Sirmauri is a Western Pahari language spoken in the Sirmaur district in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Its two main varieties are Dharthi (also called Giriwari) and Giripari.
Grammar
Postpositions
| case | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| genitive | /ra/ | /ree/ | /roo/ |
| locative | /da/ | /dee/ | /doo/ |
| ablative | /sa/ | /see/ | /soo/ |
Script
The native script of the language is called the Sirmauri script.[4] This script is under proposal to be encoded in Unicode.[5] It is locally known as Dhankari. Pabuuchi was a script used by a class of astrologers.
Status
The language is commonly called Pahari or Himachali. The language has no official status and is recorded as a dialect of Hindi.[6] According to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the language is in the critically endangered category, i.e. the youngest speakers of Sirmauri are generally grandparents or older and they too speak it infrequently or partially.[7] Earlier the language enjoyed some state patronage, but this ended after independence due to the government favoring Hindi more.
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, was made in 2010 by the state's Vidhan Sabha.[8] However, no positive progress on this matter has been made since then. Some small organisations are attempting to save the language.[9]
References
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