Shughni or Khughni (in the local language: tr. ;
Tajik: , fa, شغنانی), is one of the
Pamir languages of the
Southeastern Iranian language group.
[Karamšoev, Dodchudo K. (1988–99). ''Šugnansko-russkij slovar''. 3 vols. Moskva: Nauka. (Vol. 2), / (Vol. 3)][ Its distribution is in the ]Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region
Gorno-Badakhshan, officially the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region,, abbr. / is an autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. It makes up nearly forty-five percent of the country's land area, but only two percen ...
in Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
, Badakhshan Province
Badakhshan Province (Persian/ Uzbek: , ''Badaxšān'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan in the north and the Pakistani regions of Lower ...
in 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 ...
, Chitral district
Chitral District ( ur, ) was the largest district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, covering an area of 14,850 km², before splitting into Upper Chitral District and Lower Chitral District in 2018. Part of the Malakand Div ...
in 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 ...
and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County
Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County (also known as Taxkorgan County, sometimes spelled Tashkurgan, Tashkorgan and Tash Kurghan Tadzhik Autonomous Hsien) is an autonomous county of Kashgar Prefecture in Western Xinjiang, China. The county seat is t ...
in China.[
Shughni-Rushani tends towards SOV word order, distinguishes a masculine and feminine gender in nouns and some adjectives, as well as the 3rd person singular of verbs. Shughni distinguishes between an absolutive and an ]oblique case
In grammar, an oblique (abbreviated ; from la, casus obliquus) or objective case ( abbr. ) is a nominal case other than the nominative case, and sometimes, the vocative.
A noun or pronoun in the oblique case can generally appear in any role ex ...
in its system of pronouns. Rushani is noted for a typologically unusual 'double-oblique' construction, also called a 'transitive case', in the past tense. Normally Soviet school scientists consider Rushani as a close but independent language to Shughni, while Western school scientists codes Rushani as a dialect of Shughni due to 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 ...
Rushani speakers living in the Sheghnan district of Badakhshan Province
Badakhshan Province (Persian/ Uzbek: , ''Badaxšān'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan in the north and the Pakistani regions of Lower ...
.
Dialects
Rushani, Bartangi, Oroshori (Roshorvi), Khufi and Shughni proper are considered to be dialects. However, Bartangi and Khufi are quite distinct and may be separate languages.
Phonology
Vowels
The following are the vowels of Shughni:
Long vowels occur as /, , /.
Consonants
The following are the consonants of Shughni:
Vocabulary
Orthography
Cyrillic alphabet
The Shughni cyrillic alphabet is as follows:
Literature
* Zarubin, I.I. Shugnanskie teksty i slovar. Moskva : Izd-vo Akademii nauk SSSR, 1960.
*Džoy I. Edelman and Leila R. Dodykhudoeva (2009). Shughni. In Gernot Windfuhr (ed.), The Iranian Languages, 787-824. London & New York: Routledge.
*Olson, Karen (2017). Shughni Phonology Statement. SIL International.
References
External links
Shughni Language Page
The Shughni Grammar Project
Shughni Wikipedia main page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shughni Language
Pamir languages
Eastern Iranian languages
Languages of Tajikistan
Pamir languages of Afghanistan
Endangered Iranian languages
Languages of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Languages of Chitral