Bagri () is an Indo-Aryan language of Rajasthani languages group that takes its name from the Bagar tract region of Northwestern India in the states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. It is closely related to other Rajasthanic languages and Haryanvi with SOV word order. The most striking phonological feature of Bagri is the presence of three lexical tones: high, mid, and low, akin to Rajasthani, Haryanvi, and Punjabi. Bagri is a language of earlier Bikaner state which included district Sri Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Churu, Bikaner of Rajasthan and Sirsa (Haryana), Hisar (Haryana), Fazilka (Punjab) at a point in time.

The speakers are mostly in India, with a minority of them in Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar areas in modern day Pakistan. According to the 2011 census of India, there are 234,227 speakers of Bagri in Rajasthan and 1,656,588 speakers of Bagri in Punjab and Haryana.Census of India 2011 However, reported speaker numbers for Rajasthani languages, including Bagri, can be misleading due to classification practices in the Indian census.

None of the Rajasthani languages—including major varieties such as Marwari, Mewari, Dhundhari, Hadauti, Malvi, and Bagri—possess official status in India. They are not recognized in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, nor do they hold the position of an official language at the state or national level. Hindi serves as the official language of Rajasthan.

In the Census of India, most speakers of Rajasthani varieties are categorized under the broader "Hindi" umbrella as mother tongues. This practice groups numerous distinct Indo-Aryan languages and dialects spoken in Rajasthan (and adjacent regions) with Hindi, resulting in an underrepresentation of the actual number of Rajasthani language users.

Geographical distribution

+ The following table shows the Geographical distribution of Bagri speakers in the states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. States Districts and tehsils Rajasthan Anupgarh district, Sri Ganganagar district, Jhunjhunu district, Hanumangarh district, Khajuwala, Chhatargarh, Loonkaransar, Pugal, Sri Dungargarh and Bikaner tehsils of Bikaner district, Taranagar, Sardarshahar, Rajgarh, Sidhmukh, Bhanipura, Ratangarh and Churu tehsils in Churu district.Gusain, Lakhan: Reflexives in Bagri. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1994 Punjab Abohar & Fazilka tehsils of Fazilka district, Southern villages of Muktsar district.Gusain, Lakhan: Limitations of Literacy in Bagri. Nicholas Ostler & Blair Rudes (eds.). Endangered Languages and Literacy. Proceedings of the Fourth FEL Conference. University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 21–24 September 2000Census India 2001 Haryana Sirsa district ( not including North-eastern punjabi Kalanwali Mandi region), Fatehabad district upto the Ghaggar River, Barwala, Adampur and Hisar tehsils of Hisar district. Siwani and western part Loharu of Bhiwani district Badhra tehsil of Charkhi Dadri district

Features Phonology Bagri distinguishes 31 consonants including a retroflex series, 10 vowels, 2 diphthongs, and 3 tones. +Consonants Labial Dental Retroflex Palatal VelarGlottal plosive Voiceless ʈ ⟨ṭ⟩ c kAspiratedpʰtʰʈʰ ⟨ṭh⟩cʰkʰ Voiced ɖ ⟨ḍ⟩ ɟ ⟨j⟩ g Breathy bʰ dʰɖʰ ⟨ḍh⟩ ɟʰ ⟨jh⟩ gʰ fricative h sonorant Nasal ɳ ⟨ṇ⟩ Approximant lɭ ⟨ḷ⟩j ⟨y⟩Flapɽ ⟨ṛ⟩ Trillr /ɳ/, /ɭ/ and /ɽ/ do not occur word initially. +VowelsFront Central BackCloseiː ⟨ī⟩uː ⟨ū⟩Near-closeɪ ⟨i⟩ʊ ⟨u⟩Close-mideː ⟨e⟩ə ⟨a⟩oː ⟨o⟩Open-midɛː ⟨ai⟩ɔː ⟨au⟩Openaː ⟨ā⟩ All vowels have their nasalised counterpart, marked with ◌̃ (ँ in Devanagari).

Bagri has 3 tones in a similar way to the Punjabi language. A rising-falling tone ◌́,  a rising tone ◌̀, and an unmarked mid tone.

Declension There are two numbers: singular and plural. Two genders: masculine and feminine. Three cases: simple, oblique, and vocative. Case marking is partly inflectional and partly postpositional. Nouns are declined according to their final segments. All pronouns are inflected for number and case but gender is distinguished only in the third person singular pronouns. The third person pronouns are distinguished on the proximity/remoteness dimension in each gender. Adjectives are of two types: either ending in /-o/ or not. Cardinal numbers up to ten are infected. Both present and past participles function as adjectives.

Verbs There are three tenses and four moods.

Syntax Sentence types are of traditional nature. Coordination and subordination are very important in complex sentences. Parallel lexicon are existing and are very important from sociolinguistic point of view.

Samples

Official status Bagari is language of Bagar region of Rajasthan extended to some parts of Punjab and Haryana and Pakistan also. Bagri is spoken by Kumawats, Jats, Rajputs, Bagri Kumhars, Suthar, Meghwal, Chamars and others casts residing there. Bagri derives its roots from Marwari when bhati dynasty ruled over the region from Bhatner, modern day Hanumangarh which is epicentre of Bagri language. Bagri culture is also same in this region .

Work on Bagri Grierson, G. A. 1908. (Reprint 1968). Linguistic Survey of India. Volume IX, Part II. New Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass Gusain, Lakhan. 1994. Reflexives in Bagri. M.Phil. dissertation. New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University Gusain, Lakhan. 1999. A Descriptive Grammar of Bagri. Ph.D. dissertation. New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University Gusain, Lakhan. 2000a. Limitations of Literacy in Bagri. Nicholas Ostler & Blair Rudes (eds.). Endangered Languages and Literacy. Proceedings of the Fourth FEL Conference. University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 21–24 September 2000 Gusain, Lakhan. 2000b. Bagri Grammar. Munich: Lincom Europa (Languages of the World/Materials, 384) Gusain, Lakhan. 2008. Bagri Learners' Reference Grammar. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Northside Publishers Wilson, J. 1883. Sirsa Settlement Report. Chandigarh: Government Press

Gallery Regions where Bagri is spoken:

See also Rajasthani language List of winners of Sahitya Akademi Awards for writing in Rajasthani language List of Rajasthani poets List of Indian poets#Rajasthani

References

Bibliography

External links