|
|
Linguistically the state has different, distinctive features
and there are as many dislects as there were princely states. Every ten to
twelve miles the dialect changes and yet there is enough uniformity to
bind them all under the head of western Pahari, which is different from,
the eastern Pahari of Nepal and the central Pahari og Garhwal and Kumaon.
The various dialects of Pahari spoken in region are 'Mandiali' in Mandi,
'Kulvi' in Kullu, 'Kehluri' in Bilaspur, 'Hinduri' in Nalagarh, 'Chameali'
in Chamba, 'Sirmauri' in
Sirmour, 'Miahasvi' in Mahasu region and 'Pangwali' in Pangi. Besides,
there are the dialects of Bhot origin, the Kinnauri, the Lahaulu and the
Spitian. All dialects of Pahari are of Sanskritic origin. They have been
written differently in different times. In earlier days they were written
in 'Tankri' or Thakari, but later during the Muslim period they were
written in the Persian script. Still later they come to be written in
'Devanagri'.
Still, the dominant local language is Pahari, a Hindi dialect derived
from Sanskrit and Prakrit. Hindi is medium of instruction in schools and
is widely spoken. Because of the tribes - each with its own language and
dialect - Himachal boasts of more than 60 dialects. In places with a
Buddhist population, Tibetan is the language. With Himachal's close
proximity to Punjab
, Punjabi is the medium of communication in some places.