The Dardic languages (also Dardu or Pisaca) or Hindu-Kush Indo-Aryan languages, are a group of several

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...

spoken in northern

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, northwestern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and parts of northeastern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The term "Dardic" is stated to be only a geographic convention used to denote the northwesternmost group of

rather than any ethnic or linguistic basis. There is no ethnic unity among the speakers of these languages nor the languages can be traced to a single linguistic tree model, being mostly very distinct from each another, with each language varying considerably among themselves. The languages and peoples are often referred to as Kohistani, mostly by the

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

and also by themselves.

History

Early British efforts placed almost all the peoples and languages of the upper Indus River between Kashmir and

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

into one unitary group, coining the distinct identities of all other peoples in the region, resulting in the formation of terms such as ''Dard'', ''Dardistan'', and ''Dardic''. No people in the region refer to themselves as ''Dards'', their country as ''Dardistan'', or their language as ''Dardic''. The word ''Dard'' itself is unknown in any languages of the area, except as a loan word from

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

via

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' The broad application of this term have been criticised by many scholars. In a historic context,

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

(4th century B.C.), in one of his stories, mentioned a war-like people by the name of ''Dadikai'' on the frontier of

. Much later, Strabo and

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

mentioned the war-like people ''Dardae''.

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, whose travels provide much of the data for classical geography of the subcontinent, did not meet any Dard people, but he did go to a place called ''Daedala,'' where he was reported to have fought against people called '' Assakenoi''. Herodotus ''Dadikai'' appears to be the Persian name derived from the ''

Daradas Daradas were a people who lived north and north-west to the Kashmir valley. This kingdom is identified to be the Gilgit region, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region (part of ancient Baloristan) along the river Sindhu or Indus. They are often spoken alo ...

'' given in the Puranic sources. Rather than a specific people, they were referred to characterize a fierce people, residing in the northwest, outside the boundaries of civilization.

Kalhana Kalhana ( sa, कल्हण, translit=kalhaṇa) was the author of ''Rajatarangini'' (''River of Kings''), an account of the history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in Sanskrit between 1148 and 1149. All information regarding his life has to be ...

, in ''

Rajatarangini ''Rajatarangini'' ("The River of Kings") is a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western part of India, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in the 12th century CE. Th ...

'', mentions the Darads as residing to the north of Kashmir, and as frequently attempting to invade and loot Kashmir. The term later became accepted through repeated usage.

G.W. Leitner Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (14 October 1840 – 22 March 1899), also known as Gottlieb William Leitner, was a British orientalist. Early life and education Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner was born in Pest, Hungary, on 14 October 1840 to a Jewish fam ...

coined the terms Dard and Dardistan, even though the name 'Dard' was not claimed by any people in the region. John Biddulph, who spent many years in Gilgit, also stated the name Dard was not acknowledged by any section of the tribes to whom it was commonly applied. Biddulph recognized Leitner's term Dardistan as founded on a misconception, but accepted the term as a convenient way of designating the difficult, diverse, and largely unknown Karakoram between Kashmir and the Hindukush Range. This usage of the term is curiously parallel to the Sanskrit usage, where it connoted nonspecific ferocious outsiders living in the mountains beyond the borders of the region. Leitner's Dardistan, in its broadest sense, became the basis for the classification of the languages in the north-west of the Indo-Aryan linguistic area (which includes present-day eastern

, northern

, and Kashmir). George Abraham Grierson, with scant data, borrowed the term and proposed an independent Dardic family within the Indo-Iranian languages. However, Grierson's formulation of Dardic is now considered to be incorrect in its details, and has therefore been rendered obsolete by modern scholarship. Georg Morgenstierne, who conducted an extensive fieldwork in the region during the early 20th century, revised Grierson's classification and came to the view that only the "Kafiri" ( Nuristani) languages formed an independent branch of the Indo-Iranian languages separate from Indo-Aryan and

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

families, and determined that the Dardic languages were unmistakably Indo-Aryan in character.Due to their geographic isolation, many Dardic languages have preserved archaisms and other features of Old Indo-Aryan. These features include three sibilants, several types of clusters of consonants, and archaic or antiquated vocabulary lost in other modern Indo-Aryan languages. Kalasha and

Khowar Khowar () or Chitrali, is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in Chitral and surrounding areas in Pakistan. Khowar is the lingua franca of Chitral, and it is also spoken in the Gupis-Yasin and Ghizer districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, as we ...

are the most archaic of all modern

, retaining a great part of Sanskrit case inflexion, and retaining many words in a nearly Sanskritic form. For example ''at’hi'' "bone" in Kalasha is nearly identical to ''asthi'' in Sanskrit and ''ašrú'' "tear" in Khowar is identical to the Sanskrit word. French Indologist Gérard Fussman points out that the term Dardic is geographic, not a linguistic expression. Taken literally, it allows one to believe that all the languages spoken in Dardistan are ''Dardic''. It also allows one to believe that all the people speaking Dardic languages are ''Dards'' and the area they live in is ''Dardistan''. A term used by classical geographers to identify the area inhabited by an indefinite people, and used in ''Rajatarangini'' in reference to people outside Kashmir, has came to have ethnographic, geographic, and even political significance today.

Classification

George Morgenstierne's scheme corresponds to recent scholarly consensus. As such, Dardic's position as a legitimate genetic subfamily has been repeatedly called into question; it is widely acknowledged that the grouping is more geographical in nature, as opposed to linguistic. Indeed, Buddruss rejected the Dardic grouping entirely, and placed the languages within Central Indo-Aryan. Other scholars, such as Strand and Mock, have similarly voiced doubts in this regard. However, Kachru contrasts "Midland languages" spoken in the plains, such as Punjabi and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Kogan has also suggested an 'East-Dardic' sub-family; comprising the 'Kashmiri', 'Kohistani' and 'Shina' groups.Kogan, Anton (2013), "https://jolr.ru/index.php?article=130" The case of Kashmiri is peculiar. Its Dardic features are close to Shina, often said to belong to an eastern Dardic language subfamily. Kachru notes that "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". While it is true that many Dardic languages have been influenced by non-Dardic languages, Dardic may have also influenced neighbouring Indo-Aryan lects in turn, such as Punjabi,: ... haterjiagreed with Grierson in seeing Rajasthani influence on Pahari and 'Dardic' influence on (or under) the whole Northwestern group + Pahari. : Throughout the northwest, beginning with Sindhi and including 'Lahnda', Dardic, Romany and West Pahari, there has been a tendency to hetransfer of 'r' from medial clusters to a position after the initial consonant. the

Pahari languages The Northern Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Pahāṛi languages, are a proposed group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the lower ranges of the Himalayas, from Nepal in the east, through the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhan ...

, including the

Central Pahari languages The Northern Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Pahāṛi languages, are a proposed group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the lower ranges of the Himalayas, from Nepal in the east, through the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhan ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, and purportedly even further afield. Some linguists have posited that Dardic lects may have originally been spoken throughout a much larger region, stretching from the mouth of the Indus (in Sindh) northwards in an arc, and then eastwards through modern day Himachal Pradesh to Kumaon. However, this has not been conclusively established.

Subdivisions

Dardic languages have been organized into the following subfamilies: * Eastern Dardic languages: ** Kashmiri languages: Kashmiri, Poguli, Kishtwari; ** Shina languages: Shina, Brokskat, Kalkoti, Kohistani Shina, Kundal Shahi, Palula, Savi, Ushoji; ** Kohistani languages: Maiya (Indus Kohistani), Bateri, Chilisso, Gowro, Kalami,

Tirahi Tirahi ( ps, تيراهي) were the speakers of the Tirahi language, a nearly extinct if not already extinct Indo-Aryan language which may still be spoken by older adults, who are likewise fluent in Pashto, in a few villages in the southeast of Jal ...

, Torwali, Wotapuri-Katarqalai, Mankiyali *Chitrali languages: Kalasha (

Urtsuniwar Urtsuniwar or Urchuniwar () is a dialect of Kalasha-mun spoken in the Urtsun Valley in Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The total number of speakers of this dialect are estimated to be around 2,900 - 5,700 individuals. Similarity It h ...

Pashayi languages Pashayi or Pashai (زبان پشه‌ای) is a group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken by the Pashai people in parts of Kapisa, Laghman, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Kunar and Kabul ( Surobi District) provinces in Northeastern Afghanistan Afg ...

*Kunar languages: Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nangalami (Grangali), Shumashti

Characteristics

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' (Sanskrit: ''bhumi''), Pashai uses the word ''duum'' for 'smoke' (Hindi: ''dhuan'', Sanskrit: ''dhum'') and Kashmiri uses the word ''dod'' for 'milk' (Sanskrit: ''dugdha'', Hindi: ''dūdh''). Tonality has developed in most (but not all) 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 (e.g. Punjabi ''kar'' for 'house', compare with Hindi ''ghar'').

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 (erected 269 BCE to 231 BCE) in the Gandhara region, where Dardic dialects were and still are widespread. Examples include a tendency to spell the Classical Sanskrit words ''priyadarshi'' (one of the titles of Emperor

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

) as instead ''priyadrashi'' and ''dharma'' as ''dhrama''. Modern-day Kalasha uses the word ''driga'' 'long' (Sanskrit: ''dirgha''). Palula uses ''drubalu'' 'weak' (Sanskrit: ''durbala'') and ''brhuj'' 'birch tree' (Sanskrit: ''bhurja''). Kashmiri uses ''drolid'' 'impoverished' (Sanskrit: ''daridra'') and ''krama'' 'work' or 'action' (Sanskrit: ''karma''). Western Pahari languages (such as

Dogri Dogri ( Name Dogra Akkhar: ; Devanagari: डोगरी; Nastaliq: ; ) is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India, with smaller groups of speakers in adjoining regions of western Himachal Prad ...

), Sindhi and Lahnda (Western Punjabi) also share this Dardic tendency to metathesis, though they are considered non-Dardic, for example cf. the Punjabi word ''drakhat'' 'tree' (from Persian ''darakht''). Dardic languages also show other consonantal changes. Kashmiri, for instance, has a marked tendency to shift ''k'' to ''ch'' and ''j'' to ''z'' (e.g. ''zon'' 'person' is cognate to Sanskrit ''jan'' 'person or living being' and

''jān'' 'life').

Verb position in Dardic

Unlike most other Indo-Aryan (or Iranian) languages, several Dardic languages present "verb second" as the normal grammatical form. This is similar to many Germanic languages, such as German and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, as well as Uto-Aztecan O'odham and Northeast Caucasian Ingush. Most Dardic languages, such as Indus Kohistani, however, follow the usual Indo-Iranian subject-object-verb (SOV) pattern, similar to

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Notes

:1.The Khowar word for 'earth' is more accurately represented, with tonality, as ''buúm'' rather than ''buum'', where ''ú'' indicates a rising tone. :2.The word ''drolid'' actually includes a Kashmiri half-vowel, which is difficult to render in the Urdu, Devnagri and Roman scripts alike. Sometimes, an umlaut is used when it occurs in conjunction with a vowel, so the word might be more accurately rendered as ''drölid''. :3.

Sandhi Sandhi ( sa, सन्धि ' , "joining") is a cover term for a wide variety of sound changes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries. Examples include fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of one sound depending on near ...

rules in Sanskrit allow the combination of multiple neighboring words together into a single word: for instance, word-final 'ah' plus word-initial 'a' merge into 'o'. In actual Sanskrit literature, with the effects of sandhi, this sentence would be expected to appear as ''Eṣá ékóśvósti''. Also, word-final 'a' is Sanskrit is a schwa, (similar to the ending 'e' in the German name,

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his car ...

), so e.g. the second word is pronounced . Pitch accent is indicated with an acute accent in the case of the older Vedic language, which was inherited from Proto-Indo-European. :4.Hindi-Urdu, and other non-Dardic Indo-Aryan languages, also sometimes utilize a "verb second" order (similar to Kashmiri and English) for dramatic effect. ''Yeh ek ghoṛā hai'' is the normal conversational form in Hindi-Urdu. ''Yeh hai ek ghoṛā'' is also grammatically correct but indicates a dramatic revelation or other surprise. This dramatic form is often used in news headlines in Hindi-Urdu, Punjabi and other Indo-Aryan languages.

Sources

Academic literature from outside South Asia * Morgenstierne, G. Irano-Dardica. Wiesbaden 1973; * Morgenstierne, G. Die Stellung der Kafirsprachen. In Irano-Dardica, 327-343. Wiesbaden, Reichert 1975 * Decker, Kendall D. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, Volume 5. Languages of Chitral. Academic literature from South Asia * The Comparative study of Urdu and Khowar. Badshah Munir Bukhari National Language Authority Pakistan 2003. o Reference* National Institute of Pakistani Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University & Summer Institute of Linguistics

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dardic Languages