Marwari (, , , ) is a Western Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Marwari and its closely related varieties like Dhundhari, Shekhawati and Mewari form a part of the broader Rajasthani language family. It is spoken in the Indian state of Rajasthan, as well as the neighbouring states of Gujarat and Haryana, some adjacent areas in eastern parts of Pakistan, and some migrant communities in Nepal. There are two dozen varieties of Marwari.

Marwari is popularly written in Devanagari script, as are many languages of India and Nepal, including Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, and Sanskrit; although it was historically written in Mahajani, it is still written in the Perso-Arabic script by the Marwari minority in Eastern parts of Pakistan (the standard/western Naskh script variant is used in Sindh Province, and the eastern Nastalik variant is used in Punjab Province), where it has educational status but where it is rapidly shifting to Urdu.

Marwari has no official status in India and is not used as a language of education. Marwari is still spoken widely in Jodhpur, Pali, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Nagaur, and Bikaner. It is also one of the most common languages spoken by Indians in Kenya.

History

It is believed that Marwari and Gujarati evolved from Old Western Rajasthani or Dingal. Formal grammar of Gurjar Apabhraṃśa was written by Jain monk and Gujarati scholar Hemachandra Suri.

Geographical distribution

Marwari is primarily spoken in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Marwari speakers have dispersed widely throughout India and other countries but are found most notably in the neighbouring state of Gujarat and in Eastern Pakistan. Speakers are also found in Bhopal. With around 7.9 million speakers in India according to the 2001 census.

Some dialects of Marwari are:

Marwari dialects

Lexis

Indian Marwari [rwr] in Rajasthan shares a 50%–65% lexical similarity with Hindi (this is based on a Swadesh 210 word list comparison). It has many cognate words with Hindi. Notable phonetic correspondences include /s/ in Hindi with /h/ in Marwari. For example, /sona/ 'gold' (Hindi) and /hono/ 'gold' (Marwari).

Pakistani Marwari [mve] shares 87% lexical similarity between its Southern subdialects in Sindh (Utradi, Jaxorati, and Larecha) and Northern subdialects in Punjab (Uganyo, Bhattipo, and Khadali), 79%–83% with Dhakti [mki], and 78% with Meghwar and Bhat Marwari dialects. Mutual intelligibility of Pakistani Marwari [mve] with Indian Marwari [rwr] is decreasing due to the rapid shift of active speakers in Pakistan to Urdu, their use of the Arabic script and different sources of support medias, and their separation from Indian Marwaris, even if there are some educational efforts to keep it active (but absence of official recognition by Pakistani or provincial government level). Many words have been borrowed from other Pakistani languages.

Merwari [wry] shares 82%–97% intelligibility of Pakistani Marwari [mve], with 60%–73% lexical similarity between Merwari varieties in Ajmer and Nagaur districts, but only 58%–80% with Shekhawati [swv], 49%–74% with Indian Marwari [rwr], 44%–70% with Godwari [gdx], 54%–72% with Mewari [mtr], 62%–70% with Dhundari [dhd], 57%–67% with Haroti [hoj]. Unlike Pakistani Marwari [mve], the use of Merwari remains vigorous, even if its most educated speakers also proficiently speak Hindi [hin].

Marwari Dialects Comparison

Phonology

Vowels

• Nasalization of vowels is phonemic, all of the vowels can be nasalized.

• Diphthongs are /ai, ia, ae, əi, ei, oi, ui, ua, uo/

Consonants

• Implosives are mostly only found word initially and it formed due to the influence of neighbouring languages.

• // is [] before front vowels and [] elsewhere e.g. [ʋɪwwa] 'marriage'.

• Younis Kashali mentions aspirated implosives, fricatives and sonorants.

Morphology

Marwari languages have a structure that is quite similar to Hindustani (Hindi or Urdu). Their primary word order is subject–object–verb. Most of the pronouns and interrogatives used in Marwari are distinct from those used in Hindi; at least Marwari proper and Harauti have a clusivity distinction in their plural pronouns.

Vocabulary

Marwari vocabulary is somewhat similar to other Western Indo-Aryan languages, especially Rajasthani and Gujarati, however, elements of grammar and basic terminology differ enough to significantly impede mutual intelligibility.

Word List

Swadesh 100-word list with Marwari translations and IPA transcriptions, illustrating core vocabulary for linguistic comparison and historical linguistics.

Writing system

Marwari is generally written in the Devanagari script, although the Mahajani script is traditionally associated with the language. In Pakistan, it is written in the Perso-Arabic script with modifications. Historical Marwari orthography for Devanagari uses other characters in place of standard Devanagari letters.

Mahajani Script

The Mahajani script is a Laṇḍā script used primarily for mercantile purposes and contains extensive written material in the form of financial ledgers, records and accounts. It is written left to right and has fewer vowels than most North Indian scripts. Their use is optional, with the reader inferring the sounds from context.

Marwari Mahajani alphabet

Perso-Arabic Script

Marwari Perso-Arabic alphabet

Marwari Perso-Arabic vowels

Sample Texts

Below is a sample text in Marwari, in standard Devanagari Script, and transliterated into Latin as per ISO 15919.

See also

• Hadauti

• Lambadi

• List of Indian languages by total speakers

• Marwari Muslims

• Marwari people

• Shekhawati

Notes

References

Further reading

• Lakhan Gusain (2004). Marwari. Munich: Lincom Europa (LW/M 427)

External links

• Hanvant's Rajasthani Dictionary