Bazigar language

Bazigar
ਬਾਜ਼ੀਗਰੀ / بازیگری
Native toIndia
RegionPunjab and neighbouring states
EthnicityBazigar
Native speakers
(58,000 cited 1981 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bfr
Glottologbazi1237
A native Bazigar speaker.

The Bazigar, Goaar, or Guar, language is spoken by the Bazigar ethnic group[2] of north-western India who are found primarily in Punjab, but also in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan.[3]

It is apparently an Indo-Aryan language (Ethnologue)[4] while Glottolog has labelled it "unclassifiable". Schreffler argues that it compares well with the Western Rajasthani dialects as well as with Punjabi (with which it is not mutually intelligible),[5] while Deb notes its resemblance to Bagri.[6] Ethnologue formerly classified it as a Dravidian language.[7]

  1. ^ Bazigar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Schreffler (2011) argues that they are a distinct ethnic group. Singh (2010) regards them as a branch of the Banjara, whereas Ibbetson claimed at the end of the 19th century that they are merely an occupational group.
  3. ^ Schreffler 2011, p. 222.
  4. ^ "Bazigar | Ethnologue Free".
  5. ^ Schreffler 2011, pp. 225–26.
  6. ^ Deb 1987, p. 17.
  7. ^ "Bazigar | Ethnologue". 2013-03-28. Archived from the original on 2013-03-28. Retrieved 2023-07-14.