Askuňu
Saňu-vīri
Native toAfghanistan
RegionNuristan Province
Native speakers
40,000 (2011)[1]
Arabic script, Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3ask
Glottologashk1246
ELPAshkun
Linguasphere58-ACA-a

Âṣkuňu (Saňu-vīri) is a language of Afghanistan spoken by the Ashkun people – also known as the Âṣkun, Ashkun, Askina, Saňu, Sainu, Yeshkun, Wamas, or Grâmsaňâ – from the region of the central Pech Valley around Wâmâ and in some eastern tributary valleys of the upper Alingar River in Afghanistan's Nuristan Province. Other major places where the language of Ashkun is spoken are Nuristan Province, Pech Valley in Wama District, eastern side of the Lower Alingar Valley in Nurgaram and Duab districts, Malil wa Mushfa, Titin, Kolatan and Bajagal valleys.

It is classified as a member of the Nuristani sub-family of the Indo-Iranian languages.

Name

The name Ashkun comes from Âṣkuňu [aʂkuˈɽ̃u] in the local language. The alternative name Saňu [sɘˈɽ̃u] in Ashkun, denoting a group of people living in Wâmâ, has cognates in other Nuristani languages, such as Kamviri Ćâňu [t͡saˈɽ̃u], Kata-vari Ćâvřu [t͡saˈβɻu], and Prasuni Zünyu [zyn̪ˈju].

Demographics

Current status: There are currently about 40,000 ethnic people who speak this language. None of the mentioned people are monolinguals. Illiteracy rate among this group of people is around 5%-15%.

Location: Upper-middle Pech Valley and over the watershed into the Bâźâigal, Mâsēgal, and Titin valleys of upper Laghmân.

Dialects/Varieties: Âṣkuňu-veri (Kolâtâ̄, Titin, Bâźâigal), Gřâmsaňâ-vīri, Saňu-vīri (Wâmâî). Not intelligible with the other Nuristani languages.

Dialects

Âṣkuňu can be split into several dialects spoken in southwestern Nuristan, including Âṣkuňu-veri (Kolâtâ̄), Gřâmsaňâ-vīri, Saňu-vīri (Wâmâî), Titin, and Bâźâigal. The main body of the Âṣkuňu tribe inhabits the Aṣkũgal (Kolâtâ̄, Mâsēgal) Valley, which drains southwestward into the Alingar River. These people speak a dialect which differs from that of their neighbors in the Titin Valley to the south (cf. Morgenstierne 1929). The inhabitants of the Bâźâigal Valley further up the Alingar are reported to speak a third dialect. Across a mountain ridge to the east of the Âṣkuňu two tribal groups, each with its own dialect, center on the villages of Wâmâ and Gřâmsaňâgřām (Ačaṇu) off the Pech River.[2] For this article, most cited forms will be based on the Wâmâ dialect (Saňu-vīri).

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental/
Alveolar		 (Alveolo-)
palatal		 Palato-
alveolar		 Retroflex Velar
Plosive voiceless p t ʈ k
voiced b d ɖ ɡ
Affricate voiceless (t͡s) t͡ɕ t͡ʃ t͡ʂ
voiced (d͡z) d͡ʑ d͡ʒ d͡ʐ
Fricative voiceless (f) s ʃ ʂ (x)
voiced v z ʒ ʐ (ɣ)
Nasal m n ɳ ŋ
Tap (ɾ) ɽ, (ɽ̃)
Approximant l j
  • /ɽ/ can be heard as nasalized [ɽ̃] or as a nasal tap [ɳ̆], when within nasalized vowel positions.
  • /t͡ɕ, d͡ʑ/ can have fronted allophones of [t͡s, d͡z] in free variation.
  • The tap [ɾ] is in complementary distribution with /ɽ/.
  • Sounds [f, x, ɣ, q, ħ, ʕ, ʔ, h] also may occur, but they are not fully integrated in the sound system.

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i (ɨ) u
Mid e ə o
Low a
  • Vowels may also be nasalized as /ĩ, ẽ, ə̃, ã, õ, ũ/
  • /ə, ə̃/ can have allophones of [ɨ, ɨ̃].

Orthography

The Ashkun language is strictly passed on orally and has no written resources that can be traced.

Vocabulary

Pronouns

Person Nominative Accusative Genitive
1st sg. âi iũ imâ
pl. ima imbâ
2nd sg. tu to toâ̄
pl. vi iã iâmbâ

Numbers

  1. âc̣
  2. du
  3. tra
  4. ćâtâ̄
  5. põć
  6. ṣo
  7. sōt
  8. ōṣṭ
  9. no
  10. dos

Words

Hello is “Salam” How are you is “Kaigases”

Notes

  1. ↑ Askuňu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ↑ Strand, R. F. (1973). Notes on the Nūristāni and Dardic Languages. Journal of the American Oriental Society, (3). 297.

Literature

  • Cardona, G. (2014). Indo-Iranian languages. Encyclopædia Britannica.
  • Grierson, G. A. (1927). Report on a Linguistic Mission to Afghanistan. By Georg Morgenstierne. Oslo: H. Aschehoug and Co.(W. Nygaard). 10× 6, 98 pp. and 3 maps. Price 2s. 9d. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland (New Series), 59(02), 368–375.
  • Grierson, G. A. (1927). [Review of Report on a Linguistic Mission to Afghanistan]. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, (2), 368–375. JSTOR 25221151
  • Klimburg, M. (1999). The Kafirs of the Hindu Kush: art and society of the Waigal and Ashkun Kafirs (Vol. 1). Franz Steiner Verlag.
  • Morgenstierne, G. (1929). The language of the Ashkun Kafirs. Aschehoug.
  • Strand, Richard F. (1973). Notes on the Nūristāni and Dardic Languages. Journal of the American Oriental Society.
  • Turner, R. L. (1932). The Language of the Ashkun Kafirs. By G. Morgenstierne. Extract from Norsk Tidsshrift for Sprogvidenskap, Bind ii, 1929. pp. 192–289. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland (New Series), 64(01), 173–175.
  • Voegelin, C. F., & Voegelin, F. M.. (1965). Languages of the World: Indo-European Fascicle One. Anthropological Linguistics, 7(8), 1–294. JSTOR 30022511
  • Where on earth do they speak Ashkun? (2015, November 15). Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://www.verbix.com/maps/language/Ashkun.html
Askunu language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator
  • Endangered Languages profile for Askunu
  • Strand, Richard F. (1997–2021). "Nuristan: Hidden Land of the Hindu-Kush". Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  • Strand, Richard F. (1998). "The âṣkuňu, saňu, and gřâmsaňâ". Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  • Strand, Richard F. (2008). "Saňu-vi:ri Lexicon". Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  • Strand, Richard F. (2011). "The Sound System of Saňu-vi:ri". Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  • Strand, Richard F. (2010). "Nurestâni Languages". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Archived from the original on 2016-11-06. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
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