Page Type: languageMarwari | Ethnologue

MVE ISO 639-3

Marwari

مارواڑی‎ (Mārwāṛī) Autonym

A language of Pakistan

ISO 639
mve
Alternate Names
Jaiselmer, Marawar, Merwari, Rajasthani
Autonym
مارواڑی‎ (Mārwāṛī)
Population
164,000 (2018). 78,300 Northern Marwari and 85,600 Southern Marwari.
Location:
Punjab province: Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, and Rahim Yar Khan districts; Sindh province: widespread Karachi to Sukkur.
Language Status
4 (Educational).
Classification
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Intermediate Divisions, Western, Rajasthani, Marwari
Dialects
Northern Marwari, Southern Marwari, Marwari Bhil, Marwari Meghwar, Marwari Bhat. Northern and Southern Marwari mutually inherently intelligible. May or may not be different from Marwari of India [rwr]. Lexical similarity: 79%–83% with Dhatki [mki], 87% between Southern and Northern Marwari, 78% with Marwari Meghwar and Marwari Bhat dialects. A member of macrolanguage Marwari [mwr].
Language Use
One sweeper community of 10,000–100,000 identifies itself as Marwari, but is undergoing rapid shift to Urdu [urd]. Marwari is not usually written. Also use Hindi [hin]. Also use Saraiki [skr]. Also use Sindhi [snd], especially educated people. Also use Urdu [urd], particularly the educated. Used as L2 by Jogi [jog].
Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: Below 5% in Sindhi [snd] or Urdu [urd]. Newspapers. NT: 1821.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Marwari
Writing
Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab], used in Sindh Province. Arabic script, Nastaliq variant [Aran], used in Punjab Province.
Other Comments
‘Rajasthani’ is a linguistic cover term for a group of languages. Speakers tend to be urban and educated. Northern Bhil tribes: Marwari-Thori, Gulguli, Shikari, Jogi, Sochi. Northern Marwari sub-dialects: Uganyo, Bhattipo, and Khadali; Southern Marwari sub-dialects: Utradi, Jaxorati, and Larecha. Hindu, Christian, Muslim.

Also Spoken in

Map

Location: Punjab province: Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, and Rahim Yar Khan districts; Sindh province: widespread Karachi to Sukkur.