Rajasthani language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rajasthani राजस्थानी
Spoken in: Rajasthan (India)
Total speakers: 80 million (approx.)
Language family: Indo-European
 Indo-Iranian
  Indo-Aryan
   Western Indo-Aryan
    Rajasthani
     Rajasthani राजस्थानी
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: raj
ISO 639-3: raj

Rajasthani (राजस्थानी) is one of the prominent members of the Indo-Aryan languages family. It is spoken by around eighty million persons (total number of speakers 36 million as per Census of India, 2001) in Rajasthan and other states of India, and has eight major dialects: Bagri, Shekhawati, Mewati, Dhundhari, Harauti, Marwari, Mewari, and Wagri. Most of these dialects of Rajasthani are chiefly spoken in the state of Rajasthan but also in Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab. Besides, Rajasthani is spoken in some parts of Western Madhya Pradesh, and the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sind.

Contents

The Rajasthani language is a Western Indo-Aryan language, although some of the more easterly dialects of Rajasthani show characteristics of the Central Indo-Aryan languages.

Some major dialects of Rajasthani are:

Some of the recognized minor dialects of Rajasthani are (last two are questionable in this category):

In the past, the language spoken in Rajasthan was regarded as a dialect of western Hindi (Kellogg, 1873). George Abraham Grierson (1908) was the first scholar who gave the designation ‘Rajasthani’ to the language, which was earlier known through its various dialects. Today, however, Sahitya Akademi, National Academy of Letters and University Grants Commission recognize it as a distinct language. It is also taught as such in the Universities of Jodhpur and Udaipur. The Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan included Rajasthani in the course of studies and it has been an optional subject since 1973. Since 1947, several movements have been going on in Rajasthan for its recognition, but unfortunately it is still considered a ‘dialect’ of Hindi. Recently, the Rajasthan Government has recognized it as a state language, but still, there is a long way for Rajasthani language to go. The reason is it lacks a comprehensive reference grammar and latest dictionary prepared based on a thorough linguistic survey of Rajasthan. Now an extensive descriptive grammar of Rajasthani is under process.


  • To be added: Phonology, Morphology, Syntax

Rajasthani has a vast literature written in various genres starting from 1000 AD.But, it is generally agreed that modern Rajasthani literature began with the works of Suryamal Misran. His most important works are the Vansa Bhaskara and the Vir Satsai. The Vans Bhaskar contains accounts of the Rajput princes who ruled in what was then Rajputana (at present the state of Rajasthan), during the lifetime of the poet (1872–1952). The Vir Satsai is a collection of hundreds of couplets.

  • (Note: This list is not in chronological order)

(Others are to/should be added)

  • David Magier 1983. Topics in the Grammar of Marwari. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California
  • Lakhan Gusain 2000. Bagri. München: Lincom Europa (Languages of the World/Materials, 384)
  • Lakhan Gusain 2001. Shekhawati. München: Lincom Europa (Languages of the World/Materials, 385)
  • Lakhan Gusain 2003. Mewati. München: Lincom Europa (Languages of the World/Materials, 386)
  • Lakhan Gusain 2004. Marwari. München: Lincom Europa (Languages of the World/Materials, 427)

Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.