Kumaoni language: Difference between revisions

| name            = Kumaoni

| nativename      = {{lang|kfy|कुमाऊँनी}}

| date            = 2011 census

| ref              = <ref name="Ethnologue21">{{e21}}</ref>

| fam4            = [[Indo-Aryan languages#Northern Zone|Northern]]

| fam5            = [[Central Pahari languages|Central Pahari]]

| iso3            = kfy

| glotto          = kuma1273

| glottorefname    = Kumaoni

| notice          = Indic

}}

{{Contains special characters|Indic}}

'''Kumaoni''' ({{lang|all|कुमाऊँनी}};

Kumaoni is not [[endangered language|endangered]] but UNESCO's ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger'' designates it as a language in the ''unsafe'' category, meaning it requires consistent conservation efforts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/en/atlasmap/language-id-1565.html |title=UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |access-date=3 September 2010}}</ref> Almost all people who can speak and understand Kumaoni can also speak and understand [[Hindi]]{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}, one of the [[Official languages of India#Official languages of the Union|official languages]] of India.{{wtc|Kumaoni language}}

==Script==  

==Geographic distribution and dialects==

There are several dialects spoken in the Kumaon region. There is not single accepted method of dividing up the dialects of Kumaoni. Broadly speaking, Kali (or Central) Kumaoni is spoken in Almora and northern Nainital. North-eastern Kumaoni is spoken in Pithoragarh. South-eastern Kumaoni is spoken in South-eastern Nainital. Western Kumaoni is spoken west of Almora and Nainital.

* Askoti of [[Askot]]

* Bhabhri of [[Haldwani]] and [[Ramnagar, Nainital|Ramnagar]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uttaranchal.org.uk/dialects.php |title=Uttaranchal Dialects and Languages - Uttarakhand Worldwide - Kumaoni and Garhwali - Kumaon and Garhwal Dialects |publisher=Uttaranchal.org.uk |access-date=2012-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305211927/http://www.uttaranchal.org.uk/dialects.php |archive-date=5 March 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

* Danpuriya of Danpur ([[Bageshwar]], [[Kapkot]])

* Gangoli of Ganai-Gangoli ([[Kanda, Uttarakhand|Kanda]], [[Berinag]], [[Gangolihat]])

* Khasparjiya of [[Almora]]

* Kumaiyya of [[Champawat]]

==Grammar==

Being part of the [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] [[dialect continuum]] Kumauni shares its grammar with other [[Indo-Aryan languages]], [[Hindi]], [[Rajasthani languages]], [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]] and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]].

The peculiarities of grammar in Kumaoni and other Central Pahari languages exist due to the influence of the now extinct language of the [[Khasas]], the first inhabitants of the region.  

In Kumauni the verb substantive is formed from the root ''ach'', as in both Rajasthani and [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]]. In Rajasthani its present tense, being derived from the Sanskrit present ''rcchami'', I go, does not change for gender. But in Pahari and Kashmiri it must be derived from the rare Sanskrit particle *''rcchitas'', gone, for in these languages it is a participial tense and does change according to the gender of the subject. Thus, in the singular we have: - Here we have a relic of the old Khasa language, which, as has been said, seems to have been related to Kashmiri. Other relics of Khasa, again agreeing with north-western India, are the tendency to shorten long vowels, the practice of [[epenthesis]], or the modification of a vowel by the one which follows in the next syllable, and the frequent occurrence of [[Aspirated consonant|disaspiration]]. Thus, Khas siknu, Kumauni ''sikhno'', but Hindi ''sikhna'', to learn; Kumauni ''yeso'', plural ''yasa'', of this kind.

====Present tense====

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====Past tense====

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====Future tense====

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== Media and art==

===Films===

* ''Megha Aa'', (First Kumaoni Film).<ref>[http://www.readers-cafe.net/shabdkosh/cinema.php Kumaoni Cinema] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211133236/http://www.readers-cafe.net/shabdkosh/cinema.php |date=11 February 2008 }} Pahari Shabdkosh.</ref> Director Kaka Sharma, Produced S S Bisht, 1987<ref name="Aishwarya dhyani">{{cite web |title=First Kumaoni Film Of Uttarakhand |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNuOZlbJvwg |website=Youtube |access-date=16 April 2021}}</ref>