View source for Ahirwati

{{short description|Indo-Aryan dialect of India}}
{{Distinguish|text = the [[Ahirani]] and [[Ahiri language|Ahiri]] dialects, spoken in other parts of India}}
{{infobox language
| name = Ahirwati
| nativename = 
| states = [[India]]
| region = [[Ahirwal]]
| coords = {{coord|28.3|76.5}}
| pushpin_map = India
| ethnicity=
| speakers =
| date =
| ref =
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3 = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4 = [[Rajasthani languages|Rajasthani]]
| fam5 = [[Mewati language|Mewati]]
| script =
| iso3 = 
| isoexception=dialect
}}
'''Ahirwati''' (''Ahīrvāṭī'', sometimes also known as '''Hīrwāṭī'''){{sfnp|Grierson|1908|p=49}} is an [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] dialect of India. It is spoken within the [[Ahirwal]] region located to the south-west of the capital [[Delhi]]. It belongs to the [[Rajasthani languages|Rajasthani language group]] and is commonly taken to be a dialect of [[Mewati language|Mewati]],<ref>{{harvp|Masica|1991|p=422}}; {{harvp|Grierson|1908|p=49}}; {{harvp|Yadav|c. 1979}}.</ref> but in many respects it is intermediate with the neighbouring varieties of [[Bangru language (Haryana)|Bangru]] and [[Bagri language|Bagri]], and is especially close to [[Shekhawati language|Shekhawati]].<ref>{{harvp|Yadav|c. 1979|pp=199–200}}; {{harvp|Grierson|1908}}; {{harvp|Sharma|c. 1979|p=274}}.</ref>

There are no reliable census figures for the number of speakers.{{sfnp|Yadav|c. 1979|p=202}} In the past it was variously written in either [[Devanagari]], [[Gurmukhi]], or the [[Perso-Arabic script]].{{sfnp|Yadav|c. 1979|p=200}}

A peculiar feature of the grammar of Ahirwati is the use of the same [[postposition]] to mark both the [[Grammatical agent|agent]] (in certain tenses) and the [[Grammatical object|object]].{{sfnp|Yadav|c. 1979|pp=208–9}}

== Geographic distribution ==
{{OSM Location map
|float = left
|coord = {{coord|28.4|76.5}}
|zoom = 7
|width = 300
|height = 300
|label1 = Loharu |mark-title1 = Loharu  |mark-coord1 = {{coord|28.4032|75.9856}}
|label2 = Sohna |mark-title2 = Sohna |mark-coord2 = {{coord|28.25|77.07}}
|label3 = Jhajjar |mark-title3 = Jhajjar |mark-coord3 = {{coord|28.62|76.65}}|label-pos3=left
|label4= Najafgarh |mark-title4= Najafgarh |mark-coord4= {{coord|28|36|45|N|76|59|5|E}}|label-pos4=right
|label5= Bawal |mark-title5= Bawal |mark-coord5={{coord|28.08|76.58}}
|label6= Behror |mark-title6= Behror |mark-coord6= {{coord|27.88|76.28}}
|caption = Haryana and surrounding areas with some of the locations mentioned in this section. Places where Ahirwati is spoken are in {{color|darkred|dark red}}.
}}

Ahirwati is spoken mostly in the south of [[Haryana]]. At its maximal extent, its territory extends from [[Loharu]] in the west to [[Sohna]] in the east, and from [[Jhajjar]] and [[Najafgarh]] in the north to [[Bawal]] and [[Behror]] in the south. It encompasses partially or fully the districts of [[Mahendragarh district|Mahendragarh]], [[Jhajjar district|Jhajjar]], [[Rewari district|Rewari]], and [[Gurgaon district|Gurgaon]], as well as the areas of [[Taoru]] in Nuh district (all in Haryana), [[Behror]] (in the district of Alwar, Rajasthan), [[Najafgarh]] (in Delhi), and additionally an enclave further to the north in the region of [[Hansi]], in Hisar district.<ref>According to {{harvtxt|Yadav|c. 1979|pp=197, 202}}; but see also {{harvtxt|Sharma|c. 1979|p=274}} as well as the map at the start of the volume.</ref>

Ahirwati's neighbouring dialects are [[Bangru language (Haryana)|Bangru]] and [[Bagri language|Bagri]] to the north, [[Shekhawati language|Shekhawati]] and [[Torawati dialect|Torawati]] to the west, and [[Mewati language|Mewati]] to the south.<ref>According to {{harvtxt|Yadav|c. 1979|p=198}}; he additionally lists [[Braj Bhasha]] as an eastern neighbour, but this appears to be contradicted by the other chapters in the volume (e.g. {{harvp|Sharma|c. 1979}}), which present Mewati as intervening between Ahirwati and Braj.</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*{{cite LSI|9|2|pp=49–51|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/lsi/lsi.php?volume=9-2&pages=494#page/64/mode/1up}}
*{{Cite book| last = Masica| first = Colin P.|author-link = Colin Masica| title = The Indo-Aryan languages| series = Cambridge language surveys| date = 1991| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 978-0-521-23420-7}}
*{{cite book| last = Sharma | first = Ishwari Prasad| chapter = Mevātī | title = Hariyāṇā kī upabhāṣāeṃ| date = c. 1979 | editor-last = Sharada| editor-first = Sadhu Ram | pages = 271–336| place = Chandigarh| publisher = Bhasha Vibhag| language = Hindi}}
*{{cite book| last = Yadav | first = Shankar Lal| chapter = Ahīrvāṭī | title = Hariyāṇā kī upabhāṣāeṃ| date = c. 1979 | editor-last = Sharada| editor-first = Sadhu Ram | pages = 193–269| place = Chandigarh| publisher = Bhasha Vibhag| language = Hindi}}

[[Category:Indo-Aryan languages]]
[[Category:Haryana]]