Northeastern Katë dialect

Northeastern Katë
Native toAfghanistan, Pakistan
RegionNuristan, Kunar, Chitral
Native speakers
1,500 (Pakistani speakers only) (2003)[1][2]
Arabic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3bsh
Glottologkati1270

Northeastern Katë is a dialect of the Katë language spoken by the Kata in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It also includes the so-called Shekhani dialect spoken in Chitral district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.[3]

There are several subdialects spoken in the upper Landai Sin Valley. It is also spoken in Chitral District, in Gobor and the upper Bumboret Valley in Pakistan.

Innovations

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According to Halfmann (2024), the primary innovations of the Northeastern dialect include secondary vowel length from monophthongization of vowel + v and a progressive suffix -t-.

Orthography

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In August 2022, Pakistani linguist, Rehmat Aziz Chitrali proposed a keyboard to Khowar Academy, Chitral.[4]

History

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Speakers of Eastern Katë dialects migrated from Kamdesh in Nuristan in modern-day Afghanistan to Lutkuh Valley in Chitrali Princely State in British Raj during the 19th century.[5] Most speakers in Pakistan speak either Pashto or Khowar as a second language. Many native speakers often marry the minority Pashtuns in the area.[6]

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Palato-
alveolar
Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t ʈ k
voiced b d ɖ ɡ
Affricate voiceless t͡s t͡ʃ t͡ʂ t͡ɕ
voiced d͡ʒ d͡ʐ
Fricative voiceless (f) s ʃ ʂ ɕ (x) h
voiced v z (ʒ) ʐ ʑ (ɣ)
Nasal m n ɳ ŋ
Tap ɾ (ɽ)
Approximant lateral l
central ɻ (j)
  • Sounds /ʒ ɽ ɣ/ occur from neighboring languages. /f x/ are borrowed from loanwords mainly from Khowar or Yidgha.
  • /ʈ/ can also be heard as an allophone [ɽ].
  • [j] is heard as an allophone of /i/.
  • /v/ can also be heard as bilabial [β] or a labial approximant [w].

Vowels

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Front Central Back
High i ə u
Mid e o
Low a
  • Mid /ə/ can be heard as a close central [ɨ].

Vocabulary

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Pronouns

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Person Direct Oblique
1st sg. ũ, ũċ ĩ, yẽ
pl. imú
2nd sg. tyu tu
pl. šo

Numbers

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  1. e, ev
  2. dyu
  3. tëre
  4. štëvó
  5. puč
  6. ṣu
  7. sut
  8. uṣṭ
  9. nu
  10. duċ
  11. yaníċ
  12. diċ
  13. tëríċ
  14. šturéċ
  15. pčiċ
  16. ṣeċ
  17. stiċ
  18. ṣṭiċ
  19. neċ
  20. vëċë́

Further reading

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  • Halfmann, Jakob (2024). A Grammatical Description of the Katë Language (Nuristani) (PhD thesis). Universität zu Köln.

References

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  1. ^ Frawley, William J. (1 May 2003). International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977178-3 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Writing System for Shekhani Language being developed". Pakngos.com.pk. 15 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Experts work to develop writing system in Shekhani language". Chitraltoday.net. 15 April 2021.
  4. ^ Chitrali, Rehmat Aziz. "Shekhani Keyboard". Keyman. Khowar Academy. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  5. ^ "Linguistic Diversity, Multilingualism and Social Empowerment in Northern Pakistan" (PDF). Linguapax.org. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  6. ^ Rensch, Calvin Ross (25 July 1992). "Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan: Languages of Chitral". National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University – via Google Books.
  • Grjunberg, Aleksandr L. (1980). Jazyk Kati: Teksty, Grammatičeskij Očerk. Moskva: Glavnaya Redaktsija Vostočnoj Literatury.
  • Strand, Richard F. (1973). Notes on the Nūristāni and Dardic Languages. Journal of the American Oriental Society.
  • Strand, Richard F. (2010). "Nurestâni Languages". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  • Strand, Richard F. (2011). "Kâtʹa-vari Lexicon". Retrieved 22 November 2020.
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