Mandeali Explained

Mandeali
Also Known As:maṇḍiyālī
Nativename:, मण्डियाली
States:India
Region:Himachal Pradesh
Ethnicity:Mandyali People
Speakers:623,000
Date:2011 Census
Ref:e24
Familycolor:Indo-European
Fam2:Indo-Iranian
Fam3:Indo-Aryan
Fam4:Northern
Fam5:Western Pahari
Script:Devanagari
Mandiali Takri
Lc1:mjl
Ld1:Mandeali
Glotto:mand1409
Glottoname:Mandeali

Mandeali (Takri:) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India, predominantly in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh by the people of the Mandi Valley and particularly in the major city of Mandi. Other spellings for the name are Mandiyali and Mandiali. UNESCO reports it is one of the highly endangered languages of India.[1] Speakers of the dialect have decreased by 21% from 1961 to 2001.

The language is distantly related to Kullvi. The Chambealic varieties are often considered separate languages, but at least some are 90–95% intelligible with Mandeali proper. Its sub-dialect are different than mandeali

Dialects

Preliminary survey suggests speakers have functional intelligibility of Kangri. People in southeast Mandi district may have more difficulty understanding Kangri. Standard Mandeali is spoken throughout the broad valley running north and south from Jogindernagar to Sundarnagar. Mandeali Pahari is spoken north around Barot, east of Uhl River. Intelligible with difficulty to standard Mandeali. May be intermediate variety between Mandeali and Kullui. The dialect is very close to the Kullvi spoken in neighbouring lug valley region of Kullu district and are culturally, linguistically closer to Kullu. Southeast district contains transition to Mahasui. The dialect spoken is also sometimes referred as Suketi or dialect of Outer Seraj Area as dialect is an intermediate variety of Kullvi and Upper Mahasuvi of neighbouring Shimla and Kullu district. In the west, Sarkaghat is also a bit different from standard Mandeali, perhaps forming a transition towards Hamirpur and Bilaspur areas. Lexical similarity: 89% with Palampuri dialect of Kangri, 83% with Chambeali.[2]

Phonology

Consonants

LabialDentalAlveolarRetroflexPost-alv./
Palatal
VelarGlottal
Plosive /
Affricate
voicelessptʈk
aspriatedʈʰtʃʰ
voicedbdɖɡ
breathyɖʱdʒʱ
Fricativevoicelesssʃɦ
voiced
Nasalmnɳ(ŋ)
Laterallɭ
Trill/Taprɽ ɽʱ
Approximantjw

Vowels

The vowels of Mandeali language are shown below.

FrontCentralBack
Closei iːu uː
Mid(e) eːə əː(o) oː
Open-midɔː
Open

Grammar

Pronouns

The Pronouns of Mandeali for different person and number are -

1st Person Singular : हाऊँ /ɦaːũ/

1st Person Plural : आस्से /asːe/

2nd Person Singular : तू /tu/

2nd Person Plural : तुस्से /t̪usːe/

3rd Person Proximate Singular : ए, ये /eː, jeː/

3rd Person Proximate Plural : यों /jõː/

3rd Person Distal Singular : से /seː/

3rd Person Distal Plural : स्यों /sjõː/

Noun Cases

1. घर - घर - home - Nominative

2. घरो/ घरा जो - घर को - to home - Accusative 3. घरे - घर ने - Ergative

‌4. घरा के/ घरा कन्ने/ घरा साउगी - घर के साथ - with house - Comitative

5. घरा ले/ घरा ला - घर से - through home - Instrumental

6. घरा कट्ठे - घर के लिए - for home - Dative

7. घरा ले/ घरा ला - घर से - from home - Ablative

8. घरा रा/रे/री - घर का/की/के - of home - Genetive

9. घरा/ घरा मंझ - घर में - Innesive

10. घरा गास, परयाल्हे, पर - घर पर - Addesive

11. घरा (sing)/ घरो (plural)- ओ घर - Vocative

12. घरा साँहीं - घर जैसा - Similative

13. घरा तिक्कर/ तिक - घर तक - Terminative

Numerals

NumeralMandeali
1 एक्क ekk
2 दुई duī
3 त्राए trāē
4 चार chār
5 पांज pānj
6 छेह chheh
7 सात्त sātt
8 आठ āṭh
9 नौ nau
10 दस das
11ग्यारा gyārā
12बारा bārā
13तेहरा tehrā
14चउदा chaudā
15पंद्रा pandrā
16सोळा soḷā
17सतारा satārā
18ठारा ṭhārā
19उन्नी unni
20बीह bīh

Script

The native script of the language is a variety of Takri called Mandeali Takri.

Vocabulary

Names of months

Traditionally, the month formats is based on Hindu calendar.

List of Months in Mandeali! मंडयाली!Transliteration!English
चइतरchaitarMarch–April
बसाखbasākhApril–May
जेठjeṭhMay–June
हाह्ड़hāhṛJune–July
साओणsāoṇJuly–August
भाद्रोbhādroAugust–September
सौजsaujSeptember–October
कातकkātakOctober–November
मंगसरmangsarNovember–December
पौसpausDecember–January
माघmāghJanuary–February
फागणphāgaṇFebruary–March

Names of days

Days are generally indic.

List of days in Mandeali! मंडयाली!Transliteration!English
त्वारTwārSunday
सोमबारSombārMonday
मंगळबारMangaḷbārTuesday
बुद्धबारBuddhbārWednesday
बीरबारBīrbārThursday
सुक्करबारSukkarbārFriday
सनिचरSanicharSaturday
•Twār is a loan word from Urdu (Itwār)

Status

The language is commonly called Pahari or Himachali, just like many other neighbouring languages. The language has no official status. According to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the language is of definitely endangered category, i.e. many Mandeali children are not learning Mandeali as their mother tongue anymore.[3]

The demand for the inclusion of 'Pahari (Himachali)' 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.[4] There has been no positive progress on this matter since then even when small organisations strive to save the language and demand it.[5] Due to political interest, the language is currently recorded as a dialect of Hindi,[6] even when having a poor mutual intelligibility with it and being close to other Pahari languages such as Kahluri and Kangri.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger . Unesco.org . 25 August 2012.
  2. Web site: Mandeali.
  3. Web site: Endangered languages. 15 April 2011.
  4. News: Pahari Inclusion. Zee News.
  5. News: Pahari Inclusion. The Statesman.
  6. Web site: Indian Language Census.