Kamviri () is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

of the

Kamkata-vari language Kamkata-vari (') is the largest Nuristani language. It contains the main dialects Kata-vari, Kamviri and Mumviri. Kata-vari and Kamviri are sometimes erroneously reckoned as two separate languages, but according to linguist Richard Strand the ...

spoken by 5,000 to 10,000 of the

Kom Kom or KOM may refer to: Ethnic groups * Kom people (Afghanistan), a Nuristani tribe in Afghanistan and Pakistan * Kom people (Cameroon), an ethnic group of northwest Cameroon * Kom people (India) a subgroup of the Kuki in north-eastern India * ...

people of

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 borde ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. There are slight dialectal differences of the Kamviri speakers of Pakistan. The most used alternative names are ''Kati'', ''Kamozi'', ''Shekhani'' or ''Bashgali''.

Phonology

The inventory as described by

Richard Strand Richard F. Strand is a linguist and anthropological researcher who is best known for his research into Nuristani languages and other little-known languages of Afghanistan and neighboring areas of Pakistan. He was trained at Cornell University. ...

.The Sound System of ''kâmvʹiri''
/ref> In addition, there is stress. The neutral articulatory posture, as in the reduced vowel , consists of the tip of the tongue behind the lower teeth and a raised tongue root is linked with a raised larynx, producing a characteristic pitch for unstressed vowels of about an octave above the pitch of a relaxed larynx.

Consonants

* Sounds are found in loanwords. * Between vowels, voice to . * can also be heard as bilabial or a labial approximant . * For most speakers, and especially in Kombřom, becomes a

retroflex flap The voiced retroflex flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r`. Features Features of the voice ...

. * becomes a

velar tap The voiced velar tap is a type of consonantal sound, reported to occur in some spoken languages. There is no dedicated symbol for this sound in the IPA. As it is a very brief ''g''-like sound, it can be specified by adding a 'short' diacritic ...

. One suffix voices to for most speakers. are phonetic affricates. Nasals voice a following obstruent. Laminal consonants change a following from to .

Vowels

is after another vowel, after a laminal consonant and after . For some speakers, it is after . Otherwise it is or .

Vocabulary

Pronouns: 1sg. õć (nominative), ĩa (accusative), ĩ (genitive) 1pl. imo (nominative/genitive), imoa (accusative) 2sg. tū (nominative), tua (accusative), tu (genitive) 2pl. šo (nominative/genitive), šoa (accusative) Numbers: 1: ev 2: dū 3: tre 4: što 5: puc 6: ṣu 7: sut 8: uṣṭ 9: nu 10: duć

References

Bibliography

* The Kom. Retrieved July 2, 2006, from ''Richard F. Strand: Nuristan, Hidden Land of the Hindu-Kush'

* Strand, Richard F. (1973). ''Notes on the Nūristāni and Dardic Languages''. Journal of the American Oriental Society.

External links

* * * Nuristani languages of Afghanistan Languages of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Nuristani languages {{ie-lang-stub