Bhalesi is an
Indo-Aryan language spoken in the
Bhalessa region of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is a member of the
Bhadarwahi group of dialects under the
Western Pahari subgroup.
The region is locally known as ''Bhalessa'' (with variants like ''Bhalesh''), or as ''Bhal'', and from these terms derive the local names for the dialect: and (with variants , ). The region mostly takes up two adjacent mountain valleys, with the main settlements being Kahra, Gandoh, Kilhotran, Jakyas, Bhatyas, and Juggasar. The neighbouring languages are
Chinali,
Pangwali and
Chambeali to the south-east,
Padri to the north-east,
Kishtwari to the north-west,
Sarazi
Sarazi or Sirazi (also spelled Siraji) is an Indo-Aryan language of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is native to the Saraz region, a hilly area taking up the northern half of Doda district and parts of neighbouring Ramban and Kishtwar districts.
...
to the west, and
Bhadarwahi to the south.
Features that distinguish Bhalesi from the other Bhadarwahi dialects include the preponderence of
diphthongs, and the dropping of between vowels (e.g. Bhalesi vs. Bhadarwahi 'black').
An unusual feature is found in one of the patterns for the formation of the
plural of feminine nouns, adjectives and participles. While some forms add a
suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
( 'a small bee' -> 'small bees'), others will undergo
apophony: the final and initial vowels are
raised, for example:
* 'a small jug' -> 'small jugs'
* 'a white ant' -> 'white ants'
* 'she went' -> 'they(f) went'
References
Bibliography
*
*{{cite book, last = Varma, first = Siddheshwar, year = 1948, title = The Bhalesī dialect, series = Monograph series (Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal), volume = 4, place = Calcutta
Indo-Aryan languages
Northern Indo-Aryan languages
Languages of Jammu and Kashmir