Pamir Kyrgyz dialect
| Pamiri Kyrgyz | |
|---|---|
| پامیری قیرغیز | |
Pamiri Kyrgyz in Nastaliq | |
| Native to | Pakistan, Afghanistan |
| Region | Chitral, Gojal, Wakhan |
Native speakers | 6,000 (in Pakistan) (2023)[1] |
| Arabic | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
Pamir Kyrgyz (Kyrgyz: پامیری قیرغیزچه) is a dialect of the Kyrgyz language natively spoken in the Chitral district and Gojal Valley of Pakistan and Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan.[2] It has been evolving into a distinct dialect of Kyrgyz due to its isolation.[3] The dialect is known by its speakers as Black Kyrgyz (قاره قیرغیز).[4]
Loanwords
Pamir Kyrgyz uses many loanwords from Dari Persian, which unlike Kyrgyz from Kyrgyzstan, makes it hard to understand the language due to Kyrgyz from Kyrgyzstan using Russian loanwords.[5]
Literacy
Literacy rate from the Kyrgyz of Pamir has increased, with many proposing an alphabet for it. The Agha Khan has started funding schools for the Pamir Kyrgyz in Afghanistan for Dari Persian, Pashto, and their native Pamir Kyrgyz language.[6]
Phonology
The Pamiri Kyrgyz dialect uses long and hard vowels unlike the Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan.[7]
Vowels
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unr. | rnd. | unr. | rnd. | |
| Close | i | y | ɯ | u |
| Mid | e | ø | o | |
| Open | æ | ɑ | ||
Consonants
| Labial | Dental/ alveolar |
Post- alveolar |
Dorsal | Uvular | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | q | |
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | ɢ | ||
| Affricate | voiceless | t͡ʃ | ||||
| voiced | d͡ʒ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | x | |
| voiced | v | z | ||||
| Approximant | l | j | ||||
| Trill | r | |||||
References
- ^ "Kyrgyz Language (KIR)". Ethnologue. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
- ^ Callahan, Ted (2007). "THE KYRGYZ OF THE AFGHAN PAMIR RIDE ON". Nomadic Peoples. 11.
- ^ "The Situation of the Pamir Kyrgyz after the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan".
- ^ Bliss, Frank (2006). Social and Economic Change in the Pamirs (Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan). Routledge, 2006. p. 193. ISBN 9781134396177.
- ^ "Will Pamir Kyrgyz Leave the 'Roof of the World'?".
- ^ USA, IBP (2013). Kyrgyzstan Investment and Business Guide Volume 1 Strategic and Practical Information (1 ed.). Kyrgyzstan: Lulu.com, 2013. p. 20. ISBN 9781438767970.
- ^ Bilig : Journal of social sciences of the Turkish world (12-15 ed.). Ahmet Yesevi Üniversitesine Yardım Vakfı, 2000. 2000.