Ajay Kumar at 06:19, 18 August 2023

2023-08-18T06:19:02Z

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{{short description|Indo-Aryan language of Pakistan}}
{{distinguish|Khowa (disambiguation){{!}}Khowa|Khovar|Khuwar (disambiguation){{!}}Khuwar}}
{{redirect|Chitrali language}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Khowar
| altname =
| nativename = {{lang|khw|{{nq|کھووار}}}}
| states = [[Pakistan]]
| region = [[Chitral District]]
| ethnicity = [[Kho people]]
| speakers = {{circa|800,000}}
| date = 2021
| ref = <ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-02 |title=Khowar language is losing its essence -Faizan Aziz - Chitral Times |url=https://chitraltimes.com/en/khowar-language-is-losing-its-essence/ |access-date=2023-05-01 |language=en-US |quote=Khowar is one of the regional languages of Pakistan. It is spoken in different parts of Pakistan and more than 0.8 million people speak Khowar over in Chitral, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Swat Valley. Meanwhile, in Chitral, Khowar is considered as a lingua franca or the main communicative language of the area.}}</ref>
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3 = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4 = [[Dardic_languages|Chitrali]]
| script = [[Khowar alphabet]] (In [[Nastaliq]] style.)
| nation =
| iso3 = khw
| glotto = khow1242
| glottorefname = Khowar
| lingua = 59-AAB-aa
| image = [[File:Khowar in Nastaliq.png|200px]]
| pronunciation =
| imagecaption = Khowar written in the [[Khowar alphabet]] in [[Nastaliq]] style.
| map = Minor languages of Pakistan as of the 1998 census.png
| mapcaption = Khowar is a minor language of Pakistan which is mainly spoken in Chitral, it is given a space in this map.
| map2 = Khowar_location.svg
| mapcaption2 = Areas where Khowar is spoken.
| agency = Association for the Promotion of Khowar<ref>{{cite web |last1=Faizi |first1=Inayatullah |title=Development of Khowar as a Literacy Language, Results of interaction between linguists and language community: Case study in Chitral, Northern Pakistan |url=https://fli-online.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Development-of-Khowar-as-a-Literacy-Language.pdf |publisher=Govt Degree College Chitral |location=NWFP-Pakistan}}</ref>
}}
'''Khowar''' ({{lang|khw|{{nq|کھووار}}}}), or '''Chitrali''', is an [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan language]] primarily spoken in [[Chitral District|Chitral]] and surrounding areas in [[Pakistan]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jain |first1=Danesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OtCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA843 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |last2=Cardona |first2=George |date=2007-07-26 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-79711-9 |pages=843 |language=en}}</ref>

Khowar is the lingua franca of [[Chitral]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jain |first1=Danesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OtCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA843 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |last2=Cardona |first2=George |date=2007-07-26 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-79711-9 |pages=843 |language=en}}</ref> and it is also spoken in the [[Gupis-Yasin District|Gupis-Yasin]] and [[Ghizer District (2019–)|Ghizer]] districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, as well in the Upper [[Swat District|Swat district]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cardona|first=George|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages|year=2007|pages=843}}</ref>

Speakers of Khowar have also migrated heavily to Pakistan's major urban centres, with [[Peshawar]], [[Islamabad]], [[Lahore]] and [[Karachi]] having significant populations. It is also spoken as a second language by the [[Kalash people]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heegård Petersen |first=Jan |date=30 September 2015 |title=Kalasha texts – With introductory grammar |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03740463.2015.1069049 |journal=Acta Linguistica Hafniensia |language=en |volume=47 |issue=sup1 |pages=1–275 |doi=10.1080/03740463.2015.1069049 |issn=0374-0463 |s2cid=218660179}}</ref>

==Names==
The native name of the language is ''Khō-wār'',<ref name="LSI">{{LSI|8|2|year-1919|p=133}}</ref> meaning "language" (''wār'') of the [[Kho people]]. During the [[British Raj]] it was known to the English as ''Chitrālī'' (a derived adjective from the name of the [[Chitral region]]) or ''Qāshqārī''.<ref name="LSI"/> Among the Pashtuns and Badakhshanis it is known as ''Kashkār''.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Civil and military gazette press| last = O'Brien| first = Donatus James Thomond| title = Grammar and vocabulary of the K̲h̲owâr dialect (Chitrâli)| location = Lahore| date = 1895|page=i}}</ref> Another name, used by Leitner in 1880, is ''Arnyiá''<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Dilbagroy| last = Leitner| first = Gottlieb William| title = Kafiristan. Section 1: the Bashgeli Kafirs and their language| location = Lahore| access-date = 2016-06-06| date = 1880| url = http://purl.ox.ac.uk/uuid/2f566bcfeba54f33bb64106a17a66ca8|page=43}}</ref> or ''Arniya'', derived from the [[Shina language]] name for the part of the [[Yasin Valley|Yasin]] (a valley in Gilgit-Baltistan) where Khowar is spoken.<ref name="LSI"/>

==History==
The Khowar language expanded throughout Chitral from the northern part of the region, specifically from the [[Mulkhow]] and [[Torkhow valley|Torkhow Valley]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Rensch |first=Calvin Ross |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/27/02/58/27025885940262322544465526417847562858/32850_SSNP05.pdf |title=Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan: Languages of Chitral |date=1992 |publisher=National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University |pages=28-29, 98-99 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Dani |first=Ahmad Hasan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MOltAAAAMAAJ&q=khos |title=History of Northern Areas of Pakistan: Upto 2000 A.D. |date=2001 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publcations |isbn=978-969-35-1231-1 |pages=66 |language=en |quote=}}</ref> According to [[Georg Morgenstierne|Morgenstierne]], the original abode of the Khowar language was [[Upper Chitral District|northern Chitral]] in the valleys around [[Mastuj]].<ref name=":2" /> The Khowar language started expanding into southern Chitral around the early 14th.<ref name=":2" />

Khowar shares a great number of morphological characteristics with neighbouring [[Iranian languages]] of [[Badakhshan]], pointing to a very early location of proto-Khowar in its original abode in Upper Chitral, although from its links with the [[Gandhari language]], it likely came from further south in the first millennium BC, possibly through Swat and Dir'''.<ref name=":1" />'''

[[Georg Morgenstierne]] noted, "Khowar, in many respects [is] the most archaic of all modern [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indian languages]], retaining a great part of [[Sanskrit]] case inflexion, and retaining many words in a nearly Sanskritic form".<ref>{{Cite book| last = Morgenstierne| first = Georg| author-link = Georg Morgenstierne| chapter = Languages of Nuristan and surrounding regions| date = 1974| editor-last1 = Jettmar| editor-first1 = Karl| editor-last2 = Edelberg| editor-first2 = Lennart| title = Cultures of the Hindukush: selected papers from the Hindu-Kush Cultural Conference held at Moesgård 1970| series = Beiträge zur Südasienforschung, Südasien-Institut Universität Heidelberg| volume = Bd. 1| location = Wiesbaden| publisher = Franz Steiner| isbn = 978-3-515-01217-1|pages = 1–10|quote=The main language of Chitral is Khowar, in many respects the most archaic of all modern Indian languages, retaining a great part of Sanskrit case inflexion, and retaining many words in a nearly Sanskritic form.}}</ref>{{rp|3}}

==Phonology==

Khowar has a variety of dialects, which may vary phonemically.<ref name=Edelman>{{cite book|last=Edelman|first=D. I.|title=The Dardic and Nuristani Languages|year=1983|publisher=Institut vostokovedenii︠a︡ (Akademii︠a︡ nauk SSSR)|location=Moscow|pages=210}}</ref> The following tables lay out the basic phonology of Khowar.<ref name=Bashir1>{{Citation
|last= Bashir |first= Elena L.|author-link=Elena Bashir
|title= Topics in Kalasha Syntax: An areal and typological perspective
|journal= Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan
|year= 1988
|url=http://salc.uchicago.edu/sites/salc.uchicago.edu/files/bashirdissertation.pdf
| pages= 37–40
}}</ref><ref name=Bashir2>{{Citation
|last1= Bashir |first= Elena L.|author1-link=Elena Bashir
|last2=Nigah|first2=Maula
|last3=Baig|first3=Rahmat Karim
|title= A Digital Khowar-English Dictionary with Audio
|year= 2004|url= https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/khowar/
}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Liljegren|first1=H.|last2=Khan|first2=A.|date=2017|title=Khowar|url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-145625|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association|volume=47| issue=2 |pages=219–229| doi=10.1017/S0025100316000220 | s2cid=232348235 |via=}}</ref>

===Vowels===

{|class="wikitable"
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-align=center
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA|i}} || || {{IPA|u}}
|-align=center
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA|ɛ}}
|
|{{IPA|ɔ}}
|-align=center
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|{{IPA|ɑ}}
|
|}

Khowar may also have nasalized vowels and a series of [[Vowel length|long vowels]] {{IPA|/ɑː/}}, {{IPA|/ɛː/}}, {{IPA|/iː/}}, {{IPA|/ɔː/}}, and {{IPA|/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."<ref name=Edelman/> Unlike the neighboring and related [[Kalasha-mun|Kalasha language]], Khowar does not have retroflex vowels.<ref name=Bashir1/>

===Consonants===

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|-style="font-size: 90%;"
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Coronal consonant|Coronal]]
! [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! Post- velar
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPAlink|m}}
| {{IPAlink|n}}
| || || || ||
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! [[Voicelessness|voiceless]]
| {{IPAlink|p}}
| {{IPAlink|t}}
| {{IPAlink|ʈ}}
|
| {{IPAlink|k}}
| {{IPAlink|q}}
|
|-
! [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]
| {{IPAlink|b}}
| {{IPAlink|d}}
| {{IPAlink|ɖ}}
|
| {{IPAlink|g}}
| ||
|-
! [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
| {{IPA|pʰ}}
| {{IPA|tʰ}}
| {{IPA|ʈʰ}}
|
| {{IPA|kʰ}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
! [[Voicelessness|voiceless]]
|
| {{IPAlink|ts}}
| {{IPAlink|ʈʂ}}
| {{IPAlink|tɕ}}
| || ||
|-
! [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]
|
| {{IPAlink|dz}}
| {{IPAlink|ɖʐ}}
| {{IPAlink|dʑ}}
| || ||
|-
! [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
|
| {{IPA|tsʰ}}
| {{IPA|ʈʂʰ}}
| {{IPA|tɕʰ}}
| || ||
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! [[Voicelessness|voiceless]]
| {{IPAlink|f}}
| {{IPAlink|s}}
| {{IPAlink|ʂ}}
| {{IPAlink|ɕ}}
| {{IPAlink|x}}
|
| {{IPAlink|h}}
|-
! [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]
|
| {{IPAlink|z}}
| {{IPAlink|ʐ}}
| {{IPAlink|ʑ}}
| {{IPAlink|ɣ}}
| ||
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|{{IPA link|ʋ}}
| {{IPAlink|l}}{{IPA|(ʲ)}} {{IPAlink|ɫ}}
|
| {{IPAlink|j}}
| ({{IPAlink|w}})
| ||
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
| {{IPAlink|ɾ}}
| || || || ||
|}

Allophones of {{IPA|/x ɣ h ʋ ɾ/}} are heard as sounds {{IPA|[χ ʁ ɦ w ɹ]}}.<ref name=":0" /> /q x ɣ f/ are restricted to Perso-Arabic loanwords in most IA languages but they occur natively in Khowar.{{sfnp|Cardona, Jain|2003|p=932}}{{full citation needed|date=July 2023}}

===Tone===

Khowar, like many [[Dardic languages]], has either phonemic tone or stress distinctions.<ref name=Baart>{{Citation
|last= Baart |first= Joan L. G.
|title= Tonal features in languages of northern Pakistan
|year= 2003
|publisher=National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University and Summer Institute of Linguistics
|url=http://www.fli-online.org/documents/linguistics/tone_in_np.pdf
| pages= 3, 6
}}</ref>

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite JIPA|author=Liljegren, Henrik and Khan, Afsar Ali|title=Khowar|volume=47|issue=2|pages=219–229|doi=10.1017/S0025100316000220|printdate=2017-08|soundfiles=yes}}
{{refend}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Additional references===
* [[Elena Bashir|Bashir, Elena]] (2001) "Spatial Representation in Khowar". ''Proceedings of the 36th Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society''. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.
* {{cite book |last=Decker |first=D. Kendall |year=1992 |title=Languages of Chitral |isbn= 969-8023-15-1 |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_work.asp?id=32850}}
* L'Homme, Erik (1999) ''Parlons Khowar. Langue et culture de l'ancien royaume de Chitral au Pakistan''. Paris: L'Harmatta

* [[Georg Morgenstierne|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]
* [[Sam Sloan|Mohammad Ismail Sloan]] (1981) [https://books.google.com/books?id=KeQLAAAAIAAJ ''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}}.
*Zeal News
″https://www.chitraltoday.net/2015/06/cultural-diversity-of-chitral/#:~:text=Chitral%20is%20also%20the%20most,lived%20together%20peacefully%20for%20centuries.

==External links==

{{Incubator|code= khw/Main Page}}
* {{cite web| url=http://www.nb.no/baser/morgenstierne/english/index.html| title=Georg Morgenstierne| publisher=National Library of Norway| year=2001| access-date=11 January 2009}}
* {{cite web| url=http://nuristan.info/lngFrameL.html| title=Khow'ar Lexicon| author=Strand, Richard F.| year=2011| access-date=16 January 2012}}
* {{cite web| url=http://nuristan.info/IndoAryan/Chitral/Khow/KhowLanguage/Lexicon/phon.html| title=The Sound System of Khow'ar| author=Strand, Richard F.| year=2012| access-date=16 January 2012}}

{{Languages of Pakistan}}
{{Dardic languages}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Khowar language]]
[[Category:Dardic languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Chitral]]
[[Category:Languages of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
[[Category:Languages of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Languages of Gilgit-Baltistan]]

Khowar - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 06:19, 18 August 2023