Potwari language

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Potwari
پوٹھواری
Spoken in	Azad Kashmir, Pothohar Pakistan United Kingdom.
Total speakers	4,680,000
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northern zone Western Pahari Potwari
Language codes
ISO 639-1	None
ISO 639-2	none
ISO 639-3	phr
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The Potwari,Mirpuri or Southern Pahari-Potwari Language (also known as Pothohari or Pothwari) Potwariپوٹھواری is an Indo-European language spoken in the Potwar district around Rawalpindi, Pakistan to the Cease-fire Line (LoC) of Indian administered Kashmir de-facto border in Pakistan administered Kashmir and also by some Sikhs from Potwar. It is closely related to Punjabi and is considered to be a transitional dialect between Lahnda and Pahari. Dialects include Dhundi-Kairali, Chibhali, Mirpuri, Jhelumi, Pindiwali and Punchhi (Poonchi).

Written Potwari

A Potwari Poem (called a 'Sher') written in the Nastaʿlīq script.

In modern times Potwari is not officially written and there is no single standardised orthography. Speakers literate in Urdu often write solely in Urdu and do not regard Potwari as a literary language. When in rare cases Potwari is written the Urdu orthography is utilised or it is written in Roman Potwari which is used for the writing of Urdu in Roman script. This is largely the case in the UK where a large percentage of Potwari speakers reside.

It is not the case the Potwari has never been written, during the Buddhist reign Potwari was written using the Laṇḍā script which evolved from the Sharada script. Sharada was invented in the Buddhist university of the same name located in the Neelam Valley in modern day Azad Kashmir. Shaivite pandits from Jammu Kashmir still use the Landa script to write in the Hindu form of Pahari.

With the Muslim invasion of Northern India, written Potwari suffered a decline in usage as it was replaced by Persian and in modern times it was further replaced by Urdu. The form of Pahari spoken in Himachal Pradesh is now written in the Gurmukhi script, which itself is a modern version of the Landa script.^[1]

Potwari Arts

Potwari has a rich tradition of poetry recital accompanied by Sitar, Tabla, Harmonium and Dholak, these poems are called Sher and are often highly lyrical and somewhat humorous and secular in nature, although there are plenty of religious sher.

In October 2009 the first album containing Potwari popular songs was released, the title of the album was "Khushian," and featured Potwari songs by Saira Habib.

Potwari Film

Notable Potwari films produced by "Pahariwood" based in Azad Kashmir are:

• Miki Kharo England
• Main Julian England
• Nahla pa Dahla
• Paira Chaska Walayat Naa
• Sayr Upar Sawa Sayr
• Mister Saadah
• Khushian
• Chabarey
• Khaie Aaye O
• Nikka Raja
• Chan Mhara Charya
• Chan Pardeshi
• Uchay Shamlay
• Maye Ni Maye

All these films are part of the Potwari TV series Miki Kharo (make me).

Examples

Comparison with Punjabi

Pronunciation

Vowels:

Aspirated consonants:

All consonants followed by a 'h' are aspirated, that is a puff of air follows the sound of the consonant, not aspirating the consonant alters the meaning of the word. E.g. 'tu' and 'thu' have different meanings (you and from respectively)

References

External links

• Miki Kharo England - GeoPakistani
• http://www.pahari.org