Doteli, or Dotyali (
Doteli-Devanagari: ) is an
Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 495,000 people, most of whom live in
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
. It is a dialect of
Khas
Khas peoples or Khas Tribes, (; ) popularly known as Khashiya are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, in what is now the South Asian country of Nepal, as well as the Indian stat ...
, which is an ancient form of the modern
Nepali language
Nepali (; , ), or ''Gorkhali'' is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official and most widely spoken Languages of Nepal, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a ''lingua fr ...
, and is written in the
Devanagari
Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī script, Brā ...
script. It has official status in Nepal as per Part 1, Section 6 of the
Constitution of Nepal 2072 (2015).
There are four main dialects of Doteli, namely Baitadeli, Achhami, Bajhangi Nepali, Darchuli and Doteli.
The
mutual intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between different but related language varieties in which speakers of the different varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. Mutual intelli ...
between these dialects is high and all dialects of Doteli are able to share language-based materials.
Example short phrases
Names of the language
The language is known by various names in the far–western region of Nepal, according to the districts.
Official status
The
Language Commission of Nepal has recommended Dotyali language as official language in
Sudurpashchim Province
Sudurpashchim Province () is one of the seven Provinces of Nepal, provinces established by the Constitution of Nepal, new constitution of Nepal which was adopted on 20 September 2015. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, ...
.
Origin and history
Although Dotyali isn't fully intelligible with standard Nepali, Dotyali is considered a member of the macrolanguage Nepali.
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.
References
External links
Easy Nepali TypingEnglish to Nepali ConverterType Nepali with Nepali UnicodeType In Nepali UnicodeSaral Nepali Unicode
{{Authority control
Languages of Nepal
Languages written in Devanagari
Languages of Sudurpashchim Province
Languages of Karnali Province