Wasi-wari
Wasi-wari | |
---|---|
Prasun, Paruni | |
Vâsi-vari, Vâsi-veri | |
Native to | Afghanistan |
Region | Pārūn Valley |
Native speakers | 8,000 (2011)[1] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | prn |
Glottolog | pras1239 |
ELP | Prasuni |
Linguasphere | 58-ACB-b |
Wasi-wari (Vâsi-vari, Vâsi-veri) is the language of the Wasi people, spoken in a few villages in the Pārūn Valley (Prasun Valley) in Afghanistan. It also goes by the name Prasun or Paruni.
Wasi-wari belongs to the Indo-European language family, and is on the Nuristani group of the Indo-Iranian branch. Wasi-wari is the most divergent of the Nuristani languages.
The Prasuni people are now mostly Muslim since the imposition of Islam by the Afghan ruler Abdur Rahman Khan in 1896.[2] They first followed out of intimidation, then became more devout as younger generations studied Islamic scriptures in Pakistan and India and came back to preach Islam,[3] but they also keep some vestiges of their indigenous pre-Islamic religion.[4] Literacy rates are low: below 1% for people who have it as a first language, and between 15% and 25% for people who have it as a second language.
Name
[edit]The name of the language derives from its endonym Vâsi [waˈsi], with cognates such as Kamviri Přâsü̃ [pɽaˈsỹ] (whence the alternative name Prasun) and Kata-vari Přâsiu [pɽaˈsju]. Pārūni comes from the two national languages of Afghanistan, Pashto and Dari.
Demographics
[edit]Wasi-wari is a language spoken by the Vâsi (Prasuni) people who are located in the Pârun Valley, known as Vâsi-gul, at the beginning of the Pech River basin in Nuristan Province of northeastern Afghanistan. The native names of the language are Vâsi-vari in the Ṣupu dialect, and Vâsi-veri in the Seć dialect, but it is also known as Prasuni, Prasun, Vasi-vari, Pārūni, Pārūn, Veron, Verou, and Veruni. The population of Vâsi-gul is between 3,000-6,000, and there are approximately 8,000 native speakers within the valley and other areas, which makes it a vulnerable language.
Dialects
[edit]Wasi-wari is broken up into three dialects that are spoken in six villages. The upper dialect, Ṣupu-vari, is spoken in the northernmost village, Ṣupu (Shtive). The central dialect, üšüt-üćü-zumu-vari, is spoken in the middle four villages, Seć (Pronz), Üćü (Dewa), Üšüt (Kshtoki), and Zumu. The lower dialect, Uṣüt-vare, is spoken in Uṣüt (Pashki), the lowest village. For this article, most cited forms will be based on the Seć dialect unless specified otherwise.[5]
One characteristic feature defining all Wasi-wari dialects is the shift of ancient *d to l, which was lost in intervocalic position in other Nuristani languages, such as vazala [wɘˈzɘlɘ] "shoe", compared to Ashkun vâćâ [vaˈt͡sa], Kamviri vâćo [vaˈt͡so], and Waigali oćä [oˈt͡sæ], and the pervasive lenition of initial stops, such as viṭa [wiʈɘ] "wing", compared to Ashkun pâṭu [paˈʈu] "feather", Kamviri pâṭü [paˈʈy] "feather", and Waigali paṭä [paˈʈæ] "feather, wing".
Classification
[edit]Wasi-wari is part of the Nuristani branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, which show both Iranian and Indo-Aryan influences, but are otherwise not closely related.[6] Nuristani languages were formerly considered to be Dardic languages,[7] however, they are dissimilar enough from the other Dardic languages to constitute their own branch of the Indo-Iranian language tree. There was also previously confusion on whether Wasi-wari and Prasun were the same or separate languages, but it was determined that both names referred to the same language.[8] Although it is substantially different from the other Nuristani languages, Wasi-wari forms the northern cluster of Nuristâni languages with Kamkata-vari, so they share some similarities.[9]
Phonology
[edit]Vowels
[edit]Wasi-wari has eight vowels, â, u, o, i, e, ü, ö, and the unmarked vowel, a, which is pronounced as a high central vowel, [ɨ]. Long vowels are denoted with the IPA symbol /:/, such as [iː].
Vocabulary
[edit]Pronouns
[edit]Person | Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st | sg. | unzu | ândeiš | am |
pl. | âsẽ | âs | ||
2nd | sg. | üy | ütyöiš | ĩ |
pl. | miū | âsen |
Numerals
[edit]Number | Prasuni (Strand) |
---|---|
1 | ipin, attege (upün) |
2 | lūe (lü) |
3 | chhī (ćši) |
4 | chipū (čpu) |
5 | uch (vuču) |
6 | ushū (vuṣ) |
7 | sete (sata) |
8 | aste (âsta) |
9 | nūh (nu) |
10 | leze (leza) |
11 | zizh (züz (Zumu), źuzu (Uṣüt)) |
12 | wizū (vüzu) |
13 | chhīza (čiz (Zumu), ćšiza (Uṣüt)) |
14 | chipults (čpulć) |
15 | vishilhts (višilć) |
16 | ushulhts (uṣulć) |
17 | setilts (setliz) |
18 | astilts (âstliz) |
19 | nalts (nâlć) |
20 | zū (źu) |
30 | lezaij |
40 | jibeze (žibeze) |
50 | lejjibets |
60 | chichegzū |
70 | chichegzālets |
80 | chipegzū |
90 | chipegzualets |
100 | ochegzū |
References
[edit]- ^ Wasi-wari at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). The Vâsi. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/vasi.html
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). Topics in Vâsi Ethnography: Peacemaking. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/VasiCulture/Zaman8.html
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). Topics in Vâsi Ethnography: Keepers of the Former Gods. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/VasiCulture/Zaman1.html
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). The Vâsi. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/vasi.html
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2010). Nurestâni languages. In Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved from: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nurestani-languages
- ^ Grierson, G. A. (1919). Specimens of the Dardic or Piśācha languages (including Kāshmīrī). Linguistic Survey of India, 8 (2), 59. Retrieved from: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/lsi/lsi.php?volume=8-2&pages=584#page/74/mode/1up
- ^ Strand, R. F. (1973). Notes on the Nūristāni and Dardic languages. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 93, 297-305. Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/599462
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2010). Nurestâni languages. In Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved from: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nurestani-languages
- ^ Grierson,G. A. (1919). Specimens of the Dardic or Piśācha languages (including Kāshmīrī). Linguistic Survey of India, 8 (2), 67. Retrieved from: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/lsi/lsi.php?volume=8-2&pages=584#page/82/mode/1up
External links
[edit]- Prasuni at the Endangered Languages Project