Kutchi language

Kutchi
કચ્છી / ڪڇي/ کچھی
Native to	India, Pakistan, Trinidad And Tobago, United Kingdom USA, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Portugal, UAE, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania.
Native speakers	873,000 (2001)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Zone Sindhi Kutchi
Writing system	Khojiki script, Devanagari script, Gujarati script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kfr
Glottolog	kach1277

Kutchi (/ˈkʌtʃiː/) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat as well as in the Pakistani province of Sindh. The name of the language is also transliterated as Kutchhi, Kachchi, Kachhi or Cutchi.

Closely related languages

Kutchi is a language spoken in parts of India and Pakistan. It has borrowed some vocabulary from Gujarati. Most Kutchis living in India are bilingual or trilingual, due to exposure to closely related neighbouring languages such as Gujarati. Many Pakistanis are also bilingual or trilingual; many residents of Karachi speak Kutchi. It is a unique language in itself especially in the way it is spoken and has many common words from Punjabi and Marwari(Rajasthan) as well.It is spoken by the Kutchi people specifically, these are the Rajputs Jadeja, Bhanushalis, Lohanas,Brahmins (Rajgor Gnayathy : Bhuj), Megvals, Visa Oswal and Dasa Osval (Oshwal) Jains, followers of satpanth, Bhatias, Rabaris and various Muslim communities in the region, including the Muslim Khojas and Kutchi Memons. Kutchi is often thought to be a mixture of Sindhi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Rajasthani.

Kutchi is also spoken by individuals belonging to the Memon ethnicity within Pakistan and India.

Common words and phrases

There are distinct regional accents and variations in grammar. As in many languages spoken along Asian trade routes, there is substantial borrowing from Persian and Arabic—words like "duniya" (world), and "nasib" (fate), are routinely used by many speakers of Kutchi. Many Kutchi speakers also speak Gujarati as a separate language, especially as it is the language in which Kutchi speakers customarily write. Kutchi speakers' Gujarati accent and usage tends towards standard forms that any Gujarati speaker would be able to understand.

The following words are commonly used by Hindu individuals of descending from the Kutch rural area of Gujarat, India, who, especially if in east Africa, reject Kutchi. These are colloquial forms of general Gujarati 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:

Haaiyo hane/chhado hane (Gujarati Bas chhodo have : now drop it)

Achanto/Vinanto ( Gujarati - Aavu(n)' chhu(n)' / Jaau(n)' chhu(n)' : I am coming / going)

Kichadi Khiyo taa? (Gujarati - Kichdi khaao chho? : Are you eating Kichdi?)

Writing system

Kutchi is normally written using a modified version of the Gujarāti script. Many books and magazines are published the language using the modified Gujarāti script, including Vadhod ("Inquiry"). Kutchi is also written in the Devanagari script by some speakers. In earlier times it was written in Khojki script, which is now extinct. Recently, Dr Rajul Shah, an ayurvedic doctor, psychologist and a graphologist has created a script to use for the language. [1][2][3] Many people in the area feel that the Dholavira script is their Kutchi heritage and believe it may have been used to write their language.

There are examples of the Kutchi script in the Kutch Museum, though the script is believed to be now extinct.

Kutchi speakers

Azim Premji

Lkadvani

Shyamji krishna varma

Vipul Shah

• Abdul Ghaffar Billoo, Pakistani pediatric endocrinologist and Philanthropist
• Abdul Qadir Patel, a Pakistani politician and former member national assembly of Pakistan
• Ali S. Asani, professor of the Practice of Indo-Muslim Languages and Culture at Harvard University
• Ali Velshi, CNN broadcaster
• Aliya Jasmine Sovani, host of 1 Girl 5 Gays & MTV host
• Alykhan Velshi
• Amin Bhatia, composer
• Amy Lakhani, Market Research Guru and World Famous Perv
• Azim Nanji
• Nazir Jairazbhoy
• Azim Premji, industrialist
• El-Farouk Khaki
• Fahmida Mirza, first female Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan
• Faisal Devji
• Gulgee, Pakistani artist
• Harish Bhimani, voice over artist of India
• Ian Iqbal Rashid
• John Nuraney, Canadian politician
• Kalyanji Anandji, Bollywood music director
• Lal Krishna Advani, senior BJP leader
• Murad Velshi, member of Provintial Parliament
• Naheed Nenshi, 36th Mayor of Calgary
• Omar Sachedina, CTV Broadcaster
• Salim Merchant
• Sanmay Ved, Purchased Google.com from Google in September 2015. Donated Google's reward to charity.
• Shafique Virani
• Shekhar from the music duo Vishal-Shekhar
• Shyamji Krishna Varma, revolutionary, lawyer, and journalist
• Sulaiman Merchant
• Taleeb Noormohamed, President & CEO of Serebra
• Viju Shah, music director
• Vipul Amrutlal Shah, Bollywood director and producer

See also

• Kutchi Memon
• Memoni language
• Oswal
• Bhatia
• Lohana
• Lohani
• Khojki
• Bhanushali

External links

• Kutchhi Language Online