Dialects of Himachal Pradesh

 Seven dialects from Himachal on the verge of extinction

• A revelation by the Union Government has brought troublesome news for the cultural heritage of the state as seven dialects spoken in different parts of the Himachal Pradesh have been categorized on the verge of extinction.
• As per the information provided by the Union Minister of State Human Resources Development seven dialects viz. Baghati, Handuri, Kului, Kinnauri, Pangvalli, Sirmauri and Spiti spoken mainly in Sirmour, Solan, Chamba and Kullu districts and tribal higher hills and tribal snow bound areas of Pangi, Spiti and Kinnaur areas of Himachal Pradesh are on the verge of extinction.
• The Union Government has identified and classified total 197 languages/dialects as critically endangered all over India.
• The Government of India has initiated a Scheme known as “Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India” (SPPEL). Under this scheme, the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore works on protection, preservation and documentation of all the mother tongues/languages of India spoken by less than 10,000 people.
• The Government has also initiated a Project known as “Bharatavani” implemented by the CIIL for all languages, especially the languages spoken by more than ten thousand persons, in the cyberspace. This Project aims to build a searchable knowledge repository in and about all the languages in India in multimedia (text, audio, video, images) formats through an online portal.
• The University Grants Commission (UGC) has launched a scheme ‘Study and Research in Indigenous and Endangered language in India’ and approved grants to the nine Central Universities and six State Universities for Establishment of Centres for Endangered Language in these Universities during 12th Plan.

Language is directly associated with the culture and custom of region and society that plays vital role in developing beliefs and history. Language is also instrumental for the growth and transmission of culture, continuity of societies, and with the extinction of dialects, we can well imagine the loss for the diverse and rich culture and custom of the state.

Languages Spoken in Himachal :

Himachal Pradesh is one of the Indian States where the people are capable of speaking many languages. Though the official language of Himachal Pradesh is Hindi, majority of the people also speak well in pahari. They also converse in Punjabi, Kangri, Kinnauri and Dogri.

The state’s official language is Hindi, which is a very ancient language that gained its origin from Sanskrit. Hindi is being used in various dialects throughout the country. In Himachal Pradesh, this language is used as a means of communication between populates. In order to improve the significance of the language, the government has included Hindi in the educational curriculum. Apart from this, they also encourage the language to be used professionally. Generally, majority of the people of Himachal Pradesh converse in Pahari language, the origin of which is from the oldest language Pakrit and Sanskrit.

The Pahari language is mainly subdivided into three types; the Eastern Pahari, Western Pahari and the Northern Pahari. In Himachal Pradesh, western Pahari is the most commonly used language, while in its capital city Simla, the dialects of Keonthali and Sirmauri are used. Himachali, Kuluhi, Chambiali, Churahi and Mandeali are some of the other various dialects of Pahari language.

The different communities that are being settled down in the mountainous terrain determine the language that is used in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Various other languages are also used by diverse communities for their communication. One of the most popular languages of this state is Punjabi and languages like Kangri and Kinnauri are also used by the local residents.

As stated earlier, Pahari is the language used by the majority of the people and it is derived from Sanskrit, the oldest language of India. Most of the basic words of Pahari are from Sanskrit and Pakrit is the other language from which several words are taken by Pahari. Apart from these languages, Himachal Pradesh is flourished with several tribal languages, since numerous varied types of tribes are settled in this state. Being a big state, the language used by the people varies with every region. Some of the regional languages that are spoken in this state are Chambyali, Pangwali, Lahauli and Kinnauri.

Hindi
Hindi is not only the official language of Himachal Pradesh but also for India. Though being derived from Sanskrit, Hindi is widely spoken throughout the country and ranks third among the most common spoken languages all over the world.

Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language which is widely used by the Punjabi community living in India and Pakistan and all through the world. This language is also used in Himachal Pradesh along with the various other languages. This is mainly because of the tribes who speak Punjabi language settled in the western and central parts of Himachal Pradesh.

Pahari language
Pahar language is widely used by the people of North India who are residing in hilly areas. There are various forms of dialect available for this language. The Pahari language or as they are popularly called the Pahari languages is a cluster of identical dialects which are used by the people living near the Himalayan foothills and the North Indians. Even people of Nepal use this language. Apart from the main divisions of Pahari language, eastern, western and Central Pahari, Garhwali is another classification. Some of the languages that come under Garhwali are Gaddi and Dogri.

Though various languages are being spoken in Himachal Pradesh, all are closely similar with minute variations among them.

By: Pooja Sharda