Native to Pakistan, Afghanistan ISO 639-3 gwt | Native speakers (9,500 cited 1992) Glottolog gawa1247 | |
Region Chitral, Kunar Province Language family Indo-EuropeanIndo-IranianIndo-AryanDardicKunarGawar-Bati Similar Hijra Farsi, Fay ki Boli, Domaaki language | ||
Gawar-Bati (Narsati) is a language spoken in Chitral, Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan. It is also known in Chitral as Aranduyiwar, because it is spoken in Arandu, which is the last village in lower Chitral, and is also across the border from Berkot in Afghanistan. There are about 9,000 speakers of Gawar-Bati, with 1,500 in Pakistan, and 7,500 in Afghanistan. The name Gawar-Bati means "speech of the Gawar", a people detailed by the Cacopardos in their study of the Hindu Kush.
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The Gawar-Bati Language has not been given serious study by linguists, except that it is mentioned by George Morgenstierne (1926) and Kendall Decker (1992). It is classified as a Dardic Language. The Dardic languages have been historically seen as Indo-Iranian, but today they are placed within Indo-Aryan following Morgenstierne's work.
The Norwegian Linguist Georg Morgenstierne wrote that Chitral is the area of the greatest linguistic diversity in the world. Although Khowar is the predominant language of Chitral, more than ten other languages are spoken here. These include Kalasha-mun, Palula, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nuristani, Yidgha, Burushaski, Gujar, Wakhi, Kyrgyz, and Pashto. Since many of these languages have no written form, letters are usually written in Urdu or Pashto.
Phonology
The following tables set out the phonology of the Gawar-Bati Language.
Vowels
The status of short /e/ and /o/ is unclear.
Consonants
A breathy voiced series, /bʱ dʱ gʱ/, existed recently in older speakers—and may still do so.