16th edition

US$ 100.00

Ethnologue > Web version > Country index > Asia > India > Marwari

Marwari

A language of India

ISO 639-3: rwr

Population	5,600,000 in India (2007 SIL). Population total all countries: 5,622,600.
Region	Rajasthan, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, Churu, Pali, Jalore districts; Gujarat; Madhya Pradesh; Punjab; Delhi; Haryana; Uttar Pradesh; thoughout India. Also in Nepal, Pakistan.
Alternate names	Marvari, Marwadi, Marvadi, Rajasthani
Dialects	Barmeri, Bikaneri, Jaisalmeri, Standard Marwari (Jodhpuri). The standard form of Marwari. May or may not be different from Marwari of Pakistan [mve]. 67% intelligibility by Shekhawati [swv], 61% by Godwari [gdx], 54% by Mewari [mtr], 54% by Dhundari [dhd], 45% by Harauti [hoj], 45% by Mewati [wtm]. 53% intelligibility of Shekawati by Marwari. Lexical similarity: 57%–69% between dialects; 49%–74% with Merwari [wry], 51%–68% with Shekhawati [swv], 50%–72% with Godwari [gdx], 56%–70% with Mewari [mtr], 53%–60% with Dhundari [dhd], 50%–60% with Harauti [hoj], 50%–61% with Mewati [wtm]; 80%–85% among some Gujarat and Rajasthan Marwari Bhil dialects; 75%–80% with Wagdi [wbr]; 75%–83% with the Patelia dialect of Bhili [bhb]; 67%–87% with Adiwasi Garasia [gas]; 67%–84% with Rajput Garasia [gra].
Classification	Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Rajasthani, Marwari A member of macrolanguage Marwari [mwr] (India).
Language use	Vigorous. Home, village, market, religion. All ages. Positive attitude. Also use Marathi [mar] or Hindi.
Language development	Literacy rate in L1: 5%–10%. Literacy rate in L2: 50%–75%. Radio programs. Grammar. NT: 1820–1821.
Writing system	Devanagari script.
Comments	Hindu, Jain, Muslim.

Also spoken in:

Nepal

Language name	Marwari
Population	22,600 in Nepal (2001 census). Ethnic population: 43,971.
Region	Mechi zone, Jhapa District; Koshi zone, Morang and Sunsari districts; Narayani zone, Parsa District; some in Kathmandu.
Language maps	Eastern Nepal, reference number 66 Western Nepal, reference number 66
Alternate names	Marwadi
Language use	933 L2 speakers in Nepal (1991 census, under Marwadi).
Language development	Literacy rate in L2: 88%.
Comments	Hindu.

Pakistan

Language name	Marwari
Region	Eastern upper Sindh Province.

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

ABRAHAM, Binny; JOSHUA, Marshall; KOSHY, Binoy; SAMUVEL, Nelson, authors; KELSALL, Juliana, editor. 2012. "Sociolinguistic survey of selected Rajasthani speech varieties of Rajasthan, India, Volume 1: Preliminary overview."  

CHACKO, Sajayan; NGWAZAH, Liahey, authors; KELSALL, Juliana, editor. 2012. "Sociolinguistic survey of selected Rajasthani speech varieties of Rajasthan, India, Volume 6: Marwari, Merwari, and Godwari."