Shina language

Shina
File:Shina Alphabets.png
Native to	Pakistan, India
Region	Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral, parts of Kashmir
Native speakers	(500,000 cited 1981–1998)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Dardic Shina
Writing system	Arabic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: scl – Shina plk – Kohistani Shina
Glottolog	shin1264  Shina kohi1248  Kohistani Shina

Shina (Urdu: شینا Šīnā) is a language from the Dardic sub-group of the Indo-Aryan languages family spoken by the Shina people, a plurality of the people in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, formerly known as the Northern Areas of Pakistan. The separate nature of the Dardic languages is still clear, however, form their close relationship with other Indo-Aryan languages, especially Punjabi.

Dialects are Gilgiti (the prestige dialect), Astori, Chilasi Kohistani, Drasi, Gurezi, Jalkoti, Kolai, and Palasi. Related languages spoken by ethnic Shina are Brokskat (the Shina of Baltistan and Ladakh), Domaa, Kohistani Shina, Palula, Savi, and Ushojo. Shina is the language of 40% people of Gilgit Baltistan.The valleys in which it is spoken include Astore, Chilas, Darel, Tangir, Gilgit, Ghizer, Gurez, Drass, Juglot Valley, Drotte Palas, Kolai, and Kohistan.

Writing

Shina is usually written with a variation of the Urdu alphabet. The additional letters to write Shina are:

• ݜ for /ʂ/
• ڙ for /ʐ/
• څ for /ts/
• ڇ for /ʈʂ/
• ݨ for /ɳ/

The language is also written in Devanagari script as well, using the nuqta dot for additional Shina sounds.

Phonology

Vowels

The Shina principal vowel sounds:

	Front	Mid	Back
			unrounded	rounded
High	i			u
Lower high	e			o
Higher low	ɛ	ə	ʌ	ɔ
Low		a

All vowels but /ɔ/ can be either long or nasalized, though no minimal pairs with the contrast are found.

Diphthongs

In Shina there are the following diphthongs:

• falling: ae̯, ao̯, eə̯, ɛi̯, ɛːi̯, ue̯, ui̯, oi̯, oə̯;
• falling nasalized: ãi̯, ẽi̯, ũi̯, ĩũ̯, ʌĩ̯;
• raising: u̯i, u̯e, a̯a, u̯u.

Consonants

		Labial	Coronal	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	Plain	p	t	ʈ		k
	Aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	ʈʰ		kʰ
	Voiced	b	d	ɖ		ɡ
Affricate	Plain		ts	tʂ	tʃ
	Aspirated		tsʰ	tʂʰ	tʃʰ
	Voiced		dz		dʒ
Fricative	Plain	(f)	s	ʂ	ʃ	x	h
	Voiced		z	ʐ	ʒ	ɣ	ɦ
Nasal		m	n	ɳ		ŋ
Lateral			l
Rhotic			r	ɽ
Semivowel		ʋ~w			j

Tone

Tshina has three contrasting tones, level and rising and low tone. Example: 1.the............2.thee.........3.thee 1. leveled "the" is Imperative meaning "Do". 2. The stress is on the first morel means "Will you do?" 3. The stress is on the last morel means "After having done". There are many minimal pairs in Tshina to prove that it contains three tones.

See also

• Dardic languages
• Shin of Hindukush

References

• Calvin R. Rensch, Sandra J. Decker, Daniel G. Hallberg. (1992). Languages of Kohistan (Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 1). National Institute of Pakistani Studies, 263 pp. ISBN 969-8023-11-9.
• Backstrom, Peter C. (1992). Languages of Northern Areas (Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 2). 417 pp. ISBN 969-8023-12-7.
• Degener, Almuth. (2008). Shina-Texte aus Gilgit (Nord-Pakistan): Sprichwörter und Materialien zum Volksglauben, gesammelt von Mohammad Amin Zia. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. Contains a Shina grammar, German-Shina and Shina-German dictionaries, and over 700 Shina proverbs and short texts.
• Rajapurohit, B. B. (2012). Grammar of Shina Language and Vocabulary (PDF). {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Zia, Muhammad Amin. (1986). Shina Grammar. First Shina grammar to be written in Shina.
• Zia, Muhammad Amin. Shina Lughat (Shina Dictionary). First available Shina dictionary, containing 15000 words plus material on the phonetics of Shina.
• Zia Muhammad Amin. Bayaak (Meeting Place) Shina Radio Features, translation and inter linear explanation in English by Prof. Dr. Gearg Buddruss and Almuth Degener. Published in Germany

External links

• 1992 Sociolinguistic Survey of Shina