Language

Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication. The scientific study of language in any of its senses is called linguistics.

The approximately 30006000 languages that are spoken by humans today are the most salient examples, but natural languages can also be based on visual rather than auditory stimuli, for example in sign languages and written language. Codes and other kinds of artificially constructed communication systems such as those used for computer programming can also be called languages. A language in this sense is a system of signs for encoding and decoding information. The English word derives ultimately from Latin lingua, "language, tongue", via Old French.[1] When used as a general concept, "language" refers to the cognitive faculty that enables humans to learn and use systems of complex communication. Language as a communication system is thought to be fundamentally different from and of much higher complexity than those of other species as it is based on a complex system of rules relating symbols to their meanings, resulting in an indefinite number of possible innovative utterances from a finite number of elements. Language is thought to have originated when early hominids first started cooperating, adapting earlier systems of communication based on expressive signs to include a theory of other minds and shared intentionality. This development is thought to have coincided with an increase in brain volume, and many linguists see the structures of language as having evolved to serve specific communicative functions. Language is processed in many different locations in the human brain, but especially in Brocas and Wernickes areas. Humans acquire language through social interaction in early childhood, and children generally speak fluently when they are around three years old. The use of language has become deeply entrenched in human culture and, apart from being used to communicate and share information, it also has social and cultural uses, such as

signifying group identity, social stratification and for social grooming and entertainment. The word "language" can also be used to describe the set of rules that makes this possible, or the set of utterances that can be produced from those rules.

Urdu
Urdu (Urdu: ,IPA: [rdu+ ( listen); English: /rdu/) is a language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an official language of five states. Based on the Khariboli dialect of Delhi, Urdu is derived from Sanskrit and developed under the influence of Persian, Arabic, and Turkic over the course of almost 900 years.[4] It began to take shape in what is now Uttar Pradesh, India during the Delhi Sultanate (1206 1527), and continued to develop under the Mughal Empire (15261858). Urdu is mutually intelligible with Standard Hindi (or Hindi-Urdu) spoken in India. Both languages share the same Indic base and are so similar in phonology and grammar that they appear to be one language.[5] The combined population of Hindi and Urdu speakers is the fourth largest in the world.[6] Mughals hailed from the Barlas tribe which was of Mongol origin, the tribe had embraced Turkic[7] and Persian culture,[8][9] and resided in Turkestan and Khorasan. Their mother tongue was the Chaghatai language (known to them as Turk, "Turkic") and they were equally at home in Persian, the lingua franca of the Timurid elite.[10] but after their arrival in the Indian subcontinent, the need to communicate with local inhabitants led to use of Indic languages written in the Persian alphabet, with some literary conventions and vocabulary retained from Persian and Turkic; this eventually became a new standard called Hindustani, which is the direct predecessor of Urdu.[11] Urdu is often contrasted with Hindi. Apart from religious associations, the differences are largely restricted to the standard forms: Standard Urdu is conventionally written in the Nastaliq style of the Persian alphabet and relies heavily on Persian and Arabic as a source for technical and literary vocabulary,[12] whereas Standard Hindi is conventionally

written in Devangar and draws on Sanskrit.*13+ However, both have large numbers of Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit words, and most linguists consider them to be two standardized forms of the same language,[14][15] and consider the differences to be sociolinguistic,[16] though a few classify them separately.[17] Mutual intelligibility decreases in literary and specialized contexts which rely on educated vocabulary. Due to religious nationalism since the partition of British India and continued communal tensions, native speakers of both Hindi and Urdu frequently assert them to be completely distinct languages, despite the fact that they generally cannot tell the colloquial languages apart.Contents [hide]

History
The word Urdu is derived from the same Turkish word that has given English horde.[18] Urdu arose in the contact situation which developed from the invasions of the Indian subcontinent by Turkic dynasties from the 11th century onwards,[19] first as Sultan Mahmud of the Ghaznavid empire conquered Punjab in the early 11th century, then when the Ghurids invaded northern India in the 12th century, and most decisively with the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate. The official language of the Ghurids, Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal Empire, and their successor states, as well as the cultured language of poetry and literature, was Persian, while the language of religion was Arabic. Most of the Sultans and nobility in the Sultanate period were Turks from Central Asia who spoke Turkic as their mother tongue. The Mughals were also Chagatai, but later adopted Persian. Muzaffar Alam asserts that Persian became the lingua franca of the empire under Akbar for various political and social factors due to its non-sectarian and fluid nature.[20] However, the armies, merchants, preachers, Sufis, and later the court, also incorporated the local people and the medieval Hindu literary language, Braj Bhasha. This new contact language soon incorporated other dialects, such as Haryanvi, Panjabi, and in the 17th century Khariboli, the dialect of the new capital at Delhi. By 1800, Khariboli had become dominant.[21] The language went by several names over the years: Hindawi or Hind, "[language] of India"; Dehlavi "of Delhi"; Hindustani, "of Hindustan"; and Zaban-e-

Urdu, "the language of the [army] camp", from which came the current name of Urdu around the year 1800.

When Wali Mohammed Wali arrived in Delhi, he established Hindustani with a light smattering of Persian words, a register called Rekhta, for poetry; previously the language of poetry had been Persian. When the Delhi Sultanate expanded south to the Deccan Plateau, they carried their literary language with them, and it was influenced there by more southerly languages, producing the Dakhini dialect of Urdu. During this time Hindustani was the language of both Hindus and Muslims. The communal nature of the language lasted until it replaced Persian as the official language in 1837 and was made coofficial along with English in the British Raj. This triggered a Hindu backlash in northwestern India, which argued that the language should be written in the native Devanagari script. This "Hindi" replaced traditional Urdu as the official register of Bihar in 1881, establishing a sectarian divide of "Urdu" for Muslims and "Hindi" for Hindus, a divide that was formalized with the division of India and Pakistan after independence from the British, though there are Hindu poets who continue to write in Urdu to this day. Although there have been attempts to purge Urdu and Hindi, respectively, of their Sanskrit and Persian words, and new vocabulary draws primarily from Persian and Arabic for Urdu and Sanskrit for Hindi, this has primarily affected academic and literary vocabulary, and both national standards remain heavily influenced by both Persian and Sanskrit.[22] English has exerted a heavy influence on both as a coofficial language.

Speakers and geographic distribution

There are between 60 and 70 million speakers of Urdu: there were 52 million in India per the 2001 census, some 6% of the population;[23] 13 million in Pakistan in 2008, or 8%;[24] and several hundred thousand apiece in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, United States, and Bangladesh, where it is called "Bihari".[25] However, a knowledge of Urdu allows one to speak with far more people than

that, as Hindi-Urdu is the fourth most commonly spoken language in the world, after Mandarin, English, and Spanish.[1][26] Owing to interaction with other languages, Urdu has become localized wherever it is spoken, including in Pakistan itself. Urdu in Pakistan has undergone changes and has lately incorporated and borrowed many words from Pakistani languages like Pashto, Punjabi, Sindhi and Balti, thus allowing speakers of the language in Pakistan to distinguish themselves more easily and giving the language a decidedly Pakistani Flavour. Similarly, the Urdu spoken in India can also be distinguished into many dialects like Dakhni (Deccan) of South India, and Khariboli of the Punjab region since recent times. Because of Urdu's similarity to Hindi, speakers of the two languages can easily understand one another if both sides refrain from using specialized vocabulary. The syntax (grammar), morphology, and the core vocabulary are essentially identical. Thus linguists usually count them as one single language and contend that they are considered as two different languages for socio-political reasons.[27] In Pakistan Urdu is mostly learned as a second or a third language as nearly 93% of Pakistan's population has a mother tongue other than Urdu. Despite this, Urdu was chosen as a token of unity and as a lingua franca so as not to give any native Pakistani language preference over the other. Urdu is therefore spoken and understood by the vast majority in some form or another, including a majority of urban dwellers in such cities as Karachi, Lahore, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Multan, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Jhang, Sargodha and Skardu. It is written, spoken and used in all Provinces/Territories of Pakistan despite the fact that the people from differing provinces may have different indigenous languages, as from the fact that it is the "base language" of the country. For this reason, it is also taught as a compulsory subject up to higher secondary school in both English and Urdu medium school systems. This has produced millions of Urdu speakers from people whose mother tongue is one of the State languages of Pakistan such as Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Balochi, Potwari, Hindko, Pahari, Saraiki, Balti, and Brahui but they can read and write only Urdu. It is absorbing many words from the regional languages of Pakistan. This variation of Urdu is sometimes referred to as Pakistani Urdu. So while most of the population is conversant in Urdu, it is the mother tongue only

of an estimated 7% of the population, mainly Muslim immigrants (known as Muhajir in Pakistan) from different parts of the Indian subcontinent (India, Burma, Bangladesh etc.). The regional languages are also being influenced by Urdu vocabulary. There are millions of Pakistanis whose mother tongue is not Urdu, but since they have studied in Urdu medium schools, they can read and write Urdu along with their native language. Most of the nearly five million Afghan refugees of different ethnic origins (such as Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, Hazarvi, and Turkmen) who stayed in Pakistan for over twenty-five years have also become fluent in Urdu. With such a large number of people(s) speaking Urdu, the language has in recent years acquired a peculiar Pakistani flavour further distinguishing it from the Urdu spoken by native speakers and diversifying the language even further. A great number of newspapers are published in Urdu in Pakistan, including the Daily Jang, Nawa-i-Waqt, Millat, among many others (see List of newspapers in Pakistan#Urdu-language newspapers). In India, Urdu is spoken in places where there are large Muslim minorities or cities which were bases for Muslim Empires in the past. These include parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra (Marathwada), Karnataka and cities namely Lucknow, Delhi, Bareilly, Meerut, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Roorkee, Deoband, Moradabad, Azamgarh, Bijnor, Najibabad, Rampur, Aligarh, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Agra, Kanpur, Badaun, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mysore, Patna, Gulbarga, Nanded, Bidar, Ajmer, and Ahmedabad.[28] Some Indian schools teach Urdu as a first language and have their own syllabus and exams. Indian madrasahs also teach Arabic as well as Urdu. India has more than 3,000 Urdu publications including 405 daily Urdu newspapers. Newspapers such as Sahara Urdu, Daily Salar, Hindustan Express, Daily Pasban, Siasat Daily, The Munsif Daily and Inqilab are published and distributed in Bengaluru, Mysore, Hyderabad, and Mumbai (see List of newspapers in India). Outside South Asia, it is spoken by large numbers of migrant South Asian workers in the major urban centres of the Persian Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. Urdu is also spoken by large numbers of immigrants and their children in the major urban

centres of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, Norway, and Australia. Along with Arabic, Urdu is among the immigrant languages with the most speakers in Catalonia, leading to fears of linguistic ghettos.[29]

Official status
Urdu is the national and one of the two official languages of Pakistan, the other being English, and is spoken and understood throughout the country, while the state-by-state languages (languages spoken throughout various regions) are the provincial languages. It is used in education, literature, office and court business.[30] It holds in itself a repository of the cultural and social heritage of the country.[31] Although English is used in most elite circles, and Punjabi has a plurality of native speakers, Urdu is the lingua franca and national language in Pakistan. Urdu is also one of the officially recognised languages in India and has official language status in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,[32] Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and the national capital, New Delhi. In Jammu and Kashmir, section 145 of the Kashmir Constitution provides: "The official language of the State shall be Urdu but the English language shall unless the Legislature by law otherwise provides, continue to be used for all the official purposes of the State for which it was being used immediately before the commencement of the Constitution." As of 2010, the English language continues to be used as an official language for more than 90% of official work in Kashmir.[33] There are ongoing efforts to make Kashmiri and Dogri, spoken as mother tongues by nearly 80% of the population of Indian-administered Kashmir, as official languages alongside English. The importance of Urdu[34] in the Muslim world is visible in the Holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, where most informational signage is written in Arabic, English and Urdu, and sometimes in other languages.

Dialects
Urdu has a few recognised dialects, including Dakhni, Rekhta, and Modern Vernacular Urdu (based on the Khariboli dialect of the Delhi region). Dakhni (also known as Dakani, Deccani, Desia, Mirgan) is spoken in Deccan region of southern India. It is distinct by its mixture of vocabulary from Marathi and Konkani, as well as some vocabulary from Arabic, Persian and Turkish that are not found in the standard dialect of Urdu, and may actually be a distinct Hindi language. In terms of pronunciation, the easiest way to recognize a native speaker is their pronunciation of the letter "qf" ( )as "kh" ( .)Dakhini is widely spoken in all parts of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Urdu is read and written as in other parts of India. A number of daily newspapers and several monthly magazines in Urdu are published in these states. Pakistani variant of the language spoken in Pakistan; it becomes increasingly divergent from the Indian dialects and forms of Urdu as it has absorbed many loan words, proverbs and phonetics from Pakistan's indigenous languages such as Pashto, Panjabi and Sindhi. Furthermore, due to the region's history, the Urdu dialect of Pakistan draws heavily from the Persian and Arabic languages, and the intonation and pronunciation are informal compared with corresponding Indian dialects. In addition, Rekhta (or Rekhti), the language of Urdu poetry, is sometimes counted as a separate dialect, one famously used by several poets of high acclaim in the bulk of their work. These included Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir and Muhammad Iqbal.

Vocabulary
Urdu has a vocabulary rich in words with and Middle Eastern origins. The language's Indic base has been enriched by borrowing from Persian and Arabic. There are also a smaller number of borrowings from Chagatai, Portuguese, and more recently English. Many of the words of Arabic origin have been adopted

through Persian and have different pronunciations and nuances of meaning and usage than they do in Arabic.

Levels of formality
Urdu in its less formalised register has been referred to as a rekhta (, [rexta+), meaning "rough mixture". The more formal register of Urdu is sometimes referred to as zabn-e-Urdu-e-mo'alla ([ zban e rdu e molla+), the "Language of the Exalted Camp", referring to the Imperial army.[35] The etymology of the word used in the Urdu language for the most part decides how polite or refined one's speech is. For example, Urdu speakers would distinguish between pn and b, both meaning "water" for example, or between dmi and mard, meaning "man". The former in each set is used colloquially and has older Hindustani origins, while the latter is used formally and poetically, being of Persian origin. If a word is of Persian or Arabic origin, the level of speech is considered to be more formal and grand. Similarly, if Persian or Arabic grammar constructs, such as the izafat, are used in Urdu, the level of speech is also considered more formal and grand. If a word is inherited from Sanskrit, the level of speech is considered more colloquial and personal.[36] That distinction has likenesses with the division between words from a French or Old English origin while speaking English.

Politeness
Urdu syntax and vocabulary reflect a three tiered system of politeness called db. Due to its emphasis on politeness and propriety, Urdu has always been considered an elevated, somewhat aristocratic, language in South Asia. It continues to conjure a subtle, polished affect in South Asian linguistic and literary sensibilities and thus continues to be preferred for song-writing and poetry, even by non-native speakers.

Any verb can be conjugated as per three or four different tiers of politeness. For example, the verb to speak in Urdu is boln ( ) and the verb to sit is baihn ( .) The imperatives "speak!" and "sit!" can thus be conjugated five different ways, each marking subtle variation in politeness and propriety. These permutations exclude a host of auxiliary verbs and expressions which can be added to these verbs to add even greater degree of subtle variation. For extremely polite or formal situations, nearly all commonly used verbs have equivalent formal synonyms (Row 5 below). The phrase category '*p+ bolo', mentioned in Row 3 below, is associated with the Punjabi usage 'tusi bolo' and is rarely used in written Urdu. It is considered grammatically incorrect, particularly in the Gangetic Plain, where the influence of Punjabi on Urdu is minimal. Literary* [tu] bol! *tu+ baih! Casual and intimate Polite and intimate Formal yet intimate [tum] bolo. *p+ bolo *tum+ baiho *p+ baiho. *p+ baihen.

*p+ bolen

Polite and formal *p+ bolye * p+ baihye. Ceremonial / Extremely formal *p+ farmaye

* p+ tarf-rakhye.

Similarly, nouns are also marked for politeness and formality. For example, usk vlida, "his mother" is a politer way of say usk amm. Usk vlida-mohtarm is an even more polite reference, while saying usk mn would be construed as derogatory. None of these forms are slang or shortenings, and all are encountered in writing.

Expressions are also marked for politeness. For example, the expression "No!" could be n, nahn or j-nahn in order of politeness. Similarly, "Yes!" can be hn-j, hn, j or j-hn in order of politeness.

Dogri language
Dogri ( or ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about five million people[1] in India and Pakistan, chiefly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, but also in northern Punjab, other parts of Jammu and Kashmir, and elsewhere.[2] Dogri speakers are called Dogras, and the Dogrispeaking region is called Duggar.[3] Dogri is a member of the Western Pahari Group of languages.[4] The language is referred to as Pahari ( or ) in Pakistan. Unusually for an Indo-European language, Dogri is tonal,[5] a trait it shares with other Western Pahari languages and Punjabi.

Script
Dogri was originally written using the Takri script,[4] which is closely related to the Sharada script employed by Kashmiri*4+ and the Gurmukh script used to write Punjabi. It is now more commonly written in Devangar in India, and the Nasta'liq form of Perso-Arabic in Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

Some common words

Dogri word Dogri word English translation Comparative / Ah Yes Aah/Ho ( Nepali ), Haan (Hindi,Urdu), Aa (Kashmiri),

Haan/Aho (Punjabi) Ho (Pashto) / KanneWith Sanga/ Sitya ( Nepali) ,Saath (Hindi/Urdu), Sity

(Kashmiri), Naal (Punjabi) / Nukke Shoes Jootha ( Nepali), Jootey (Hindi,Urdu),

Nukke/Juttiaan (Punjabi) , khor baan (kashmiri)

Pit

Door Dokha/ Dailo( Nepali), Darwaza

(Persian/Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi/Kashmiri), Buha/Dar/Duar(Punjabi), Bar (Kashmiri) / / Ke K What Ke ( Nepali), Kya (Hindi/Urdu/Kashmiri), Ki (Punjabi) Why Kina ( Nepali), Kyun (Hindi/Urdu), Kyazi (Kashmiri),

Kyon/Kahte/Kahnu (Punjabi) / Adwana WatermelonKharbooja ( Nepali), Tarbooz

(Hindi/Urdu), Hindwana (Urdu/Persian), Hadwana/Mateera (Punjabi), Hyandwand (Kashmiri), Indwanna (Pashto) / Duniy World Duniya

(Urdu/Nepali/Punjabi/Kashmiri/Persian/Arabic), Jag (Punjabi), Sansaar (Sanskrit/Nepali/Hindi/Punjabi/Kashmiri)

Tonality
Western Pahari languages, Punjabi and Punjabi dialects are frequently tonal, which is very unusual for Indo-European languages (although Swedish and Norwegian are tonal also).[6] This tonality makes it difficult for speakers of other Indo-Aryan languages to gain facility in Dogri,[5] though native Punjabi speakers (especially speakers of Northern dialects such as Hindko and Mirpuri) may find it easier to make the transition. Some common examples are shown below.

Sentence Tone English translation Kora ha. Kora ha. Kora ha. Equal It was a whip. It was a horse.

Falling-Rising Rising

It was bitter.

Das kyn? Falling Das kyn. Rising

Why is it ten? Tell me how (it happened).

Historical references
The Greek astrologer Pulomi, accompanying Alexander in his 323 B.C. campaign into the Indian sub-continent, referred to some inhabitants of Duggar as "a brave Dogra family living in the mountain ranges of Shivalik."[7] In the year 1317, Amir Khusro, the famous poet of Hindi and Persian, referred to Duger (Dogri) while describing the languages and dialects of India as follows: "Sindhi O Lahori O Kashmiri O Duger.

Theories on name origin

Intellectuals in the court of Maharaja Ranbir Singh s/o Gulab Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, described 'Duggar' as a distorted form of the word 'Dwigart,' which means "two troughs," a possible reference to the Mansar and Sruinsar Lakes.[10]

The linguist George Grierson connected the term 'Duggar' with the Rajasthani word 'Doonger,' which means 'hill,' and 'Dogra' with 'Dongar.'[10] This opinion has lacked support because of the inconsistency of the ostensible changes from Rajasthani to Dogri (essentially the question of how Doonger became Duggar while Donger became Dogra), and been contradicted by some scholars.[11]

Yet another proposal stems from the presence of the word 'Durger' in the Bhuri Singh Museum (in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh). The word Durger means 'invincible' in several Northern Indian languages, and could be an allusion to the ruggedness of the Duggar terrain and the historically militarized and autonomous

Dogra societies. In himachal, Dogri is majorly spoken in Una, Chintpurni, Kangra, and Bilaspur regions.

In 1976, the experts attending the Language Session of the 'All India Oriental Conference' held in Dharwar, Karnataka could not reach consensus on the 'Dwigart' and 'Durger' hypotheses, but did manage agreement on a DoongerDuggar connection. In a subsequent 'All India Oriental Conference' held at Jaipur in 1982, the linguists agreed that the culture, language and history of Rajasthan and Duggar share some similarities. It was also suggested that the words 'Duggar' and 'Dogra' are common in some parts of Rajasthan. Specifically, it was asserted that areas with a large number of forts are called Duggar, and their inhabitants are accordingly known as Dogras. The land of Duggar also has a large number of forts, which may support the opinion above. An article by Dharam Chand Prashant in the literary magazine Shiraza Dogri suggested that "the opinion that the word 'Duggar' is a form of the word 'Duggarh' sounds appropriate."[12] Doger written in Turkish as Der is also the name of a Turkmen Oguz tribe originating from Central Asia, also found amongst the Kurds. In Turkey one of the towns named after them is written as Doker, Duger, Dker and Der.

Recent history
In modern times, a notable Dogri translation (in the Takri script) of the Sanskrit classic mathematical opus "Lilavati," by the noted mathematician Bhaskaracharya (b. 1114 A.D.), was published by the Vidya Vilas Press, Jammu in 1873.[13] As Sanskrit literacy remained confined to a few, the late Maharaja Ranbir Singh had the Lilavati translated into Dogri by Jyotshi Bisheshwar, then principal of Jammu Pathshala.[14]

Dogri has an established tradition of poetry, fiction and dramatic works. Recent poets range from the 18th century Dogri poet Kavi Dattu (17251780) in Raja Ranjit Devs court to Professor Ram Nath Shastri and Mrs. Padma Sachdev. Kavi

Dattu is highly regarded for his Barah Massa (Twelve Months), Kamal Netra (Lotus Eyes), Bhup Bijog and Bir Bilas.[15] Shiraza Dogri is a Dogri literary periodical issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, which is a notable publisher of modern Dogri literary work, another being the Dogri Sanstha. Popular recent songs include Pala Shpaiya Dogarya, Manney di Mauj and Shhori Deya. The noted Pakistani singer Malika Pukhraj had roots in the Duggar region[16] and her renditions of several Dogri songs continue to be popular in the region. Some devotional songs, or bhajans, composed by Karan Singh have gained increasing popularity over time, including Kaun Kareyaan Teri Aarti.

Dogri programming features regularly on Radio Kashmir (a division of All India Radio) and Doordarshan (Indian state television) broadcasts in Jammu and Kashmir. However, Dogri does not have a dedicated state television channel yet, unlike Kashmiri (which has the Doordarshan Koshur channel, available on cable and satellite television throughout India).

Official recognition of the language has been gradual, but progressive. On 2 August 1969, the General Council of the Sahitya Academy, Delhi recognized Dogri as an "independent modern literary language" of India, based on the unanimous recommendation of a panel of linguists.[17] (Indian Express, New Delhi, 3 August 1969). Dogri is one of the state languages of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. On 22 December 2003, in a major milestone for the official status of the language, Dogri was recognized as a national language of India in the Indian constitution.[18][19] In Pakistan, the language (under the name "Pahari") continues to thrive, but is not known to have received official patronage to date. The Alami Pahari Adabi Sangat (Global Pahari Cultural Association) is a Pakistani organization dedicated to the advancement and progress of the language.[20]

Language and dialects

Since Dogri, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi are spoken in a region that has witnessed significant ethnic and identity conflict, all have been exposed to the dialect versus language question. At various times, Western Pahari languages have been contended to be dialects of Punjabi, at others, some Western Pahari languages (such as Rambani) have been contended to be dialects of Kashmiri.[4][21] Each of these languages possesses a central standard on which its literature is based, and from which there are multiple dialectical variations. Spoken in Region India, Pakistan Jammu, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Gurdaspur/Pathankot Punjab 3.8 million (19961997) Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Western Pahari Dogri Writing system Devanagari, Takri, Perso-Arabic script

Native speakers Language family

Gujari
Gojri, also known as Gujari is a variety of Rajasthani spoken by the Gujjars of Northern-Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.[1][2] Rajasthani, Marwari and Gujarati are evolved from Gujari.[3] The language was known as Gujjar bhakha or Gurjar Apabhramsha lately. It was used as literary language as early as 12th century. The poet Bhoja referred to Gaurjar Apabhramsha (Gurjar Apabhramsha) in 1014 AD.[4]

The language is mainly spoken in the Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttaranchal, Punjab, Gujarat and many other parts of India. The language is also spoken by Gujjars of Pakistan. Many Gujari words origniate from Turkish.[5] The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has recognized Gujari by including it into sixth scheduled of the constitution.[6]Contents [hide]

History
Gojri is an offshoot of Indo-Aryan Group of languages, and during the dawn of Sanskrit and Persian poetry and prose in the Indian sub-continent several noted poets and Sufi saints used Gojri to spread their message. Noted poet-musician Hazrat Amir Khusro formally made mention Gojri language in the list of eighteen Indian languages of his time. Researchers and historians are of considered opinion that Gujri language is the mother of Rajasthani and Gujarati languages [7] According to well researched document[citation needed] the poets and saints who used this language to spread their message were: Saint Noor-ud-Din; Sat Guru (1094 CE); Amir Shah Miran Ji (1494 CE); Shah Bhajan (1397-1508 CE); Qazi Mehmood Daryaee (1419-1545 CE); Ali Jevan Gham Dhani (1565 CE); BurhanudDin Janam (1572 CE); Khub Mahammad Chashti (1539-1614 CE); Adil Shah Sani Jagat Guru (1411 CE); Qutab Shah (1556-1611 CE); Mulana Afzal Pani Patti (1625 CE); Amin Gujrati (1657 CE) Miran Ji Hashmi (1688 CE) etc. These poets and saints known all over India for their unique socio-cultural fraternity used Gojri in their verses to communicate and spread the message of brotherhood, peace and secularism. As it continues to be a significant language in the subcontinent, Gojri has richly contributed to literary traditions and treasure in the forms of Mathnavis, prose, folklore and religious literature. Gojri is being widely spoken and is in fact mother tongue of over 20 Million people residing in various parts of India particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttaranchal.[8]

Literature and Communications

Internationally noted linguistic researcher Sir G. A. Gareirson, while analysing various languages of India, has written a full volume on the Gojri language. In his work Sir Garreirson has accepted and outlined universal influence of Gojri and its impact on other Indian languages. Oxford University compiled the first ever grammar of the Gojri language in 1905. The Linguistic Survey of India has surveyed various aspects of Gojri Language and its influence on other languages. In its research project, the Linguistic Survey of India has described Gojri as one of the main languages instrumental in developing and flourishing other languages. The Central Institute of Indian Language Mysoor Karnatika, under Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, has published various books on the linguistic aspect of Gojri language.

Institutions working for Gojri

The All India Radio and Doordarshan Kendra are already running various Gojri programmes. The Radio Kashmir Jammu, Srinagar, Poonch in India and Seven Radio Stations of Pakistan and PTV have since long been airing Gojri programmes and news bulletins which has wide acceptance across the state of Jammu and Kashmir. A large number of Gojri books have been published in various in various subjects which include encyclopedias, dictionaries, grammar, poetry, prose, flora and fauna, folklore, art and architecture, agriculture, sociology and research documents. The National Academy of Letters, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi has also recognised Gojri as one of the major Indian languages for its prestigious National Award, Bhasha Samman and other programmes. The Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Arts, Culture and Languages has a well established Gojri Department in its Central Office which is in operation for last 30 years. Hundreds of books in Gojri, dictionaries and other research works have been published by this institutasion and organised hundreds of Seminar, conference etc. for the development of Gojri Language. Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education made curriculum in Gojri up to Middle Standard for Teaching Gojri in Schools. The University of Jammu Council has also approved the opening of Gojri

Research Centre in Jammu and University of Kashmir have awarded several Doctorate Degrees on completing research projects on Gojri. In Pakistanadministered Kashmir, the Gojri Academy has been established and Post Graduate Studies Department has been set up in various Universities, Regional Research Centers.

Organizations working for Gojri: Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation Poonch Gurjar Desh Charitable Trust Jammu Anjmun Gujjran Srinagar Jammu and Kashmir Anjuman Taraqi Gojri Adab Rajouri Bhartya Gurjar Pareshad Uatter Pardesh. Anjuman Gojri Zuban-o-Adab Tral Kashmir Organisation of Himalyan Gujjars Poonch Adbi Sangat Wangat Kashmir Adbi Majlis Gojri Jammu Sarwari Memorial Gojri Society Jammu Gojri Dramatic Club Jammu Gujjar Writers Association Uri Baramulla. Gojri Anjumun Badgam Gujjar Manch Kathua Bazm-i-Adab Kalakote Rajouri Gojri Development Center Karnah Kupwara