| Sarazi | |
|---|---|
| |
 | |
| Native to | Jammu & Kashmir, India |
| Region | Saraz |
| Ethnicity | Sarazis |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | sira1264 |
Sarazi or Sirazi (also spelled Siraji) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Saraz region of the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is native to the Saraz region, a hilly area taking up the northern half of Doda district and parts of neighbouring Ramban and Kishtwar districts.[1] Sarazi is spoken as a first language by 46,000 people (as of 2001),[1] primarily Hindus, but it is also used as a lingua franca of the Saraz region and so is also spoken as a second language by Muslims, whom are native speakers of Kashmiri.[2]
Sarazi has similarities to the neighbouring Western Pahari languages like Bhaderwahi, though it is nowadays most often classified with the latter. Various local names for the language, which may represent distinct dialects, include Bhagwali, Deswali, and Korarwali.[3] Sarazi is not often used in writing, but when written, the default choice for a script falls on Perso-Arabic. The Latin script is also common, whereas Devanagari and the historical Takri script are encountered occasionally.[1]
- ^ a b c Ashiqehind 2018.
- ^ Mahajan 2018; Ashiqehind 2018. Some Muslim communities are speakers of Gojri or Watali.
- ^ Parihar & Dwivedi 2019, p. 4.