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Kangri language

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Kangri
कांगड़ी
Kangri written in Takri and Devanagari
Native toIndia
RegionHimachal Pradesh
Native speakers
1.1 million (2011)[1]
Takri, Devanagari
Language codes
ISO 639-3xnr
Glottologkang1280

Kangri (Takri: 𑚊𑚭𑚫𑚌𑚪𑚯) is a Western Pahari language, spoken in Himachal Pradesh, predominantly in the Kangra district, Hamirpur district and hilly parts of Una district as well as in some parts of Mandi and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh and in hilly parts of Pathankot and Hoshiarpur districts of Punjab.[1] It is also spoken in some areas of Jammu region and in a few villages of Pakistan by the people belonging to the families migrated from Kangra region. It is associated with the people of the Kangra.[1]

Like most of Indo-Aryan languages, Kangri does form a dialect continuum with its neighbouring languages. This includes the Pahari varieties spoken to the east Mandeali, north to Chambeali, Gaddi & Bhateali, south-east to Kahluri and Hinduri, Baghliani, Baghati and Keonthali dialects of Mahasui. Besides it also share continuum north-west to Dogri.[2] It is classified under Western Pahari.

Script

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The native script of the language is Takri Script but now people write Kangri Language in Devanagari script.

Specimen in Kangri language

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Retroflex Post-alv./
Palatal
Velar Glottal
Nasal m n (ɳ)
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t ʈ k
aspirated ʈʰ tʃʰ
voiced b d ɖ ɡ
Fricative s ɦ
Lateral l ɭ
Tap ɾ ɽ, ɽ̃
Approximant (j)
  • It is not clear whether or not [j] is considered as a separate phoneme, but it does occur in various phonetic environments.
  • [ɳ] is heard mostly as either an allophone of /ɽ̃/, and as /n/ before a retroflex stop.[3]

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close
Near-close ɪ ʊ
Mid e ə o
Open-mid ɔ
Open æ ɑː
  • /e/ can also become lowered to a nasal [ɛ̃], after /ɽ̃/.

Tone

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Kangri is a tonal language like Punjabi and Dogri but the assignment of tones differs in Kangri when compared to them.[4]

Most of the surrounding language varieties (including Kangri) lack voiced, aspirated obstruents (J. C. Sharma 2002, Masica 1993). The cognates of Hindi voiced, aspirated obstruents are voiced but have no aspiration. They are distinct from the cognates of voiced unaspirated obstruents by the tone induced by the loss of aspiration. Another difference to note between Kangri and Punjabi/Dogri is that these forms surface as voiced consonants in Kangri, but voiceless consonants in Punjabi and Dogri. That is, Kangri has lost the aspiration (in gaining tone), but Punjabi and Dogri has lost both aspiration and voicing. It is likely that these are separate innovations which originated in the West (Punjab or Jammu & Kashmir) and have spread outwards. The loss of aspiration (and gaining of tone) has been fully realized in all three languages, but the loss of voicing has not yet reached Kangri.[4]

Grammar

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Pronouns

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The pronouns of Kangri for different persons and numbers are as follows:

Person Number Kangri IPA
1st Singular मैं mæ̃
Plural असाँ / अहाँ əsãː / əhãː
2nd Singular तू t̪u
Plural तुसाँ / त्वहाँ t̪usãː / t̪vəhãː
3rd Singular & Plural सै

Noun Cases

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Using the noun घर (/kʰər/, "home") as an example, the cases in Kangri are:

Case Kangri Hindi Equivalent English Equivalent
Nominative घर घर home
Accusative घरे यो/जो घर को to home
Ergative घरैँ घर ने (by) home
Comitative घरेने घर के साथ with home
Instrumental घरेते घर से through home
Dative घरेताँइ घर के लिए for home
Ablative घरेते घर से from home
Genitive घरे दा / दे / दि / दियाँ घर का / की / के of home

Locatives

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Case Kangri Hindi Equivalent English Equivalent
Inessive घरेच घर में in home
Adessive घरे पर घर पर on home

Others

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Case Kangri Hindi Equivalent English Equivalent
Vocative घर॑ ओ घर O home
Semblative घर देआ / दए / दइ / दीयाँ घर सा / सी / से like home
Similative घरे साइ घर जैसा similar to home
Terminative घरे तिक्कर घर तक up to home

Postpositional / Oblique forms

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Noun Singular Plural
घर घरे घरेयाँ
घड़ा घड़े घड़ेयाँ
नदी नदिया नदियाँ
घ्यो घ्यो घ्योआँ

Adverbial Pronouns

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Interrogative Relative Distal Proximate
Time Kangri काल्लु जाल्लु ताल्लु हुण
Hindi कब जब तब अब
Place Kangri कुथू जिथ्थु / जेथ्थु ओथ्थु / तिथ्थु इथ्थु / एथ्थु
Hindi कहाँ जहाँ वहाँ यहाँ
Manner Kangri कियाँ जियाँ तियाँ इयाँ
Hindi कैसे जैसे वैसे ऐसे
Quantity Kangri कितना जितना तितना इतना
Hindi कितना जितना उतना इतना

Status

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Interview of Sahil in Kangri language at Dharamshala, India

The language is commonly clubbed as Pahari or Himachali. Some Dogri linguists have referred Kangri as part of their language due to similarities and decent mutual intelligibility between them.[5][6][need quotation to verify] This is generally observed only in bordering lects due to dialect continuum present among many Indo-Aryan languages. Kangri writers & poets have been making submissions to Pahari language's cause under Himachal Pradesh Academy of Arts, Culture & Languages (HPAACL).[7] 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 Kangri children are not learning Kangri as their mother tongue any longer.

The demand for the inclusion of 'Western Pahari' under the Eight Schedule of the Constitution, which is supposed to represent multiple Pahari languages of Himachal Pradesh, had been made in the year 2010 by the state's Vidhan Sabha.[8] There has been no positive progress on this matter since then, even after several small organisations demand for the preservation of the language.[9]

Gautam Sharma Vyathit and Chandrarekha Dhadwal are noted for their contributions to the preservation of Kangri folk songs as well as their novel contributions to Kangri literature.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Kangri at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ "Kangri - The Language Of Himachal Pradesh". www.indiamapped.com. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  3. ^ Eaton, Robert D. (2008)
  4. ^ a b Eaton, Robert D. (8 August 2008). "Kangri in Context: An Areal Perspective". Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations. hdl:10106/945.
  5. ^ Guptā, Vīṇā (1986). Ḍogarī bhāshā, udbhava aura vikāsa (in Hindi). Je. eṇḍa Ke. Akādamī āpha Ārṭa, Kalcara, eṇḍa Laiṅgvejiza.
  6. ^ Nirmohī, Śiva (1992). Ḍuggara kā bhāshāyī paricaya Jammū prānta ke sandarbha meṃ (in Hindi). Narendra Pabliśiṅga Hāusa.
  7. ^ Katha Sarvari II (in Hindi). 1977.
  8. ^ "Pahari Inclusion". Zee News.
  9. ^ "Pahari Inclusion". The Statesman.

Further reading

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