Sarikoli language

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Sarikoli
tujik ziv
Native to People's Republic of China
Native speakers
 16,000 (2000)[1]
Arabic[citation needed]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 srh
Glottolog sari1246[2]
Linguasphere 58-ABD-eb
220px
Xinjiang province. Light blue are areas where Sarikoli is spoken.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

The Sarikoli language (also Sariqoli, Selekur, Sarikul, Sariqul, Sariköli) is a member of the Pamir subgroup of the Southeastern Iranian languages spoken by Tajiks in China. It is officially referred to in China as the "Tajik language", although it is different from the language spoken in Tajikistan.

Nomenclature

Sarikoli is officially referred to as "Tajik" (塔吉克语 Tǎjíkèyǔ) in China.[3] However, it is not closely related to Tajik as spoken in Tajikistan.[4] It is also referred to as Tashkorghani,[5] after the ancient capital of the Sarikoli kingdom (now Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang, China); however, this usage is not widespread among scholars.

The earliest written accounts in English, from the 1870s, generally use the name "Sarikoli".[6]

Distribution of speakers

The number of speakers is around 35,000; most reside in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in southern Xinjiang Province, China. The Chinese name for the Sarikoli language, as well as the usage of Sarikol as a toponym, is Sèlèkùěr yǔ (色勒庫爾語). Speakers in China typically use Uyghur and Chinese to communicate with people of other ethnic groups in the area. The rest are found in the Pakistani-controlled sector of Kashmir, closely hugging the Pakistan-Chinese international borders.

It is mutually unintelligible with the related Wakhi language.[7]

Orthography

The language has no official written form. Gawarjon, publishing in China, used IPA to transcribe the sounds of Sarikoli in his book and dictionary,[4][8] while Pakhalina, publishing in Russia, used an alphabet similar to that of the Wakhi language in hers.[9][10] The majority of Sarikoli-speakers attend schools using Uyghur as the medium of instruction.

Phonology

Vowels

Sarikoli vowels as used in Russian works (IPA values in brackets):

a [a], e [e], ɛy [ɛi̯] (dialectal æy or ay [æi̯ / ai̯]), ɛw [ɛu̯] (dialectal æw or aw [æu̯ /au̯]), ə [ə], i [i], o [o / ɔ], u [u], ы [ɯ] (dialectal ů [ʊ]). In some dialects also long variants of those vowels can appear: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ы̄, ǝ̄.

Consonants

Sarikoli has 29 consonants:

Sariqoli consonants according to Russian Iranologist transcription (IPA values in bracelets): p /p/, b /b/, t /t/, d /d/, k /k / c/, g /ɡ ~ ɟ/, q /q/, c /ts/, ʒ /dz/, č /tɕ/, ǰ /dʑ/, s /s/, z /z/, x̌ /x/, γ̌ /ɣ/, f /f/, v /v/, θ /θ/, δ /ð/, x /χ/, γ /ʁ/, š /ɕ/, ž /ʑ/, w /w/, y /j/, m /m/, n /n / ŋ/, l /l/, r /r/

Stress

Most words receive stress on the last syllable; however, a minority receive stress on their first syllable. Also, several noun declensions and verb inflections regularly place stress on their first syllable, including the imperative and interrogative.[4]


Vocabulary

Although to a large extent the Sarikoli lexicon is quite close to those of other Eastern Iranian languages, but a large number are words are special to Sarikoli and the closely related Shughni, that are not found in other Eastern Iranian languages like Wakhi, Pashto or Avestan.

Lexical comparison of seven Iranian languages together with an English translation[4]
English gloss Persian Tajik Wakhi Pashto Shughni Sarikoli Avestan
one jæk (یک) jak (‍як) ji jaw (يو) jiw iw aēva-
meat ɡuʃt (گوشت) ɡuʃt (гушт) ɡuʂt ɣwaxa, ɣwaʂa (غوښه) ɡuːxt ɡɯxt  ?
son pesær (پسر) pisar (писар) putr zoi (زوی) puts pɯts putra
fire ɒteʃ (آتش) otaʃ (оташ) rɯχniɡ or (اور) joːts juts âtar
water ɒb (اب) ob (об) jupk obə (اوبه) xats xats aiwyô, ap
hand dæst (دست) dast (даѕт) ðast lɑs (لاس) ðust ðɯst zasta
foot pɒ (پا) po (по) pɯð pxa, pʂa (پښه) poːð peð pad
tooth dændɒn (دندان) dandon (дандон) ðɯnðɯk ɣɑx, ɣɑʂ (غاښ) ðinðʉn ðanðun  ?
eye tʃæʃm (چشم) tʃaʃm (чашм) tʂəʐm stərɡa (سترګه) tsem tsem cashman
horse æsb (اسب) asp (асп) jaʃ ɑs (آس) voːrdʒ vurdʒ aspa
cloud æbr (ابر) abr (абр) mur urjadz (اوريځ) abri varm maēγa-
wheat ɡændom (گندم) ɡandum (гандум) ɣɯdim ɣanam (غنم) ʒindam ʒandam  ?
many besjɒr (بسيار) bisjor (бисёр) təqi ɖer, pura (ډېر، پوره) bisjoːr pɯr paoiri, paoirîsh, pouru
high bolænd (بلند) baland (баланд) bɯland lwaɻ (لوړ) biland bɯland berezô, berezañt
far dur (دور) dur (дур) ðir ləre (لرې) ðar ðar dûra, dûrât
good χub (خوب) χub (хуб) baf xə, ʂə (ښه) χub tʃardʒ vohu
small kutʃik (کوچک)) χurd (хурд) dzəqlai ləɡ, ləʐ (لږ) dzul dzɯl  ?
to say ɡoft (گفت) ɡuft (гуфт) xənak wajəl (ويل) lʉvd levd aoj-, mrû-, sangh-
to do kærd (کرد) kard (кард) tsərak kawəl (کول) tʃiːd tʃeiɡ kar-
to see did (ديد) did (дид) wiŋɡ winəm (وينم) wiːnt wand dî-

References

  1. ↑ Sarikoli at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ A wide variety of transcriptions of the name "Sarikoli" are used in linguistic discussions, such as 萨里库尔语 Sàlǐkùěryǔ, 萨雷阔勒语 Sàléikuòlèyǔ, 色勒库尔语 Sèlèkùěryǔ, or 撒里科里语 Sǎlǐkēlǐyǔ.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Further reading

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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