kumaoni

Kumaoni is an Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, India. It is the dominant language of the Kumaoni people and is used in everyday conversation, folk songs, storytelling, and local media. The language belongs to the Western Pahari branch of the Indo-Aryan family and comprises several dialects that reflect the valleys and communities of Kumaon.

Kumaoni is written mainly in the Devanagari script; Takri was used historically in some areas. It has phonological and lexical features typical of Western Pahari languages and shares vocabulary with Hindi and neighboring languages, with varying degrees of mutual intelligibility among speakers of Kumaoni and related languages.

Estimates of speakers vary, but Kumaoni is spoken by millions in Uttarakhand, with small diaspora communities elsewhere in India and abroad. In recent years there have been efforts to standardize orthography, promote literature, and support education in Kumaoni alongside Hindi and English.

Literature and media in Kumaoni include poetry, folk songs, theatre, and growing local press, radio, and online content. The language coexists with Hindi in administration and schooling in the region, reflecting ongoing bilingualism. Kumaoni remains distinct from neighboring Garhwali, though cultural and linguistic exchange is common in multilingual valleys, and preservation efforts emphasize regional identity and linguistic heritage.