Dhatki (धाटकी; ڍاٽڪي), also known as Dhatti (धाटी; ڍاٽي), Thari (थारी; ٿَري), is a Indo-Aryan Language of the

Indo-European language The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia ( ...

family. It is mainly spoken in

Tharparkar Tharparkar (Dhatki language, Dhatki/; , ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan, headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar (1901⁠–⁠1947) or Eastern Sindh Frontier Distr ...

and

Umerkot Umerkot (Urdu: ; Dhatki language, Dhatki : عمرڪوٽ; Sindhi language, Sindhi: عمرڪوٽ; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �mərkoːʈ formerly known as Amarkot) is a city in the Sindh province of Pakista ...

districts of

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

and in

Barmer district Barmer District is a district in Rajasthan state of India. It is located in the western part of Rajasthan state forming a part of the Thar Desert. Barmer was the third largest district by area in Rajasthan and fifth largest district in India, o ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

Speakers

Dhatki/Dhatti is considered either related to Sindhi, or Rajasthani (Marwari). Dhatki dialects are divided into two groups Western Dhatki and Eastern Dhatki. Western Dhatki is spoken in Tharparkar,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

while Eastern Dhatki is spoken along Indo-Pakistan border in

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed ''The Golden city'', is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer district ...

and Barmer districts of India. Dhatki dialects and their names are based on the regions in Tharpakar which Include: Muhrano and Samroti etc. Speakers of Dhatki are ethnically Rajasthanis, Sindhis and Gujaratis, Dhatki language unite these people as a mother tongue under one umbrella. Some Dhatki-speaking communities migrated to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1947 after the independence and continued to do so in small numbers after that date, but the great majority of Dhatki speakers still reside in

. Dhatki/Dhati is spoken by these communities: The majority speakers of Dhatki language live in

Umerkot District Umerkot District (Dhatki language, Dhatki: عمرکوٹ / عمرڪوٽ, , ), also known as Amarkot District, is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the southeastern part of Sindh province of Pakistan. The city of Umerkot is the capital of the dis ...

and

Tharparkar District Tharparkar ( Dhatki/; , ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan, headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar (1901⁠–⁠1947) or Eastern Sindh Frontier District (1860⁠– ...

. 60% of the language's speakers are Muslims, 35% are Hindu and the remaining 5% practice traditional folk religions.

Phonology

Dhatki has

implosive Implosive consonants are a group of stop consonants (and possibly also some affricates) with a mixed glottalic ingressive and pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. That is, the airstream is controlled by moving the glottis downward in additi ...

consonants, unlike other closely related Rajasthani languages but like the neighbouring (but more distantly related)

Sindhi language Sindhi ( ; or , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status, as well as by 1.7 million people in India, where it is a Scheduled languages of India, schedu ...

. It is likely that these consonants developed in the language from contact with more culturally dominant Sindhi speakers. Aside from this, its phonology is much like other Indo-Aryan languages: ;Notes # Marginal and non-universal phonemes are in parentheses. is lateral for some speakers (Masica 1991:98). # is post-velar. Dhakti has a fairly standard set of vowels for an Indo-Aryan language: � aː ɪ iː ʊ (sometimes: u) uː eː oː ɛː ɔː The vowel ''ʊ'' may be realized as a short ''u'' and the vowel ''ɪ'' may be realized as a short ''i''. The vowel ''ɛː'' is often realized as the diphthong ''əiː'' based and context or as an ''æː'' based on the speaker's accent. The vowel ''ɔː'' is often realized as the diphthong ''əuː'' based and context. Nazalized vowels occur word finally in Dhakti, they are: �ː ẽː ɛ̃ː ɑ̃ː ɔ̃ː õː ũː

Samples

A few of the typical sentences in Dhatki are: * "What are you doing?", "I am reading this Page.", * "What is your name?", * "I have to eat" ''(Literally translates to "I have to eat

roti Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, East African, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, kno ...

)''. * "where are you going? "Nowhere.", * "How are you?". "I am Fine", -"who are you?"

Writing System

The language uses two major writing systems. In India, 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 (which is also used for Marwari,

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and many other north Indian languages) is employed; whereas is in Pakistan, the Sindhi script is used. Some mercantile families, particularly on the Indian side of the border use their own scripts, usually variations of the Mahajani script.

References

{{Languages of Pakistan Languages of Rajasthan Languages of Sindh Dialects of Sindhi Languages written in Devanagari Thari people