Kata-vari dialect

Kata-vari
Spoken in	Afghanistan
Region	Kunar Province
Native speakers	18,700 (Ethnologue)  (date missing)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Nuristani Kamkata-viri Kata-vari
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bsh
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Kata-vari is a dialect of the Kamkata-viri language spoken by the Kata in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The most used alternative names are Kati, Kativiri or Bashgali.

It is spoken by approximately 40,000 people (mostly in Afghanistan, just over 3,700 in Pakistan), and its speakers are Muslim. Literacy rates are low: below 1% for people who have it as a first language, and between 15% to 25% for people who have it as a second language.

There are two main sub-dialects: Eastern Kata-vari and Western Kata-vari. In Afghanistan, Western Kata-vari is spoken in the Ramgal, Kulam, Ktivi and Paruk valleys. Eastern Kata-vari is spoken in the upper Landay Sin Valley. In Pakistan, Eastern Kata-vari is spoken in Chitral District, in Gobar and the upper Bumboret Valley.

References

• Kati. Retrieved June 13, 2006, from Ethnologue: Languages of the World, fifteenth edition. SIL International. Online version.
• Strand, Richard F. (2010). "Nurestâni Languages". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nurestani-languages. Retrieved 2012-01-16. 

External links

• Strand, Richard F. (1997-present). "Nuristan: Hidden Land of the Hindu-Kush". http://nuristan.info/. Retrieved 2012-01-16. 
• Strand, Richard F. (1997). "The kâtʹa, kʹom, mumʹo, kṣtʹo, biniʹo, ǰâmčʹo, and ǰâšʹa". http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Kamkata/kamkata.html. Retrieved 2012-01-16. 
• Strand, Richard F. (1998). "The kâtʹa". http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Kamkata/Kata/kata.html. Retrieved 2012-01-16. 
• Strand, Richard F. (2011). "Kâtʹa-vari Lexicon". http://nuristan.info/lngFrameL.html. Retrieved 2012-01-16. 
• Strand, Richard F. (2011). "The Sound System of Kt'ivřâ·i vari". http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Kamkata/Kata/KataLanguage/Lexicon/phon.html. Retrieved 2012-01-16.