Gawar-Bati language

Gawar-Bati or Narsati is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Kunar, Nari of Eastern Afghanistan, and across the border in Pakistan , It is also known as Kohistani in Kunar. Gawar-Bati has estimated speakers of 75,000. 5,0000 of them are living in ,Kunar,Nari,Afghanistan and 25,000 of them are in Chitral, Pakistan.

Gawar-Bati
Narsati
Native toAfghanistan, Pakistan
RegionKunar,province , Chitral
Native speakers
75,000 (2017–2024)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3gwt
Glottologgawa1247
ELPGawar-Bati

Study and classification

The Gawar-Bati language has not been given serious study by linguists, except that it is mentioned by George Morgenstierne (1926) and Kendall Decker (1992).

It is classified as an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic subgroup. However, the term Dardic is not linguistic but merely geographic.[2]

Phonology

The following tables set out the phonology of the Gawar-Bati language:[3]

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid (e) (o)
Open a

The status of short /e/ and /o/ is unclear.

Consonants

A breathy voiced series, /bʱ dʱ gʱ/, existed recently in older speakers—and may still do so.

Labial Coronal Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɳ
Stop voiceless p t ʈ k
voiced b d ɖ ɡ
aspirated [pf f] ʈʰ
Affricate voiceless ts
voiced dz
aspirated tsʰ tʂʰ tʃʰ
Fricative voiceless s ʂ ʃ x h
voiced z ʐ ʒ ɣ
Approximant j w
Lateral plain l
Fricative ɬ ~
Rhotic r ɽ

Orthography

It is rarely written. This alphabet is used in Pakistan:[4]

Letter ابپتٹثجچحخڄݮڅځدڈذرڑزژݫس
Transliteration ā, Øbptsǰčhxcjdzrzžs
IPA [aː], Ø[b][p][t][ʈ][s][d͡ʒ][t͡ʃ][h][x][ʈ͡ʂ][ɖ͡ʐ][t͡s][d͡z][d][ɖ][z][r~ɾ][ɽ][z][ʐ][ʒ][s]
Letter شݭصضطظعغفقکگلݪمنݨںهءویے
Transliteration šsztzʔǧfqkglłmn˜hʔw, ū, oy, īe
IPA [ʃ][ʂ][s][z][t][z][ʔ][ɣ][f][q][k][ɡ][l][ɬ~l][m][n][ɳ][˜][h][ʔ][w], [uː], [oː][j], [iː][eː]
Letter تھپھٹھچھڄھڅھکھَُِ
Transliteration thphṭhčhc̣hchkhaiu
IPA [tʰ][pʰ][ʈʰ][t͡ʃʰ][ʈ͡ʂʰ][t͡sʰ][kʰ][a][i][u]

Notes and references

  1. Gawar-Bati at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. Bashir, Elena (2007). Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George (eds.). The Indo-Aryan languages. Routledge. p. 905. ISBN 978-0415772945. 'Dardic' is a geographic cover term for those Northwest Indo-Aryan languages which [..] developed new characteristics different from the IA languages of the Indo-Gangetic plain. Although the Dardic and Nuristani (previously 'Kafiri') languages were formerly grouped together, Morgenstierne (1965) has established that the Dardic languages are Indo-Aryan, and that the Nuristani languages constitute a separate subgroup of Indo-Iranian.
  3. Edelman, D. I. (1983). The Dardic and Nuristani Languages. Moscow: Institut vostokovedenii︠a︡ (Akademii︠a︡ nauk SSSR). p. 139.
  4. Gawarbati Alif Be fli-online.org

Further reading

  • Decker, Kendall D. (1992) Languages of Chitral Islamabad, Pakistan: National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, ISBN 969-8023-15-1 http://www.ethnologue.com/show_work.asp?id=32850
  • Morgenstierne, Georg (1926) Report on a Linguistic Mission to Afghanistan Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning, Serie C I-2. Oslo. ISBN 0-923891-09-9

35°19′38″N 71°35′05″E

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