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"Chitrali language" redirects here. For other Chitrali languages, see Languages of Chitral.

Khowar
Chitrali
کهووار
Native toPakistan
RegionChitral District
EthnicityKho people
Native speakers
(240,000 cited 1992–2000)[1]
Khowar alphabet (Arabic script)
Language codes
ISO 639-3khw
Glottologkhow1242
Linguasphere59-AAB-aa
Khowar letter jeem

Khowar (کهووار), also known as Chitrali (چترالي) and Arniya, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic branch spoken by kho people of Chitral, Pakistan . The separate nature of the Dardic languages is clear, however, they form close relationship with other Indo-Aryan languages, especially Punjabi.[2]

It is spoken by the Kho people in Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the Ghizer district of Gilgit-Baltistan (including the Yasin Valley, Phandar Ishkoman and Gupis), and in parts of Upper Swat. Speakers of Khowar have also migrated heavily to Pakistan's major urban centres with Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, having sizeable populations. It is spoken as a second language in the rest of Gilgit and Hunza. There are believed to be small numbers of Khowar speakers in Afghanistan, China, Tajikistan and Istanbul.

Khowar is the predominant language of Chitral, and one of the 14 designated regional languages there.[citation needed]

Phonology

Khowar has a variety of dialects, which may vary phonemically.[3] The following tables lay out the basic phonology of Khowar.[4][5]

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

Khowar may also have nasalized vowels and a series of long vowels /aː/, /eː/, /iː/, /oː/, and /uː/. Sources are inconsistent on whether length is phonemic, with one author stating "vowel-length is observed mainly as a substitute one. The vowel-length of phonological value is noted far more rarely."[3] Unlike the neighboring and related Kalasha language, Khowar does not have retroflex vowels.[4]

Consonants

Labial Coronal Retroflex Palatal Velar Post-
velar 		Glottal
Nasal m n
Stop voiceless p t ʈ k (q)
voiced b d ɖ g
aspirated pʰ tʰ ʈʰ kʰ
Affricate voiceless ts ʈʂ tʃ
voiced dz ɖʐ dʒ
aspirated tsʰ (?) ʈʂʰ tʃʰ
Fricative voiceless f s ʂ ʃ x h
voiced z ʐ ʒ ɣ
Approximant l(ʲ) ɫ j w
Rhotic ɾ

The phonemic status of /tsʰ/ is unclear in the sources

Tone

Khowar, like many Dardic languages, has either phonemic tone or stress distinctions.[6]

Comparative Vocabulary

The names of the days of the week, in Khowar, are compared with their equivalents in Shina, Sanskrit, and English.[citation needed]

English Shina Sanskrit Khowar
Sunday Adit Aditya vara yak shambey
Monday Tsunduro Som vara du shambey
Tuesday Ungaroo Mangala vara sey shambey
Wednesday Bodo Budha vara char shambey
Thursday Bressput Brhashpati vara panch shambey
Friday Shooker Shukra vara Adina
Saturday Shimshere Sanischa vara shambey

Dialects

  • Standard Khowar
  • Swati Khowar (Swat Kohistan)
  • Lotkuhiwar (Lotkuh Valley)
  • Gherzikwar (Ghizer Valley)
  • Gilgiti Khowar (Gilgit-Baltistan), spoken by a few families in Gilgit city.

Writing system

Khowar has been written in the Nasta'liq script since the early twentieth century. Prior to that, the language was carried on through oral tradition. Today Urdu and English are the official languages and the only major literary usage of Khowar is in both poetry and prose composition. Khowar has also been written in the Roman script since the 1960s.

Khowar media

Television channels

Main article: Television in Pakistan
TV Channel Genre Founded Official Website
Khyber News TV (خیبر نیوز ٹیلی ویژن) News and current affairs   http://www.khybernews.tv/
AVT Khyber TV (اے وی ٹی خیبر) Entertainment   http://www.avtkhyber.tv/
K2 TV (کے ٹو) Entertainment, news and current affairs   http://www.kay2.tv/

Radio

These are not dedicated Khowar channels but play most programmes in Khowar.

Main article: Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation
Radio Channel Genre Founded Official Website
Radio Pakistan Chitral Entertainment http://www.radio.gov.pk/
Radio Pakistan Peshawar Entertainment http://www.radio.gov.pk/
Radio Pakistan Gilgit Entertainment http://www.radio.gov.pk/

Newspapers

See also: List of newspapers in Pakistan § Khowar
Newspaper City(ies) Founded Official Website
Chitral Vision (چترال وژن) Karachi, Chitral, Pakistan    
Chitral Today     http://chitraltoday.net

See also

References

  1. ^ Khowar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dardestan-
  3. ^ a b Edelman, D. I. (1983). The Dardic and Nuristani Languages. Moscow: Institut vostokovedenii︠a︡ (Akademii︠a︡ nauk SSSR). p. 210.
  4. ^ a b Bashir, Elena L. (1988), "Topics in Kalasha Syntax: An areal and typological perspective" (PDF), Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan: 37–40
  5. ^ Bashir, Elena L., Maula Nigah and Rahmat Karim Baig, A Digital Khowar-English Dictionary with Audio{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Baart, Joan L. G. (2003), Tonal features in languages of northern Pakistan (PDF), National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University and Summer Institute of Linguistics, pp. 3, 6

Additional references

  • Bashir, Elena (2001) "Spatial Representation in Khowar". Proceedings of the 36th Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.
  • Decker, D. Kendall (1992). Languages of Chitral. ISBN 969-8023-15-1.
  • L'Homme, Erik (1999) Parlons Khowar. Langue et culture de l'ancien royaume de Chitral au Pakistan. Paris: L'Harmattan
  • Morgenstierne, Georg (1936) "Iranian Elements in Khowar". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. VIII, London.
  • Badshah Munir Bukhari (2001) Khowar language. University publisher. Pakistan
  • Morgenstierne, Georg (1947) "Some Features of Khowar Morphology". Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, Vol. XIV, Oslo.
  • Morgenstierne, Georg (1957) Sanskritic Words in Khowar. Felicitation Volume Presented to S. K. Belvalkar. Benares. 84–98 [Reprinted in Morgenstierne (1973): Irano-Dardica, 267–72]
  • Mohammad Ismail Sloan (1981) Khowar-English Dictionary. Peshawar. ISBN 0-923891-15-3.
  • Decker, Kendall D. (1992). Languages of Chitral (Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 5). National Institute of Pakistani Studies, 257 pp. ISBN 969-8023-15-1.
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