It is also spoken in the Sindh province of Pakistan, and notably in large areas of eastern Africa by people from the Indian subcontinent. It is spoken by the Kutchi people, which includes groups such as the Rajput Jadejas, the Bhanushalis, Bhatias, Brahmins (Rajgor Ganyathy - Bhuj), Meghwals, Visa Oswals, Dasa Oswals, Lohanas, Jains, Nizari Ismaili, and various Muslim communities in the region, including Muslim Khojas, Hingoras, Mutwas, Jats and the Kutchi Memon community.
| Kutchi | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| કચ્છી / کچھی Kachhi | ||||
| Spoken in | India, Trinidad And Tobago , Pakistan. Also UK, USA, Kenya ( Some Parts Of Guyana) and others. | |||
| Region | South Asia | |||
| Total speakers | 866,000[1] | |||
| Language family | Indo-European
| |||
| Writing system | Arabic script, Gujarati script | |||
| Official status | ||||
| Official language in | No official status. | |||
| Regulated by | No official regulation | |||
| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-1 | None | |||
| ISO 639-2 | – | |||
| ISO 639-3 | kfr | |||
| ||||
Kachhi is related to Sindhi, spoken in neighboring Sindh, Pakistan and parts of India, and Gujarati, because the Kutch District is geographically between Sindh and Gujarat.
Kachhi is often thought to be a mixture of Sindhi, Gujarati and Rajasthani. Its lexical content shows the very large extent to which the language is a complex combination of Sindhi and Gujarati. It is likely that such linguistic similarities are the result of migrations over the centuries across the desert stretching from present-day Sindh to Saurashtra and Kutchh to the east, and Rajasthan.
Most Kachhis living in India are bilingual or trilingual, due to exposure to closely-related neighbouring languages such as Gujarati. Many Pakistanisare also bilingual or trilingual; many residents of Karachi speak Kutchi. Kutchi can not be written in Urdu script but it can be written in Sindhi or Gujrati scripts.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 "naseeb" (fate), are routinely used by many speakers of Kachhi. Many Kachhi speakers also speak Gujarati as a separate language, especially as it is the language in which Kachhi speakers customarily write. Kachhi speakers' Gujarati accent and usage tends towards standard forms that any Gujarati speaker would be able to understand.
To give an indication of dialects and regional variations, the Sindhi question "Kithe vino ta?" (where are you going?) would be posed in Kutchhi as "Kadaa vano ta?"
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 Kutchhi. 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:
- Hayo/chhadyo hane (Gujarati Bas chhodo have : now drop it)
- Avero/Javero ( Gujarati - Aawun' chhun' / Jaaun' chhun' : I am coming / going)
- Kichri Khaay to? (Gujarati - Kichri khaao chho? : Are you eating Kichri?)
Writing system
Kachhi 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"). Kachhi 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. [2][3][4] 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.- Kuro - કોરો - what
- Burr-a-buur - ભરોભર - Ok
- Saro - લાટ - nice
- Khapey - ખપે - want
- Mikay dE - મુકે ડે - give (it to) me
- Jaga - જગા - place
- BhOOkh -ભોખ - hunger
- KIdaa - કડા - where
- acho- હલ્યા - welcome
- Maaru - માડુ - man
- Chhokro - છોરો - boy
- Naam - નાલો - name
- KUtoo - કોત્તો- dog
- Minnee - મન્ની - cat
- Undar - કો - mouse
- Udha - અંદર - there
- Ach ja - અચીજા - goodbye
- Sanjo kenjo - ચોવિયાર - dinner before sunset
- Kii ai - કિં અહિયે - how are you?
- Pann-jo - પાંજો - our
- Gal-yu - ગાલ્યું - talk (as in 'Talk is cheap')
- Dill - ધીલ - heart
- mujjo - my
- tojo - your
- pajjo - our
- maylo - dirty
- Khaali - ખાલી - empty
- kear - કેર - who
- roti - માની - Chapati
- ketro - કતરા - how much
- khabar - ખબર - news
- tamacho - slap
- gando - crazy
- sachi - really
- poi - later
- thik aai - it is fine
- rakh - keep it
- de ta - give it
- koro aai: What is....
- khano aai - want to eat
Famous Kutchi speakers
- Great Revolutionary,Freedom Fighter and founder of non cooperation movement Pandit Shyamji Krishna Verma
- Fahmida Mirza, first female Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan.
- Famous music duo Kalyanjibhai Anandjibhai
- Bollywood Choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant
- Disco Dandia founder Babla
- Music director Viju Shah
KHABAR PAI PANJI KUTCHI BHASHA JI....
