Khariboli
Encyclopedia
Khariboli also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
: ; lit. 'standing dialect'), also Khari Boli, Khadiboli, Khadi Boli or simply Khari, is a Western Hindi
Western Hindi
Western Hindi is a group of Hindi dialects that evolved out of the Apabhramsa form of Shaurseni prakrit. According to G. A. Grierson it comprises such varieties as Haryanvi or Bangaru , Brajbhakha , Bundeli Western Hindi is a group of Hindi dialects that evolved out of the Apabhramsa form of...
dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
spoken mainly in the rural surroundings of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, the northern areas of Western Uttar Pradesh
Western Uttar Pradesh
Western Uttar Pradesh, sometimes simply referred to as West U.P., is a region in India that comprises the western districts of Uttar Pradesh state, including the areas of Rohilkhand and Braj. The region has some demographic, economic and cultural patterns which are distinct from other parts of...
and the southern areas of Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
in 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...
. Khariboli is widely accepted to be the main dialectical precursor of the Hindi-Urdu prestige dialect
Prestige dialect
In sociolinguistics, prestige describes the level of respect accorded to a language or dialect as compared to that of other languages or dialects in a speech community. The concept of prestige in sociolinguistics is closely related to that of prestige or class within a society...
, of which Standard Hindi and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
are official standard
Standard language
A standard language is a language variety used by a group of people in their public discourse. Alternatively, varieties become standard by undergoing a process of standardization, during which it is organized for description in grammars and dictionaries and encoded in such reference works...
register
Register (sociolinguistics)
In linguistics, a register is a variety of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. For example, when speaking in a formal setting an English speaker may be more likely to adhere more closely to prescribed grammar, pronounce words ending in -ing with a velar nasal...
s and literary styles. Standard Hindi and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
are the principal official languages of India and Pakistan respectively.
Khariboli is believed to have initially developed contemporaneously with the neighboring Awadhi
Awadhi language
Awadhi is an Indo-Aryan language, part of the Hindi-Urdu continuum. It is spoken chiefly in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, although its speakers are also found in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Nepal. Furthermore, the Fiji Hindi dialect spoken by Indo-Fijians is considered a variant of Awadhi,...
and Braj dialects in the 900-1200 CE period. Khari contains some features, such as gemination
Gemination
In phonetics, gemination happens when a spoken consonant is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a short consonant. Gemination is distinct from stress and may appear independently of it....
, which give it a distinctive sound and differentiates it from standard Hindi-Urdu, Braj and Awadhi. In academic literature, the term Kauravi (कौरवी) is sometimes applied to the specific Khari dialect spoken in the western parts of the Khari-speaking zone. Although Khariboli and Standard Hindi-Urdu differ dialectically, Standard Hindi-Urdu is sometimes also referred to as Khariboli and regarded as the literary form of that dialect.
Geographical Distribution
Khariboli is spoken in the rural surroundings of Delhi and northwestern Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, as well as in some neighboring areas of Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
and Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
. The geography of this part of North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
is traditionally described doab
Doab
A Doab is a term used in India and Pakistan for a "tongue" or tract of land lying between two confluent rivers...
s.
In Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, the following districts of the Yamuna
Yamuna
The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...
-Ganges doab are Khari-speaking:
- SaharanpurSaharanpur DistrictSaharanpur district is the northernmost of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state, India. Bordering the states of Haryana and Uttarakhand, and close to the foothills of Shivalik range, it lies in the northern part of the Doab region...
- MuzaffarnagarMuzaffarnagar DistrictMuzaffarnagar district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. It is part of Saharanpur division. The town of Muzaffarnagar is the district headquarters.-Communication:...
- Baghpat
- MeerutMeerut DistrictMeerut district , is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Meerut is the district headquarters. Meerut district is a part of Meerut division.-Demographics:...
- Ghaziabad
- BulandshahrBulandshahr DistrictBulandshahar District is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. Bulandshahr city is the district headquarters.-Geography:...
In Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
, the following districts of the Yamuna
Yamuna
The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...
-Ganges doab are partially Khari-speaking:
- HaridwarHaridwar DistrictHaridwar district is a district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is headquartered at Haridwar which is also its largest city. The district is ringed by the districts Dehradun in the north and east, Pauri Garhwal in the east and the Uttar Pradesh districts of Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor in the...
(Southern areas) - DehradunDehradun districtThere are five railway stations in Dehradun:* Raiwala* Rishikesh* Doiwala* Harrawala* DehradunAirport...
In the trans-Ganges area, it is spoken in the following districts of Rohilkhand
Rohilkhand
Rohilkhand is a region of northwestern Uttar Pradesh state of India.Rohilkhand lies on the upper Ganges alluvial plain and has an area of about 25,000 km²/10,000 square miles...
region in Uttar Pradesh:
- RampurRampur DistrictRampur district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Rampur town is the district headquarters. Rampur district is a part of Moradabad division. The district occupies an area of 2,367 km²...
- MoradabadMoradabad DistrictMoradabad district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Moradabad town is the district headquarters. Moradabad district is a part of Moradabad division...
- Jyotiba Phule Nagar
- BijnorBijnor DistrictBijnor is a district of Uttar Pradesh state of India. Bijnor city is the district headquarters.-Geography :...
In Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
, the following district is partially Khari-speaking:
- SonepatSonipat districtSonipat district is one of the 21 districts of Haryana state in northern India. Sonipat town is the district headquarters. It is a part of National Capital Region along with Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mewat, Palwal, Rewari, Jhajjar, Rohtak, Panipat, Alwar, Bhiwadi Industrial Town, Noida,...
- GurgaonGurgaon DistrictGurgaon district is one of the 21 districts of Haryana state in northern India. Gurgaon city is the administrative headquarters of the district. The population is 1,660,289 . .It is the southern-most district of Haryana...
- PalwalPalwal districtPalwal district is the 21st district of Haryana state in northern India. Palwal city is the headquarters of this district.The city is situated at a distance of 60 km from Delhi on the Delhi-Mathura highway. The latitude of the town is 28° 40' N and longitude is 76° 59' E...
Some characteristics of Khariboli
Khari's consonant gemination, vowel length, limited loss of aspiration and differing verb-forms mark it as distinct from Modern Standard Hindi-Urdu. There are also some vocabulary differences with the prestige Hindi-Urdu dialect.| Khari | Modern Standard Hindi-Urdu (MS-HU) | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Jutta urli taraf dhar diye. | Joota iss taraf rakh dijiye. | English: 'Please put the shoe on this side'; gemination of 't' in 'jutta'; Use of 'urli' in common with Haryanvi - the word is absent from MS-HU |
| Yo deekh na ria. | Yeh dikh nahin raha. | English: 'This is not visible'; Vowel lengthening; Variant word-forms |
| Main na detta. | Main nahin doonga. | English: 'I won't give it'; Varying verb-form; 'deta' exists in MS-HU but is semantically incorrect (due to tense) to use here; Also, gemination from the 'deta' form in MS-HU |
| Chiryon ku diqq mati karey. | Chiryon ko pareshaan mat kar. | English: 'Don't bother the birds'; Usage of Khari-specific abbreviation 'diqq', which is a shortening of 'diqqat'; Both MS-HU and Khari are using Persian-derived terms, but different ones; Khari-usage of 'mati' - a variant form of 'mat' which is the MS-HU norm |
| Kitaab chhaen me dhar dijiyo, asmaan se mi girey hai. | Kitaab chhaon mein rakh dena, aasmaan se baarish gir rahi hai. | English: 'Put the book in the shade, rain is falling from the sky.'; Preferential usage of 'dhar' over 'rakh'; differing word-forms; asmaan < aasmaan/sky, vowel shortening; Saharanpuri dialect usage of 'mi' in common with northern Haryanvi and Punjabi, which is absent in MS-HU |
Several words have differing forms in Standard Hindi-Urdu and Khari, for instance asmaan (shortened vowel, aasmaan/sky in standard-dialect Hindi-Urdu), haat (loss of aspiration, haath/hand in standard Hindi-Urdu) and chaddar (gemination and shortened vowel, chaadar/sheet in standard Hindi-Urdu).
Khariboli in Hindi-Urdu popular culture
Khariboli is often seen as rustic by speakers of Standard Hindi-Urdu, and elements of it were used in Hum Log, India's first television soap operaSoap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, where the main family was depicted as having roots in Western Uttar Pradesh.
As the two main Hindi-Urdu dialects of Western Uttar Pradesh and the areas surrounding Delhi, Khariboli and Braj Bhasha are often compared. One hypothesis of how Khariboli came to be described as khari (standing) asserts that it refers to the "stiff and rustic uncouthness" of the dialect compared to the "mellifluousness and soft fluency" of Braj Bhasha. On the other hand, Khariboli supporters sometimes pejoratively referred to Braj Bhasha and other dialects as "Pariboli" (पड़ी बोली, پڑی بولی, fallen/supine dialects).
Kauravi and Sankrityayan's proposal
Although most linguists acknowledge that Modern Standard Hindi-Urdu descended from Khariboli, the precise mechanism of dialectical changes from Khari to the prestige dialect (such as the loss of gemination which is so prevalent in Khari) lacks consensus. There are also variations within Khari itself across the area in which it is spoken. In the mid-twentieth century, IndianIndian people
Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...
scholar and nationalist, Rahul Sankrityayan
Rahul Sankrityayan
Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan , who is called the Father of Hindi Travel literature, was one of the most widely-traveled scholars of India, spending forty-five years of his life on travels away from his home. He became a buddhist monk and eventually took up Marxist Socialism...
, proposed a redrawing of the liguistic map of the Hindi-Urdu zone. Drawing a distinction between the Khari of Delhi and the Khari of the extreme western parts of Western Uttar Pradesh
Western Uttar Pradesh
Western Uttar Pradesh, sometimes simply referred to as West U.P., is a region in India that comprises the western districts of Uttar Pradesh state, including the areas of Rohilkhand and Braj. The region has some demographic, economic and cultural patterns which are distinct from other parts of...
, he advocated that the former retain the name Khariboli while the latter be renamed to Kauravi, after the Kuru Kingdom
Kuru Kingdom
Kuru was the name of an ancient kingdom in Vedic India, and later a republican Mahajanapada state. The kingdom was located in the area of modern Haryana, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh in India. They formed the first political center of the of the Vedic India, with its capital at Hastinapur. It...
of ancient India. Although the term Khariboli continues to be applied as it traditionally was, some linguists have accepted the term Kauravi as well, applying to the language spoken in the linguistic arc running from Saharanpur to Agra (i.e. the close east and north east of Delhi). Sankrityayan postulated that this Kaurvi dialect was the parent of Delhi's specific Khari dialect. Sankrityayan had also advocated that all Hindi-Urdu be standardized on the Devanagari script and Perso-Arabic entirely be abandoned.
Other dialects of Hindi-Urdu
Khariboli is related to four standardized registersStandard language
A standard language is a language variety used by a group of people in their public discourse. Alternatively, varieties become standard by undergoing a process of standardization, during which it is organized for description in grammars and dictionaries and encoded in such reference works...
of Hindi-Urdu: Standard Hindi, Urdu, Dakhini and Rekhta
Rekhta
Rekhta was the Persianized form of the Khariboli dialect of Hindi now known by the names "Hindustani", "Hindi", and "Urdu", although Rekhta is now almost synonymous with Urdu, as its poetry is still used and made today by Urdu speakers. From the late 17th century till the closing decades of the...
. Standard Hindi (also High Hindi, Nagari Hindi) is used as the lingua franca of Northern India (the Hindi belt
Hindi belt
The Hindi Belt or Hindi Heartland is a loosely defined linguistic region in North and Central India where Hindi languages are widely spoken, either as primary or secondary languages....
), Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
is the lingua franca of 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...
, Dakhini is the historical literary dialect of the Deccan region, and Rekhta the court register of Urdu used in medieval poetry
Urdu poetry
Urdu poetry is a rich tradition of poetry and has many different types and forms. Borrowing much from the Persian language, it is today an important part of Pakistani and North Indian culture....
. These standard registers together with Sansiboli
Sansiboli
Sansiboli, Sansi or Bhilki is a highly endangered Indo-Aryan language of the Central group. The language is spoken by the nomadic Sansi people....
form the Hindustani
Hindustani language
Hindi-Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language and the lingua franca of North India and Pakistan. It is also known as Hindustani , and historically, as Hindavi or Rekhta...
dialect group. This group together with Haryanvi, Kauravi, Braj Bhasha, Kanauji and Bundeli
Bundeli
Bundeli is a Western Hindi language spoken in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and in southern parts of Uttar Pradesh...
forms the Western Hindi
Western Hindi
Western Hindi is a group of Hindi dialects that evolved out of the Apabhramsa form of Shaurseni prakrit. According to G. A. Grierson it comprises such varieties as Haryanvi or Bangaru , Brajbhakha , Bundeli Western Hindi is a group of Hindi dialects that evolved out of the Apabhramsa form of...
dialect group.
Early influences
The area around DelhiDelhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
has long been the center of power in northern India, and naturally, the Khari-boli dialect came to be regarded as urbane and of a higher standard than the other dialects of Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
. This view gradually gained ground over the 19th century; before that period, other dialects such as Avadhi, Brij Bhasha
Brij Bhasha
Braj Bhasha , also called Brij Bhasha , Braj Bhakha , or Dehaati Zabaan , is a Central Indian language closely related to Hindi...
and Sadhukaddi
Sadhukaddi
Sadhukaddi, a popular language of medieval India, is a vernacular dialect of Hindi/ Hindustani which is a mix of Hindi , Braj Bhasha, Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Rajasthani, hence it is also commonly called a Panchmail Khichadi....
were the dialects preferred by littérateurs.
Rise as a literary and official language
The earliest examples of Khariboli can be seen in some of KabirKabir
Kabīr was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement...
and Amir Khusro
Amir Khusro
Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrow , better known as Amīr Khusrow Dehlawī , was an Indian musician, scholar and poet. He was an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent...
's lines.
In 1800, the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
established a college of higher education at Calcutta named the Fort William College
Fort William College
Fort William College was an academy and learning centre of Oriental studies established by Lord Wellesley, then Governor-General of British India. It was founded on July 10, 1800 within the Fort William complex in Calcutta...
. John Borthwick Gilchrist
John Borthwick Gilchrist
John Borthwick Gilchrist FRSE was a Scottish surgeon and Indologist.-Early life:Gilchrist was born in Edinburgh to merchant Walter Gilchrist, who disappeared the year he was born...
, a president of that college, encouraged his professors to write in their native tongue; some of the works thus produced were in the literary form of the Khariboli dialect. These books included Premsagar (Prem Sagur) by Lallu Lal, Naasiketopaakhyan by Sadal Mishra; Sukhsagar by Sadasukhlal of Delhi and Rani Ketaki ki kahani by Munshi Inshallah Khan. More developed forms of Khariboli can also be seen in some mediocre literature produced in early 18th century. Examples are Chand Chhand Varnan Ki Mahima by Gangabhatt, Yogavashishtha by Ramprasad Niranjani, Gora-Badal ki katha by Jatmal, Mandovar ka varnan by Anonymous, a translation of Ravishenacharya's Jain Padmapuran by Daulatram (dated 1824).
Earlier, the Khari-boli was regarded as a mixed brogue unworthy of being used in literature. However, under government patronage, it flourished, even as older and previously more literary tongues such as Brij Bhasha
Brij Bhasha
Braj Bhasha , also called Brij Bhasha , Braj Bhakha , or Dehaati Zabaan , is a Central Indian language closely related to Hindi...
, Maithili
Maithili language
Maithili language is spoken in the eastern region of India and South-eastern region of Nepal. The native speakers of Maithili reside in Bihar, Jharkhand,parts of West Bengal and South-east Nepal...
and Avadhi declined to virtual non-existence as literary vehicles. Notable writers such as Munshi Premchand
Munshi Premchand
Munshi Premchand , was a famous writer of modern Hindi-Urdu literature. He is generally recognized in India as the foremost Hindi-Urdu writer of the early twentieth century...
had started using literary form of Khariboli as the preferred language by the early 20th century.
After India became independent in 1947, the Khariboli-based dialect was officially recognized as the approved version of the Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
language, which was declared as one of the official languages of the central government functioning. Under the Indian government's encouragement, the officially sponsored version of the Khari-boli dialect has undergone a sea-change after it was declared the language of central government functioning in 1950. A major change has been the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
isation of Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
(introduction of Sanskrit vocabulary in Khariboli).
See also
- Hindi-Urdu
- Standard Hindi
- UrduUrduUrdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
(Standard Urdu) - Braj Bhasha
- Awadhi languageAwadhi languageAwadhi is an Indo-Aryan language, part of the Hindi-Urdu continuum. It is spoken chiefly in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, although its speakers are also found in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Nepal. Furthermore, the Fiji Hindi dialect spoken by Indo-Fijians is considered a variant of Awadhi,...