Sarikoli language

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Sarikoli
tujik ziv
Spoken in People's Republic of China
Native speakers 16,000  (2000)
Language family
Writing system Arabic
Language codes
ISO 639-3 srh
Linguasphere 58-ABD-eb
Sarikoli Language in Xinjiang.png
Xinjiang province. Light blue are areas where Sarikoli is spoken.

The Sarikoli language (also Sariqoli, Selekur, Sarikul, Sariqul, Sariköli) is a member of the Pamir subgroup of the Southeastern Iranian languages spoken by Tajiks in China. It is officially referred to in China as the "Tajik language", although it is different from the language spoken in Tajikistan.

Contents

[edit] Nomenclature

Sarikoli is officially referred to as "Tajik" (塔吉克语 Tǎjíkèyǔ) in China.[1] However, it is not closely related to Tajik as spoken in Tajikistan.[2] It is also referred to as Tashkorghani,[3] after the ancient capital of the Sarikoli kingdom (now a county of Xinjiang); however, this usage is not widespread among scholars.

The earliest written accounts in English, from the 1870s, generally use the name "Sarikoli".[4]

[edit] Distribution of speakers

The number of speakers is around 20,000; most reside in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in southern Xinjiang Province, China. The Chinese name for the Sarikoli language, as well as the usage of Sarikol as a toponym, is Sèlēikùěr (色勒库尔). Speakers in China typically use Uyghur and Chinese to communicate with people of other ethnic groups in the area. The rest are found in the Pakistani-controlled sector of Kashmir, closely hugging the Pakistan-Chinese international borders.

It is mutually unintelligible with the related Wakhi language.[5]

[edit] Orthography

The language has no official written form. Gawarjon, publishing in China, used IPA to transcribe the sounds of Sarikoli in his book and dictionary,[2][6] while Pakhalina, publishing in Russia, used an alphabet similar to that of the Wakhi language in hers.[7][8] Because the majority of Sarikoli-speakers attend schools using Uyghur as the medium of instruction, some may be able to write their language using the Uyghur alphabet.

[edit] Phonology

[edit] Vowels

Sarikoli vowels as used in Russian works (IPA values in bracelets):

a [a], e [e], ɛy [ɛi̯] (dialectal æy or ay [æi̯ / ai̯]), ɛw [ɛu̯] (dialectal æw or aw [æu̯ /au̯]), ə [ə], i [i], o [o / ɔ], u [u], ы [ɯ] (dialectal ů [ʊ]). In some dialects also long variants of those vowels can appear: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ы̄, ǝ̄.

[edit] Consonants

Sarikoli has 29 consonants:

Sariqoli consonants according to Russian Iranologist transcription (IPA values in bracelets): p /p/, b /b/, t /t/, d /d/, k /k / c/, g /ɡ ~ ɟ/, q /q/, c /ts/, ʒ /dz/, č /tɕ/, ǰ /dʑ/, s /s/, z /z/, x̌ /x/, γ̌ /ɣ/, f /f/, v /v/, θ /θ/, δ /ð/, x /χ/, γ /ʁ/, š /ɕ/, ž /ʑ/, w /w/, y /j/, m /m/, n /n / ŋ/, l /l/, r /r/

[edit] Stress

Most words receive stress on the last syllable; however, a minority receive stress on their first syllable. Also, several noun declensions and verb inflections regularly place stress on their first syllable, including the imperative and interrogative.[2]


[edit] Vocabulary

Although to a large extent the Sarikoli lexicon is quite close to those of other Eastern Iranian languages, but a large number are words are special to Sarikoli and the closely related Shughni, that are not found in other Eastern Iranian languages like Wakhi, Pashto or Avestan.

Lexical comparison of seven Iranian languages together with an English translation[2]
English gloss Persian Tajik Shughni Sarikoli Wakhi Pashto Avestan
son pesær (پسر) pisar (писар) puts pɯts putr zoj putra
fire ɒteʃ (اتش) otaʃ (оташ) joːts juts rɯχniɡ wor âtar
water ɒb (اب) ob (об) xats xats jupk obə aiwyô, ap
hand dæst (دست) dast (даѕт) ðust ðɯst ðast lɑs zasta
foot pɒ (پا) po (по) poːð peð pɯð pxa, pʂa pad
tooth dændɒn (دندان) dandon (дандон) ðinðʉn ðanðun ðɯnðɯk ɣɑx, ɣɑʂ  ?
eye tʃæʃm (چشم) tʃaʃm (чашм) tsem tsem tʂəʐm stərɡa cashman
horse æsb (اسب) asp (асп) voːrdʒ vurdʒ jaʃ ɑs aspa
cloud æbr (ابر) abr (абр) abri varm mur uriədz  ?
wheat gændom (گندم) gandum (гандум) ʒindam ʒandam ɣɯdim ɣanəm  ?
meat ɡuʃt (گوشت) ɡuʃt (гушт) ɡuːxt ɡɯxt ɡuʂt ɣwəxa, ɣwəʂa  ?
many besjɒr (بسيار) bisjor (бисёр) bisjoːr pɯr təqi ɖer, pura paoiri, paoirîsh, pouru
high bolænd (بلند) baland (баланд) biland bɯland bɯland lwəɻ berezô, berezañt
far dur (دور) dur (дур) ðar ðar ðir ləre dûra, dûrât
good χub (خوب) χub (хуб) χub tʃardʒ baf xə, ʂə vohu
small kutʃik (كوچك)) χurd (хурд) dzul dzɯl dzəqlai ləɡ, ləʐ  ?
to say goft (گفت) guft (гуфт) lʉvd levd xənak wajəl aoj-, mrû-, sangh-
to do kærd (كرد) kard (кард) tʃiːd tʃeiɡ tsərak kawəl kar-
to see did (ديد) did (дид) wiːnt wand winɡ winəm dî-

[edit] References

  1. ^ A wide variety of transcriptions of the name "Sarikoli" are used in linguistic discussions, such as 萨里库尔语 Sàlǐkùěryǔ, 萨雷阔勒语 Sàléikuòlèyǔ, 色勒库尔语 Sèlèkùěryǔ, or 撒里科里语 Sǎlǐkēlǐyǔ.
  2. ^ a b c d Gawarjon (高尔锵/Gāo Ěrqiāng) (1985). Outline of the Tajik language (塔吉克语简志/Tǎjíkèyǔ Jiǎnzhì). Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House. 
  3. ^ Rudelson, Justin Jon (January 2005). Lonely Planet Central Asia Phrasebook: Languages Of The Silk Road. Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 1741046041. 
  4. ^ Shaw, Robert (1876). "On the Ghalchah Languages (Wakhi and Sarikoli)". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Asiatic Society of Bengal) XIV. 
  5. ^ Arlund, Pamela (2006). An Acoustic, Historical, and Developmental Analysis of Sarikol Tajik Diphthongs.. Arlington, Texas: The University of Texas. p. 8. 
  6. ^ Gawarjon (高尔锵/Gāo Ěrqiāng) (1996). 塔吉克汉词典 (Tǎjíkè-Hàn Cìdiǎn) Tujik ziv – Hanzu ziv lughot. Sichuan: Sichuan Nationalities Publishing House. ISBN 754091744X. 
  7. ^ Pakhalina, Tatiana N. (1966). The Sarikoli Language (Сарыкольский язык/Sarykol'skij Jazyk). Moscow: Akademia Nauk SSSR. 
  8. ^ Pakhalina, Tatiana N. (1971). Sarikoli-Russian Dictionary (Сарыкольско-русский словарь/Sarykol'sko-russkij slovar'). Moscow: Akademia Nauk SSSR. 

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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