Dardic languages
also called Dard, Pisaca, or Pisacha Languages,
Main
group of closely related Indo-Iranian languages spoken in Pakistan, Kashmir, and Afghanistan. They are often divided into three subgroups: Kafiri, or Western; Khowari, or Central (spoken in the Chitrāl district of northwestern
Pakistan); and the Eastern group, which includes Shina and Kashmiri. (Some scholars use the term Dardic to refer only to the Eastern subgroup of languages and use the name Pisaca to refer to the group as a whole.)
The exact position of the Dardic languages within the Indo-Iranian language family has been a matter of dispute among scholars. Some scholars believe the languages to stem from an undifferentiated stage of Indo-Iranian; others believe the Eastern and Khowari groups to be Indo-Aryan, with the Kafiri subgroup being separate.
Kashmiri is the only Dardic language that has been used extensively for literary purposes. Except for Shina, the languages of the Eastern subgroup have been radically changed by the influence of the Indo-Aryan languages spoken farther south. The Dardic languages differ from the other Indo-Iranian languages in their sound systems and in the preservation of a number of words lost in India and Iran after the time of Vedic Sanskrit.[+]
Language Family Trees
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Northwestern zone, Dardic
Indo-European (449)
also called Dard, Pisaca, or Pisacha Languages,
Main
group of closely related Indo-Iranian languages spoken in Pakistan, Kashmir, and Afghanistan. They are often divided into three subgroups: Kafiri, or Western; Khowari, or Central (spoken in the Chitrāl district of northwestern
Pakistan); and the Eastern group, which includes Shina and Kashmiri. (Some scholars use the term Dardic to refer only to the Eastern subgroup of languages and use the name Pisaca to refer to the group as a whole.)
The exact position of the Dardic languages within the Indo-Iranian language family has been a matter of dispute among scholars. Some scholars believe the languages to stem from an undifferentiated stage of Indo-Iranian; others believe the Eastern and Khowari groups to be Indo-Aryan, with the Kafiri subgroup being separate.
Kashmiri is the only Dardic language that has been used extensively for literary purposes. Except for Shina, the languages of the Eastern subgroup have been radically changed by the influence of the Indo-Aryan languages spoken farther south. The Dardic languages differ from the other Indo-Iranian languages in their sound systems and in the preservation of a number of words lost in India and Iran after the time of Vedic Sanskrit.[+]
Language Family Trees
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Northwestern zone, Dardic
Indo-European (449)
- Indo-Iranian (308)
- Indo-Aryan (219)
- Northwestern zone (39)
- Dardic (27)
- Chitral (2)
- Khowar [khw] (Pakistan)
Kalasha [kls] (Pakistan)
- Kashmiri [kas] (India)
- Bateri [btv] (Pakistan)
Chilisso [clh] (Pakistan)
Kalami [gwc] (Pakistan)
Gowro [gwf] (Pakistan)
Kohistani, Indus [mvy] (Pakistan)
Tirahi [tra] (Afghanistan)
Torwali [trw] (Pakistan)
Wotapuri-Katarqalai [wsv] (Afghanistan)
Kalkoti [xka] (Pakistan)
- Dameli [dml] (Pakistan)
Gawar-Bati [gwt] (Afghanistan)
Grangali [nli] (Afghanistan)
Pashayi (4)
- Pashayi, Northeast [aee] (Afghanistan)
Pashayi, Northwest [glh] (Afghanistan)
Pashayi, Southwest [psh] (Afghanistan)
Pashayi, Southeast [psi] (Afghanistan)
- Brokskat [bkk] (India)
Domaaki [dmk] (Pakistan)
Phalura [phl] (Pakistan)
Shina, Kohistani [plk] (Pakistan)
Shina [scl] (Pakistan)
Savi [sdg] (Afghanistan)
Ushojo [ush] (Pakistan)[+]
- classification and characteristics (in Indo-Aryan languages: Phonology)
Dardic occupies a special position. The sibilant sounds did not all merge here. For example, Kashmiri, a Dardic tongue, has šurah “16” with š rather than s, as in most other Indo-Aryan languages, and sat “7” with s. Further, voiced aspirated stops merged with unaspirated stops in Dardic; e.g., Kashmiri gur... - distribution (in Afghanistan: Languages)
Other Indo-European languages, spoken by smaller groups, include Western Dardic (Nuristani or Kafiri), Balochi, and a number of Indic and Pamiri languages spoken principally in isolated valleys in the northeast. Turkic languages, a subfamily of the Altaic languages, are spoken by the Uzbek and Turkmen peoples, the most recent settlers, who...[+]
