Tirahi language
Tirahi | |
---|---|
Native to | Afghanistan |
Ethnicity | perhaps 5,000 (no date)[1] |
Native speakers | (undated figure of 100)[1] |
Indo-European
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | tra |
Glottolog | tira1253 |
ELP | Tirahi |
Tirahi is a nearly extinct if not already extinct[2] Indo-Aryan language[3] spoken in a few villages in the southeast of Jalalabad in the Nangarhar Province of eastern Afghanistan. It is spoken by older adults, who are likewise fluent in Pashto.[1]
The
Geographic distribution
Spoken in the Nangarhar Province of Northeastern Afghanistan, there are about 100 native speakers today, if any. This is mainly due to the majority of the Tirahi people having assimilated into the dominant Pashtun culture. Tirahi is also spoken in a couple of villages southeast of the Afghan city of Jalalabad,[6] such as Jaba, Mitarani, and Bara-khel.[7]
Classification
Tirahi is an Indo-Aryan language.[8] Further, Tirahi is part of the sub-group of Kohistani languages along with languages such as Bateri, Chilisso, Gowro, and others. However, Tirahi also shares with languages spoken further to the east, such as Kashmiri.[8] As a Dardic Language, Tirahi strongly preserves some vocabulary of spoken Sanskrit (cow - dēn in Tirahi, dhēnuh in Sanskrit, hand - ast in Tirahi, hastah in Sanskrit).[8] Being a language spoken in Afghanistan, Tirahi shares various words and grammatical constructs with Pashto, a language spoken throughout Afghanistan to which many Tirahi speakers have become accustomed to speaking. Since Tirahi is entirely separated from the other Dardic languages, located south of the Kabul River and west of the Khyber Pass, rendering it wholly encased by Pashto.[6] Tirahi also shares some vocabulary with Kashmiri and Shina such as the Tirahi mala, for a father, the Kashmiri mol, and the Shina malo.[9]
Grammar
Tirahi shows much influence from
Nouns and adjectives
Tirahi is an
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | mala - 'father' | mala | adam - 'man' | adam-a | |
Oblique | mala | mal-an | adam-a | adam-an | |
Dative | mala-s | mala | adam-a-s | adam-an | |
Ablative | mala-si | mala-si | adam-a-si | adam-an | |
Genitive | mala-ma | mala-si | adam-a-ma | adam-an-si |
Pronouns
1st person pronouns:
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
Nominative | au, ao | mā, ao |
Oblique | mē | mēn |
Dative | ma-si | ma-si |
Genitive | myāna (m), myāni (s), myāna (p?) | N/A |
2nd person pronouns:
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
Nominative | tu, to | tao |
Oblique | tē | tā |
Dative | ta-si | N/A |
Genitive | cā-na (m), cā-nī (m), cā-nī (f), cā-na (mfp) | tāma, tema |
Verbs
- Non finite forms
- Infinitive: stem + an (karan - 'to do/make')
- Tense-aspect forms
- Imperative Singular: stem, Imperative Plural: stem + V
- Present-future: root + endings - 1st: - m, 2nd: -s, 3rd: -e, 1st plural: -en
- Definite Present: da/de + present-future
Example sentences
- Abo-e kata dur thi? ('Village' + 'how much far' + 'is')
- "How far is your village?"
- Pali de kham ('Bread' + Definite Future + 'Eat')
- "I am eating bread."
- La brok odasta ga ('He' + 'Very' + 'Hungry' + 'become/go')
- "He became very hungry"
- Ao mara ga-m ('I' + 'die' + 'become')
- "I died/am dead"
References
- ^ a b c Tirahi at Ethnologue (15th ed., 2005)
- ^ "Tirahi". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
It is very likely that this language is extinct. The Tirahi are "a group of unclear origin, almost completely assimilated by Pashtun" (Pstrusinska and Gray 1990).
- ISBN 9788184242799.
- ^ Konow, Sten (1933). Acta Orientalia, Volumes 11-12. Munksgaard. p. 161.
- ^ JSTOR 25201006.
- ^ a b Voegelin, C.F.; Voegelin, F.M. (1965). "Languages of the World: Indo-European Fascicle One". Anthropological Linguistics. 7: 286.
- ^ Stein, Aurel (Jul 1925). "Notes on Tirahi. The Speakers of Tirahi". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 3: 401–402.
- ^ JSTOR 25220761.
- ^ Grierson, G. (1925). On the Tirahi language. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (New Series), 57(03), 405-416.
- ISBN 9780700711307.
- ISBN 9780700711307.