Kundal Shahi | |
Nativename: | {{nq|کنڈل شاہی Kunḍal Šāhī |
States: | Pakistan |
Region: | Neelam Valley |
Pushpin Map: | Azad Kashmir#Pakistan |
Coordinates: | 34.5548°N 73.8439°W |
Speakers: | 700 |
Date: | 2005 |
Ref: | e18 |
Familycolor: | Indo-European |
Fam2: | Indo-Iranian |
Fam3: | Indo-Aryan |
Fam4: | Eastern Dardic |
Fam5: | Shinaic |
Iso3: | shd |
Glotto: | kund1257 |
Glottorefname: | Kundal Shahi |
Kundal Shahi (Kunḍal Šāhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 700 people in the Kundal Shahi village of Neelam Valley in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.[1] It is an endangered language and its speakers are shifting to Hindko.[2]
The following tables set out the phonology of Kundal Shahi.
Kundal Shahi is unusual amongst Dardic languages in that it has front rounded vowels.
Front | Central | Back | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | ||
Close | pronounced as /i iː/ | pronounced as /y yː/ | pronounced as /u uː/ | ||
Close-Mid | pronounced as /e eː/ | pronounced as /øː/ | pronounced as /ə/ | pronounced as /o oː/ | |
Open-Mid | pronounced as /ɛ ɛː/ | pronounced as /ʌ/ | pronounced as /ɔ ɔː/ | ||
Open | pronounced as /a aː/ |
Like Kashmiri, Kundal Shahi is unusual amongst Dardic languages in that it lacks retroflex fricatives and affricates.
Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | (pronounced as /ink/) | ||||
Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
aspirated | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
Fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||
Lateral | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||
Flap | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
Approximant | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ |
Kundal Shahi, like many Dardic languages, has either phonemic tone or, as in Kundal Shahi, pitch accent. Words may have only one accented mora, which is associated with high pitch; the remaining mora have a default or low pitch.
Kundal Shahi is severely endangered with less than 500 speakers, most of whom are over the age of 40.[3]