A woman from the Achham district of Nepal discusses cooking mutton and fish in the Achhami dialect.
Doteli, or Dotyali (डोटेली) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 495,000 people, most of whom live in Nepal. It is a dialect of Khas, which is an ancient form of the modern Nepali language, and is written in the Devanagari script. It has official status in Nepal as per Part 1, Section 6 of the Constitution of Nepal 2072 (2015).[2] There are four main dialects of Doteli, namely Baitadeli, Bajhangi Nepali, Darchuli and Doteli.[3] The mutual intelligibility between these dialects is high and all dialects of Doteli are able to share language-based materials.
Names of the language
The language is known by various names in the far–western region of Nepal, according to the districts.
According to Rahul Sankrityayan Doteli or Dotyali is a dialect of the Kumaoni language which was brought to Doti by a section of the Katyuri dynasty of Kumaon, which had ruled over Doti until 1790.The Doti kingdom was formed after the Katyuri kingdom broke up into eight different princely states.[5] In Nepal, Doteli is considered a Nepali dialect. However, local intellectuals and people of Doti, those who speak Doteli, are increasingly demanding their language to be recognized as one of the national languages of Nepal.
