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Sarikoli language

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Sarikoli
tujik ziv
Native toChina
Native speakers
approximately 20,500 (1990)
Arabic, Cyrillic, Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-1--
ISO 639-2--
ISO 639-3srh
ELPSarikoli

Xinjiang province, the light blue are marks the place were Sarikoli is spoken.

The Sarikoli language (also 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"; however, it is actually from a different subgroup within the Iranian family than the language which is official in Tajikistan.

Nomenclature

Sarikoli is officially referred to as "Tajik" (塔吉克语/Tǎjíkèyǔ) in China, as the ethnic group who speak it identify themselves as Tajiks and not Pamiris (just as their Wakhi brethren do in Pakistan).[1] However, it is no more closely related to Tajik as spoken in Tajikistan (a Western Iranian language) than the other Pamir languages.[2] It is also referred to as Tashkorghani,[3] after the ancient capital of the Sarikoli kingdom (now a county of Xinjiang); however, this usage is not widespread among scholars.

The earliest written accounts in English, from the 1870s, generally use the name "Sarikoli".[4]

Distribution of speakers

The number of speakers is in the tens of thousands; most reside in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in southern Xinjiang Province, China. Speakers in China typically use Uyghur and Chinese to communicate with people of other ethnic groups in the area. It is generally intercomprehensible with the related Wakhi language, also the mother tongue of a minority of Tajiks in China.[5]

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,[2][6] while Pakhalina, publishing in Russia, used an alphabet similiar to that of the Wakhi Language in hers.[7][8]. Because the majority of Sarikoli Tajiks go to Uyghur school, some may be able to write thier language in the Uyghur alphabet.

Phonology

Vowels

File:Sarikolivowels.jpg

Consonants

Sarikoli has 29 consonants: File:Sarikoliconsonants.jpg

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.[2]


Vocabulary

The Sarikoli lexicon is quite close to those of other Eastern Iranian languages, and exhibits some similarities and some differences with Western Iranian languages such as Persian or Tajik.

Lexical comparison of six Iranian languages [2]
English gloss Persian Tajik Shughni Sarikoli Wakhi Avestan
son pisær (پسر) pisar (писар) puts pɯts putr putra
fire atiʃ (اتش) otaʃ (оташ) joːts juts rɯχnig âtar
water ab (اب) ob (ов) xats xats jupk aiwyô, ap
hand dæst (دست) dast (даѕт) ðust ðɯst ðast zasta
foot pa (پا) po (по) poːð peð pɯð pad
tooth dændan (دندان) dandon (дандон) ðinðʉn ðanðun ðɯnðɯk ?
eye tʃæʃm (چشم) tʃaʃm (чашм) tsem tsem tʂəʐm cashman
horse æsb (اسب) asp (асп) voːrdʒ vurdʒ jaʃ aspa
cloud æbr (ابر) abr (абр) abri varm mur ?
wheat gændum (گندم) gandum (гандум) ʒindam ʒandam ɣɯdim ?
meat gʉʃt (گوشت) gʉʃt (гушт) guːxt gɯxt guʂt ?
many bisjar (بسيار) bisjor (бисйор) bisjoːr pɯr təqi paoiri, paoirîsh, pouru
high bulænd (بلند) baland (баланд) biland bɯland bɯland berezô, berezañt
far dʉr (دور) dur (дур) ðar ðar ðir dûra, dûrât
good χʉb (خوب) χub (хуб) χub tʃardʒ baf vohu
small χurd (خرد) χurd (хурд) dzul dzɯl dzɘqlai ?
to say guft (گفت) guft (гуфт) lʉvd levd xɘnak aoj-, mrû-, sangh-
to do kærd (كرد) kard (кард) tʃiːd tʃeig tsɘrak kar-
to see did (ديد) did (дид) wiːnt wand wing dî-

References

  1. ^ A wide variety of alternative transcriptions of the name "Sarikoli" are also 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.
  2. ^ a b c d Gawarjon (高尔锵/Gāo Ěrqiāng) (1985). Outline of the Tajik language (塔吉克语简志/Tǎjíkèyǔ Jiǎnzhì). Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House.
  3. ^ Rudelson, Justin Jon (January 2005). Lonely Planet Central Asia Phrasebook: Languages Of The Silk Road. Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 1741046041.
  4. ^ Shaw, Robert (1876). "On the Ghalchah Languages (Wakhi and Sarikoli)". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. XIV. Asiatic Society of Bengal.
  5. ^ Wurm, Stephen (1996). Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. p823. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Gawarjon (高尔锵/Gāo Ěrqiāng) (1996). 塔吉克汉词典 (Tǎjíkè-Hàn Cìdiǎn). Sichuan: Sichuan Nationalities Publishing House. ISBN 754091744X.
  7. ^ Pakhalina, Tatiana N. (1966). The Sarikoli Language (Сарыкольский язык/Sarykol'skij Jazyk). Moscow: Akademia Nauk SSSR.
  8. ^ Pakhalina, Tatiana N. (1971). Sarikoli-Russian Dictionary (Сарыкольско-русский словарь/Sarykol'sko-russkij slovar'). Moscow: Akademia Nauk SSSR.