Sirmauri language

Last updated
Sirmauri
सिरमौरी
Sirmauri script example.png
Sirmauri written in Sirmauri script.
Native to India
Region Himachal Pradesh
EthnicitySirmauri people
Native speakers
107,401 (2011 census) [1]
Dialects
  • Dharthi
  • Giripari
Sirmauri script [2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 srx
Glottolog sirm1239
ELP Sirmauri

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 (also called Giriwari) and Giripari.

Contents

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental/
Alveolar 		Retroflex Post-alv./
Palatal 		Velar Glottal
Nasal voiced m n ɳ ŋ
breathy mʱ nʱ
Stop/
Affricate 		voiceless p t ʈ tɕ k
aspirated pʰ tʰ ʈʰ tɕʰ kʰ
voiced b d ɖ dʑ ɡ
breathy bʱ dʱ ɖʱ dʑʱ ɡʱ
Fricative s ɕ h
Rhotic voiced r ɽ
breathy ɽʱ
Lateral voiced l ɭ
breathy lʱ
Approximant w j

Vowels

Front Central Back
High iː uː
ɪ ʊ
Mid eː ə oː
ɛ ɔ
Low ( æ ) ɑ ɑː

Grammar

Postpositions

Basic postpositions [3]
casemasculinefeminineneuter
genitive/ra//ree//roo/
locative/da//dee//doo/
ablative/sa//see//soo/

Script

The native script of the language is called the Sirmauri script. [4] This script is under proposal to be encoded in Unicode. [5] It is locally known as Dhankari. Pabuuchi was a script used by a class of astrologers.

A specimen in Sirmauri Script Sirmauri.png
A specimen in Sirmauri Script

Status

The language is commonly called Pahari or Himachali. The language has no official status and is recorded as a dialect of Hindi. [6] According to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the language is in the critically endangered category, i.e. the youngest speakers of Sirmauri are generally grandparents or older and they too speak it infrequently or partially. [7] Earlier the language enjoyed some state patronage, but this ended after independence due to the government favoring Hindi more.

The demand for the inclusion of 'Pahari (Himachali)' under the Eight Schedule of the Constitution, which is supposed to represent multiple Pahari languages of Himachal Pradesh, was made in 2010 by the state's Vidhan Sabha. [8] However, no positive progress on this matter has been made since then. Some small organisations are attempting to save the language. [9]

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. ↑ Grierson, George Abraham. Linguistic Survey Of India, Volume 9.4. pp. 458–459.
  3. ↑ "Language in India". www.languageinindia.com. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  4. ↑ Grierson, George Abraham. Linguistic Survey Of India, Volume 9.4. pp. 383–84, 458–59.
  5. ↑ "Sirmauri Unicode" (PDF).
  6. ↑ "Indian Language Census" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "Endangered Language". 15 April 2011.
  8. ↑ "Pahari Inclusion". Zee News.
  9. ↑ "Pahari Inclusion". The Statesman.


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