Key facts
- Native to
- Maharashtra , India
- Region
- Khandesh
- Ethnicity
- Khandeshi
- Native speakers
- 1.86 million (2011 census)
- Language family
- Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Western Khandeshi
- Dialects
- Khandeshi Dangri Ahirani
- Writing system
- Devanagari
- Iso 639 3
- Either:, khn – Khandeshi, ahr – Ahirani (dialect)
- Glottolog
- khan1272 Khandesi, ahir1243 Ahirani (deprecated)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
Show 2 more facts
- number of speakers, writers, or signers
- 1500000
via Wikidata · CC0
~2 min read
Article
Khandeshi, also spelt Qhandeshi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Khandesh region of north-west Maharashtra, and also in Gujarat. It consists of Khandeshi proper, and the Dangri and Ahirani dialects. Kunbi and Rangari are dialects. The Ahirani dialect of this language is mostly spoken. Devanagari script is used to write Khandeshi language. The words "Ahirani" and "Khandeshi" are sometimes used interchangeably: Ahirani as the caste-based name (after Ahirs), and Khandesh as the region-based name. The Census of 1911, 1921 and 1931 counted the Ahirani speaking people as Gujaratis but in later decades they have been recognized as a different language.
Phonology