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Languages
The language of Rajasthan is Rajasthani which consists of five principal
dialects like Marwari, Dhundhari, Mewari, Mewati and Hadauti. It is derived from
Apabhramsa, with all its linguistic and orthographical peculiarities.
Rajasthani as a language of literature suffered a great set back during
the British period. Today hundreds of poets and writers are writing in
Rajasthani. Folk literature in Rajasthani is varied and rich and consists
of songs, tales, sayings, riddles and folk-plays popularly known as khyals.
Marwari
Rajasthani is divided into four big groups,
the biggest being
that of Marwari.
Standard Marwari is spoken mainly in and around Jodhpur district and has some
influence on the dialects in Barmer, Jalore, Pali and part of Nagaur district.
The dialect is also spoken in mixed form in the east in
Ajmer, Udaipur,
Bhilwara and Chittorgarh district; in the south in Sirohi district and the
Palanpur district of Gujarat; in the west in Jaisalmer district and in the north
in Bikaner, Churu, Sikar and Jhunjhunu districts. It is also spoken with some
Punjabi influence in Ganganagar district in the north-west.
In the south-east in Mewar
(Udaipur, Bhilwara and Chittorgarh districts) and
its neighbourhood, there is the well-known eastern form of Marwari known as
Mewari. In the southern part of Pali and Jalore districts, the whole of Sirohi
district and the northern part of Palanpur, there is a southern sub-dialect. The
dialect spoken in the western parts of Barmer, Jaisalmer, Thar and Parkar areas
of Sind is called Thali in the north and Dhatak in the west.
Northern forms of Marwari cover
Bikaner, Churu, Ganganagar, Sikar and
Jhunjhunu districts. In Bikaner it is called Bikaneri while in the north-eastern
part of Churu it is known as Bagri.
Dhundhari
The second big group of Rajasthani is formed by eastern Rajasthani or
Jaipuri, better known as Dhundhari. It covers the districts of Jaipur, Tonk,
Kota and Bundi and parts of Kishangarh, Ajmer and Jhalawar. In the north-east,
Eastern Rajasthani has the Mewati dialect of the same language, while further east, from north to south, it is Braja
Bhasha in Bharatpur, the Dang sub-dialect
of Braja Bhasa in Sawai- Madhopur and Karauli, Bundeli and Malvi in Jhalawar and
the southern parts of Kota.
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