| Mahasu Pahari | |
|---|---|
| Mahasui | |
| 𑚢𑚩𑚭𑚨𑚰𑚃, महासुई | |
  Mahasui written in Tankri script and Bushahri script.[1] | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Mahasu |
| Ethnicity | Mahasu |
Native speakers | 1 million (2002)[2] |
Indo-European
| |
| Tankri script,Devanagari[3] | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bfz |
| Glottolog | maha1287 |
| ELP | Mahasu Pahari |
| Baghati | |
Mahasu Pahari (Takri:𑚢𑚩𑚭𑚨𑚱 𑚞𑚩𑚭𑚪𑚯) is aWestern Pahari (Himachali,Takri:𑚩𑚮𑚢𑚭𑚏𑚥𑚯) language spoken inHimachal Pradesh. It is also known asMahasui orMahasuvi. The speaking population is about 1,000,000 (2001). It is more commonly spoken in Himachal Pradesh'sShimla andSolan districts, in western parts ofUttarkashi district inUttarakhand[4] and inKalka andPinjore ofPanchkula district inHaryana.[5] It is to be known that Shimla and Solan were parts of the oldMahasu district. Himachal Pradesh State on 1 September 1972 reorganised the districts dissolving Mahasu district. The Solan district was carved out of Solan andArki tehsils of the then Mahasu district and tehsils ofKandaghat andNalagarh of the then Shimla District ofPunjab.
According to different locations, the language has developed several dialects. Lower Mahasu Pahari (Baghati, Baghliani,Kiunthali), Upper Mahasu Pahari (Rampuri,Rohruri,Shimla Siraji,Sodochi). The Kiunthali variety appears to be understood by others, and their attitude toward it is favorable. Rampuri is also called Kochi; Rohruri is also called Soracholi; and Sodochi is also known as Kumharsaini or Kotgarhi after theKumarsain andKotgarh areas ofShimla District respectively.[6] Intelligibility among dialects is above 85%. Lexical similarity is 74%–82% with upper dialects, and 74%–95% with lower dialects. The language is used in home and for religious purposes. It is understood and spoken from people of vital age group. It is considered to be highly endangered as the number of people speaking it is constantly going down. It is closely related toSirmauri,Jaunsari,Bangani andKullui.
The native script of the language is a variety ofTakri Script. There are some written records of the language inTakri script andNastaliq script but nowadaysDevanagari script is usually used.[7]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Post-alv./ Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive / Affricate | voiceless | p | t | ts | ʈ | tʃ | k | |
| aspriated | pʰ | tʰ | tsʰ | ʈʰ | (tʃʰ) | kʰ | ||
| voiced | b | d | dz | ɖ | dʒ | ɡ | ||
| breathy | bʱ | dʱ | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | s | ʃ | ɦ | ||||
| voiced | z | (ʒ) | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɳ | (ŋ) | ||||
| Lateral | l | ɭ | ||||||
| Trill/Tap | r | ɽ | ||||||
| Approximant | ʋ | (j) | (w) | |||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | (ə) | o oː |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ ɔː | |
| Open | ɑ ɑː |
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | ||
| Close | ĩ | ũ | ũː |
| Mid | ẽ | õ | õː |
| Open-mid | ɔ̃ | ɔ̃ː | |
| Open | ɑ̃ | ɑ̃ː | |
The language is commonly calledPahari or Himachali. The language has no official status and is recorded as dialect of Hindi.[10] According to theUnited Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the language is of definitely endangered category, i.e. many Mahasui children are not learning Mahasui as their mother tongue any longer.[11] Earlier, the language had state patronage. Everything changed since independence, due to favoritism towards Hindi by the Indian Government.
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.[12] There has been no positive progress on this matter since then even when small organisations strive to save the language and demand it.[13] Due to political interest, the language is currently recorded as a dialect of Hindi, even when having a poor mutual intelligibility with it.
