Nuristani: Encyclopedia II - Nuristani - Nuristani languages

Nuristani - Nuristani languages

The Nuristani languages are said to represent the third and by far the smallest branch of the Indo-Iranian languages. The recognition of its independent status came much later than that of the other two branches. As the term "Indo-Iranian" is well established, there is resistance to any change in the nomenclature.

They were not described in the literature until the 19th century. The older name for the region was Kafiristan and the languages were termed Kafiiri or Kafiristani, but the terms have been replaced by the present ones as being less perjorative, for kafir means "infidel". Their ultimate origins are irrecoverably obscure.

The recent view is to classify Nuristani as an independent branch of the Indo-Iranian superstock, but a few would class it with the Indic group, while another would characterize it as originally Iranian, but greatly influenced by the nearby Dardic languages of the Indic group. In any event, it would seem they arrived in their present homeland at a very early date, and unlike the Indics, never entered the Punjab.

The languages are spoken by tribal peoples in an extremely isolated mountainous region of the Hindukush, one that has never been subject to any real central authority in modern times. This area is located along the northeastern border of Afghanistan and adjacent portions of northwest Pakistan. These languages have not received the attention Western linguists would like to give them. Considering the very small number of peoples estimated to speak them, they must be considered endangered languages.

According to linguist Richard Strand, an authority in this area, there are three major Nuristani languages: Kamviri, Kati and Prasuni. Most of the Nuristanis in Pakistan speak Kamviri. These are influenced by, and sometimes classified as a Dardic languages but this is more of a geographical classification than a linguistic one.

The Norwegian Linguist Georg Morgenstierne wrote that Chitral is the area of the greatest linguistic diversity in the world. Although Khowar is the predominant language of Chitral, more than ten other languages are spoken here. These include Kalasha, Phalura, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nuristani, Yidgha, Burushaski, Gujar, Wakhi, Kyrgyz, Persian and Pashto. Since many of these languages have no written form, letters are usually written in Urdu or Persian.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Nuristani languages", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki