Contents

Kundal Shahi language

Indo-Aryan language of Pakistan

Kundal Shahi
کنڈل شاہی Kunḍal Šāhī
Native to	Pakistan
Region	Neelam Valley
Native speakers	700 (2005)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Dardic Shinaic Kundal Shahi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	shd
Glottolog	kund1257
Kundal Shahi Show map of Azad Kashmir Kundal Shahi Show map of Pakistan
Coordinates: 34°33′17″N 73°50′38″E / 34.5548°N 73.8439°E / 34.5548; 73.8439

Kundal Shahi (کنڈل شاہی, Kunḍal Šāhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 700 people in the Kundal Shahi villageofNeelam ValleyinAzad Kashmir, Pakistan.^[2] It is an endangered language and its speakers are shiftingtoHindko.^[3]

Phonology[edit]

The following tables set out the phonology of Kundal Shahi.^[4]

Vowels[edit]

Kundal Shahi is unusual amongst Dardic languages in that it has front rounded vowels.^[5]

Consonants[edit]

Like Kashmiri, Kundal Shahi is unusual amongst Dardic languages in that it lacks retroflex fricatives and affricates.^[5]

Tone[edit]

Kundal Shahi, like many Dardic languages, has either phonemic tone or, as in Kundal Shahi, pitch accent.^[6] Words may have only one accented mora, which is associated with high pitch; the remaining mora have a default or low pitch.^[5]

Endangered[edit]

Kundal Shahi is severely endangered with less than 500 speakers, most of whom are over the age of 40.^[7]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Baart, Joan L. G. (2003), Tonal features in languages of northern Pakistan (PDF), National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University and Summer Institute of Linguistics, pp. 3, 6
• Baart, Joan L. G.; Rehman, Khawaja A. (2005). "A first look at the language of Kundal Shahi in Azad Kashmir". SIL Electronic Working Papers.

Further reading[edit]

• Rehman, Khawaja A. (2011). "Ergativity In Kundal Shahi, Kashmiri And Hindko". In Mark Turin; Bettina Zeisler (eds.). Himalayan languages and linguistics: studies in phonology, semantics, morphology and syntax. Brill's Tibetan studies library, Languages of the greater Himalayan region. Leiden: Brill. pp. 219–234. ISBN 978-90-04-19448-9.
• Rehman, Khawaja A. (2011). Language Shift In the Neelam Valley: A Case Study of the Kundal Shahi Language (PhD). Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

External links[edit]

• ELAR archive of Documentation of the Kundal Shahi Language, Kundal Shahi, Pakistan