Wakhi language


Wakhi is an Indo-European language in the Eastern Iranian branch of the language family spoken today in Wakhan District, Northern Afghanistan and also in Tajikistan, Northern Pakistan and China.

Classification and distribution

Wakhi is one of several languages that belong to the areal Pamir language group. Its relationship to the other Iranian languages is not clear; in certain features Wakhi shows affinity to the extinct Saka language in particular.
The Wakhi people are occasionally called Pamiris and Guhjali. The origin of this language is Wakhan and it is, according to many sources, more than four thousand years old. It is spoken by the inhabitants of the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan, parts of Gilgit–Baltistan of Pakistan, Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan, and Xinjiang in western China. The Wakhi use the self-appellation ‘X̌ik’ and suffix it with ‘wor’/’war’ to denote their language as ‘X̌ik-wor’ themselves. The noun ‘X̌ik’ comes from *waxša-ī̆ka- or Wakhani, Vakhantsy, Gojali/Gojo, Guyits/Guicho, Wakhigi/Wakhik-war and Cert. The language belongs, as yet to be confirmed according to studies and sources, to the southern group of the Pamir languages, in the Iranian group of the Indo-European family of languages, where the different Ishkashmi, Shighni/…nani and Wakhi languages are included. A very rough estimate of the population of Wakhis is 58,000 worldwide. The Wakhi live in six different countries. In the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan, the Wakhi people mainly live in Gojal, Ishkoman, Darkut and in Chitral District's Broghol. They also live in some parts of Wakhan in Afghanistan, Gorno-Badakhshan in Tajikistan, Xinjiang in China, Russia and Turkey.

In Afghanistan

In the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan, Wakhi is spoken from Putur, near Ishkashim, to the upper reaches of the Wakhan River.

In Tajikistan

In Tajikistan, the Wakhi and other communities that speak one of the Pamir languages refer to themselves as Pamiri or Badakhshani and there has been a movement to separate their identity from that of the majority Persian-speaking Tajiks. Linguists universally refer to Wakhi as an East Iranian language independent of Tajik Persian, but many Tajik nationalists insist that Wakhi and other Pamir languages are actually dialects of Tajik.

In Pakistan

In Gilgit-Baltistan, Wakhi is spoken in the sparsely populated upper portions of five of the northernmost valleys: Hunza, Gojal that including the valleys of Chipursan and Shingshal,, Ishkoman, Yasin, Gupis and Yarkhun. Yarkhun is located in the Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while others are in the Gilgit–Baltistan. Gojal, in the Hunza valley, has the largest Wakhi population of any of the above five areas. The Wakhis of Ishkoman live primarily in the Karambar valley, in the town of Imit and beyond. In Yasin, they live mostly in the vicinity of Darkot and in Yarhkun, they are found in Baroghil and in a few other small villages in the high, upper portion of valley.
In Pakistan, the central organization of the Wakhi is the Wakhi Cultural Association Pakistan, an organization that is registered with the Government of Pakistan and which works with the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Lok Virsa Pakistan. The Association is working for the preservation of the Wakhi language and culture, as well as documenting their poetry and music.
Radio Pakistan Gilgit relays the Wakhi radio programme "Sadoyah Boomy Dunyo", the voice of the roof of the world. The Wakhi Cultural Association has arranged more than twenty programmes since 1984, which includes cultural shows, musical nights, and large-scale musical festivals with the collaboration of Lok Virsa Pakistan, the Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan and Pakistan television. In 2000, the WCA won a "Best Programme" organizer award in the Silk Road Festival from the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. A computerized codification of the Wakhi script has been released, which will help to promote the language development programme and documentation of Wakhi poetry, literature, and history.

In China

Wakhi is also spoken in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, in Xinjiang of China.

In Russia

There are approximately 6,000 Wakhi in Russia, Most of them have migrated from Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

In Turkey

There are some Wakhi villages in Turkey in the eastern regions, where they have migrated from Afghanistan in 1979 during the Afghan and Russian war.

Orthography

Traditionally, Wakhi was not a written language. Writing systems have been developed for the language using Arabic, Cyrillic and Latin scripts.

Arabic script

This Arabic alphabet is mainly used in Afghanistan:
Letterاآبپتټثجڃچڇڅځحخدډذرزږژڙس
IPA, Ø
Letterښشڜصضطظعغفڤقکگلمنهوؤوْيی-
IPAØ, , -

Cyrillic script

When Wakhi is written in Cyrillic, the sounds are usually represented by these letters:
LetterА аБ бВ вВ̌ в̌Г гҒ ғГ̌ г̌Д дД̣ д̣Д̌ д̌Е еЁ ёЖ жЖ̣ ж̣З зҘ ҙИ иЙ йК кҚ қЛ лМ мН нО оП п
IPA,
LetterР рС сТ тТ̣ т̣Т̌ т̌У уФ фХ хХ̌ х̌Ҳ ҳЦ цЧ чЧ̣ ч̣Ҷ ҷҶ̣ ҷ̣Ш шШ̣ ш̣Щ щЪ ъЫ ыӘ әЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я
IPAØØ

Latin script

A Latin alphabet was developed in 1984 by Haqiqat Ali:
LetterA aB bC cČ čČ̣ č̣D dḌ ḍΔ δE eƏ əF fG gƔ ɣƔ̌ ɣ̌H hI iJ̌ ǰJ̣̌ ǰ̣K kL lM mN n
IPA
LetterO oP pQ qR rS sŠ šṢ̌ ṣ̌T tṬ ṭΘ ϑU uV vW wX xX̌ x̌Y yZ zŽ žẒ̌ ẓ̌Ʒ ʒЫ ы-
IPA-

Sample text

Sample text from a Bible translation published in 2001 is shown below:
Wakhi in Latin alphabetWakhi in Cyrillic alphabet
wakhi in Anglicised alphabet		English
2Yiso yavər x̆atəy: «Sayišt ʒi dəo carəv, x̆anəv: „Ey bzыrgwor Tat ki də osmonət cəy! Ti bəzыrg nung bər olam ыmыt! Ləcər dəwroni Ti podšoyi ɣ̆at-ət, zəmin-ət zəmon də hыkmi taw ыmыt!2Йисо йавəр х̌атəй: «Сайишт ҙи дəо царəв, х̌анəв: „Ей бзыргв̌ор Тат ки дə осмонəт цəй! Ти бəзырг нунг бəр олам ымыт! Лəцəр дəв̌рони Ти подшойи г̌ат-əт, зəмин-əт зəмон дə ҳыкми тав̌ ымыт!2And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3Spo rыsq-ət rыzi sakər nəsib car!3Спо рысқ-əт рызи сакəр нəсиб цар!3Give us day by day our daily bread.
4Cə spo gənoən šəxs! Sak bə kuy, ki sakər šakiɣ̆, cə kərk! kыx̆tər baxṣ̌əṣ̌ carən. Cə bandi nafs-ət awasən, Cə waswasayi Iblisən saki niga δыr!“»4Цə спо гəноəн шəхс! Сак бə куй, ки сакəр шакиг̌ цə кəрк! Кых̌тəр бахш̣əш̣ царəн. Цə банди нафс-əт ав̌асəн, Цə в̌асв̌асайи Иблисəн саки нига д̌ыр!“»4And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil."

Vocabulary

The Wakhi lexicon exhibits significant differences with the other Pamir languages. Gawarjon's comparison of the dialects of Sarikoli and Wakhi spoken in China is reproduced below.
English glossPersianTajikShughniSarikoliPashtoWakhiAvestan
one aēuua-
meat ?
son puθra-
fire ātar-
water āp-, ap-
hand zasta-
foot pāδ-
tooth daṇt-
eye cašman-
horse , aspa-
cloud maēγa-, aβra-
wheat gaṇtuma-
many pouru-
high bərəzaṇt-
far dūra-
good vohu-, vaŋhu-
small ?
to say aoj-, mrū-, saŋh-
to do kar-
to see / bin / bin / win dī-, vaēn-

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Publications

In Pakistan two books of Wakhi poetry have been published so far using Latin, modified IPA, script.
The first book is a collection of Nazir Ahmad Bulbul's poetry entitled "Beyoz-e-Bulbul". The second book is a collection of old and new poems and folklores compiled by Bulbulik Heritage Center, Gulmit.