Lahul Lohar | |
---|---|
Native to | India |
Region | Himachal Pradesh |
Native speakers | (750 cited 1996) [1] |
Indo-European
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | lhl |
Glottolog | lahu1250 |
Lahul Lohar (also known as Lohari) is an unclassified Indo-Aryan language of northern India. It is spoken by about 750 people in the Lahul region of Himachal Pradesh and in the adjoining Leh district of Ladakh. It is distinct from Gade Lohar, though culturally similar. [1]
According to a 1996 sociolinguistic survey, Lohari is spoken in about 85 households belonging to the metalsmith caste of Lahul. The largest concentration of Lohari speakers is in Gondhla where 12 Lohar families reside. Elsewhere in Lahul, it is typical for just one Lohar family to live in a village. Some Lohari speakers believe that their language resembles Chinali but not to the degree of mutual intelligibility. There exists a belief that Chinali is close to Sanskrit, whereas Lohari is more similiar to Hindi. A sample of Lohari as spoken in Gondhla and Gawzang shows a 73 percent lexical simililarity to the Chinali varieties of Gushal and Nalda. The similarity between the two varities of Lohari is 82 percent. [2]
Of all languages spoken in Lahul, Lohari is among the least likely ones to be learned by someone who does not speak it natively, perhaps owing to the lower social status of the metalsmith caste. Nevertheless, Lohari speakers have a positive attitude towards their language. 100 percent of those surveyed by SIL said Lohari was "as good as Hindi", compared to 90 percent of Bunan speakers and 83 percent of Stod Bhoti speakers. The Lohars have the lowest literacy rate of all Lahuli communities. In 1996, 67 percent reported being literate in Hindi and 13 percent in English. [2]
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Lohar is considered to be a caste among. They form traditionally artisanal castes. Writers of the Raj period often used the term Lohar as a synonym for blacksmith, although there are other traditional smiting communities, such as the Ramgarhia and Sikligar, and numerous non-traditional communities, including the Kayastha, Rajput and Brahmin.
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Sociolinguistic research in India is the study of how the Indian society affects and is affected by the languages of the country.
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Tinani (Tinan) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and in western Tibet.
Chinali is an unclassified, and critically endangered language of India spoken by about 220 people. Many speakers are well educated. Speakers are distributed throughout Lahul Valley. It is written in the Devanagari script. It's possible that Chinali is also closely related to Sanskrit.
Chitkuli Kinnauri is a language spoken in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is spoken in two villages in the Sangla division of Kinnaur - specifically in Chitkul and Rakchham villages. The number of speakers as per Ethnologue was 1060 in 1998.
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Tobdan is a historian and linguist from Himachal Pradesh, India. He is noted for his work on the cultural traditions, histories, and languages of the Lahaul and Spiti district, and some neighboring regions.
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