Doteli, or Dotyali () is an
Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 800,000 people, most of whom live in
Nepal. It is a dialect of
Khas, which is an ancient form of the modern
Nepali language, and is written in the
Devanagari 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, Bajhangi Nepali, Darchuli and Doteli.
The
mutual intelligibility between these dialects is high and all dialects of Doteli are able to share language-based materials.
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 ( ne, सुदूरपश्चिम प्रदेश, ''Sudurpashchim Province'') (''Far-West Province'') is one of the seven provinces established by the new constitution of Nepal which was adopted on 20 September ...
.
Origin and history
According to
Rahul Sankrityayan
Rahul Sankrityayan (born Kedarnath Pandey; 9 April 1893 – 14 April 1963) was an Indian writer and a polyglot who wrote in Hindi. He played a pivotal role in giving travelogue a 'literary form'. He was one of the most widely travelled scholars ...
Doteli or Dotyali is a dialect of the
Kumaoni language which was brought to
Doti
Doti ( ne, डोटी), also known as Doti region, Dotigarh (डोटीगढ़) as used in the Jagar (folk tales; जागर), in the Farwestern region of Nepal (Sudurpashchim Province), is a region situated between River Kali bordering ...
by a section of the
Katyuri dynasty
The Katyuri kings were a medieval Hindu Rajput's ruling clan of Khasha origin from Joshimath that ruled over the regions in present day regions of Kumaon, Uttarakhand in India and parts of Doti/Sudurpashchim Province in Nepal from 700 to 120 ...
of
Kumaon, which had ruled over Doti until 1790.The Doti kingdom was formed after the Katyuri kingdom broke up into eight different princely states.
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