Gawar-Bati language
Indo-Aryan language spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gawar-Bati or Narsati is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Chitral region of northern Pakistan, and across the border in Afghanistan. It is also known as Aranduyiwar in Chitral because it is spoken in Arandu, which is the last village in lower Chitral and is also across the border from Berkot in Afghanistan. There are about 9,000 speakers of Gawar-Bati, with 1,500 in Pakistan, and 7,500 in Afghanistan. The name Gawar-Bati means "speech of the Gawar",[2] a people detailed by the Cacopardos in their study of the Hindu Kush.[3]
| Gawar-Bati | |
|---|---|
| Narsati | |
| |
| Native to | Pakistan, Afghanistan |
| Region | Chitral, Kunar Province |
Native speakers | 36,000 (2017–2021)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gwt |
| Glottolog | gawa1247 |
| ELP | Gawar-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.[4]
Phonology
The following tables set out the phonology of the Gawar-Bati language:[5]
Vowels
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.
Orthography
It is rarely written. This alphabet is used in Pakistan:[6]
| Letter | ا | ب | پ | ت | ٹ | ث | ج | چ | ح | خ | ڄ | ݮ | څ | ځ | د | ڈ | ذ | ر | ڑ | ز | ژ | ݫ | س |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transliteration | ā, Ø | b | p | t | ṭ | s | ǰ | č | h | x | c̣ | j̣ | c | j | d | ḍ | z | r | ṛ | z | ẓ | ž | s |
| 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 | ش | ݭ | ص | ض | ط | ظ | ع | غ | ف | ق | ک | گ | ل | ݪ | م | ن | ݨ | ں | ه | ء | و | ی | ے |
| Transliteration | š | ṣ | s | z | t | z | ʔ | ǧ | f | q | k | g | l | ł | m | n | ṇ | ˜ | h | ʔ | w, ū, o | y, ī | e |
| 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 | تھ | پھ | ٹھ | چھ | ڄھ | څھ | کھ | َ | ِ | ُ | |||||||||||||
| Transliteration | th | ph | ṭh | čh | c̣h | ch | kh | a | i | u | |||||||||||||
| IPA | [tʰ] | [pʰ] | [ʈʰ] | [t͡ʃʰ] | [ʈ͡ʂʰ] | [t͡sʰ] | [kʰ] | [a] | [i] | [u] |
