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Yidgha language
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<h2 id="name">Name</h2> <p>According to <a href="/facts/Georg_Morgenstierne/fkno1qLX">Georg Morgenstierne</a> (1931), the name <i>Yidgha</i> probably derives from <i>*(h)ind(a,i)-ka-</i>, likely referring to the part of the Munji tribe that settled on the "Indian" or "Indo-Aryan" side near the Lotkoh Valley.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> Ľubomír Novák (2013) revises the reconstruction as <i>*hindū̆-ka-ka-</i>, with the same assumption.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="alphabet">Alphabet</h2> <p>Yidgha uses the <a href="/facts/Arabic_script/GB5gsj1F">Arabic script</a>. The Yidgha alphabet has 45 letters and is based on the <a href="/facts/Urdu_alphabet/SzLs2Poc">Urdu alphabet</a>. <a href="/facts/Retroflex_consonants/lsBdJD4V">Retroflexes</a> that don't exist in Urdu have been borrowed from the <a href="/facts/Khowar_alphabet/7LH4IQ7e">Khowar alphabet</a>. The Yidgha alphabet is unusual among Pakistani alphabets as it places the letters ٹ after ث and ڈ after ذ, unlike in Urdu. Alveolar affricate letters ts and dz were borrowed from the Pashto alphabet. It also places the letter ڤ after ق. </p> <h3>Letters</h3> Yidgha alphabet <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><table><tbody><tr><th>Letter</th><th>Name</th><th>Latin transcription</th><th>IPA</th><th>Notes</th></tr><tr><td>ا</td><td>الف (Alif)</td><td>- / Ā ā</td><td>- / aː</td><td>The letter Alif has two functions: first: as a vowel carrier for vowels at the beginning of a word. Second: to represent the aː (ā) vowel in the middle or end of a word (at the beginning آ is used).</td></tr><tr><td>ب</td><td>بے (Be)</td><td>B b</td><td>/b/</td></tr><tr><td>پ</td><td>پے (Pe)</td><td>P p</td><td>/p/</td></tr><tr><td>ت</td><td>تے (Te)</td><td>T t</td><td>/t/</td></tr><tr><td>ث</td><td>ثے (Se)</td><td>S s</td><td>/s/</td><td>Used only in Arabic / Persian loanwords</td></tr><tr><td>ٹ</td><td>ٹے (Ṭe)</td><td>Ṭ ṭ</td><td>/ʈ/</td></tr><tr><td>ج</td><td>جیم (J̌īm)</td><td>J̌ ǰ</td><td>/dʒ/</td></tr><tr><td>چ</td><td>چیم (Čīm)</td><td>Č č</td><td>/tʃ/</td></tr><tr><td>ح</td><td>حے (He)</td><td>H h</td><td>/h/</td><td>Used in Arabic / Persian loanwords</td></tr><tr><td>خ</td><td>خے (Xe)</td><td>X x</td><td>/x/</td></tr><tr><td>ݯ</td><td>ݯے (C̣e)</td><td>C̣ c̣</td><td>/ʈʂ/</td><td>Borrowed from <a href="/facts/Khowar/yXwAQvfo">Khowar</a></td></tr><tr><td>ݮ</td><td>ݮے (J̣e)</td><td>J̣ j̣</td><td>/ɖʐ/</td><td>Borrowed from Khowar (in khowar it is called ݮیم)</td></tr><tr><td>څ</td><td>څے (Ce)</td><td>C c</td><td>/ts/</td><td>Borrowed from <a href="/facts/Pashto/hc2ndCqx">Pashto</a></td></tr><tr><td>ځ</td><td>ځے (Je)</td><td>J j</td><td>/dz/</td><td>Borrowed from Pashto (in Pashto it is called ځيم)</td></tr><tr><td>د</td><td>دال (Dāl)</td><td>D d</td><td>/d/</td></tr><tr><td>ذ</td><td>ذال (Zāl)</td><td>Z z</td><td>/z/</td><td>Only used in Arabic / Persian loanwords</td></tr><tr><td>ڈ</td><td>ڈال (Ḍal)</td><td>Ḍ ḍ</td><td>/ɖ/</td></tr><tr><td>ر</td><td>رے (Re)</td><td>R r</td><td>/ɾ~r/</td></tr><tr><td>ڑ</td><td>ڑے (Ṛe)</td><td>Ṛ ṛ</td><td>/ɽ/</td></tr><tr><td>ز</td><td>زے (Ze)</td><td>Z z</td><td>/z/</td></tr><tr><td>ژ</td><td>ژے (Že)</td><td>Ž ž</td><td>/ʒ/</td></tr><tr><td>ݱ</td><td>ݱے (Ẓe)</td><td>Ẓ ẓ</td><td>/ʐ/</td><td>Borrowed from Khowar</td></tr><tr><td>س</td><td>سین (Sīn)</td><td>S s</td><td>/s/</td></tr><tr><td>ش</td><td>شین (Šīn)</td><td>Š š</td><td>/ʃ/</td></tr><tr><td>ݰ</td><td>ݰین</td><td>Ṣīn</td><td>Ṣ ṣ</td><td>/ʂ/</td><td>Borrowed from Khowar</td></tr><tr><td>ص</td><td>صواد (Swād)</td><td>S s</td><td>/s/</td><td>Only used in Arabic / Persian loanwords</td></tr><tr><td>ض</td><td>ضواد (Zwād)</td><td>Z z</td><td>/z/</td><td>Only used in Arabic / Persian loanwords</td></tr><tr><td>ط</td><td>طوے (Toe)</td><td>T t</td><td>/t/</td><td>Only used in Arabic / Persian loanwords</td></tr><tr><td>ظ</td><td>ظوے (Zoe)</td><td>Z z</td><td>/z/</td><td>Only used in Arabic / Persian loanwords</td></tr><tr><td>ع</td><td>عین (ʔayn)</td><td>ʔ</td><td>/ʔ/</td></tr><tr><td>غ</td><td>غین (Ǧayn)</td><td>Ǧ ǧ</td><td>/ɣ/</td></tr><tr><td>ف</td><td>فے (Fe)</td><td>F f</td><td>/f/</td></tr><tr><td>ق</td><td>قاف (Qāf)</td><td>Q q</td><td>/q/</td></tr><tr><td>ڤ</td><td>ڤے (Ve)</td><td>V v</td><td>/v/</td></tr><tr><td>ک</td><td>کاف (Kāf)</td><td>K k</td><td>/k/</td></tr><tr><td>ګ</td><td>ګاف (Ŋāf)</td><td>Ŋ ŋ</td><td>/ŋ/</td><td>Borrowed from Pashto (in Pashto it represents /g/</td></tr><tr><td>گ</td><td>گاف (Gāf)</td><td>G g</td><td>/g/</td></tr><tr><td>ل</td><td>لام (Lām)</td><td>L l</td><td>/l/</td></tr><tr><td>م</td><td>میم (Mīm)</td><td>M m</td><td>/m/</td></tr><tr><td>ن</td><td>نون (Nūn)</td><td>N n</td><td>/n/</td></tr><tr><td>و</td><td>واو (Wāw)</td><td>W w / Ū ū / O o</td><td>/w/, /uː/, /oː/</td><td>The letter Wāw has three functions: first, it represents the /w/ sound. Second, it represents the /uː/ sound if preceded by an optional <a href="/facts/%E1%B8%8Camma/7TAagmkr">Peš</a> (Damma) diacritic, always preceded by ا at the beginning of word. Third: it represents the /oː/ vowel if preceded by no diacritic (always preceded by ا at the beginning of word). At the beginning of word و always represents /w/.</td></tr><tr><td>ہ</td><td>چھوٹی ہے (Čhoṭī He)</td><td>H h, A a, I i, U u</td><td>/h/, /a/, /i/, /u/</td><td>At the beginning or middle of word it represents the h sound. At the end of word it is used for short vowels a i u, preceded by optional diacritics. The do čašme he ھ is not used in Yidgha and not part of the alphabet but appears only in the names of the letters ہ ی in the word چھوٹی as the names are the same as in Urdu.</td></tr><tr><td>ء</td><td>ہمزہ (Hamza)</td><td>ʔ</td><td>/ʔ/</td><td>Used for glottal stop in vowel sequences</td></tr><tr><td>ی</td><td>چھوٹی یے (Čhoṭī Ye)</td><td>Y y, Ī ī, E e</td><td>/j/, /iː/, /eː/</td><td>The letter Čhoṭī Ye has 3 functions: first, it represents the/j/ sound. Second, it represents the long/iː/ vowel if preceded by an optional <a href="/facts/Kasrah/7TAagmkr">Zer</a> diacritic always preceded by ا at beginning of word. Third, it represents the/eː/ vowel without any diacritic always preceded by ا at the beginning of word. The ی always represents /j/.</td></tr><tr><td>ے</td><td>بڑی یے (Baṛī Ye)</td><td>E e</td><td>/eː/</td><td>Used at the end of word for the vowel /eː/, in the middle of word it is written ی and at the beginning of word as ای.</td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>Vowels</h3> <p>Yidgha language has 8 vowels: A a (/a/), Ā ā (/aː/), I i (/i/), Ī (/iː/), U u (/u/), Ū ū (/uː/), E e (/eː/) and O o (/oː/). The rules for writing vowels are same as in the <a href="/facts/Urdu_alphabet/SzLs2Poc">Urdu alphabet</a>, short vowels at the end of word are written with the 3 vowel diacritics followed by ہ, and the combinations of <a href="/facts/Fat%E1%B8%A5a/7TAagmkr">Zabar</a> + ye (َی) and zabar + wāw (َو) are read as /aj/ and /aw/ and not as single vowels like in Urdu. </p> <h2 id="study">Study</h2> <p>The Yidgha language has not been given serious study by linguists, except that it is mentioned by <a href="/facts/Georg_Morgenstierne/fkno1qLX">Georg Morgenstierne</a> (1926), Kendall Decker (1992) and Badshah Munir Bukhari (2005). A 280-page joint description of Yidgha and <a href="/facts/Munji_language/eetXVxUd">Munji</a> (descriptive and historical phonetics and grammar, glossary with etymologies where possible) is given by <a href="/facts/Georg_Morgenstierne/fkno1qLX">Morgenstierne</a> (1938). </p><p>Norwegian linguist Georg Morgenstierne wrote that Chitral is the area of the greatest linguistic diversity in the world.<a href="http://www.nb.no/baser/morgenstierne/nirmali/nirmali/Imra/Text/sacrifice/sacrifice29.html">[1]</a> Although <a href="/facts/Khowar_language/yXwAQvfo">Khowar</a> is the predominant language of Chitral, more than ten other languages are spoken here. These include <a href="/facts/Kalasha-mun_language/Y3mAGG3R">Kalasha-mun</a>, <a href="/facts/Palula_language/o5QbLr3e">Palula</a>, <a href="/facts/Dameli_language/jX6zWDvl">Dameli</a>, <a href="/facts/Gawar-Bati_language/72Cqb5Qt">Gawar-Bati</a>, <a href="/facts/Nuristani_languages/J5eoKQEW">Nuristani</a>, Yidgha, <a href="/facts/Burushaski_language/v2qN3z8j">Burushaski</a>, <a href="/facts/Wakhi_language/fQJlgw73">Wakhi</a>, <a href="/facts/Kyrgyz_language/jnuN76wT">Kyrgyz</a>, the Madaglashti dialect of <a href="/facts/Persian_language/jfUYbHbt">Persian</a>, and <a href="/facts/Pashto_language/hc2ndCqx">Pashto</a>. Since many of these languages have no written form, letters are usually written in <a href="/facts/Urdu/oLrhuXc6">Urdu</a>, a modified script adapted from Persian. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Languages_of_Pakistan/L7xE4YTN">Languages of Pakistan</a></li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>Decker, Kendall D. (1992). <i>Languages of Chitral</i>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 969-8023-15-1.</li> <li>Morgenstierne, Georg (1926) Report on a Linguistic Mission to Afghanistan. <a href="/facts/Institute_for_Comparative_Research_in_Human_Culture/mVBblcHX">Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning</a>, Serie C I-2. Oslo. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-923891-09-9</li> <li><a href="/facts/Georg_Morgenstierne/fkno1qLX">Morgenstierne, Georg</a> (1931). "The Name <i>Munjān</i> and Some Other Names of Places and Peoples in the Hindu Kush". <i>Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London</i>. 6 (2): 439–444. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0041977X00092934">10.1017/S0041977X00092934</a>. <a href="/facts/JSTOR_(identifier)/YTeVmaJ7">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/607674">607674</a>.</li> <li>Morgenstierne, Georg (1938) Indo-Iranian Frontier Languages II (Yidgha-Munji, Sanglechi-Ishkashmi and Wakhi). <a href="/facts/Institute_for_Comparative_Research_in_Human_Culture/mVBblcHX">Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning</a>, Serie B: XXXV. Oslo.</li> <li>Novák, Ľubomír (2013). <a href="https://www.academia.edu/4896441"><i>Problem of Archaism and Innovation in the Eastern Iranian Languages</i></a> (Thesis). <a href="/facts/Charles_University/auLIgrty">Charles University</a>. Retrieved 14 November 2023.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Morgenstierne 1931. - Morgenstierne, Georg (1931). "The Name Munjān and Some Other Names of Places and Peoples in the Hindu Kush". Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London. 6 (2): 439–444. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00092934. JSTOR 607674. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0041977X00092934" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0041977X00092934</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Novák 2013. - Novák, Ľubomír (2013). Problem of Archaism and Innovation in the Eastern Iranian Languages (Thesis). Charles University. Retrieved 14 November 2023. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/4896441" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/4896441</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Omniglot <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>