Wasi-wari (Vâsi-vari, Vâsi-veri) is the language of the Wasi people, spoken in a few villages in the Pārūn Valley (Prasun Valley) in Afghanistan. It also goes by the name Prasun or Paruni.
| Wasi-wari | |
|---|---|
| Prasun, Paruni | |
| Vâsi-vari, Vâsi-veri | |
| Native to | Afghanistan |
| Region | Pārūn Valley |
Native speakers | 8,000 (2011)[1] |
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | prn |
| Glottolog | pras1239 |
| ELP | Prasuni |
| Linguasphere | 58-ACB-b |
Wasi-wari belongs to the Indo-European language family, and is on the Nuristani group of the Indo-Iranian branch. Wasi-wari is the most divergent of the Nuristani languages.
The Prasuni people are now mostly Muslim since the imposition of Islam by the Afghan ruler Abdur Rahman Khan in 1896.[2] They first followed out of intimidation, then became more devout as younger generations studied Islamic scriptures in Pakistan and India and came back to preach Islam,[3] but they also keep some vestiges of their indigenous pre-Islamic religion.[4] Literacy rates are low: below 1% for people who have it as a first language, and between 15% and 25% for people who have it as a second language.
Name
editThe name of the language derives from its endonym Vâsi [waˈsi], with cognates such as Kamviri Přâsü̃ [pɽaˈsỹ] (whence the alternative name Prasun) and Kata-vari Přâsiu [pɽaˈsju]. Pārūni comes from the two national languages of Afghanistan, Pashto and Dari.
Demographics
editWasi-wari is a language spoken by the Vâsi (Prasuni) people who are located in the Pârun Valley, known as Vâsi-gul, at the beginning of the Pech River basin in Nuristan Province of northeastern Afghanistan. The native names of the language are Vâsi-vari in the Ṣupu dialect, and Vâsi-veri in the Seć dialect, but it is also known as Prasuni, Prasun, Vasi-vari, Pārūni, Pārūn, Veron, Verou, and Veruni. The population of Vâsi-gul is between 3,000-6,000, and there are approximately 8,000 native speakers within the valley and other areas, which makes it a vulnerable language.
Dialects
editWasi-wari is broken up into three dialects that are spoken in six villages. The upper dialect, Ṣupu-vari, is spoken in the northernmost village, Ṣupu (Shtive). The central dialect, üšüt-üćü-zumu-vari, is spoken in the middle four villages, Seć (Pronz), Üćü (Dewa), Üšüt (Kshtoki), and Zumu. The lower dialect, Uṣüt-vare, is spoken in Uṣüt (Pashki), the lowest village. For this article, most cited forms will be based on the Seć dialect unless specified otherwise.[5]
One characteristic feature defining all Wasi-wari dialects is the shift of ancient *d to l, which was lost in intervocalic position in other Nuristani languages, such as vazala [wɘˈzɘlɘ] "shoe", compared to Ashkun vâćâ [vaˈt͡sa], Kamviri vâćo [vaˈt͡so], and Waigali oćä [oˈt͡sæ], and the pervasive lenition of initial stops, such as viṭa [wiʈɘ] "wing", compared to Ashkun pâṭu [paˈʈu] "feather", Kamviri pâṭü [paˈʈy] "feather", and Waigali paṭä [paˈʈæ] "feather, wing".
Classification
editWasi-wari is part of the Nuristani branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, which show both Iranian and Indo-Aryan influences, but are otherwise not closely related.[6] Nuristani languages were formerly considered to be Dardic languages,[7] however, they are dissimilar enough from the other Dardic languages to constitute their own branch of the Indo-Iranian language tree. There was also previously confusion on whether Wasi-wari and Prasun were the same or separate languages, but it was determined that both names referred to the same language.[8] Although it is substantially different from the other Nuristani languages, Wasi-wari forms the northern cluster of Nuristâni languages with Kamkata-vari, so they share some similarities.[9]
Phonology
editVowels
editWasi-wari has eight vowels, â, u, o, i, e, ü, ö, and the unmarked vowel, a, which is pronounced as a high central vowel, [ɨ]. Long vowels are denoted with the IPA symbol /:/, such as [iː].
Vocabulary
editPronouns
edit| Person | Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | sg. | unzu | ândeiš | am |
| pl. | âsẽ | âs | ||
| 2nd | sg. | üy | ütyöiš | ĩ |
| pl. | miū | âsen | ||
Numerals
edit| Number | Prasuni (Strand) |
|---|---|
| 1 | ipin, attege (upün) |
| 2 | lūe (lü) |
| 3 | chhī (ćši) |
| 4 | chipū (čpu) |
| 5 | uch (vuču) |
| 6 | ushū (vuṣ) |
| 7 | sete (sata) |
| 8 | aste (âsta) |
| 9 | nūh (nu) |
| 10 | leze (leza) |
| 11 | zizh (züz (Zumu), źuzu (Uṣüt)) |
| 12 | wizū (vüzu) |
| 13 | chhīza (čiz (Zumu), ćšiza (Uṣüt)) |
| 14 | chipults (čpulć) |
| 15 | vishilhts (višilć) |
| 16 | ushulhts (uṣulć) |
| 17 | setilts (setliz) |
| 18 | astilts (âstliz) |
| 19 | nalts (nâlć) |
| 20 | zū (źu) |
| 30 | lezaij |
| 40 | jibeze (žibeze) |
| 50 | lejjibets |
| 60 | chichegzū |
| 70 | chichegzālets |
| 80 | chipegzū |
| 90 | chipegzualets |
| 100 | ochegzū |
References
edit- ^ Wasi-wari at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). The Vâsi. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/vasi.html
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). Topics in Vâsi Ethnography: Peacemaking. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/VasiCulture/Zaman8.html
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). Topics in Vâsi Ethnography: Keepers of the Former Gods. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/VasiCulture/Zaman1.html
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). The Vâsi. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/vasi.html
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2010). Nurestâni languages. In Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved from: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nurestani-languages
- ^ Grierson, G. A. (1919). Specimens of the Dardic or Piśācha languages (including Kāshmīrī). Linguistic Survey of India, 8 (2), 59. Retrieved from: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/lsi/lsi.php?volume=8-2&pages=584#page/74/mode/1up
- ^ Strand, R. F. (1973). Notes on the Nūristāni and Dardic languages. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 93, 297-305. Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/599462
- ^ Strand, R. F. (2010). Nurestâni languages. In Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved from: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nurestani-languages
- ^ Grierson,G. A. (1919). Specimens of the Dardic or Piśācha languages (including Kāshmīrī). Linguistic Survey of India, 8 (2), 67. Retrieved from: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/lsi/lsi.php?volume=8-2&pages=584#page/82/mode/1up
External links
edit- Prasuni at the Endangered Languages Project
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