Kangri (Takri script: 𑚊𑚭𑚫𑚌𑚪𑚯) is an Indo-Aryan language, spoken in northern India, predominantly in the Kangra district, Una district and Hamirpur districts of Himachal Pradesh as well as in some parts of Mandi district and Chamba district districts of Himachal Pradesh and Gurdaspur, Rupnagar and Hoshiarpur districts of Punjab.[
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Like most of IA languages, Kangri does form a dialect continuum with its neighbouring languages. This includes the Pahari varieties spoken to the east Mandeali and Kullui language, north to Chambeali, Gaddi language & Bhateali & south-east to Bilaspuri. Besides it also share continuum north-west to Dogri and in south and west to Majhi.
Script
The native script of the language is Takri script but now people write Kangri Language in Devanagari script.
Phonology
Consonants
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It is not clear whether or not j is considered as a separate phoneme, but it does occur in various phonetic environments.
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ɳ is heard mostly as either an allophone of /ɽ̃/, and as /n/ before a retroflex stop.
[Eaton, Robert D. (2008)]
Vowels
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/e/ can also become lowered to a nasal ɛ̃, after /ɽ̃/.
Tone
Kangri is a tonal language like Punjabi or Dogri but the assignment of tones differs in Kangri when compared to them.
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/Dogri, when in the beginning of words. That is, Kangri has lost the aspiration (in gaining tone), but Punjabi/Dogri has lost both aspiration and voicing, though only in the beginning of words. 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 in the beginning of words has not yet reached Kangri.
Grammar
Pronouns
The Pronouns of Kangri for different person and number are -
1st Person Singular : मैं /mæ̃/
1st Person Plural : असाँ, अहाँ /əsãː, əhãː/
2nd Person Singular : तू /tu/
2nd Person Plural : तुसाँ, त्वहाँ /t̪usãː, t̪vəhãː/
3rd Person Singular and Plural : सै /sæ/
Noun Cases
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घर /kʱər/ (noun)
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Kangri - Hindi - English - Case
1. घर - घर - home - Nominative
2. घरे यो/जो - घर को - to home - Accusative
3. घरैँ - घर ने - Ergative
4. घरेने - घर के साथ - with house - Comitative
5. घरेते - घर से - through home - Instrumental
6. घरेताँइ - घर के लिए - for home - Dative
7. घरेते - घर से - from home - Ablative
8. घरे दा, दे, दि, दियाँ - घर का/की/के - of home - Genetive
9. घरेच् - घर में - Innesive
10. घरे पर - घर पर - Addesive
11. घर॑ - ओ घर - Vocative
12. घर देआ, दए, दइ, दीयाँ - घर सा/सी/से - Semblative
13. घरे साइ - घर जैसा - Similative
14. घरे तिक्कर् - घर तक - Terminative
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Postpositional/Oblique forms -
Noun - Sin., Plu.
घर - घरे, घरेयाँ
घड़ा - घड़े, घड़ेयाँ
नदी - नदिया, नदियाँ
घ्यो - घ्यो, घ्योआँ
Status
The language is commonly clubbed as Pahari language or Western Pahari. Some Dogri and Punjabi linguists have referred Kangri as part of their language due to similarities and decent mutual intelligibility between them.
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.
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.
Further reading
External links
