Kangri language

2022-05-26T04:12:08Z

Punjab Singh: Added some references and citations

{{Short description|Language of northern India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Kangri
| nativename = 𑚊𑚭𑚫𑚌𑚪𑚯, कांगड़ी
| states = [[India]]
| region = [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
| speakers = 1.7 million
| date = 1996
| ref =
| speakers2 =
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3 = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4 = [[North-Western Indo-Aryan languages|North-Western]] or [[Northern Indo-Aryan languages|Northern]]
| fam5 = [[Western Pahari]]
| script = [[Takri]], [[Devanagari]]
| nation =
| iso3 = xnr
| glotto = kang1280
| glottorefname = Kangri
| notice = Indic
| image = kangr.png
| imagecaption = Kangri written in Takri
}} {{Contains special characters|Indic}}{{wtc|Kangri language}}'''Kangri''' ([[Takri script|Takri]]: {{Lang|xnr|𑚊𑚭𑚫𑚌𑚪𑚯}}) is an [[Indo-Aryan language]] variety spoken in northern [[India]], predominantly in the [[Kangra district|Kangra]], [[Hamirpur district, Himachal Pradesh|Hamirpur]] and [[Una district|Una]] districts of [[Himachal Pradesh]] and in the [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur]] and [[Hoshiarpur district|Hoshiarpur]] districts of [[Punjab, India|Punjab]].<ref name="e20" /> Some people in Pakistani Punjab are also speak Kangri. It is associated with the people of the [[Kangra Valley]]. The total number of speakers has been estimated at 1.7 million (as of 1996),<ref name="e20">{{e20}}</ref> while those who reported their first language as Kangri in the 2011 census were 1.17 million<ref>{{cite web|title = 2011 Census tables: C-16, population by mother tongue|website = Census of India Website|url = http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16.html|access-date = 4 November 2018}} The precise figure is 1,117,342</ref> (compared with 1.12 million in 2001).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.aspx|title=Census of India: Abstract of speakers’ strength of languages and mother tongues –2001|work=censusindia.gov.in}} The precise number is 1,122,843.</ref>

Kangri Language is on International Dashboard of Current UD Languages since May 2021. Only ten Indian languages are there on this dashboard and Kangri is one of them. Google has also introduced Kangri keyboard for typing now.

Its precise position within Indo-Aryan is subject to debate. Many scholars have classified it as a dialect of the [[Dogri language]], spoken to the west, while some others have seen its affinity to be closer with the [[Western Pahari languages|Pahari varieties]] spoken to the east: [[Mandeali language|Mandeali]], [[Chambeali language|Chambeali]] and [[Kullui language|Kullui]].{{sfn|Eaton|2008|p=2}} Kangri does form a dialect continuum with Jammu Dogri and hence often referred to as '''''Prachi Dogri (Eastern Dogri)''''' while Jammu Dogri as '''''Pratichi Dogri (Western Dogri).'''''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guptā |first=Vīṇā |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DlNIAAAAMAAJ&q=%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9A%E0%A5%80+ |title=Ḍogarī bhāshā, udbhava aura vikāsa |date=1986 |publisher=Je. eṇḍa Ke. Akādamī āpha Ārṭa, Kalcara, eṇḍa Laiṅgvejiza |language=hi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nirmohī |first=Śiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dcpjAAAAMAAJ&q=%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9A%E0%A5%80+ |title=Ḍuggara kā bhāshāyī paricaya Jammū prānta ke sandarbha meṃ |date=1992 |publisher=Narendra Pabliśiṅga Hāusa |language=hi}}</ref>

== Script ==
The native script of the language is [[Takri script|Takri Script]] but now people write Kangri Language in Devnagri script.[[File:Kangri.png|thumb|Specimen in Kangri language|alt=|center]]

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
![[Postalveolar consonant|Post-alv.]]/ [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Stop consonant|Plosive]]/ [[Affricate]]
!voiceless
|p
|t
|
|ʈ
|tʃ
|k
|
|-
!aspriated
|pʰ
|tʰ
|
|ʈʰ
|tʃʰ
|kʰ
|
|-
!voiced
|b
|d
|
|ɖ
|dʒ
|ɡ
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
!voiceless
|
|
|s
|
|
|
|
|-
!voiced
|
|
|
|
|
|
|ɦ
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|m
|
|n
|(ɳ)
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
|
|
|l
|ɭ
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Tap consonant|Tap]]
|
|
|ɾ
|ɽ, ɽ̃
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|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.<ref>Eaton, Robert D. (2008)</ref>

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|- align="center"
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
|iː
|
|uː
|-
![[Near-close vowel|Near-close]]
|ɪ
|
|ʊ
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|e
|ə
|o
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|
|
|ɔ
|- align="center"
![[Open vowel|Open]]
| æ
|ɑː
|
|}

* /e/ can also become lowered to a nasal [ɛ̃], after /ɽ̃/.

== Status ==
The language is commonly called [[Pahari language|Pahari]] or [[Western Pahari|Himachali]]. According to the [[UNESCO|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.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Pahari Inclusion|work=Zee News|url=https://zeenews.india.com/news/himachal-pradesh/hp-for-inclusion-of-pahari-language-in-eighth-schedule_615857.html}}</ref> There has been no positive progress on this matter since then even when small organisations are taking it upon themselves to save the language.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Pahari Inclusion|work=The Statesman|url=https://www.thestatesman.com/cities/demand-for-pahari-as-language-in-8th-schedule-of-constitution-1479046804.html}}</ref> Due to political interest, the language is currently recorded as a dialect of Hindi, even when having a poor mutual intelligibility with it and having a higher mutual intelligibility with other recognised languages like Dogri.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*{{Cite dissertation| last = Eaton| first = Robert D.| date = 2008| title = Kangri in context: An areal perspective| type = PhD| publisher = The University of Texas at Arlington| url = https://uta-ir.tdl.org/uta-ir/handle/10106/945}}

==External links==
* Singh, Amitjit. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20011201045942/http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/sagar/sagar4.1.html#RTFToC1 The Language Divide in Punjab.]" ''Sagar'', Volume 4, Number 1, Spring 1997.
* Goldsmith, Parvin. "[http://www.mlrf.org/kangri-audio/Default.asp Scripture in Kangri recordings (mp3s)]" 2007.

{{Dogri-Kangri languages}}
{{Languages of India}}

[[Category:Languages of India]]
[[Category:Pahari languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Kangra, Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Dogri language]]
[[Category:Endangered languages of India]]

{{IndoAryan-lang-stub}}

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Kangri language