Dogri (डोगरी or ڈوگرى) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about five million people[3] in India and Pakistan, chiefly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, but also in northern Punjab, other parts of Jammu and Kashmir, and elsewhere.[4] Dogri speakers are called Dogras, and the Dogri-speaking region is called Duggar.[5] Although formerly treated as a Punjabi dialect, It is now considered to be a member of the Western Pahari group of languages.[6] The language is referred to as Pahari (पहाड़ी or پہاڑی) in Pakistan. Unusually for an Indo-European language, it is tonal,[7] a trait it shares with other Western Pahari languages and Punjabi.
It has several varieties, all with greater than 80% lexical similarity (within Jammu and Kashmir).[8] Before gaining language status, per the Census of India, it was classified as one of the many varieties of Punjabi, such as Majhi or Doabi.[9]