Kutchi language
Encyclopedia
Kachhi
Kachhi (also spelt Cutchi, Kutchhi or Kachchhi, is an Indo-Aryan Language
spoken in the Kutch region of the India
n state of Gujarat as well as in Sindh
.
, spoken in neighboring Sindh
, Pakistan
and parts of India, and Gujarati
, because the Kutch District is geographically between Sindh
and Gujarat.
Kachhi is often thought to be a mixture of Sindhi
, Gujarati and Rajasthani
. Its lexical content shows the very large extent to which the language is a complex combination of Sindhi and Gujarati. It is likely that such linguistic similarities are the result of migrations over the centuries across the desert stretching from present-day Sindh to Saurashtra and Kutchh to the east, and Rajasthan.
Most Kachhis living in India are bilingual or trilingual, due to exposure to closely related neighbouring languages such as Gujarati. Many Pakistanis are also bilingual or trilingual; many residents of Karachi
speak Kutchi. Kutchi can not be written in Urdu script but it can be written in Sindhi or Gujarati scripts.
In addition, Kutchi is also understood by speakers of the Memoni dialect, spoken by individual belonging to the Memoni ethnicity within Pakistan and India, so much so that they could have an entire conversation with only a few words of difference.
and Arabic
-- words like "duniya" (world), and "naseeb" (fate), are routinely used by many speakers of Kachhi. Many Kachhi speakers also speak Gujarati as a separate language, especially as it is the language in which Kachhi speakers customarily write. Kachhi speakers' Gujarati accent and usage tends towards standard forms that any Gujarati speaker would be able to understand.
To give an indication of dialects and regional variations, the Sindhi question "Kithe vino ta?" (where are you going?) would be posed in Kutchhi as "Kidaa vano ta?"
The following words are commonly used by Hindu individuals of descending from the Kutch rural area of Gujarat, India, who, especially if in east Africa, reject Kutchhi. These are colloquial forms of general Gujarati phrases that are often used in daily conversation in villages, particularly of the Kutchi predominance and are Gujaratisized versions of Kutchi words. An example of such follows:
. Many books and magazines are published the language using the modified Gujarāti script, including Vadhod ("Inquiry"). Kachhi is also written in the Devanagari script by some speakers. In earlier times it was written in Khojki script, which is now extinct. Recently, Dr Rajul Shah, an ayurvedic doctor, psychologist and a graphologist has created a script to use for the language. http://www.kutchimaadu.com/general/kutchi-language-gets-script/http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=3&contentid=200907112009071103202225014550c50http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/kutchi-language-gets-script/365943/ Many people in the area feel that the Dholavira
script is their Kutchi heritage and believe it may have been used to write their language.
There are examples of the Kutchi script in the Kutch Museum
that is believed to be now extinct.
Kachhi (also spelt Cutchi, Kutchhi or Kachchhi, is an Indo-Aryan Language
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
spoken in the Kutch region of the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n state of Gujarat as well as in Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
.
Closely related languages
Kachhi is related to SindhiSindhi language
Sindhi is the language of the Sindh region of Pakistan that is spoken by the Sindhi people. In India, it is among 22 constitutionally recognized languages, where Sindhis are a sizeable minority. It is spoken by 53,410,910 people in Pakistan, according to the national government's Statistics Division...
, spoken in neighboring Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and parts of India, and Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
, because the Kutch District is geographically between Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
and Gujarat.
Kachhi is often thought to be a mixture of Sindhi
Sindhi language
Sindhi is the language of the Sindh region of Pakistan that is spoken by the Sindhi people. In India, it is among 22 constitutionally recognized languages, where Sindhis are a sizeable minority. It is spoken by 53,410,910 people in Pakistan, according to the national government's Statistics Division...
, Gujarati and Rajasthani
Rajasthani language
Rajasthani Rajasthani Rajasthani (Devanagari: , Perso-Arabic: is a language of the Indo-Aryan languages family. It is spoken by 50 million people in Rajasthan and other states of India and in some areas of Pakistan. The number of speakers may be up to 80 million worldwide...
. Its lexical content shows the very large extent to which the language is a complex combination of Sindhi and Gujarati. It is likely that such linguistic similarities are the result of migrations over the centuries across the desert stretching from present-day Sindh to Saurashtra and Kutchh to the east, and Rajasthan.
Most Kachhis living in India are bilingual or trilingual, due to exposure to closely related neighbouring languages such as Gujarati. Many Pakistanis are also bilingual or trilingual; many residents of Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
speak Kutchi. Kutchi can not be written in Urdu script but it can be written in Sindhi or Gujarati scripts.
In addition, Kutchi is also understood by speakers of the Memoni dialect, spoken by individual belonging to the Memoni ethnicity within Pakistan and India, so much so that they could have an entire conversation with only a few words of difference.
Common words and phrases
There are distinct regional accents and variations in grammar. As in many languages spoken along Asian trade routes, there is substantial borrowing from PersianPersian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
-- words like "duniya" (world), and "naseeb" (fate), are routinely used by many speakers of Kachhi. Many Kachhi speakers also speak Gujarati as a separate language, especially as it is the language in which Kachhi speakers customarily write. Kachhi speakers' Gujarati accent and usage tends towards standard forms that any Gujarati speaker would be able to understand.
To give an indication of dialects and regional variations, the Sindhi question "Kithe vino ta?" (where are you going?) would be posed in Kutchhi as "Kidaa vano ta?"
The following words are commonly used by Hindu individuals of descending from the Kutch rural area of Gujarat, India, who, especially if in east Africa, reject Kutchhi. These are colloquial forms of general Gujarati phrases that are often used in daily conversation in villages, particularly of the Kutchi predominance and are Gujaratisized versions of Kutchi words. An example of such follows:
- Haiyo/chhadyo hane (Gujarati Bas chhodo have : now drop it)
- Achato/Venato ( Gujarati - Aawun' chhun' / Jaaun' chhun : I am coming / going)
- Kichri Khaayo ta? (Gujarati - Kichri khaao chho? : Do you eat Kichri?)
Writing system
Kachhi is normally written using a modified version of the Gujarāti scriptGujarati script
The Gujarati script , which like all Nāgarī writing systems is strictly speaking an abugida rather than an alphabet, is used to write the Gujarati and Kutchi languages...
. Many books and magazines are published the language using the modified Gujarāti script, including Vadhod ("Inquiry"). Kachhi is also written in the Devanagari script by some speakers. In earlier times it was written in Khojki script, which is now extinct. Recently, Dr Rajul Shah, an ayurvedic doctor, psychologist and a graphologist has created a script to use for the language. http://www.kutchimaadu.com/general/kutchi-language-gets-script/http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=3&contentid=200907112009071103202225014550c50http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/kutchi-language-gets-script/365943/ Many people in the area feel that the Dholavira
Dholavira
Dholavira is an archaeological site in Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kachchh district of Gujarat state in western India, which has taken its name from a modern village 1 km south of it. The site of Dholavira, locally known as Kotada timba contains ruins of an ancient Harappan city...
script is their Kutchi heritage and believe it may have been used to write their language.
There are examples of the Kutchi script in the Kutch Museum
Kutch Museum
Kutch Museum in Bhuj is the oldest museum of Gujarat. It initially formed part of the School of Art established by Maharao Khengarji III, which was founded on 1st July, 1877.The museum was earlier also known by name of Fergusson Museum....
that is believed to be now extinct.
Famous Kutchi speakers
- Great Revolutionary, Freedom Fighter and founder of non cooperation movement Pandit Shyamji Krishna Verma
- Fahmida MirzaFahmida MirzaDr. Fahmida Mirza , sometimes also spelled as Fehmida Mirza , is a medical doctor, agriculturist and businesswoman from Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan who was elected as the first female Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan on March 19, 2008...
, first female Speaker of the National Assembly of PakistanNational Assembly of PakistanThe National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the bicameral Majlis-e-Shura, which also compromises the President of Pakistan and Senate . The National Assembly and the Senate both convene at Parliament House in Islamabad...
. - Famous music duo Kalyanjibhai Anandjibhai
- Bollywood Choreographer Vaibhavi MerchantVaibhavi MerchantVaibhavi Merchant is a well-known Bollywood dance choreographer, the granddaughter of pioneering choreographer Shri B. Hiralal, her maternal grandfather. She is the younger sister of Shruti Merchant.-Career:...
- Disco Dandia founder Babla
- Music director Viju Shah
- Keshav Dutia
- Bollywood Director and Producer Vipul Amrutlal ShahVipul Amrutlal ShahVipul Amrutlal Shah is a film producer and director of Hindi films. As of 2010, he has directed five Hindi films, four of which have starred Akshay Kumar.-Career:...
- Salim Merchant
- Shekhar from the music duo Vishal-Shekhar
See also
- Kutchi MemonKutchi MemonKutchi Memons or Cutchi Memons are a part of larger Memons, a Muslim community of Pakistan and India, who speak the Kutchi language and are original residents of Kutch region....
- Memoni languageMemoni languageThe Memoni language is the language of Memons historically associated with Kathiawar, in West India, a Memon subgroup. Many Memons have settled in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan since the independence in 1947...
- OswalOswalThe Oswal are a social group of people from the Indian States of Rajasthan and Punjab. Oswals are primarily adherents of Svetambara Jainism, but a few are Digambaras and some are Hindu adherents of Vaishnavism....
- BhatiaBhatiaBhatia is a group of people and a caste originating from Sindh Province and Rajasthan. The Bhatias primarily live in Northwestern India and Pakistan. They are mainly found among the following ethnic groups or clans: Rajputs, Khatris, Gujjars, Yaduvanshi/Yadav and Bhati...
- LohanaLohanaThe Lohana also referred to as Luvana are an Indian caste,largely classified as merchants and are categorized as Vaishya or Bania caste although their ancient history proves that they are Kshatriya of Suryavanshi descant, claiming their lineage from Lava, son of Rama...
- Lohani (Pashtun)Lohani (Pashtun)For the Hindu Lohani clan see LohaniLohani are a Pashtun tribe found in Afghanistan , Pakistan and call also be found in other parts of South Asia ....
- KhojkiKhojkiKhojki or Khojiki was a script used almost exclusively by the Khoja community of parts of South Asia such as Sindh. It was employed primarily to record Muslim Shia Ismaili religious literature, as well as literature for a few secret Shia Muslim sects....
- Nagar
- Rajgor Brahmin