Mandeali language

Mandeali is a Western Pahari language spoken in northern India, predominantly in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh by the people of the Mandi Valley and particularly in the major city of Mandi. Other spellings for the name are Mandiyali and Mandiali; it is also called Mandalgarhi ~ Mandigyahri. UNESCO reports it is one of the highly endangered languages of India.^[5] Speakers of the language have decreased by 21% from 1961 to 2001.

The Chambealic varieties (Bilaspuri, Chambeali, Bhattiyali, Pangwali, Gaddi, and Churahi/Bhadrawahi/Bhalesi/Khashali/Padari) are often considered separate languages, but at least some are 90–95% intelligible with Mandeali proper.^[6]

Dialects

Preliminary survey suggests speakers have functional intelligibility of Kangri. People in southeast Mandi district may have more difficulty understanding Kangri. Standard Mandeali is spoken throughout the broad valley running north and south from Jogindernagar to Sundarnagar. Mandeali Pahari is spoken north around Barot, east of Uhl River. Intelligible with difficulty to standard Mandeali. May be intermediate variety between Mandeali and Kullui. Southeast district contains transition to Mahasui. In the west, Sarkaghat is also a bit different from standard Mandeali, perhaps forming a transition towards Hamirpur and Bilaspur areas. Lexical similarity: 89% with Palampuri dialect of Kangri, 83% with Chambeali.^[7]

References