Dhundhari is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Dhundhar region of northeastern Rajasthan state, India. Dhundari-speaking people are found in three districts – Jaipur, Karauli, Hindaun, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa, and Tonk. With some 1.5 million speakers, it is not the largest speaking language in Rajasthan, though fairly used in the regions mentioned above. Dhundhari has no official status in the government in India and is not used as a language of education. Dhundhari is still spoken widely in and around Jaipur. According to G.A.Grierson, Jaipuri is the form of speech of Central Eastern dialect of Rajasthani, which means literally the language of Rajasthan. MacAlister completed the grammatical analysis on February 24, 1884. Books on Jain philosophy, such as Moksha Marga Prakashak, have been written in Dhundari by Acharyakalpa Pt. Todarmalji. The Serampore missionaries translated the New Testament into Jaipuri proper in 1815.
Etymology
It is called Dhundhari as it was mainly spoken in the Dhundhar region. The state was divided into-Marwar, Mewar, Dhundhar, Hadoti, and Vagad. These divisions were based on culture and language. Now there is no such division and the districts which fall in that region are the ones listed above. Most of the Dhundhari-speaking population is in Jaipur and hence, the name Jaipuri. The derivation of the name ‘Dhundhari’ is thought to be from two origins. According to the first opinion, Dhundhari is believed to have drawn its name from the Dhundh or Dhundhakriti mountain, which is situated near Jobner in Jaipur District or in the West frontier of the State. The other opinion is that it is named after a river called Dhundh flowing through this region. Hence the name became Dhundhar. This tract is the place lying to the southeast of the range of the hills forming the boundary between Shekhawati and Jaipur. Other names employed by natives to Jaipuri are Jhar-sahi boli or the speech of the kingdom of the wilderness and Kai kui ki boli or the speech of kai kui, from the peculiar word ‘Kai’ which in Jaipuri means ‘what’.
Geographical Distribution
Dhundhari is primarily spoken in the state of Rajasthan. Mewati is another dialect of Rajasthani to the northeast, which assumes the form of Braja Bhasha in Bharatpur. Mewati is actually the language of the former Mewat, the abode of the Meos. Dang is a further sub-dialect of Braja Bhasa in Sawai Madhopur and Karauli and that of Bundeli and Malvi in Jhalawar and the southern parts of Kota.
Lexis
Modern Dhundhari , which is used in the present time, in Rajhastan shares a 75-80% lexical similarity with Hindi. It has many cognate words with Hindi. It also shares many words with other Rajasthani dialects. In some parts, it is also spoken mixed with Hindi and other similar languages.
Phonology
The phonemic inventory of Jaipuri consists of both segmental phonemes and suprasegmental phonemes. There are 6 vowel phonemes and 32 consonantal phonemes in Jaipuri language. Out of the 32 consonantal phonemes, there are 20 Stops, 2 fricatives, 4 nasals, 2 flaps and 2 lateral and 2 semivowels.
Vowels
Front
Central
Back
Close
i
u
Close-mid
e
o
Open-mid
ɐ
Open
ä
Suprasegmental Phonemes
Nasalization is a suprasegmental phoneme found in Jaipuri language which occurs with all vowels. Some of the occurrences of nasalized vowels are given below in contrast with non-nasalised vowels. Examples—'Ãguli' means finger where the first letter A is nasalized; 'bɐgicho' is garden in Dhundhari and ɐ is not nasalized. 'pũ:cʰŋo' is 'to wipe’ and again u is the suprasegmental phoneme.
Morphology
Dhundhari have a structure that is quite similar to Hindustani. The primary word order is subject–object–verb. Most of the interrogatives used in Dhundhari are different from Hindi.
Vocabulary
Dhundhari vocabulary is somewhat similar to other Western Indo-Aryan languages, especially Rajasthani. A little similarity can be traced between Dhundhari and Gujarati too. However, elements of grammar and fundamental terminology differ enough to significantly impede mutual intelligibility. Dhundhari also uses some words of Sanskrit which are not a part of Hindi now.
Writing System
Dhundhari is generally written in Devanagari script. Though not very much use of written Dhundhari is seen nowadays.
Usage
Though Jaipuri is used as a mother tongue in the home domains, the usage varies since the younger generation use Jaipuri mixed with Hindi. Jaipuri is used in the public places of the locality and the market among the Jaipuri speakers. Though Jaipuri is not taught as a separate subject or as a medium of instruction in the schools, oral communication and teaching is done mostly through Jaipuri language in the rural areas where Jaipuri speakers are in dominance. Many people in the last years have migrated to Hindi and stopped using Dhundhari altogether and this trend continues. It reduces the actual number of speakers in the census.
