Pattani language

Pattani, also known as Manchati, Manchad, Patni, Chamba, Chamba Lahuli, Lahuli, Swangla, Changsapa Boli is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Distribution

Pattani is spoken in the Lahul Valley, Pattan, Chamba-Lahul, and lower Mayar valleys. There are also some speakers in Kullu and Manali cities, and in Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir.

General information

There are about 10,000 people in the western Himalayas speak the Pattani Language. Pattani Language has several names. One of them is Manchad, which was given by the Tod valley people live in the area where Manchad was originated. The religion belief of Manchad speakers is either Hinduism or Buddhism. Almost all of them can speak English or Hindi due to the convenience of communicating to others. Most speakers only use Manchad at home, which leads to the isolating nature of this language. Because there is no written tradition in Manchad, the article resources and stories of Manchad are usually recorded in Hindi or Tibetan orthography. Due to the same reason, there is not so much details of Manchad that we could find.

Grammar

1.The three-way contrast in number : singular, dual and plural.

2.Gender is not grammatical and is lexically based.

3.The verbal agreement system:person-number elements are indicated in verbs.

4.The sentence structure: simple, compound and complex sentences.

5. Pattani Language has complex pronominalisation and a complex verbal system.^[3]

Syntax

Pattani word order is subject–object–verb (SOV)^[4]

Dialects

Ethnologue lists three Pattani dialects.

• Chamba-Lahuli (Western Pattani)
• Eastern Pattani
• Central Pattani

There are 3 caste dialects, namely Pandit-Rajput, Harijan, and Lohar. The lower castes can understand Pandit-Rajput, but not vice versa.

References