Native speakers (18,000 cited 1990) | Glottolog rush1239 | |
Native to Afghanistan, Tajikistan Language family Indo-European
Indo-Iranian
Iranian
Eastern
Shughni–Yazgulyami
Shughni
Rushani | ||
Rushani one of the Pamir languages spoken in Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
Contents
The Roshan area is located in the northern part of the Shighnan District, in the Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan. Roshan consists of six villages, five of which are located on the bank of the river Panj, which meets at the border of Tajikistan. Most Rushani speakers belong to the Ismaili branch of Shi'a Islam.
Language use
Rushani, like other Shugni dialects, is only used in unofficial settings. All of the children in the community learn Rushani as their first language and rely heavily on it until they enroll in school. It is only then that they learn the official language of the country. Adult speakers are all bi- or tri-lingual in Tajik and Russian. The language is not written; Rushani speakers write in Tajik.
Verbs
Rushani is unusual in having a transitive case – a so-called double-oblique clause structure – in the past tense. That is, in the past tense, the agent and object of a transitive verb are both marked, while the subject of an intransitive verb is not. In the present tense, the object of the transitive verb is marked, the other two roles are not – that is, a typical nominative–accusative alignment. See transitive case for examples.
Literature
More on Rushani Dialect
Rushani people were a part of the West Pamir ethnic groups that belonged to the Nizari Branch. The Nizari branch was led by the leader Agha Khan the Fourth. The Rushani language group is amongst the few groups that is genetically related and is located close to other locations, all in one region.