Dardic languages


The Dardic languages are a sub-group of the Indo-Aryan languages natively spoken in Northern Pakistan's Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern India's Jammu and Kashmir and Eastern Afghanistan. Kashmiri/Koshur is the most prominent Dardic language, with an established literary tradition and official recognition as one of the official languages of India.

History

The terms "Dardic" and "Dardistan" were coined by G. W. Leitner in the late 19th century, derived from the Greek and Latin term Daradae, which is itself derived from the Sanskrit term for the people of the region, Daradas. These terms are not in current use in the region. In Vedic records, Daradas is identified to be the Gilgit region, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region along the river Sindhu.
George Abraham Grierson, with scant data, postulated a family of "Dardic languages", which he characterised as an independent branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, separate from the Iranian and Indo-Aryan branches. His Dardic language family had three subfamilies, "Kafiri", "Central" and "Dard" languages. Grierson's view is now considered obsolete and incorrect in its details. However, it continues to be often cited in works of reference.
Georg Morgenstierne, after a "lifetime of study," came to the view that only the "Kafiri" languages formed an independent branch of the Indo-Iranian languages separate from Indo-Aryan and Iranian families. He found the Dard languages to be Indo-Aryan.
This is the scheme generally accepted by recent scholarship. The "Midland languages", such as Punjabi and Hindustani, are spoken in the plains whereas the Dardic languages are spoken in the mountains. The essential difference is between the plains languages and the mountain languages.
The grouping is acknowledged to be to some extent geographical rather than linguistic. Buddruss rejected the Dardic grouping entirely, and placed the languages within Central Indo-Aryan.
The case of Kashmiri is peculiar. Its Dardic features are close to Shina, often said to belong to an eastern Dardic language subfamily. "The Kashmiri language used by Kashmiri Hindu Pandits has been powerfully influenced by Indian culture and literature and the greater part of its vocabulary is now of Indian origin and is allied to that of Sanskritic Indo-Aryan languages of northern India".
According to a model proposed by Asko Parpola, the Dardic languages are directly descended from the Rigvedic dialect of Vedic Sanskrit.
While it is true that many Dardic languages have been influenced by non-Dardic neighbors, Dardic may in turn also have left a discernible imprint on non-Dardic Indo-Aryan languages, such as Punjabi and allegedly even far beyond. It has also been asserted that some Central Pahari languages of Uttarakhand demonstrate Dardic influence. Although it has not been conclusively established, some linguists have hypothesized that Dardic may, in ancient times, have enjoyed a much bigger linguistic zone, stretching from the mouth of the Indus northwards in an arc, and then eastwards through modern day Himachal Pradesh to Kumaon.

Subdivisions

Dardic languages have been organized into the following subfamilies:
In other classifications, Pashai may be included within Kunar and Kashmiri within Shina. Khetrani may be a remnant Dardic language in the Siraiki region.
The term Kohistani is popularly used to refer to several distinct languages in the mountain areas of Northern Pakistan, including Maiya, Kalami and Torwali. It can be translated as 'mountain language'.
Recording about the Torwals, a non-Pashtun tribe which with the Gabaris, occupied both lower and upper Swat prior to the invasion of Swat by the Yusufzai Pashtun in the sixteenth century AD.

Characteristics

The languages of the Dardic group share some common defining characteristics, including the loss of aspirated sounds and word ordering that is unique for Indo-Iranian languages.

Loss of voiced aspiration

Virtually all Dardic languages have experienced a partial or complete loss of voiced aspirated consonants. Khowar uses the word buum for 'earth', Pashai uses the word duum for 'smoke' and Kashmiri uses the word dod for 'milk'. Tonality has developed in some Dardic languages, such as Khowar and Pashai, as a compensation. Punjabi and Western Pahari languages similarly lost aspiration but have virtually all developed tonality to partially compensate.

Dardic metathesis and other changes

Both ancient and modern Dardic languages demonstrate a marked tendency towards metathesis where a "pre- or postconsonantal 'r' is shifted forward to a preceding syllable". This was seen in Ashokan rock edicts in the Gandhara region, where Dardic dialects were and still are widespread. Examples include a tendency to spell the Classical Sanskrit words priyadarshi as instead priyadrashi and dharma as dhrama. Modern-day Kalasha uses the word driga 'long'. Palula uses drubalu 'weak' and brhuj 'birch tree'. Kashmiri uses drolid 'impoverished' and krama 'work' or 'action'. Western Pahari languages, Sindhi and Lahnda also share this Dardic tendency to metathesis, though they are considered non-Dardic, for example cf. the Punjabi word drakhat 'tree'.
Dardic languages also show other consonantal changes. Kashmiri, for instance, has a marked tendency to shift k to ch and j to z. Punjabi and Western Pahari share this tendency also, though they are non-Dardic.

Verb position in Dardic

Unlike most other Indo-Aryan languages, several Dardic languages present "verb second" as the normal grammatical form. This is similar to many Germanic languages, such as German and Dutch, as well as Uto-Aztecan O'odham and Northeast Caucasian Ingush. Most Dardic languages, such as Indus Kohistani, however, follow the usual Indo-Iranian SOV pattern, similar to Japanese.
Language
English This is a horse.We will go to Tokyo.
Kashmiri Yi chu akh gur.As' gatshav Tokiyo.
Sanskrit Ayám áśvaḥ ásti.Vayám Tokyaṃ gámiṣyāmaḥ.
Japanese Kore wa uma de aru.Watashitachi wa Tōkyō ni ikimasu.
Kamkata-vari Ina ušpa âsa.Imo Tokyo âćamo.
Dari Persian In yak asb ast.Mâ ba Tokyo khâhem raft.
Shina Anu ek aspo hanBe Tokyo et bujun
Pashto Masculine: Dā yo as day / Feminine: Dā yawa aspa da.Mūng/Mūnẓ̌ ba Ṭokyo ta/tar lāṛshū.
Indus Kohistani Sho akh gho thu.Ma Tokyo ye bum-thu.
Sindhi Heeu hiku ghoro aahe.Asaan Tokyo veendaaseen.
Hindustani Ye ek ghora hai.Ham Tokyo jāenge.
Punjabi Ae ikk kora ai.Assi Tokyo jāvange.
Nepali Yo euta ghoda ho.Hami Tokyo jānechhau.
Garhwali Seey/Si/Yi/Ai Yakh Guntt ChhAami Tokyo Jaula.
Kumaoni Yo ek ghoda ChhuAami Tokyo Jaal.