| Wakhi | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x̌ik zik | ||||
| Spoken in | Afghanistan (9,600) China (6,000) Pakistan (9,100) Tajikistan (7,000) |
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| Native speakers | approximately 31,700 (date missing) | |||
| Language family | ||||
| Writing system | Arabic, Cyrillic, Latin | |||
| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-3 | wbl | |||
| Linguasphere | 58-ABD-c | |||
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Wakhi is an Indo-European language in the branch of Eastern Iranian language family and is intimately related to other Southeastern Iranian languages in the Pamir languages group.
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Wakhi is one of several languages that belong to the Pamir language group. A reflection of this is the fact that the Wakhi people are occasionally called Pamiris. The origin of this language is Wakhan in Afghanistan and is, according to sources, more than four thousand years old. This is spoken by the inhabitants the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan, parts of Gilgit-Baltistan (the former NAs) of Pakistan, Gorno-Badkhshan (mountainous-Badakhshan, in Russian) region of Tajakistan, and Xinjiang in western China. The Wakhi use the self-appellation ‘Xik’ (ethnic) and suffix it with ‘wor’/’war’ to denote their language as ‘Xik-wor’ themselves. The noun ‘Xik’ comes from ‘oxik’ (an inhabitant of ‘Ox’, for Wakhan, in Wakhi. There are other equivalents for the name Wakhi (Anglicised) or Wakhani (Arabic and Persian), Vakhantsy (Russian), Gojali/Gojo (Dingrik-wor/Shina), Guyits/Guicho (Borushaski), Wakhigi/Wakhik-war (Kivi-wor/Khow-wor) and Cert (Turki). The language belongs, as yet to be confirmed according to studies and sources, to the southern group of the Pamir languages, in the Iranian group of the Indo-European family (450) of languages, where the different Ishkashmi, Shighni/…nani and Wakhi languages are included. A very rough estimate of the population of Wakhis is 50,000 worldwide. The Wakhi live in four different countries. In the Gilgit-Baltistan northern-areas region of Pakistan, the Wakhi people mainly live in Gojal, Ishkoman, Darkut and in Chitral District's Broghol. They also live in some parts of Gorno-Badakhshan in Tajikistan and Xinjiang in China.
In the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan, Wakhi is spoken from Putur, near Ishkashim, to the upper reaches of the Wakhan River.[1]
In Tajikistan the Wakhi and other communities that speak one of the Pamir languages refer to themselves as Pamiri or Badakhshani and there has been a movement to separate their identity from that of the majority Persian-speaking Tajiks. Linguists universally refer to Wakhi as an East Iranian language independent of Tajik Persian, but many Tajik nationalists insist that Wakhi and other Pamir languages are actually dialects of Tajik.[2]
In Pakistan Wakhi is spoken in the sparsely populated upper portions of five of the northernmost valleys: Hunza (many ethnic Wakhi of this valley now speak Burushaski), Gojal that including the valleys of Chipursan and Shingshal, (Upper-Hunza—mostly intact), Ishkoman (many ethnic Wakhi speak, now, Shina), Yasin (many ethnic Wakhi of this valley speak, now, Khow-wor or Burushaski/Virchik-wor), Gupis (many ethnic Wakhi speak, now, Shina) and Yarkhun (many ethnic Wakhi of this valley now speak Khow-wor). Yarkhun is located in the Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while others are in the Gilgit-Baltistan. Gojal, in the Hunza valley, has the largest Wakhi population of any of the above five areas. The Wakhis of Ishkoman live primarily in the Karambar valley, in the town of Imit and beyond. In Yasin, they live mostly in the vicinity of Darkot, and in Yarhkun, they are found in Baroghil and in a few other small villages in the high, upper portion of valley. In Pakistan, the central organization of the Wakhi is the Wakhi Cultural Association Pakistan (WCA), an organization that is registered with the Government of Pakistan and which works with the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Lok Virsa Pakistan. The Association is working for the preservation of the Wakhi language and culture, as well as documenting their poetry and music.
Radio Pakistan Gilgit relays the Wakhi radio programme "Sadoyah Boomy Dunyo", the voice of the roof of the world. The Wakhi Cultural Association has arranged more than twenty programmes since 1984, which includes cultural shows, musical nights, and large-scale musical festivals with the collaboration of Lok Virsa Pakistan, the Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan (AKCSP), and Pakistan television. In 2000, the WCA won a "Best Programme" organizer award in the Silk Road Festival from the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. A computerized codification of the Wakhi script has been released, which will help to promote the language development programme and documentation of Wakhi poetry, literature, and history. [3]
Traditionally Wakhi was not a written language. Writing systems have been developed for the language using Arabic script, Cyrillic and a modified Roman alphabet.[4]
. Sample text from a Bible translation published in 2001 is shown below.[5]
| Wakhi in Roman alphabet | Wakhi in Cyrillic alphabet | English (KJV) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Yiso yavər x̆atəy: «Sayišt i dəo carəv, x̆anəv: „Ey bzыrgwor Tat ki də osmonət cəy! Ti bəzыrg nung bər olam ыmыt! Ləcər dəwroni Ti podšoyi ɣ̆at-ət, zəmin-ət zəmon də hыkmi taw ыmыt! | 2 Йисо йавəр х̌атəй: «Сайишт ҙи дəо царəв, х̌анəв: „Ей бзыргв̌ор Тат ки дə осмонəт цəй! Ти бəзырг нунг бəр олам ымыт! Лəцəр дəв̌рони Ти подшойи г̌ат-əт, зəмин-əт зəмон дə ҳыкми тав̌ ымыт! | 2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. |
| 3 Spo rыsq-ət rыzi sakər nəsib car! | 3 Спо рысқ-əт рызи сакəр нəсиб цар! | 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. |
| 4 Cə spo gənoən šəxs! Sak bə kuy, ki sakər šakiɣ̆, cə kərk! kыx̆ter baxṣ̌əṣ̌ carən. Cə bandi nafs-ət awasən, Cə waswasayi Iblisən saki niga δыr!“» | 4 Цə спо гəноəн шəхс! Сак бə куй, ки сакəр шакиг̌ цə кəрк! Кых̌тəр бахш̣əш̣ царəн. Цə банди нафс-əт ав̌асəн, Цə в̌асв̌асайи Иблисəн саки нига д̌ыр!“» | 4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil." |
The Wakhi lexicon exhibits significant differences with the other Pamir languages. Gawarjon's comparison of the dialects of Sarikoli and Wakhi spoken in China is reproduced below.
| English gloss | Persian | Tajik | Pashto | Shughni | Sarikoli | Wakhi | Oruq |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| meat | ɡuʃt̪ (گوشت) | ɡʉʃt (гӯшт) | ɣwəxa, ɣwəʂa | ɡuːxt | ɡɯxt | ɡuʂt | ɡuʂt |
| fire | æt̪iʃ (اتش) | otaʃ (оташ) | or | joːts | juts | rɯχniɡ | rniɡ |
| water | æb (اب) | ob (об) | obə | xats | xats | jupk | xət |
| hand | d̪æst̪ (دست) | dast (даст) | lɑs | ðust | ðɯst | ðast | dašč |
| foot | pɔ (پا) | po (по) | pxa, pʂa | poːð | peð | pɯð | pɯð |
| son | pisær (پسر) | pisar (писар) | zoj | puts | pɯts | putr | putràé |
| tooth | d̪ænd̪ɔn (دندان) | dandon (дандон) | ɣɑx, ɣɑʂ | ðinðʉn | ðanðun | ðɯnðɯk | ðɯnðɯk/ðɯnðɯka |
| eye | tʃæʃm (چشم) | tʃaʃm (чашм) | stərɡa | tsem | tsem | tʂəʐm | ghah |
| horse | æsb (اسب) | asp (асп) | ɑs | voːrdʒ | vurdʒ | jaʃ | jatnij |
| cloud | æbr (ابر) | abr (абр) | uriədz | abri | varm | mur | mu |
| wheat | gænd̪um (گندم) | gandum (гандум) | ɣanəm | ʒindam | ʒandam | ɣɯdim | |
| many | bisjɔr (بسيار) | bisjor (бисёр) | ɖer, pura | lap | pɯr | təqi | |
| high | bulænd̪ (بلند) | baland (баланд) | lwəɻ | biland | bɯland | bɯland | |
| far | dur (دور) | dur (дур) | ləre | ðar | ðar | ðir | |
| good | xub (خوب) | xub (хуб) | xə, ʂə | bashand | tʃardʒ | baf | |
| small | xurd̪ (خرد) | χurd (хурд) | ləɡ, ləʐ | dzul | dzɯl | dzəqlai | |
| to say | guft̪ (گفت) | guft (гуфт) | wəjəl | lʉvdow | levd | xənak | |
| to do | kærd̪ (كرد) | kard (кард) | kawəl | tʃiːdow | tʃeiɡ | tsərak | |
| to see | d̪id̪ (ديد) | did (дид) | winəm | wiːntow | wand | wing |
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Alveolo- palatal |
Retroflex | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||
| Plosive | p b | t̪ d̪ | ʈ ɖ | k ɡ | q | |||
| Affricate | t͡s d͡z | t͡ɕ d͡ʑ | ʈ͡ʂ ɖ͡ʐ | |||||
| Fricative | f v | θ ð | s z | ɕ ʑ | ʂ ʐ | x ɣ | χ ʁ | h |
| Approximant | l | j | w | |||||
| Rhotic | r |
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![[1]](http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/kuhl1/wakhani-rom-2.jpg){kind=link}
![[2]](http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/kuhl1/wakhani-cyr-2.jpg){kind=link}