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According to [[Rehmat Aziz Chitrali]], a linguistic researcher from Chitral, these names are used in Gilgit, Hunza, Nager, Chitral, Ghizer and Swat, and have been in use since time immemorial in the country of the [[Indus River|Indus]]. It would seem as if the natives, while introducing the [[Sanskrit]] days of the week, adopted in other respects the mode of computing time already existing in the country.
According to [[Rehmat Aziz Chitrali]], a linguistic researcher from Chitral{{citation needed}}, these names are used in Gilgit, Hunza, Nager, Chitral, Ghizer and Swat, and have been in use since time immemorial in the country of the [[Indus River|Indus]]. It would seem as if the natives, while introducing the [[Sanskrit]] days of the week, adopted in other respects the mode of computing time already existing in the country.
The Khowar names are from Persian.
The Khowar names are from Persian.


Revision as of 13:22, 25 October 2012

For the ethnic group, see Chitrali people.
Khowar test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator
Khowar
khw
Native toPakistan, China, Afghanistan
Native speakers
400,000
Khowar alphabet (Nastaʿlīq script), see other less-used writing systems below
Official status
Official language in
 Pakistan
Regulated byKhowar Academy, (Pakistan); Literary Association for Promotion of Khowar language, Chitral (Pakistan)
Language codes
ISO 639-3khw
ELPKhowar
Linguasphere59-AAB-aa

Khowar (khw), also known as Chitrali, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic branch, spoken by 400,000 people in Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the Ghizer district of Gilgit-Baltistan (including the Yasin Valley, Phandar Ishkoman and Gupis), and in parts of Upper Swat. Speakers of Khowar have also migrated heavily to Pakistan's major urban centres with Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, having sizeable populations. It is spoken as a second language in the rest of Gilgit and Hunza. There are believed to be small numbers of Khowar speakers in Afghanistan, China, Tajikistan and Istanbul.

Khowar has been influenced by Iranian languages to a greater degree than other Dardic languages, and less by Sanskrit than Shina or the Kohistani languages. John Biddulph (Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh) was among the first westerners to study Khowar and claimed that further research would prove Khowar to be equally derived from "Zend" (Avestan, Old Persian) and Sanskrit.

The Norwegian Linguist Georg Morgenstierne wrote that Chitral is the area of the greatest linguistic diversity in the world. Although Khowar is the predominant language of Chitral, more than ten other languages are spoken here. These include Kalasha-mondr, Palula, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nuristani, Yidgha, Burushaski, Gojri, Wakhi, Kyrgyz, Persian and Pashto. Since many of these languages have no written form, letters are usually written in Urdu, Pakistan's national language.

Chart

A native speaker of Khowar language and researcher Rehmat Aziz Chitrali has prepared the following chart regarding Romanization of khowar language.

Phoneme Sound (in IPA) Letter Romanization Example
/p/ [p] پ p /pakistan/   پاکستان   (Pakistan)
/b/ [b] ب b /brar/   برار   (brother)
/t/ [t] ت , ط t /patː/   پت   'till'
/d/ [d] د d /duːst/   دوست   'friend'
/k/ [k] ک k /kahak/   کہاک   'hen'
/ɡ/ [ɡ] گ g /gordogh/   گوردوغ 'donkey'
/ʔ/ [ʔ] ع , ء ', ʔ /mæʔˈnɒː/   معنا   'meaning'
/ch/ [t͡ʃ] چ ch, č /chhor/   چھور   'four'
/j/ [d͡ʒ] ج j /dʒæˈvɒːn/   جوان   'young'
/f/ [f] ف f /fil/   فل   'elephant'
/v/ [v] و v /vezo dukaan/   ویزو دوکان   'medical store'
/s/ [s] س , ص , ث s /saal/   سال   'year'
/z/ [z] ز , ذ , ض , ظ z /ɒːˈzɒːd/   آزاد   'free'
/ʃ/ [ʃ] ش sh, š /ʃɒːh abdul aziz/   شاہ عبدالعزیز   'Shah Abdul Aziz'
/ʒ/ [ʒ] ژ zh, ž /ʒɒːraap/   ژاراپ   'socks'
/x/ [x] خ kh, x /xɒːˈne zaad/   خانہ زاد   'slave'
/ɣ/ [ɣ] ق , غ gh, q /ɣulaam/   غلام   'slave'
/ɢ/ [ɢ] ق , غ q, gh /qæˈlæm/   قلم   'pen'
/h/ [h] ه , ح h /hindu/   ھندو   'indian'
/m/ [m] م m /mosh/   موش   'man'
/n/ [n] ن n /nɒːn/   نان   'mother'
/ŋ/ [ŋ] ن ng, ŋ /rænɡ/   رنگ   'color'
/l/ [l] ل l /læket/   لاکٹ   'locket'
/ɾ/ [ɾ] ر r /Rahmat Aziz/   رحمت عزیز   'Rehmat Aziz'
/j/ [j] ی y /jɒː/   یا   'or'


Written language

Khowar has been written in the Nasta'liq script since the early twentieth century. Prior to that, the administrative and literary language of the region was Persian and works such as poetry and songs in Khowar were passed down in oral tradition. Today Urdu and English are the official languages and the only major literary usage of Khowar is in both poetry and prose composition. Khowar has also been written in the Roman script since the 1960s. Badshah Munir Bukhari worked on the language and its family.

Days of the week

English Shina Sanskrit Khowar
Sunday Adit Aditya var yak shambey
Monday Tsunduro Som var du shambey
Tuesday Ungaroo Mangal var sey shambey
Wednesday Bodo Budh var char shambey
Thursday Bressput Brihaspati var panch shambey
Friday Shooker Shukra var Adina
Saturday Shimshere Sanisch var shambey

According to Rehmat Aziz Chitrali, a linguistic researcher from Chitral[citation needed], these names are used in Gilgit, Hunza, Nager, Chitral, Ghizer and Swat, and have been in use since time immemorial in the country of the Indus. It would seem as if the natives, while introducing the Sanskrit days of the week, adopted in other respects the mode of computing time already existing in the country. The Khowar names are from Persian.

Khowar media

Television channels

Main article: Television in Pakistan

Khowar poet, journalist and researcher Rehmat Aziz Chitrali on Monday said Chitral district is rich in cultural heritage which needs to be promoted for next generations. In a message on the launch of Khowar language TV programme by Khyber News (KNTV) in Islamabad, Khowar poet Rachitrali said the step would help promote the rich heritage of Khowar.

TV Channel Genre Founded Official Website
Khyber News TV (خیبر نیوز ٹیلی ویژن) News and current affairs   http://www.khybernews.tv/
AVT Khyber TV (اے وی ٹی خیبر) Entertainment   http://www.avtkhyber.tv/
K2 TV (کے ٹو) Entertainment, news and current affairs   http://www.kay2.tv/

Radio

These are not dedicated Khowar channels but play most programmes in Khowar.

Main article: Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation
Radio Channel Genre Founded Official Website
Radio Pakistan Chitral Entertainment http://www.radio.gov.pk/
Radio Pakistan Peshawar Entertainment http://www.radio.gov.pk/
Radio Pakistan Gilgit Entertainment http://www.radio.gov.pk/

Newspapers

See also: List of newspapers in Pakistan § Khowar
Newspaper City(ies) Founded Official Website
Chitral Vision (چترال وژن) Karachi, Chitral, Pakistan

References

  • Bashir, Elena (2001) Spatial Representation in Khowar. Proceedings of the 36th Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.
  • Decker, D. Kendall (1992). Languages of Chitral. ISBN 969-8023-15-1.
  • L’Homme, Erik (1999) Parlons Khowar. Langue et culture de l’ancien royaume de Chitral au Pakistan. Paris: L’Harmattan
  • Morgenstierne, Georg (1936) Iranian Elements in Khowar. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. VIII, London.
  • Badshah munir Bukhari (2001) Khowar language. University publisher. Pakistan
  • Morgenstierne, Georg (1947) Some Features of Khowar Morphology. Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, Vol. XIV, Oslo.
  • Morgenstierne, Georg (1957) Sanskritic Words in Khowar. Felicitation Volume Presented to S.K. Belvalkar. Benares. 84-98 [Reprinted in Morgenstierne (1973): Irano-Dardica, 267-72]
  • Mohammad Ismail Sloan (1981) Khowar-English Dictionary. Peshawar. ISBN 0-923891-15-3.
  • The Comparative study of Urdu and Khowar. Badshah Munir Bukhari National Language Authority Pakistan 2003.
  • Decker, Kendall D. (1992). Languages of Chitral (Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 5). National Institute of Pakistani Studies, 257 pp. ISBN 969-8023-15-1.

Further reading

  • Aziz Chitrali, Rahmat, 1996. Guldasta-e-Rahmat (Khowar (Chitrali) Humorous Poetry, Published by Khowar Academy (A Litrary Association for the promotion of Chitrali languages)
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