Hindko, Northern

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A language of Pakistan

ISO 639-3
hno
Alternate Names
Hazara Hindko, Hindko, Kagani, Kaghani, “Hindki” (pej.)
Autonym
ہندکو‎ (Hindko)
User Population

3,570,000 (2017 census), increasing.

Location

Azad Kashmir province: Muzaffarabad district, and Islamabad; Khyber Pakhtunkwa province: Hazara division, Abbotabad and Mansehra districts; Indus and Kaghan valleys and Indus valley tributaries.

Language Maps
Language Status

5 (Developing).

Classification
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Intermediate Divisions, Western, Panjabi, Western Panjabi
Dialects

Abbottabad Hindko, Galiyat Hindko, Haripur Hindko, Mansehra Hindko (Muko-Tuko), Tanoli Hindko. Also related to Punjabi [pnb], Saraiki [skr], and Pahari-Potwari [phr]; which have all been called Greater Punjabi, forming part of Lahnda [lah]. Lexical similaritiy: 82%–92% with Northern Hindko dialects, 67%–82% with Northern and Southern Hindko [hnd] varieties, 36% with Mankiyali [nlm]. A member of macrolanguage Lahnda [lah].

Language Use

All domains, except education. Used by all. Positive attitudes. Also use Saraiki [skr]. Also use Urdu [urd], especially the educated, but with varied proficiency. Also use Western Punjabi [pnb], with low proficiency. Used as L2 by Kundal Shahi [shd], Mankiyali [nlm].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L2: Below 20%. Pilot multilingual education program in development. Literature. Newspapers. Radio. TV. Videos. Grammar. Texts.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Hindko, Northern
Writing

Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab]. Arabic script, Nastaliq variant [Aran], primary usage.

Other Comments

Muslim.