Dogri is spoken by 2.6 million people in India (as of the 2011 census).[1] It has been among the country's 22 scheduled languages since 2003. It is also one of the 5 official languages of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Dogri was originally written in the old Dogra Akkhar script – a modified version of Takri.[8] A modified version of this script was created by the order of Maharaja Ranbir Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, which was then called Name Dogra Akkhar.[9] Official documents were written in this new script; however it never caught on among the general Dogri-speaking populace. Currently, Devanagari is the officially recognised script for Dogri in India and virtually all Dogri literature is published in it.
Lilavati (a mathematics treatise originally written in Sanskrit) in Dogra Akkhar script.Dogra Script Specimen
Gemination occurs in all consonants except the consonants /ɾ ɳ ɽ ʃ/.
Retroflex consonants /ɽ ɳ/ rarely occur in word initial position.
/f z x ɣ/ only occur from Perso-Arabic loan words. /f/ is also heard as an allophone of /pʰ/.
/ɾ/ can also marginally be heard as trilled [r] in some speech.
In some words, /s/ can become more weakly pronounced, or even eliminated and replaced by a glottal fricative sound [h].
A palatal nasal sound [ɲ] typically occurs when a dental nasal precedes a post-alveolar affricate consonant, rarely occurring in words word-initially or medially.
A velar nasal sound [ŋ] typically occurs when a dental nasal precedes a velar plosive consonant, and rarely occurs word-initially or medially.[10]
These are rules of writing tones in Dogri using Devanagari Script. They are as follows:-
Just like Punjabi, Dogri also uses the letters घ (gʱə), झ (d͡ʒʱə), ढ (ɖʱə), ध (d̪ʱə), भ (bʱə) and ढ़ (ɽʱə) for tonal uses. When at the beginning of the word, it has a high-falling tone; i.e.:- घ (kə̂), झ (t͡ʃə̂), ढ (ʈə̂), ध (t̪ə̂), भ (pə̂) and ढ़ (ɽə̂). When in the middle and final position of the word, the preceding vowel has a low-rising tone; i.e.:- अघ (ə̌ɡ), अझ (ə̌d͡ʒ), अढ (ə̌ɖ), अध (ə̌d̪), अभ (ə̌b) and अढ़ (ə̌ɽ). Examples:- घड़ी (kə̂ɽiː)- clock, and बध (bə̌d̪).
Unlike Punjabi, there is no ह (ɦə) sound and it has a high-falling tone in all positions; i.e.:- हत्थ (ə̂t̪ːʰə)- hand.
To indicate a low-rising tone in the middle of words, Dogri uses ह् (ह with a halant) to indicate it when the preceding vowel is long; i.e.:- आ (aː), ई (iː), ऊ (uː), ए (eː), ऐ (ɛː), ओ (oː) and औ (ɔː). Example:- साह्ब (sǎːb)- sahab. When the preceding vowel is short, i.e., - अ (ə), इ (ɪ) and उ (ʊ); a combining apostrophe (ʼ) is used. Example:- लʼत्त (lə̌tː)- leg.
The characters mentioned in the first point can also be used to indicate high-falling tone in the middle of the words when between a short vowel and a long vowel.
In the year 1317, Amir Khusro, the famous Urdu and Persian poet, referred to Duger (Dogri) while describing the languages and dialects of India as follows: "Sindhi-o-Lahori-o-Kashmiri-o-Duger."[12][13]
Theories on name origin
Intellectuals in the court of Maharaja Ranbir Singh of Jammu and Kashmir described Duggar as a distorted form of the word Dwigarta, which means 'two troughs', a possible reference to the Mansar and Surinsar lakes.[14]
The linguist George Grierson connected the term Duggar with the Rajasthani word Doonger which means 'hill', and Dogra with Donger.[14] This opinion has lacked support because of the inconsistency of the ostensible changes from Rajasthani to Dogri (essentially the question of how Doonger became Duggar while Donger became Dogra), and has been contradicted by some scholars.[15]
Yet another proposal stems from the word Durgara, the name of a kingdom mentioned in an eleventh century copper-plate inscription in the Bhuri Singh Museum in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh.[citation needed] The word Durgara means 'invincible' in several Northern Indo-Aryan languages, and could be an allusion to the ruggedness of the terrain of Duggar and the historically militarised and autonomous Dogra societies.[citation needed]
In 1976, the experts attending the Language Session of the All India Oriental Conference held in Dharwad, Karnataka, could not reach consensus on the Dwigarta and Durgara hypotheses, but did manage agreement on a Doonger-Duggar connection. In a subsequent All India Oriental Conference held at Jaipur in 1982, the linguists agreed that the culture, language and history of Rajasthan and Duggar share some similarities. It was also suggested that the words Duggar and Dogra are common in some parts of Rajasthan. Specifically, it was asserted that areas with many forts are called Duggar, and their inhabitants are accordingly known as Dogras. The land of Duggar also has many forts, which may support the above opinion.
An article by Dharam Chand Prashant in the literary magazine Shiraza Dogri suggested that "the opinion that the word Duggar is a form of the word Duggarh sounds appropriate."[16]
Recent history
Dogri folk song sung during the interview of a Dhramshala citizen
In modern times, a notable Dogri translation (in the New Dogra script) of the Sanskrit classic mathematical opus Lilavati, by the noted mathematician Bhaskaracharya (b. 1114 AD), was published by the Vidya Vilas Press, Jammu in 1873.[17] As Sanskrit literacy remained confined to a few, the late Maharaja Ranbir Singh had the Lilavati translated into Dogri by Jyotshi Bisheshwar, then principal of Jammu Pathshala.[18]
Dogri has an established tradition of poetry, fiction and dramatic works. Recent poets range from the 18th-century Dogri poet Kavi Dattu (1725–1780) in Raja Ranjit Dev's court to Professor Ram Nath Shastri and Mrs. Padma Sachdev. Kavi Dattu is highly regarded for his Barah Massa (Twelve Months), Kamal Netra (Lotus Eyes), Bhup Bijog and Bir Bilas.[19]Shiraza Dogri is a Dogri literary periodical issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, which is a notable publisher of modern Dogri literary work, another being the Dogri Sanstha. Popular recent songs include Pala Shapaiya Dogariya, Manne di Mauj and Shhori Deya. The noted Pakistani singer Malika Pukhraj had roots in Duggar,[20] and her renditions of several Dogri songs continue to be popular in the region. Some devotional songs (bhajans) composed by Karan Singh have gained increasing popularity over time, including Kaun Kareyaan Teri Aarti.
Dogri programming features regularly on Radio Kashmir (a division of All India Radio), and Doordarshan (Indian state television) broadcasts in Jammu and Kashmir. However, Dogri does not have a dedicated state television channel yet, unlike Kashmiri (which has the Doordarshan Koshur channel, available on cable and satellite television throughout India).[citation needed]
Official recognition of the language has been gradual, but progressive. On 2 August 1969, the General Council of the Sahitya Academy, Delhi recognized Dogri as an "independent modern literary language" of India, based on the unanimous recommendation of a panel of linguists.[21] Dogri is one of the official languages of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. On 22 December 2003, in a major milestone for the official status of the language, Dogri was recognized as a national language of India in the Indian constitution.[22][23]
In 2005, a collection of over 100 works of prose and poetry in Dogri published over the last 50 years was made accessible online at the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore. This included works of eminent writer Dhinu Bhai Panth, Professor Madan Mohan Sharma, B.P. Sathai and Ram Nath Shastri.[24]
सारे मनुक्ख मैह्मा ते अधिकारें दे बिशे च जनमै थमां सुतैंतर ते बरोबर न। उ'नेंगी बुद्धि ते जमीरै दी देन थ्होई ऐ ते उ'नेंगी आपूं-बिच्चें भाईचारे दे भावै कन्नै ब्यहार करना लोड़दा ऐ।
Dogri (Perso-Arabic script)
سارے منکّھ میہما تے ادھکاریں دے بشے چ جنمے تھماں ستیںتر تے بروبر ن۔ ا'نیںگی بدّھ تے جمیرے دی دین تھہوئی اے تے ا'نیںگی آپوں-بچّیں بھائیچارے دے بھاوے کنّے بیہار کرنا لوڑدا اے۔
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
^ abBahri, Ujjal Singh (2001). Dogri: Phonology and Grammatical Sketch. Series in Indian Languages and Linguistics, 24: New Delhi: Bahri Publications.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location (link)
^"Dogri". lisindia.ciil.org. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
^Shastri, Ram Nath (1981). Dogri Prose Writing before Independence (Translated). Dogri Research Centre, Jammu University.
^"Lok Sabha passes bill recognising Dogri, 3 other languages". Daily Excelsior. Jammu and Kashmir. 23 December 2003. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2008. Dogri among other three languages has been included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution when Lok Sabha unanimously approved an amendment in the Constitution
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