Sansi language

Sansi
Sansiboli
Native to	India
Region	Rajasthan
Ethnicity	Sansi
Native speakers	(80,000 cited 2000–2002)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan ? Central zone Sansi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: ssi – Sansi kbu – Kabutra
Glottolog	sans1271  Sansi kabu1254  Kabutra

The Sansi language, Sansiboli, or Bhilki, is a highly endangered Indo-Aryan language of the Central group. The language is spoken by the nomadic Sansi people.

Ethnologue sees it as a Hindustani language (Western Hindi). Some sources also mention it as a dialect of the Rajasthani language. Glottolog links it to Punjabi. Kabutra, spoken by a thousand people in Pakistan, is mutually intelligible.

It is spoken by about sixty thousand speakers mainly in Indian states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, and in Delhi. As a language, Sansiboli is not confined to any particular geographical boundary. It has benefitted from various sources, absorbed regional colors, and imbibed influence from neighboring languages and dialects. Thus, it has numerous phonological and morphological borrowings from Punjabi, Hindi, and Marwari.

Sansiboli is not effectively being passed on to the next generation and is on the verge of extinction. Very few people below the age of forty are fully competent in the language, and probably none of them will become active speakers. Many of the Sansis are likely to mix Hindi, Punjabi, or Marwari elements in their speech depending on their geographical location.

References

• Gusain, Lakhan (December 2002). "Endangered Language: A Case Study of Sansiboli". Language in India. Retrieved 29 December 2006.