I. HISTORY AND LINGUISTIC CLASSIFICATION:
Introduction
Lahandā is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Northwestern parts of West- Pakistan. Originally, i.e. before the partition of India in
1947, it was known to be the language of the inhabitants of Western Punjāb and the North-Western Frontier Province. In and after 1947,
many speakers of this language migrated to India and are spread over many parts of this country.
Lahandā literally means setting (sun). This appears to be an appropriate name for a language spoken in the west. It is very often
confused with Punjabī and very commonly, the name Western Punjabī is used. It has many regional names such as Jatkī, Multāni, Hindkī, etc. Some dialectal names are also employed
for the whole language by the
layman. Although any one name commonly used can be regarded as equally good as the other, it must be admitted that Lahandā and Punjabī
are two different languages. In order to avoid any confusion between Punjabī and Lahandā, it is better not to use the word Western
Punjābī for this language because it gives an impression that Lahandā is a western dialect of Punjābī. No doubt, that Punjabī is closely
related to Lahandā but so is Sindhi and other languages. This also precludes the necessity of using ‘eastern’ with Punjabī in order to
distinguish it from Lahandā.
Lahandā has numerous dialects. This is a fine example of the proverbial saying that language changes after every few miles. Commonly
three main dialects are mentioned:
1. Southern or Standard
2. North-Eastern
3. North-Western
Each of these three main dialects has many different sub-dialects, which differ very strikingly from one another.
A.E. Rudolf Hoernle does not recognize this difference and says, “There are apparently two principal dialects of this language, viz.
the Multani spoken in the southern Punjab about Multan, and the dialect of the northern Punjābī (A Comparative Grammar of the Gandhian
Languages with special reference to the Eastern Hindi, London 1880.) Jukes and Grierson both recognize the fact that
Punjābī and Lahandā are two different languages. Grierson prefers the name Lahandā.
John Beams also mentions the same thing and adds that the word ‘dialect’ does not express the ‘boli’ distinctions properly.
"The Germans have a useful word ‘mundart’, which exactly conveys the idea I wish to express in the text”.
(A Comparative Grammar of the Modern Aryan Languages of India , Vol. I, P. 98, London, 1872).
Jukes mention southern Punjābī, the Salt Range Dialect and the Hazara dialect. (Western Punjabī and English Dictionary, P. IV.)
The above classification is based on Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India.
1. Standard proper
2. Multanī
3. Thalī
Thali means sandy desert. Thali is further sub-divided into two main sub-groups:
1. Dialects spoken in the eastern region of the Indus River.
2. Dialects spoken in the western region of the Indus River.
The main dividing line between two sub-groups is the vast expanse of the mighty Indus River. The most important dialects spoken
in the west of the Indus River are Bannūwāl and Derawal. Bannūwal is spoken in the district of Bannu and Derawal is spoken in the
district of Dera Ismail Khan. The Der257;w257;l dialect has been regarded as the more polished form of the speech by Grierson.
0.2. Derāwāl dialect and census figures:
The present study is based on the Derāwāl dialect of Lahandā spoken primarily in the city of Dera Ismail Khan.
The Derāwāl dialect varies in different rural areas. These variations have been ignored.
Generally no distinction is made between Punjābī and Lahandā or its dialects even on the official level because of the gen
eral unfamiliarity of the distinction between the two. Therefore, it becomes almost impossible to obtain statistical data of
speakers of this language. The census report of Pakistan does not mention even the name of Lahandā.
G.A.Grierson (Linguistic Survey of India, vol. VII, part I, p. 240-41. “In Dera Ismail Khan it is sometimes called
Hindki
and sometimes Derāwāl, the latter being considered to represent the more polished form of the speech”. This dialect should not be
confused with another dialect spoken in Dera Ghazi Khan, which belongs to a different sub-group, i.e. Multãnī.
Frontier Province (which is predominantly either Lahandā or Pashto area) have been considered or named as Panjābī or Pashto. The
population figures of Derā Ismail Khan are given as 290, 296. The mother tongue figures per 1000 of the total population are as follows:
Panjãbī Pashto Others
748 220 32
It is also not safe to regard figures for Punjābī as figures for Derãwãl, because of the possibility of the influx of several
migrants from different parts of Panjāb after the partition.
In 1947 almost all Hindus of Dera Ismail Khan migrated to India. So Hindu speakers of the Derãwal dialect are scattered in different
parts of India. There is no way of knowing the erect statistical details about these people in connection with their mother tongue
because of the confusion prevailing between Lahandā and Panjābī and also because many speakers of Lahandā have adopted the language
of the area where they are settled. Census returns in this regard are very interesting to note. All India figures for Derãwãl
are twenty-nine. These twenty-nine speakers are known to be living in Uttar. The most interesting fact is that all of them are
females of whom fourteen living in Bijnor of Rohilkhand division and fifteen in the urban area of Allahabad with no male member
speaking this dialect.v
(Census of Pakistan, 1951, vol.1, NWFP.
Census of India, paper no. 1, part I, All India Tables, Languages, 1951, Census, 1951, p.
State tables, Uttar Pradesh, part III.)
The total number of speakers of Lahandā are enumerated as eighty-two. Mostly returns for Lahandā are not filed because speakers are
not aware of this name. Very often the name of the sub-dialect or district is given. This fact is recognized in the census -1961 Tabulation Plan.
As there was some difficulty in obtaining exact returns for Punjābī and Hindi in the Panjab and Delhi, the census authorities gave
the bracketed figures for Hindi, Urdu, Hindustãnī, and Punjābī. No clear-cut division of Lahandā was made. This is how the possibility
of getting exact figures for speakers of Lahandā or Derãwãl is completely eliminated. There is same possibility of getting
approximately accurate figures by one more method. Migration reports from various districts of the Lahandā speaking area can give a
rough picture of its speakers.
0.3. Surroundings: Geographical Position:
Lahandā is surrounded by Panjābī in the east, Khagen in the west, Sindhi in the South and Dogri, Kashmiri and Shinã in the north.
Dera Ismail Khan is situated across the Indus River to the west.This cuts Derãwãl dialect off from influences of different dialects
of even Lahandā. Darya Khan is separated by the vast stretch of sandy desert and a big expense of the Indus River. Although the
distance is approximately fourteen miles, yet it is enough to keep two dialects distinct and varieties can be noticed even by a
casual observer or the layman.
9Census of India, Paper No. 1, part I, p.15.
“In the case of mother tongue at the 1951 census, the languages and dialects were published in the tables as they were returned with
the result that many odd names with insignificant numbers were published”. But a note of caution is relevant. The idea of insignificant
numbers should not be carried too far because it can result in ignoring many dialects.
For example Punjab District Census Handbooks,1951, volume 3, Gurgaon District gives total migrants from D.I. Khan as 5,086.
This may also be mentioned that the nearest neighbouring language spoken by many Pathans and others in Dera Ismail Khan is Pasto which
is an Iranian language. Derawal dialect does not show influences of Pashto more strongly but there are a great many influences of
neighbouring Dardic languages. The study of these influences and their absence can be a matter of historical interest worth exploring
which is beyond the scope of present study.
0.4. Literature:
This is generally true about Lahandā, that it has no literature of its own. There are some folk songs, which are passed from one
generation to another through oral tradition. Many writers have written some books, which are closely influenced by some variety of
Lahandā, but generally, those books are considered books of Panjābī literature.
The Derãwãl dialect has no literature except few folk songs, which are usually sung at some ceremonial occasions. There is no
commonly accepted writing system for this dialect. Numerous dialectal variations are generally attributed to this fact.
Most speakers use Devanāgarī, Gurumukhi or Persian script depending on their educational background. Very often, the language for
conversation and writing is Hindī, Panjābī or Urdu depending gains on the background of the speaker. Business community
usually uses a business script known widely as Laṇḍā (clipped) but known as ‘Kiṛakki’ in Dera Ismail Khan.
“I am of opinion that owing to the absence of any written standard, our brave Punjābī peasants possess a number of bonafide dialects
which is considerably in excess of that possessed by most languages spoken over an equal area of level country in any other part of
India”. John Beams,M A Comparative Grammar of the Modern Aryan Languages of India, Vol. I, p. 99.
Mahãjani says "I am not sure about the derivation of words Laṇḍã and ‘Kiṛakki’, but generally the impression is that the name
‘Kiṛakki’ is a nickname and must have been derived from ‘Kīṛa’ meaning insect. Letters of this script are usually regarded as
Kīṛe-makoṛe’ i.e. illegible by the native speakers of the language. This is mostly legible only to the writer and sometimes
even the writer himself has difficulty in reading what he has written. There is a common saying about this that
‘Likkhe mīsā paṛe huda’ i.e.If Moses writes, God reads. This is the script in which vowels are the most ambiguously represented
and it
is commonly said that if you write/lalaji ajmer hin/ i.e. ‘father has gone to Ajmer (the name of a city in India),
it will be read as /lalaji aj mərgϩ hin/ i.e. ‘father has died today’. This may also be mentioned that the word Laṇḍã has no
connection with the same of the language i.e. Lahandā."
0.5. Previous descriptions:
There are a few general descriptions of Lahandā. But these descriptions must be used carefully. Mostly they have been worked out
without a proper analysis of descriptive information and are also quite out of date. Many fallacies remain. No separate analysis of
the Darãwãl dialect is available. Grierson has, of course, given some information and has also recorded some data but that is not only
antiquated but is also inadequate. The present study is based on the Derawal dialect and is limited in its scope to the synchronic
description of phonology and morphophonemics.
