Purgi, Burig, ''Purki'', ''Purik'', ''Purigi'' or ''Puriki'' (

Tibetan script The Tibetan script is a segmental writing system, or '' abugida'', forming a part of the Brahmic scripts, and used to write certain Tibetic languages, including Tibetan, Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Ladakhi, Jirel and Balti. Its exact origins ...

: ,

Nastaʿlīq script ''Nastaliq'' (; ; ), also romanized as ''Nastaʿlīq'' or ''Nastaleeq'' (), is one of the main calligraphic hands used to write Arabic script and is used for some Indo-Iranian languages, predominantly Classical Persian, Kashmiri, Punjabi a ...

: ) is a Tibetic language closely related to the Ladakhi- Balti language. Purgi is natively spoken by the Purigpa people in

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

region of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Baltistan Baltistan (); also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet, is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan and constitutes a northern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a dispute bet ...

region of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. There are about 94,000 native speakers of the language in India. Most of the Purigpas are

Shia Muslims Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

, although a significant number of them follow Noorbakhshi and

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

, and a small minority of

Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...

and Bön followers reside in areas like Fokar valley, Mulbekh, Wakha. Like the Baltis, they speak an archaic Tibetan dialect closely related to Balti and Ladakhi. Purigi is more closely related to Balti than Ladakhi, so there are different opinions among linguists in considering Purigi and Balti as different languages or simply different varieties of the same language.

Phonology

Consonants

* /pʰ/ may also be realized as a fricative * /r/ is often fricativized, being heard as ̝

Vowels

* /a/ may often be heard as back �or centralized �̈ and in certain environments as � * Sounds /e, o/ may often be heard as �, ɔ * /e/ can be heard as �when in unstressed syllables.

References

External links

Ethnic profile by Asia Harvest
{{Languages of Jammu and Kashmir Languages of Ladakh Languages of Gilgit-Baltistan Languages of Pakistan Languages of India Bodish languages