Pahari language explained

Pahari, or Pahadi (Hindi: पहाड़ी Indic languages: pahāṛī 'of the hills/mountains';) is an ambiguous term that has been used for a variety of languages, dialects and language groups, most of which are found in the lower Himalayas.

Most commonly, it refers to:

• Pahari-Pothwari, the predominant language of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir and neighbouring areas of Punjab and Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir
• Western Pahari languages spoken primarily in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh,^[1] with some languages in the south-eastern parts of Indian Jammu and Kashmir,^[2]
• Northern Indo-Aryan languages, in the linguistics literature often referred to as "Pahari languages", a proposed group that includes the Indo-Aryan languages of Nepal and the Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

Less commonly, Pahari may be:

• a term used by Dogri speakers of the plains to refer to the Dogri varieties spoken at higher elevations, in Indian Jammu and Kashmir^[3]
• a local name for a variety of Bilaspuri spoken in a certain hilly area of Indian Punjab^[1]
• a name nowadays used only in rural areas to refer to the Nepali language^[4]
• a local name for a Bhili dialect of Eastern Gujarat.^[1]

Pahari (Nepali: पहरी paharī) refers to:

• Pahari language (Sino-Tibetan), a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by a few thousand people in central Nepal.^[5]

Of similar origin is the name Paharia, which is used for several languages of east-central India: see Paharia language (disambiguation).

Notes and References

1. Book: Masica, Colin P.. Colin Masica. The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge language surveys. 1991. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-23420-7. 439.
2. Book: Kaul, Pritam Krishen. 2006. Pahāṛi and Other Tribal Dialects of Jammu. 1. Delhi. Eastern Book Linkers. 8178541017.
3. Brightbill. Jeremy D.. Turner. Scott D.. 2007 . A sociolinguistic survey of the Dogri language, Jammu and Kashmir. SIL Electronic Survey Reports. 7.
4. Book: Riccardi, Theodore. George Cardona . . 2003. The Indo-Aryan languages. Nepali. Routledge language family series. Y. Routledge. London. 540. 978-0-7007-1130-7.
5. Smith. Brianne J.. 2022. A Sociolinguistic Study of Pahari: A Language of Nepal. Journal of Language Survey Reports. 2022-003.