languages of the Northern Himalayas. [6]

The 1911 Census of India recorded 7,464 speakers of Kishtwari.

Script

Grierson remarks that an idiosyncratic variant of Takri is used to write the Kishtwari language; as well as observing that there does not appear to be standard spelling nor a consistent orthography.

Specimen in Kashtwari language from Grierson's LSI Vol. VIII, Pt. II, page 386 Kashtwari.png
Specimen in Kashtwari language from Grierson's LSI Vol. VIII, Pt. II, page 386

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kashmiri language</span> Indo-Aryan language spoken in Kashmir

Kashmiri or Koshur is a Dardic Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris of the Kashmir region, primarily in the Kashmir Valley of the Indian-administrated union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri has split ergativity and the unusual verb-second word order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dardic languages</span> Subgroup of Indo-Aryan languages

The Dardic languages, or Hindu-Kush Indo-Aryan languages, are a group of several Indo-Aryan languages spoken in northern Pakistan, northwestern India and parts of northeastern Afghanistan. This region has sometimes been referred to as Dardistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Indo-Aryan languages</span> Group of Indo-Aryan languages

The Northern Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Pahāṛi languages, are a proposed group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the lower ranges of the Himalayas, from Nepal in the east, through the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab was coined by G. A. Grierson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pahari-Pothwari</span> Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in Pakistan

Pahari-Pothwari is an Indo-Aryan language variety of Lahnda group, spoken on the Pothohar Plateau in the far north of Punjab, Pakistan, as well as in most of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir and in western areas of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, is known by a variety of names, the most common of which are Pahari, and Pothwari.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muzaffarabad District</span> District of Azad Kashmir administered by Pakistan

The Muzaffarabad District is a district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is one of the 10 districts of this dependent territory. The district is located on the banks of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers and is very hilly. The total area of the Muzaffarabad District is 1,642 square kilometres (634 sq mi). The district is part of the Muzaffarabad Division, and the city of Muzaffarabad serves as the capital of Azad Kashmir. The district is bounded on the north-east by the Neelum District and the Kupwara District of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir region, on the south-east by the Hattian Bala District, on the south by the Bagh District, and on the west by the Mansehra and Abbottabad districts of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindi Belt</span> Linguistic region of India

The Hindi Belt, also known as the Hindi Heartland, is a linguistic region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India where various Northern, Central, Eastern and Western Indo-Aryan languages are spoken, which in a broader sense is termed as Hindi languages, with Standard Hindi serving as the lingua franca of the region.

The Western Pahari languages are a group of Northern Indo-Aryan languages spoken in Northern India, primarily in the state of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu. Some scholars considere Western Pahari a dialects group of Punjabi language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kashmiris</span> Ethnolinguistic group native to the Kashmir Valley

Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language and originating from the Kashmir Valley, which is today located in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.

Lahnda, also known as Lahndi or Western Punjabi, is a group of north-western Indo-Aryan language varieties spoken in parts of Pakistan and India. It is defined in the ISO 639 standard as a "macrolanguage" or as a "series of dialects" by other authors. Its validity as a genetic grouping is not certain. The terms "Lahnda" and "Western Punjabi" are exonyms employed by linguists, and are not used by the speakers themselves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neelum District</span> District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan

Neelum is a district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is the northernmost of 10 districts located within the Pakistani-administered territory of Azad Kashmir. Taking up the larger part of the Neelum Valley, the district had a population of around 191,000 people. It was among the worst-hit areas of Pakistan during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandeali</span> Language spoken in northern India

Mandeali is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India, predominantly in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh by the people of the Mandi Valley and particularly in the major city of Mandi. Other spellings for the name are Mandiyali and Mandiali. UNESCO reports it is one of the highly endangered languages of India. Speakers of the dialect have decreased by 21% from 1961 to 2001.

The Punjabi dialects and languages or Greater Panjabic are a series of dialects and languages spoken around the Punjab region of Pakistan and India with varying degrees of official recognition. They have sometimes been referred to as the Greater Punjabi macrolanguage. Punjabi may also be considered as a pluricentric language with more than one standard variety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahasu Pahari</span> Indo-Aryan language of Himachal Pradesh, India

Mahasu Pahari is a Western Pahari language spoken in Himachal Pradesh. It is also known as Mahasui or Mahasuvi. The speaking population is about 1,000,000 (2001). It is more commonly spoken in the Himachal Pradesh, Shimla (Simla) and Solan districts. It is to be known that Shimla and Solan were parts of the old Mahasu district. Himachal Pradesh State on 1 September, 1972 reorganised the districts dissolving Mahasu district. The Solan district was carved out of Solan and Arki tehsils of the then Mahasu district and tehsils of Kandaghat and Nalagarh of the then Shimla District of Punjab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sirmauri language</span> Western Pahari language

Sirmauri is a Western Pahari language spoken in the Sirmaur district in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Its two main varieties are Dharthi and Giripari.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarazi language</span> Language spoken in the Saraz region of Jammu, India

Sarazi or Sirazi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Saraz region of the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is native to the Saraz region, a hilly area taking up the northern half of Doda district and parts of neighbouring Ramban and Kishtwar districts. Sarazi is spoken as a first language by 46,000 people, primarily Hindus, but it is also used as a lingua franca of the Saraz region and so is also spoken as a second language by Muslims, whom are native speakers of Kashmiri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pangwali</span> Western Pahari language of India

Pangwali is a Western Pahari language of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is spoken in the Pangi Tehsil of Chamba district, and is threatened to go extinct. Pangwali is natively written in the Takri script, but Devanagari is used as well. It is very similar to the Padderi language of Padder, J&K.

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.

Pogali, or Poguli, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of the Chenab Valley in Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Its area encompasses the Pogal and Paristan, Ramsu Banihal Khari Reasi valleys, and currently falls within the boundaries of Ramban district's Pogal Paristan tehsil.Pogali is much mixed with Pahari and Zundhari, and forms a transition dialect. In 1911 the number of speakers was reported to be 8,158.Like its neighbours Sarazi and Rambani, Pogali is intermediate between Kashmiri and Western Pahari. During 1990s Some Pogali community families migrated due terrorism from Pogal Paristan to Ramban town and different parts of Udhampur District and Jammu District which have now thousands Pogali population resided permanently. But State and Central government did recognized as minority language in UT and India.

Rambani is an Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in Ramban district, which is located in the mountainous parts of the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India.

Kishtwaris or Kishtwari people are an ethnolinguistic group inhabiting the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, India.

References

  1. CENSUS OF INDIA 2011. "LANGUAGE" (PDF). Government of India. p. 7.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. "C-16 Population By Mother Tongue". Census of India 2011. Office of the Registrar General.
  3. Sheikh, Aejaz Mohammed; Kuchey, Sameer Ahmad (2014). "Kishtwari". Indian Linguistics. 75 (3–4): 55–66. ISSN   0378-0759.
  4. Mahapatra, B. P. (1989). Constitutional languages. Presses Université Laval. p. 270. ISBN   978-2-7637-7186-1.
  5. Grierson, George Abraham Grierson. Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. 8. pp. 344–383.
  6. Bailey, Thomas Grahame. Languages of the Northern Himalayas. pp. 61–70.