Dardic languages

History of the idea

The terms "Dardic" and "Dardistan" were coined by G. W. Leitner in the late 19th century, based on the Greek and Latin term Daradae for the people of the region (Daradas in Sanskrit). These terms are not in current use in the region.

George Abraham Grierson (1919), with scant data, postulated a family of "Dardic languages", which was characterised as an independent branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, separate from the Iranian and Indo-Aryan branches. His Dardic language family had three subfamilies, "Kafiri" (now called Nuristani), "Central" and "Dard" languages. Grierson's view is now considered obsolete and incorrect in its details. However, it continues to be often cited in works of reference.

Georg Morgenstierne (1961), after a "lifetime of study," came to the view that only the "Kafiri" (Nuristani) languages formed an independent branch of the Indo-Iranian languages separate from Indo-Aryan and Iranian families. On the other hand, he found the Dard languages to be Indo-Aryan. According to Morgenstierne,

Dardic languages contain absolutely no features which cannot be derived from old IA [Indo-Aryan language]. They have simply retained a number of striking archasisms, which had already disappeared in most Prakrit dialects... There is not a single common feature distinguishing Dardic, as a whole, from the rest of the IA languages... Dardic is simply a convenient term to denote a bundle of aberrant IA hill-languages which, in their relative isolation, accented in many cases by the invasion of Pathan tribes, have been in varying degrees sheltered against the expand influence of IA Midland (Madhyadesha) innovations, being left free to develop on their own.

This is the scheme generally accepted by recent scholarship.

There is still some dispute regarding the ultimate classification of the Dardic languages. The grouping is acknowledged to be to some extent geographical, and several different relationships between Indo-Aryan, Indo-Iranian, Dardic and Nuristani have been proposed. Buddruss rejected the Dardic grouping entirely, and placed the languages within Central Indo-Aryan.

According to a model by Asko Parpola, the Dardic languages are directly descended from the Rigvedic dialect of Vedic Sanskrit.

Except for Kashmiri, all of the Dardic languages are small minority languages which have not been sufficiently studied. In many cases they are spoken in areas difficult to access due to mountainous terrain and/or armed conflicts in the region. All of the languages (including Kashmiri) have been historically influenced by more prominent (non-Dardic) neighboring languages.

While it is true that many Dardic languages have been influenced by non-Dardic neighbors, Dardic may in turn also have left a discernible imprint on non-Dardic Indo-Aryan languages, such as Punjabi and allegedly even far beyond. It has also been asserted that some Pahari languages of Uttarakhand demonstrate Dardic influence. Although it has not been conclusively established, some linguists have hypothesized that Dardic may, in ancient times, have enjoyed a much bigger linguistic zone, stretching from the mouth of the Indus (in Sindh) northwards in an arc, and then eastwards through modern day Himachal Pradesh to Kumaon.

Subdivisions

Dardic languages have been organized into the following subfamilies:

In other classifications, Pashai may be included within Kunar, and Kashmiri within Shina. Khetrani may be a remnant Dardic language in the Siraiki region.

Kohistan is a Persian word that means ‘land of mountains’; Kohistani can be translated as ‘mountain people’ or ‘mountain language’ and is popularly used to refer to several distinct languages in the mountain areas of Northern Pakistan, including Maiya, Kalami, and Torwali.

Recording about the Torwals, a non Pashtun tribe which with the Gabaris, occupied both lower and upper Swat prior to the invasion of Swat by the Yusufzai Pashtun in the sixteenth century AD.

Characteristics of Dardic languages

The languages of the Dardic group share some common defining characteristics, including the loss of aspirated sounds and word ordering that is unique for Indo-Iranian languages.

Loss of voiced aspiration

Virtually all Dardic languages have experienced a partial or complete loss of voiced aspirated consonants. Khowar uses the word buum for 'earth' (Sanskrit: bhumi),¹ Pashai uses the word duum for 'smoke' (Hindi: dhuan, Sanskrit: dhum) and Kashmiri uses the word dod for 'milk' (Sanskrit: dugdha, Hindi: dūdh). Tonality has developed in some (but not all) Dardic languages, such as Khowar and Pashai, as a compensation. Punjabi and Western Pahari languages similarly lost aspiration but have virtually all developed tonality to partially compensate (e.g. Punjabi kar for 'house', compare with Hindi ghar).

Dardic metathesis and other changes

Both ancient and modern Dardic languages demonstrate a marked tendency towards metathesis where a "pre- or postconsonantal 'r' is shifted forward to a preceding syllable". This was seen in Ashokan rock edicts (erected 269 BCE to 231 BCE) in the Gandhara region, where Dardic dialects were and still are widespread. Examples include a tendency to misspell the Sanskrit words priyadarshi (one of the titles of Emperor Ashoka) as priyadrashi and dharma as dhrama. Modern-day Kalasha uses the word driga 'long' (Sanskrit: dirgha). Palula uses drubalu 'weak' (Sanskrit: durbala) and brhuj 'birch tree' (Sanskrit: bhurja). Kashmiri uses drolid² 'impoverished' (Sanskrit: daridra) and krama 'work' or 'action' (Sanskrit: karma). Western Pahari languages (such as Dogri), Sindhi and Lahnda (Western Punjabi) also share this Dardic tendency to metathesis, though they are considered non-Dardic, for example cf. the Punjabi word drakhat 'tree' (from Persian darakht).

Dardic languages also show other consonantal changes. Kashmiri, for instance, has a marked tendency to shift k to ch and j to z (e.g. zan 'person' is cognate to Sanskrit jan 'person or living being' and Persian jān 'life'). Punjabi and Western Pahari share this tendency also, though they are non-Dardic (e.g. compare Hindi dekho 'look' to Punjabi vekho and Kashmiri vuchiv).

Verb position in Dardic

Unlike most other Indo-Aryan (or Iranian) languages, several Dardic languages present "verb second" as the normal grammatical form. This is similar to many Germanic languages, such as German and Dutch, as well as Uto-Aztecan O'odham and Northeast Caucasian Ingush. Most Dardic languages, however, follow the usual Indo-Aryan SOV pattern.