Ishkashimi (Ishkashimi: škošmī zəvuk/rənīzəvuk) [2] is an Iranian language spoken by Ishkashimi people who live predominantly in the Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan and in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in Tajikistan.[3]
| Ishkashimi | |
|---|---|
| škošmi zəvůk | |
 | |
| Native to | Afghanistan, Tajikistan |
Native speakers | 3,000[dubious – discuss] (2009)[1] |
| None | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | isk |
| Glottolog | ishk1244 |
| ELP | Ishkashimi |
| Linguasphere | 58-ABD-db |
The total number of speakers is c. 2,500, most of whom are now dispersed throughout Tajikistan and Afghanistan and small villages within the vicinity. Based on this number, Ishkashimi is threatened to becoming critically endangered or extinct in the next 100 years whereas other significant languages are being spoken in schools, homes, etc. These languages are the Tajik language in Tajikistan and the Dari language in Afghanistan, and they are contributing to the decline in the use of Ishkashimi, which at the moment has a status of endangered language. Besides, information about Ishkashimi language is limited due to the lack of extensive and systematic research and the lack of a written system.[4]
Ishkashimi is closely related to Zebaki and Sanglechi dialects (in Afghanistan). It was grouped until recently with the Sanglechi dialect under the parent family Sanglechi-Ishkashimi (sgl), but a more comprehensive linguistic analysis showed significant differences between these speech varieties.[5] Phonology and grammar of Ishkashimi language is similar to phonology and grammar of the closely related Zebaki dialect.[6]
Name
editThe name Ishkashimi (natively called Škošmi) may be borrowed from an Indo-Aryan form *śaka-kṣamā, meaning "land of the Saka".[7]
Geographic distribution
editThe Ishkashimi language has approximately 2500 speakers, of which 1500 speakers are in the Ishkashim and Wakhan districts and a variety of villages in the Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan, and 1000 speakers are in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in Tajikistan, particularly in Ishkoshim town and neighboring Ryn and Sumjin villages.[3][8]
Classification
editIshkashimi is an Iranian language of the Indo-European family.[5] Originally Ishkashimi was considered to belong to the Sanglechi-Ishkashimi family of Eastern Iranian languages. But recent research showed that such a combination was inappropriate for these dialects due to the significant linguistic differences between them. And on January 18, 2010 the parent language had retired and been split into what are now Sanglechi and Ishkashimi dialects.[5] This subfamily has furthermore been considered a part of the Pamir languages group, together with the Wakhi language, and of the subgroup comprising Shughni, Rushani, Sarikoli, Yazgulyam, etc. However, this is an areal rather than genetic grouping.[9]
Official status
editIshkashimi is a threatened language that does not have a status of official language in the regions of its use.[3]
Language domain
editThe Ishkashimi language vitality, despite the positive attitudes towards the language, is declining due to increasing use by native speakers of other languages like Dari in Afghanistan and Tajik in Tajikistan in a variety of domains, such as education, religious, private domain and others.[10] For example, due to Dari being the language of the education system, almost all Ishkashimi speakers, and especially the younger ones, have high Dari proficiency.[10] Education can get complicated with the use of two languages, therefore schools prefer to use Dari. Instructions are solely in Dari, but rarely will teachers speak Ishkashimi to students for explanations. Similar to schools, religion is widely practiced with Dari especially for preaching and prayers, and when it comes to mass media and the government, Dari is exclusively used.[10] Meanwhile, in the private and community domains both Dari and Ishkashimi languages are used equally.[10] In Tajikistan areas Ishkashimi is a first choice for communication between family members and in private conversations between friends and coworkers, however the use of Tajik and Wakhi languages in other domains leads to decline in Ishkashimi use.[4] There is an understanding in the Ishkashimi speaking community that the language can face a possible extinction because of its limited use .[10]
Dialects/Varieties
editThere is an Afghan and Tajik Ishkashimi varieties of Ishkashimi language, and they are considered to be mutually comprehensible, as some sociolinguistic questionnaires demonstrated.[10]
Phonology
editVowels
editThere are seven vowel phonemes: a, e, i, o, u, u, and ə [2]
| 3 Groups | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long and stable | e | i, | o | u | u ⟨о, u⟩ |
| Varying | a ⟨a, å⟩ | ||||
| Short | ə | ||||
Consonants
editThere are thirty two consonant phonemes:[11]
| Labial | Dental/ | Retroflex | Post-alv./ | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | ʈ | k | q | ||
| voiced | b | d | ɖ | ɡ | ||||
| Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | t͡ʃ | |||||
| voiced | d͡z | d͡ʒ | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʂ | ʃ | x | h | |
| voiced | v | z | ʐ | ʒ | ɣ | |||
| Approximant | w | l | ɭ | j | w | |||
| Tap/Trill | r | |||||||
Special features
editThe use of the consonant [h] in the language is optional.[2]
Stress
editThere are many exceptions, but as a rule stress falls on the last syllable in a word with multiple syllables. Sometimes, as a result of the rhythm in the phrase, the stress will freely move to syllables other than the last syllable.[2]
Grammar
editMorphology
edit- Grammatical gender is not used.
- There is no variation between adjectives and no distinction in number.
- The expression of comparatives and superlatives is done through syntax and adverbial modifiers, while pre- and postpositions and suffixes are used for case relations.[2]
Suffixes
edit| Function | Suffixes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Plural | -ó | olax-ó (mountains) |
| Indefinite article | -(y)i | |
| Derivation | -don, -dor, -bon |
Pronouns
edit| Personal pronouns | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| I | we | you | they | |
| az (i) | məx(o) | təməx | tə | |
| Demonstrative pronouns (used for third person pronouns*) | ||
|---|---|---|
| this (near me) | that (near you) | that (near him/them)(near him/them) |
Numerals
edit| Orthography | Value | Composition |
|---|---|---|
| uk (ug) | 1 | |
| də(w) | 2 | |
| ru(y) | 3 | |
| cəfur | 4 | |
| punz | 5 | |
| xul/lá | 6 | |
| uvd | 7 | |
| ot | 8 | |
| nao | 9 | |
| da | 10 | Loan from Persian |
Tenses
edit| STEM | FORMATION | EXAMPLE |
|---|---|---|
| Present Stem | personal endings | |
| Past Stem | endings are movable | γažd-əm (“I said”) |
| Perfect Stem | endings are movable | γaž-əm ("I say") |
Syntax
editThe word order in Ishkashimi is SOV (Subject–object–verb), however the order can be influenced by the varieties of the information structure in the sentences.[12]
Vocabulary
editBorrowed words
editA significant part of Ishkashimi vocabulary contains words and syntactic structures that were borrowed from other languages, the reason behind it is a regular and close contact of Ishkashimi speakers with other languages.[12] For example, the history of the focus particle "Faqat" (Eng: only) shows that it was borrowed from Persian language, which was earlier borrowed by Persian from Arabic.[12]
Taboo words
editTaboo words were formed and added into Ishkashimi language as a result of use of ancient epithets and of derivation of the words from other languages, often followed by the change of their meaning and pronunciation. Some of the taboo Ishkashimi words, which are also similarly seen as taboo in other Pamir languages, are:[13]
- Xirs - for bear
- Sabilik - for wolf
- Urvesok - for fox
- Si - for hare
- Purk - for mouse/rat
Writing system
editIshkashimi is a non-written language that does not have a writing system or literature, and in the previous centuries the Persian language, which dominated the region, was used to write down some of the traditional folklore.[10] There were, however, some efforts made at the end of the twentieth century to implement a writing system based on Cyrillic alphabet.[10]
Written sources
editThe first attempts by linguists to collect and organize data about the Ishkashimi language were made around the beginning of the 19th century, and were later continued by Russian and Ishkashimi linguists, like T. Pakhalina.[14] Before any systematic description and documentation of Ishkashimi language, the researchers collected some random vocabulary examples and mentioned the language in the works about Iranian languages.[10] Only in the end of the twentieth century linguists created a more comprehensive description of Ishkashimi language.[10]
References
edit- ^ Ishkashimi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Steblin-Kamensky, I.M. (1998). "EŠKĀŠ(E)MĪ". Encyclopædia Iranica.
- ^ a b c "Ishkashimi". Ethnologue.
- ^ a b Dodykhudoeva, Leila. "Data Elicitation in Endangered Pamiri communities: Interdependence of Language and History". academia.edu.
- ^ a b c "Ishkashimi". Glottolog.
- ^ Grierson, George Abraham (1921). "Specimens of Languages of the Eranian Family: Compiled and Edited by George Abraham Grierson". Superintendent Government Printing. 10: 505–508 – via Archive.org.
- ^ Novák, Ľubomír (2013). Problem of Archaism and Innovation in the Eastern Iranian Languages. Charles University. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ Ahn, E. S.; Smagulova, J. (15 Jan 2016). Language Change in Central Asia. Walter de Gruyter.
- ^ Windfuhr, Gernot (2013-05-13). The Iranian Languages. Routledge. ISBN 9781135797034.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Beck, Simone. The Effect of Accessibility on Language Vitality: The Ishkashimi and the Sanglechi Speech Varieties in Afghanistan. (2007)
- ^ "PHOIBLE 2.0". phoible.org. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ a b c Karvovskaya, Elena (2015). "'Also' in Ishkashimi: additive particle and sentence connector". Interdisciplinary Studies on Information Structure. 17: 77.
- ^ Bauer, Brigitte L. M.; Pinault, Georges-Jean (2003-01-01). Language in Time and Space: A Festschrift for Werner Winter on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110897722.
- ^ Tiessen, C., Abbess, E., Müller, K., Paul, D., Tiessen, G. (2010). "Ishkashimi: a father's language" (Survey report). Sil.org. Tajikistan. p. 3. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Bibliography
edit- Bauer, B. L., & Pinault, G. J. (Eds.). (2003). Language in time and space: a festschrift for Werner Winter on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Mouton De Gruyter.
- Beck, S. (2012). The effect of accessibility on language vitality: the Ishkashimi and the Sanglechi speech varieties in Afghanistan. Linguistic Discovery, 10(2), pp. 196–234. Data Elicitation in Endangered Pamiri communities: Interdependence of Language and History. p. 3.
- Grierson, G. A. (1921). Specimens of Languages of the Eranian Family: Compiled and Edited by George Abraham Grierson. Superintendent Government Printing, India. pp. 505–508.
- Ishkashimi. Glottolog.
- Ishkashimi. Ethnologue.
- Tiessen, C., Abbess, E., Müller, K., Paul, D., Tiessen, G., (2010). "Ishkashimi: a father's language" (Survey report). Sil.org. Tajikistan. p. 3.
- Windfuhr, G. (2013). "The Iranian Languages". Routledge. ISBN 9781135797034, pp. 773–777.
External links
edit
- The Languages of Tajikistan in Perspective by Iraj Bashiri
- Ishkashimi story with English translation recorded by George Abraham Grierson (1920)
- Ishkashimi-English Vocabulary List
- English-Ishkashimi- Zebaki-Wakhi-Yazghulami Vocabulary
- Grierson G. A. Ishkashmi, Zebaki, and Yazghulami, an account of three Eranian dialects. (1920) [1] [2]
- Grierson G. A. Specimens of Languages of the Eranian Family. Vol X. Linguistic Survey of India. (1968)