First comprehensive grammar of Gaddi language published after decade of collaborative research

"A Grammar of Gaddi", published by UCL Press in February, marks the first comprehensive linguistic documentation of a language spoken by pastoral communities in Himachal Pradesh's Dhauladhar mountain region. The open-access book is the result of over a decade of work by six linguists - Preeti Kumari, Shreya Mehta, Anjali Nair, Anusuya Nayak, Yangchen Roy, and Vyom Sharma - who began studying Gaddi as JNU students.

According to the 2011 Census, about 1.8 lakh people speak Gaddi, classified under Hindi despite being a distinct Western Pahari language. The researchers conducted fieldwork between 2013 and 2022 in villages near Palampur, documenting the language's rich vowel system, distinctive grammatical patterns including caste dialects, and morphological features.

Historically an oral language without a standardized script, Gaddi is classified as "definitely endangered" by UNESCO. However, the authors note it remains widely transmitted across generations in many areas. The technical grammar serves as a foundation for future accessible resources like school primers. For younger Gaddi speakers like engineering student Shivanshu Thakur, the book validates their linguistic identity, countering perceptions of speaking "broken Hindi."