Social:Keonthali dialect

Short description: Dialect of Lower Mahasu Pahari, India

Keonthali
क्योंथली
𑚊𑚮𑚣𑚝𑚥𑚦
Keonthali written in Devanagari script
Pronunciation	/kjoːn.tʰaː.li/
Native to	Himachal Pradesh
Region	Mahasu
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan North-Western or Northern Western Pahari Mahasu Pahari Keonthali
Writing system	Takri
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	maha1287
Keonthali Approximate location of Keonthali speaking area
Coordinates: [ ⚑ ] 31.087282°N 77.152888°E / 31.087282; 77.152888

Keonthali (Takri:𑚊𑚮𑚣𑚝𑚥𑚦) is a dialect of lower Mahasu Pahari belonging to the Western Pahari group of languages (as per Grierson). It is spoken in lower parts of Shimla district in the North Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Extent

Map of Mahasuic group of languages, as Keonthali dialect is part of it

Keonthali dialect got it's name from former princely Keonthal state, the dialect is spoken usually in the areas which were parts of the then Keonthal state. Today some of these areas include Shimla, capital of Himachal Pradesh, Junga (former capital of Keonthal), Kasumpati, Mashobra, Sunni, Kufri, Chail, Shoghi, Ghanahatti, Jubbarhatti, Dhami, Khatnol, etc.

Script and specimen

Mahasu Pahari including Keonthali traditionally written in Takri, Pabuchi scripts. There are also some records of Mahasui written in Nastaliq script. Nowadays Devanagari script is usually used to write Mahasu Pahari which includes all it's dialects as Keonthali.

Following is the specimen of Keonthali with it's transliteration:

Specimen of Keonthali dialect of Mahasu Pahari

Transliteration and Translation of Specimen of Keonthali

Phonology

Inventory of Phonemes:

There are 42 phonemes of which 37 are consonants and 5 are vowels.

Segmental Phonemes (Vowels)

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Open-Mid
Open		ɑ

Super segmental Phonemes:

• Length is a phoneme.

• Nasalization is a phoneme.

Consonants:

Place/Manner	Bilabial	Labio-Dental	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar
Stops unaspirated	p, b		t, d		T, D	c, j	c, g
Stops aspirated	ph, bh		th, dh		Th, Dh		kh, gh
Affricates						ch, jh
Fricatives		f		s		Š	h
Nasals	M			n	N		M
Aspirated Nasals	mh			nh
Laterals				l	L
Aspirated Laterals				lh
Flaps/Trills				r	R
Semi-Vowel		w				y

Grammar

Pronouns

The pronouns of Keonthali for different persons and numbers are as follows:

Person	Number	Keonthali	IPA	Meaning
1st	Singular	आऊँ/मा/आहा	/aː.ũː/ /maː/ /aː.ɦaː/	I am/Me/I
	Plural	हामे	/ɦaː.meː/	We
2nd	Singular	तू	/t̪u/	You
	Plural	तुस्से	/tʊs.seː/	You
3rd	Singular & Plural	से	/seː/	He/She/They

Adverbial Pronouns

		Intorregative	Relative	Distal	Proximate
Time	Keonthali	कदी	जदी	तेबे	ऐबु/ऐबे
	Hindi	कब	जब	तब	अब
	English	When?	When	Then	Now
Place	Keonthali	केथी/केई	जेथी	तेथी	ऐथी
	Hindi	कहाँ	जहाँ	वहाँ	यहाँ
	English	Where?	Where	There	Here
Manner	Keonthali	किशे/कियें	जिशे	तिशे	इशे
	Hindi	कैसे	जैसे	वैसे	ऐसे
	English	How	like/as/	like that/in that way	like this
Quantity	Keonthali	किशरा	जिशरा	तिशरा	इशरा
	Hindi	कितना	जितना	उतना	इतना
	English	How much/many	as much as/as many as	that much/that many	this much/this many

Further reading

• Thomas Grahame Bailey’s : Languages of the Northern Himalayas (Sketch of the Keonthali).

• Colonel Sir Richard Temple : He has given several excellent examples of Keonthali poetry on pp. 367 ff. of Vol. I. of his Legends of the Punjab, to which he has prefixed a very useful vocabulary.

• Mr. H. A. Rose : He has published two Keonthali ballads (both Text and Translation), entitled, respectively, Subdi ki Nati, o Pahéri Love Song from Keonthal [Indian Antiquary, Vol. xxxviii (1909), p: 328], and Mohiye ki Har, or Bar [ib. Vol. xxxvii (1908), pp. 299 ff, and Vol. xxxviii (1909), pp. 40 ff., 69 ff.]

See also

• Keonthal State
• Baghati dialect
• Baghliani dialect
• Hinduri dialect