Chhattisgarhi (Devanagari: छत्तीसगढ़ी) is the official language in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh and has approximately 17.5 million speakers.[1] It is an East Central Indo-Iranian language with heavy presence of vocabulary and linguistic features from Munda and Dravidian languages.[citation needed] Chhattisgarhi has been known by name Khaltahi to surrounding hill-people and by name Laria to Sambalpuri and Oriya speakers.
The speakers are concentrated in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh and in adjacent areas of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Jharkhand.
Chhattisgarhi cultural and political movements, with origins going back to the 1920s, affirmed Chhattisgarhi cultural and linguistic identity and sought greater autonomy within India. This came about in 2000 when 16 districts of the state of Madhya Pradesh became the new state of Chhattisgarh.
[edit] Classification
Chhattisgarhi is most closely related to Bagheli and Awadhi (Avadhi), and these languages are classified in the East Central Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages, the Indian branch of the Indo-European language family.
According to the Indian Government, Chhattisgarhi is an eastern dialect of Hindi,[citation needed] but it is classified as a separate language in Ethnologue. Chhattisgarhi has several identified dialects of its own, in addition to Chhattisgarhi Proper: Baighani, Bhulia, Binjhwari, Kalanga, Kavardi, Khairagarhi, Sadri Korwa, and Surgujia.
[edit] Writing
Chhattisgarhi, like Hindi, is written using the Devanagari script.
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources
[edit] References
- ^ Chhattisgarhi language at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
[edit] Bibliography
- C. K. Chandrakar, "Chhattisgarhi Shabadkosh"
- C. K. Chandrakar, "Manak Chhattisgarhi Vyakaran"
- C. K. Chandrakar, "Chhattisgarhi Muhawara Kosh"
[edit] External links
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Other Indo-Iranian languages
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