Bagri language

The Bagri (बागड़ी / باگڑی) is a language that forms a dialect bridge between Haryanvi, Rajasthani, and Punjabi and takes its name from the Bagar tract region of Northwestern India.[2] The speakers are mostly in India, in the Anupgarh, Hanumagarh , Northern tehsils of Bikaner and Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan , Sirsa and Fatehabad district of Haryana, Fazilka district of Punjab in India.

Bagri
बागड़ी, باگری
The word "Bagri" written in Devanagari script
Native to
RegionBagar
EthnicityBagri
Native speakers
1,890,815 (2011 census)[1]
Devanagari, Arabic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3bgq
Glottologbagr1243

Bagri is a typical Indo-Aryan language akin to Haryanvi, Punjabi and Rajasthani with SOV word order. The most striking phonological feature of Bagri is the presence of three lexical tones: high, mid, and low, akin to Punjabi.[3] The language has a very high (65%) lexical similarity with Haryanvi. According to the 2011 Census, there are 234,227 speakers of Bagri Rajasthani and 1,656,588 speakers of Punjabi Bagri.[4]

Features

Phonology

Bagri distinguishes 31 consonants including a retroflex series, 10 vowels, 2 diphthongs, and 3 tones.

Consonants[5]
Labial Dental Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
plosive Voiceless p t ʈ ⟨ṭ⟩ c k
Aspirated ʈʰ ⟨ṭh⟩
Voiced b d ɖ ⟨ḍ⟩ ɟ ⟨j⟩ g
Breathy ɖʰ ⟨ḍh⟩ ɟʰ ⟨jh⟩
fricative s h
sonorant Nasal m n ɳ ⟨ṇ⟩
Approximant l ɭ ⟨ḷ⟩ j ⟨y⟩ w
Flap ɽ ⟨ṛ⟩
Trill r

/ɳ/, /ɭ/ and /ɽ/ do not occur word initially.

Vowels[5]
Front Central Back
Close iː ⟨ī⟩ uː ⟨ū⟩
Near-close ɪ ⟨i⟩ ʊ ⟨u⟩
Close-mid eː ⟨e⟩ ə ⟨a⟩ ⟨o⟩
Open-mid ɛː ⟨ai⟩ ɔː ⟨au⟩
Open aː ⟨ā⟩

All vowels have their nasalised counterpart, marked with ◌̃ ( in Devanagari).

Bagri has 3 tones in a similar way to the Punjabi language. A rising-falling tone ◌́,  a rising tone ◌̀, and an unmarked mid tone.[5]

Declension

  • There are two numbers: singular and plural.
  • Two genders: masculine and feminine.
  • Three cases: simple, oblique, and vocative. Case marking is partly inflectional and partly postpositional.
  • Nouns are declined according to their final segments.
  • All pronouns are inflected for number and case but gender is distinguished only in the third person singular pronouns.
  • The third person pronouns are distinguished on the proximity/remoteness dimension in each gender.
  • Adjectives are of two types: either ending in /-o/ or not.
  • Cardinal numbers up to ten are inflected.
  • Both present and past participles function as adjectives.

Verbs

  • There are three tenses and four moods.

Syntax

  • Sentence types are of traditional nature.
  • Coordination and subordination are very important in complex sentences.
  • Parallel lexicon are existing and are very important from sociolinguistic point of view.

Samples

तेरो

Tero

नाम

nām

के

ke

है

hai

तेरो नाम के है

Tero nām ke hai

What is your name?

किन्नै

kinne

जावै

jāve

है?

hai

किन्नै जावै है?

kinne jāve hai

Where are you going?

इन्नै

inne

ā

इन्नै आ

inne ā

Come here

क्यूकर

kyūkara

है?

hai

क्यूकर है?

kyūkara hai

How are you?

तन्नै

tannai

कुचरणीं

kučaraṇīṃ

ही

करनी

karni

है

hai

के?

ke

तन्नै कुचरणीं ही करनी है के?

tannai kučaraṇīṃ hī karni hai ke

Do you only want to disturb things?

बातां

bātāṃ

गा

पीसा

pīsā

लागै

lāgai

है.

hai

बातां गा पीसा लागै है.

bātāṃ gā pīsā lāgai hai

Talking costs money.

के

ke

करे

kare

है?

ha

के करे है?

ke kare ha

What are you doing?

रोळो

rollo

है

ha

के

ke

कोई

koī

तेरै

terai

रोळो है के कोई तेरै

rollo ha ke koī terai

Do you have any problem?

तू

too

कठै

kathai

गयैड़ो

gayairo

हो

ho

तू कठै गयैड़ो हो

too kathai gayairo ho

Where did you go?

कठैउं

kaṭhū

आन

ān

लाग

lāga

रह्यो

rahyo

है?

ha

कठैउं आन लाग रह्यो है?

kaṭhū ān lāga rahyo ha

Where are you coming from?

भांडा

bhanda

भांडा

bhanda

Utensils

घोड़ो

Ghodo

होव

hov

जिओं

jiya

घोड़ो होव जिओं

Ghodo hov jiya

Like a horse

कोजवाड़

kojwād

कोजवाड़

kojwād

Embarrassing.

ब्या

bayha

मे

mai

कुन

kun

आयो

aayo

ब्या मे कुन आयो

bayha mai kun aayo

Who came in the marriage?

टावरो

tabaro

के

ke

करो

karo

हो

ho

टावरो के करो हो

tabaro ke karo ho

What are you doing kids?

Official status

There are two varieties of Bagri, Bagri Rajasthani and Bagri Punjabi. During the census, Bagri Rajasthani, spoken in Haryana and Rajasthan, is considered a Hindi dialect while Bagri Punjabi, spoken in Punjab, is considered a Punjabi dialect.[4]

Work on Bagri

  • Grierson, G. A. 1908. (Reprint 1968). Linguistic Survey of India. Volume IX, Part II. New Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass
  • Gusain, Lakhan. 1994. Reflexives in Bagri. M.Phil. dissertation. New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University
  • Gusain, Lakhan. 1999. A Descriptive Grammar of Bagri. Ph.D. dissertation. New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University
  • Gusain, Lakhan. 2000a. Limitations of Literacy in Bagri. Nicholas Ostler & Blair Rudes (eds.). Endangered Languages and Literacy. Proceedings of the Fourth FEL Conference. University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 21–24 September 2000
  • Gusain, Lakhan. 2000b. Bagri Grammar. Munich: Lincom Europa (Languages of the World/Materials, 384)
  • Gusain, Lakhan. 2008. Bagri Learners' Reference Grammar. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Northside Publishers
  • Wilson, J. 1883. Sirsa Settlement Report. Chandigarh: Government Press

Regions where Bagri is spoken:

See also

References

  1. "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  2. "Revised Land and Revenue Settlement of Hisar District 9006-9011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  3. Gusain 2000, p. 14.
  4. "LANGUAGE - INDIA, STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES (Table C-16)" (PDF). Census of India 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2018.
  5. Gusain, Lakhan. A Descriptive Grammar of Bagri. pp. 165–198.

Bibliography

  • Gusain, Lakhan (1999). A Descriptive Grammar of Bagri (PhD). Jawaharlal Nehru University. hdl:10603/16847.
  • Gusain, Lakhan (2000). Bagri. Languages of the world. Materials. Munich: LINCOM Europa. ISBN 978-3-89586-398-1.
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