Kundal Shahi language

Kundal Shahi
کنڈل شاہی
Kunḍal Šāhī
Native toPakistan
RegionNeelam Valley
Native speakers
700 (2005)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3shd
Glottologkund1257
Approximate location where Kundal Shahi is spoken
Approximate location where Kundal Shahi is spoken
Kundal Shahi
Approximate location where Kundal Shahi is spoken
Approximate location where Kundal Shahi is spoken
Kundal Shahi
Coordinates: 34°33′17″N 73°50′38″E / 34.5548°N 73.8439°E / 34.5548; 73.8439

Kundal Shahi (کنڈل شاہی, Kunḍal Šāhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 700 people in the Kundal Shahi village of Neelam Valley in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.[2] It is an endangered language and its speakers are shifting to Hindko.[3]

Phonology

The following tables set out the phonology of Kundal Shahi.[4]

Vowels

Kundal Shahi is unusual amongst Dardic languages in that it has front rounded vowels.[5]

Front Central Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
Close i iː y yː u uː
Close-Mid e eː øː ə o oː
Open-Mid ɛ ɛː ʌ ɔ ɔː
Open a aː

Consonants

Like Kashmiri, Kundal Shahi is unusual amongst Dardic languages in that it lacks retroflex fricatives and affricates.[5]

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɳ (ŋ)
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless p t ʈ tʃ k
aspirated pʰ tʰ ʈʰ tʃʰ kʰ
voiced b d ɖ dʒ ɡ
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ x h
voiced z
Lateral l
Flap ɾ ɽ
Approximant j w

Tone

Kundal Shahi, like many Dardic languages, has either phonemic tone or, as in Kundal Shahi, pitch accent.[6] Words may have only one accented mora, which is associated with high pitch; the remaining mora have a default or low pitch.[5]

Endangered

Kundal Shahi is severely endangered with less than 500 speakers, most of whom are over the age of 40.[7]

References

  1. ^ Kundal Shahi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Kundal Shahi". Ethnologue.
  3. ^ A. Rehman, Khawaja; L. G. Baart, Joan (2005). "A First Look at the Language of Kundal Shahi in Azad Kashmir" (PDF). SIL International.
  4. ^ Baart & Rehman 2005, pp. 10–13.
  5. ^ a b c Baart & Rehman 2005.
  6. ^ Baart 2003, pp. 3, 6.
  7. ^ "A first look at the language of Kundal Shahi in Azad Kashmir". 28 January 2013.

Bibliography

Further reading

  • Rehman, Khawaja A. (2011). "Ergativity In Kundal Shahi, Kashmiri And Hindko". In Mark Turin; Bettina Zeisler (eds.). Himalayan languages and linguistics: studies in phonology, semantics, morphology and syntax. Brill's Tibetan studies library, Languages of the greater Himalayan region. Leiden: Brill. pp. 219–234. ISBN 978-90-04-19448-9.
  • Rehman, Khawaja A. (2011). Language Shift In the Neelam Valley: A Case Study of the Kundal Shahi Language (PhD). Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.