Bilaspuri (Himachali Takri: ), or Kahluri (Takri:) is a Western Pahari language spoken in northern India, predominantly in the Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh. It is associated with the people of the former princely state of Bilaspur in the Hills State. It is also spoken in the hilly parts of Rupnagar district and Hoshiapur district of Punjab.
Bilaspuri is classified as one of the varieties of the Himachali language group. According to the 2011 Census, the speakers of Bilaspuri/Kahluri (listed under Punjabi) are 295,805.2011 Census censusindia.gov.in
The dialect of the hilly part of Hoshiarpur district is also known as Pahāṛī (Takri: ).
Phonology Vowels Front Central Back short long short long Close, , , Close-mid Open-mid Open
Consonants Bilabial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Post-alv./Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal Stop/Affricate ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Fricative Approximant Trill
Dialects Following are the five dialects of Bilaspuri:
North-east Bilaspuri: (north-east of Kumar Hati); resemblance with Mandeali and Baghliani dialect of Mahasui of Arki tehsil of Solan district. North Bilaspuri: (north of Kumar Hati); resemblance with Mandeali. West Bilaspuri: shares resemblance with Kangri. Central Bilaspuri: Bilaspur (historic) town and surrounding area; shares resemblance with Baghliani dialect of Mahasui of Arki tehsil of Solan district. Davin or Daur: east and south-east of Bilaspur (historic town) shares resemblance with Hinduri, a dialect of Keonthali sub group of Mahasui.
The dialects of Kahluri are so closely allied that one might call them one dialect Kahluri or Bilaspuri.
Writing system The native script of the language is Takri script.
Proverbs +𑚊𑚩𑚥𑚱𑚤𑚯 (𑚠𑚮𑚥𑚭𑚨𑚞𑚱𑚤𑚯)कहलूरी (बिलासपूरी)Transliteration (Roman ITRANS)Equivalent Idiom in English𑚏𑚥𑚯 𑚝𑚯𑚫 𑚈𑚆 𑚀𑚞𑚱𑚫 𑚙𑚲 𑚟𑚮𑚔𑚲𑚢𑚱𑚫𑚩 𑚌𑚴𑚖𑚲𑚣𑚭𑚫𑚤𑚲चली नीं ओए अप्पूं ते फिट्टेमूंह गोड्डेयांरेchalI nIM oe appUM te phiTTemUMha goDDeyAMreA bad workman quarrels with his own tools.𑚑𑚠𑚤𑚲 𑚤𑚭 𑚞𑚙𑚶𑚚𑚤 𑚊𑚶𑚦𑚭𑚥𑚮𑚣𑚭जबरे रा पत्थर क्वालियाjabare rA patthara kvAliyAMight is right.𑚀𑚞𑚘𑚯𑚣𑚲𑚫 𑚟𑚱𑚔𑚯𑚣𑚲𑚫 𑚝𑚲𑚩𑚤𑚭अपणीयें फूटीयें नेहराapaNIyeM phUTIyeM neharAOnly the wearer knows where the shoe pinches.𑚀𑚞𑚘𑚭 𑚨𑚳 𑚀𑚞𑚘𑚭, 𑚞𑚤𑚭𑚣𑚭 𑚨𑚳 𑚞𑚤𑚭𑚣𑚭अपणा से अपणा, पराया से परायाapaNA se apaNA, parAyA se parAyABlood is thicker than water.𑚜𑚲𑚥𑚭 𑚁𑚃 𑚑𑚭𑚫𑚛𑚭 𑚞𑚤 𑚠𑚲𑚥𑚭 𑚝𑚃𑚫 𑚉𑚫𑚛𑚭धेला आई जांदा पर बेला नईं औंदाdhelA AI jAMdA para belA naIM auMdATime once lost cannot be got back𑚜𑚭𑚝𑚭𑚤𑚲 𑚸𑚲𑚙 𑚞𑚤𑚭𑚥𑚭 𑚙𑚲 𑚝𑚑𑚤𑚯 𑚁𑚃 𑚑𑚭𑚫𑚛𑚲/ 𑚑𑚮𑚝𑚲𑚫 𑚤𑚵𑚫𑚛𑚲𑚣𑚭𑚫 𑚑𑚭𑚘𑚭 𑚙𑚮𑚝𑚲 𑚢𑚤𑚱𑚤𑚲𑚣𑚭𑚫 𑚤𑚯 𑚃 𑚸𑚠𑚤 𑚥𑚶𑚣𑚭𑚅𑚘𑚯धानारे खेत पराला ते नजरी आई जांदे/ जिनें रौंदेयां जाणा तिने मरूरेयां री ई खबर ल्याऊणीdhAnAre kheta parAlA te najarI AI jAMde/ jineM rauMdeyAM jANA tine marUreyAM rI I khabara lyAUNIComing events cast their shadows beforehand.𑚩𑚲𑚥 𑚠𑚲𑚠𑚲 𑚩𑚲𑚥 𑚢𑚲𑚤𑚭 𑚀𑚫𑚌𑚘 𑚙𑚲𑚤𑚯 𑚛𑚲𑚩𑚥𑚷हेल बेबे हेल मेरा अंगण तेरी देहळhela bebe hela merA aMgaNa terI dehaLaTo waste time by loitering.𑚠𑚩𑚰𑚆 𑚏𑚑𑚶𑚑𑚲-𑚏𑚭𑚤𑚲𑚫 𑚝𑚯𑚫 𑚈𑚫𑚌𑚯 𑚙𑚭𑚫 𑚌𑚥𑚶𑚥𑚲𑚫 𑚛𑚲𑚸𑚲𑚣𑚭𑚫 𑚁𑚤𑚛𑚯बहुए चज्जे-चारें नीं ओंगी तां गल्लें देखेयां आरदीbahue chajje-chAreM nIM oMgI tAM galleM dekheyAM AradIIf not competent in deeds, why not boast in words?𑚜𑚯𑚆 𑚜𑚢𑚭𑚊𑚪𑚭 𑚊𑚝𑚶𑚝 𑚊𑚤 𑚠𑚩𑚰𑚆धीए धमाकड़ा कन्न कर बहुएdhIe dhamAka.DA kanna kara bahueTo speak to someone but to mean it for some other.𑚑𑚮𑚨𑚤𑚲 𑚀𑚙𑚶𑚚𑚲 𑚥𑚴𑚃 𑚙𑚮𑚨𑚤𑚭 𑚨𑚠 𑚊𑚴𑚃जिसरे अत्थे लोई तिसरा सब कोईjisare atthe loI tisarA saba koIOne who can reward can win hearts𑚸𑚶𑚦𑚭𑚑𑚲𑚤𑚭 𑚌𑚶𑚦𑚭' 𑚢𑚮𑚖𑚊ख्वाजेरा ग्वाऽ मिडकkhvAjerA gvA.a miDakaBirds of same feather flock together𑚠𑚲𑚛𑚲 𑚁𑚃 𑚑𑚫𑚌 𑚙𑚭𑚫 𑚠𑚮𑚝 𑚊𑚰𑚪𑚮𑚣𑚲 𑚤𑚲 𑚊𑚝𑚶𑚝बेदे आई जंग तां बिन कुड़िये रे कन्नबेदे आई जंग तां बिन कुड़िये रे कन्न
Status The language is commonly called Pahari or Himachali. Before independence there were certain institutions which enjoyed states patronage to publish in Kahluri. All of these institutions today lie in ruins since independence to favour Hindi. With no institute that imparts teaching for this language, the language/dialect is endangered due to dominance of other recognised languages like Hindi.
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, had been made in the year 2010 by the state's Vidhan Sabha. There has been no positive progress on this matter since then even when small organisations are striving to save the language. The language is recorded under Western Pahari group of languages, which was done on the basis of the conclusion made by linguists.
References
External links
Singh, Amitjit. "The Language Divide in Punjab." Sagar, Volume 4, Number 1, Spring 1997.