Pothohari can mean either an inhabitant of Pothohar, an area in the north of now Pakistani Punjab province, or the language spoken in the region. Many Pothohari men join the Pakistan Army. The Pothahari language is a dialect of Punjabi and differs from other dialects, namely Maajhi, the standard Punjabi dialect, in slight pronounciation. Pothohari is a member of the Western Pahari ('Pahaari') group of dialects; Western Pahari dialects include: Potwari, Kangri, Kullu, etc. The term 'Pahaari/Pahari' in Hindi, Urdu, or Punjabi means "language of the mountain people".
Western Pahaari (or Pahari) dialects are also spoken in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh consists of the Himalayan portion of the original state of Punjab which, along with Haryana, was carved out Greater Indian Punjab, in 1971, several decades after India liberated itself from the British Empire.
Pothohari is an Indo-Aryan language and along with standard Punjabi has been traced to be the source language of the Roma/Sinti people of Europe.
Although a dialect of Punjabi, Pothohari also contains unique words not found in standard Punjabi, along with some differences in pronounciation.
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