Kutchi language

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Kachhi (also spelled, Cutchi or Kachchhi) is an Indo-Aryan Language spoken in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat, with approximately 866,000 speakers. It is spoken by the Kutchi people; specifically, these are the Bhanushalis(traditionaly known as Bhunsari in Kutchi), Brahmins (Rajgor Ganyathy - Bhuj) Megvals, Visa Oshwal and Dasa Osval (Oshwal) Jains, Lwanas, followers of satpanth,and various Muslim communities in the region, as well as by the Khojas, who use the language for liturgical purposes.

1 Closely-related languages
2 Most common words
3 Writing system
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Closely-related languages

Kachhi is closely related to Sindhi, spoken in neighboring Sindh, Pakistan. Kachhi is often mistakenly thought to be a mixture of Sindhi, Gujarati, Punjabi, and Rajasthani. This may be because Kachhi phonology is very much like that of Sindhi, but the vocabulary is closer to that of Gujarati.

Most Kachhis living in India are bilingual or trilingual, due to exposure to closely-related neighbouring languages such as Gujarati and Hindi.

[edit] Most common words

It has distinct accents and differentiations in grammar, the version spoken in Bhuj would be different to the versions spoken in the surrounding villages the examples which can be seen in the next paragraph below, which is generally hodge podged the with Gujarati. The Kutchi spoken in Bhuj and nearby small towns is grammatically and vocabulary distinct and pure from hodge podging with Gujarati, the persons living here also speak Gujarati as a separate language and their accent is uniform and of a standard form which any Gujarati person from another town would be able to understand.

i.e. Ai Acho tha - are you coming? (polite / masculine)

    Kurro Karyo tha - what are you doing?(polite - masculine)
    Kithe Vino tha - where are you going? 
    Keen' ayo - how are you?

There are many different dialects that vary from one village to the next. For example, the last question may also be posed as "Keda veno tha" (where are you going?).

Kutchi is also spoken in the villages and the language again changes form. The following words are commonly used by individuals of descending from the Kutch rural area of Gujarat, India. They are colloquial forms of general phrases that are often used in daily conversation in villages, particularly of the Kutchi predominance and are Gujaratisized versions of Kutchi words. An example of such follows:

-Su kerero? (Gujarati "su qarosho" meaning "what are you doing?"

-Awwaro/Jawwaro ( Gujarati - Awwushu / Jawwushu - I am coming / going)

-Kichri Khawhero? (Gujarati - Kichri Khawsho? - Are you eating Kichri?

[edit] Writing system

Kachhi is normally written using a modified version of the Gujarati script. Many books and magazines are published the language using the modified Gujarati script, including Vadhod ("Inquiry"). Kachhi is also written in the Devanagari script by some speakers. In earlier times it used to be written in Khojki script, which is now extinct.