Local Languages of Uttarakhand: The state language of Uttarakhandaaa is also Hindi, but if we talk about the local language, there are not one or two but 13 local languages. However, different forms of these languages are seen in the state of Uttarakhand. Talking about the history of the languages of Uttarakhand, George Abraham Grierson first worked on these. Also, he classified Uttarakhand’s languages from 1894 to 1927 with the help of employees of the Revenue Department. Moreopver, the linguists of Uttarakhand seem to be heavily influenced by Grierson’s work while he prepared a kind of government document. Even after him Dr. Govind Chatak, Chakradhar Bahuguna, Dr. Haridutt Bhatt, Dr. D. Sharma etc. also did remarkable work in the context of the local languages of Uttarakhand.
The local languages of Uttarakhand
1) Garhwali
The Garhwali language is spoken in all the seven districts of the Garhwal division. The form of Garhwali according to Grierson is Srinagaria, Nagpuria, Bandhani, Salani, Tihariali, Rathi, Dasoulya, Manjh Kumaiah. The linguist Dr. Govind Chatak called the language spoken around Srinagar as the ideal Garhwali language.
2) Kumaoni
The Kumaoni language is spoken in all the six districts of the Kumaon division. By the way, in almost every district, the form of Kumaoni changes slightly. People from the border areas of Garhwal and Kumaon understand and speak the dialect of both languages. There are ten dialects of Kumaoni, in which Kumaiya, Soryali, Ascot and Siri, it is spoken in East Kumaon and Khasparjia, Chaugarkhiya, Gangoli, Danpuria, Pachai, and Rochobhansi are the languages spoken in western Kumaon.
3) Jaunsari
The western mountainous region of Dehradun district of Garhwal division is called Jaunsar Bhabar. The main language of the place is Jaunsari. This language is mainly spoken in three tehsils Chakrata Kalsi and Tuni. The boundaries of this region are Tehri and Uttarkashi. And therefore Jaunsari is also spoken in some parts of these districts. George Grierson called it the dialect of the Western Hills. To say that he meant it more closely with the dialects of Himachal Pradesh. Many Punjabi, Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Pali words are found in it.
4) Jaunpuri
It is spoken in the Jaunpur development block of Tehri district. Dasjula, Paligad, Silvad, District Pali Village Silvad, Idwalsuyun, Lalur, Chhajula, Saklana Pattis fall in this area. It is a tribal area. According to Dr. Chattak, they were called Yamun caste due to being near the origin of Yamuna here. Sometimes this region was also called Yamunpuri, which later became Jaunpuri.
5) Rwalti
The western region of Uttarkashi district is called Ravanai and this area extends to the valleys of Yamuna and Tons rivers. The language of this region is different from Garhwali or other nearby areas.
6) Jad
The language of Jad tribe living in Jad Ganga valley of Uttarkashi district is also called Jad language.
7) Bangani
The area under Mori tehsil of Uttarkashi district is called Bagan. The area consists of three patches called Masmore, Pingal and Kothigad, in which Bangani is spoken.
8) Marcha
The areas of the Chamoli district of Garhwal mandal and Bhotia tribes living in the Mana valleys speak Marcha and Tolchha languages. Many languages of Tibetan are spoken in this language. The Niti Valley includes Niti Gamsali and Bampa, while the Mana Valley includes Mana Indradhara, Gajakoti, Jiyabgarh, Benakuli and Pinola.
9) Johari
It is also a language of the Bhotia tribe which is spoken in the Munsiyari region of Pithoragarh district. These people also have a long trade with Tibet, which is also found in Tibetans is Johari.
10) Tharu
People of Tharu tribe live in some areas of Nepal, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar in the lowland areas of Kumaon division of Uttarakhand. The tribe here in Kumaon division mainly resides in the Khatima and Sitarganj development blocks of Udham Singh Nagar. The people of this tribe have their own separate language which is called the Tharu language. It is a mixed form of Kannauji Braj language and Khadi dialect.
11) Buxani
Buxani is the language of the tribe inhabiting the Terai belt from Kumaon to Garhwal. These areas mainly include Kashipur, Bajpur, Gadarpur, Ramnagar, Doiwala, Sahaspur, Bahadarabad, Dugadda, Kotdwar etc.
12) Radh Lulu
Kumaon is mainly spoken in Darma, Vyasa and 14 strips of Dharchula Tehsil of Pithoragarh. It is considered part of the Tibetan Burmese language. The people of the Kirat caste used to speak since ancient times. In the Darma Valley, it is known as Rad Lew, Chaudas in Bumba Lew, and Vyas Valley in Viewkhun Lew.
13) Raji
Raji was a tribe living in the forests of Kumaon. It was a nomadic tribe that has made permanent residence for some time. The people of this tribe live in Pithoragarh, Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar districts of Uttarakhand, bordering Nepal.
How will our languages be saved?
These local languages can only survive when they will be passed from one generation to another. Also, if we are anywhere in Uttarakhand or apart from this, if we love these languages, then we have to hand it over to our generation, just as the previous generation had handed over to us. Apart from this, one of the most appropriate means is that the state government make these languages part of the curriculum. Work is also being done under this. Moreover, Garhwali course has been started in primary classes (1-5) under Pauri block by the District Magistrate of Pauri District. This may prove to be a milestone in this direction.
Even though these languages are not included in the 8th schedule of our constitution, the government can make them part of the curriculum. It allows us Article 345 of the Constitution. It states that the Legislature of a state may adopt any one or more of the languages used in that state or Hindi as the language or languages used for all or any of the official sponsorships of that state. Not only this, but Article 350A also talks about teaching in your language at the primary level. Also, one question that is asked for these languages not being languages is that these languages do not have their own script, whose script is not called. So there is no script for English either. In this way, even English is not a language script. This question may be relevant now.
By:-
Prakhar Sharma
Founder, Upgrading India
1 Comment
Very informative