| Khandeshi | |
| Also Known As: | Ahirani, Khandeshi |
| Nativename: | खान्देशी, अहिराणी |
| States: | Maharashtra, India |
| Region: | Khandesh |
| Speakers: | 1.86 million |
| Date: | 2011 census |
| Ref: | [1] |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Indo-Iranian |
| Fam3: | Indo-Aryan |
| Fam4: | Western[2] |
| Script: | Devanagari[3] |
| Lc1: | khn |
| Ld1: | Khandeshi |
| Lc2: | ahr |
| Ld2: | Ahirani (duplicate code) |
| Lc3: | dhn |
| Ld3: | Dhanki--> |
| Glotto: | khan1272 |
| Glottorefname: | Khandesi |
| Map: | India Khandesh locator map.svg |
| Mapcaption: | Location of the Khandesh region in India |
| Map2: | MaharashtraKhandesh.png |
| Mapcaption2: | Location of the Khandesh region within Maharashtra |
Khandeshi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Khandesh region of north-west Maharashtra and also in Gujarat.[4] It consists of Khandeshi proper, and the Dangri and Ahirani dialects.[5] Kunbi and Rangari also are dialects. Ahirani dialect of this language is mostly spoken. Devanagari script is used to write Khandeshi language.[6] The words "Ahirani" and "Khandeshi" are sometimes used interchangeably: Ahirani as the caste-based name (after Ahirs), and Khandesh as the region-based name. The Census of 1911, 1921 and 1931 counted the Ahirani speaking people as Gujaratis[7] but in latter decades they've been recognized as a different language.
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | voiced | m | n | (ɳ) | ŋ | ||
| breathy | mʱ | ||||||
| Stop/ Affricate | voiceless | p | t | ʈ | tʃ | k | |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | ʈʰ | kʰ | |||
| voiced | b | d | ɖ | dʒ | g | ||
| breathy | bʱ | dʱ | ɖʱ | dʒʱ | gʱ | ||
| Fricative | s | ʃ | ɦ | ||||
| Approximant | voiced | ʋ | l | j | |||
| breathy | ʋʱ | ||||||
| Rhotic | voiced | r | |||||
| breathy | rʱ | ||||||
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | ||
| Mid | e | o | ||
| Low-mid | ɐ | |||
| Low | a |
All vowels can be short or long.[8]