Sarikoli
Tujik ziv (Тоҷик зив)
Native toChina
RegionPamir (Taxkorgan County)
EthnicitySarikolis
Native speakers
16,000 (2000)[1]
Uyghur Arabic alphabet (unofficial)[2]
Official status
Official language in
China
Language codes
ISO 639-3srh
Glottologsari1246
ELPSarikoli
Linguasphere58-ABD-eb
Xinjiang Province. Light blue are areas where Sarikoli is spoken.

The Sarikoli language (also Sariqoli, Selekur, Sarikul, Sariqul, Sariköli) is a member of the Pamir subgroup of the Southeastern Iranian languages spoken by the Pamiris of Xinjiang, China. It is officially referred to in China as the "Tajik language", although it is different from the related Iranian language spoken in Tajikistan, which is considered a dialect of Persian.

Nomenclature

Sarikoli is officially referred to as "Tajik" (Chinese: 塔吉克语, Tǎjíkèyǔ) in China.[3] However, it is not closely related to Tajik (a form of Persian) as spoken in Tajikistan because Sarikoli is an Eastern Iranian language, closely related to other Pamir languages largely spoken in the Badakshan regions of Tajikistan and Afghanistan, whereas the Western Iranian Farsi-Dari-Tajik is a polycentric language of a related but distinctly and historically different type. Both of these types of language and dialect clusters have been geographically separated by great distances and mountainous terrain over the course of long periods of time during which many differences of pronunciation, wording and xenolinguistic borrowings or retention of older forms or word choices accumulated over time.[4] It is also referred to as Tashkorghani,[5] after the ancient capital of the Sarikoli kingdom -- now the Tashkurgan (or Taxkorgan) Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang, China. However, the usage of the term Tashkorghani is not widespread among scholars.

The earliest written accounts in English are from the 1870s which generally use the name "Sarikoli" to refer to the language, but some written accounts since that time may use a different pronunciation derived from transcribing Chinese phonetics of the term into English as "Selekur(i)".[6] Modern Chinese researchers often mention Sarikoli and Tajik names in their papers.[7][2]

Distribution of speakers

The number of speakers is around 35,000; most reside in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in Southern Xinjiang Province, China. The Chinese name for the Sarikoli language, as well as the usage of Sarikol as a toponym, is Sàléikuòlèyǔ (萨雷阔勒语). Speakers in China typically use Chinese and Uyghur to communicate with people of other ethnic groups in the area. The rest are found in the Pakistani-controlled sector of Kashmir, closely touching the Pakistan-Chinese international borders.

Writing system

The language has no official written form. Linguist Gao Erqiang, publishing in China, used IPA to transcribe the sounds of Sarikoli in his book and dictionary,[8] while Tatiana N. Pakhalina, publishing in Russia, used an alphabet similar to that of the Wakhi language in hers.[9][10] The majority of Sarikoli-speakers attend schools using Uyghur as the medium of instruction.

Latin alphabet variants

Gao Erqiang Sarikoli latin alphabet

In 1958, linguist Gao Erqiang studied Sarikoli in collaboration with Tajik linguists, using 37 symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet for the transcription of the language. In the 1996 Sarikoli–Han dictionary, Gao uses an alphabet of 26 letters and 8 digraphs based on Pinyin.

Sarikoli alphabet (Gao 1996)[11]
Uppercase A B C D DZ E F G GC GH H HY I J K KH L M
Lowercase a b c d dz e f g gc gh h hy i j k kh l m
Pronunciation a b x d d͡z e f ɡ ɣ ʁ χ h i d͡ʒ k q l m
Uppercase N O P Q R S SS T TS U Ü V W X Y Z ZY ZZ
Lowercase n o p q r s ss t ts u ü v w x y z zy zz
Pronunciation n o p t͡ʃ r s θ t t͡s u ɯ v w ʃ j z ʒ ð

Pakhalina Sarikoli latin alphabet

In the Sarikoli latin alphabet version by linguist Tatiana N. Pakhalina,[9] the sounds are represented by these letters:

Letter А аB bC cČ čD dδ δE eƐ εƏ əF fG gƔ ɣƔ̆ ɣ̆I iƷ ʒJ̌ ǰK k L lМ мN nO oP pQ qR rS s
IPA [a][b][t͡s][t͡ʃ][d][ð][e][ɛ][ə][f][g][ʁ][ɣ][i][d͡z][ɖ͡ʐ][k][l][m][n][o][p][q][r][s]
Letter Š šT tϑ ϑU uŮ ůV vW wХ хХ̌ х̌У уZ zŽ žЫ ы
IPA [ʃ][t][θ][u][uː][v][w][χ][x][j][z][dʑ][ɯ]

Uyghur alphabet

In recent years, Sarikoli speakers in China have used Uyghur Arabic alphabet to spell out their language.[2]

Sarikoli Uyghur Arabic Alphabet
No. Letter IPA No. Letter IPA
1 ئا /ɑ/ 19 غ /ʁ/, /ɣ/
2 ئە /ɛ/ 20 ف /f/
3 ب /b/ 21 ق /q/
4 پ /p/ 22 ك /k/, /c/
5 ت /t/ 23 گ /ɡ/, /ɟ/
6 ث /θ/ 24 ڭ /ŋ/
7 ج // 25 ل /l/
8 چ // 26 م /m/
9 څ /t͡s/ 27 ن /n/
10 خ /χ/, /x/ 28 ھ /h/
11 ځ /d͡z/ 29 ئو /o/
12 د /d/ 30 ئۇ /u/
13 ذ /ð/ 31 ئۆ /ø/
14 ر /r/ 32 ئۈ /y/
15 ز /z/ 33 ۋ /v/~/w/
16 ژ /ʑ/ 34 ئې /e/
17 س /s/ 35 ئى /i/
18 ش /ɕ/ 36 ي /j/

Phonology

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i i ɯ ы u u
Near-high ʊ ů
High-mid e e ə ə o o
Low-mid ɛ ɛ (ɔ) o
Low a a
  • /o/ may also be heard as [ɔ, ʌ].

Sarikoli vowels as used in Russian works (IPA values in brackets):

a [a], e [e], ɛy [ɛi̯] (dialectal æy or ay [æi̯ / ai̯]), ɛw [ɛu̯] (dialectal æw or aw [æu̯ /au̯]), ə [ə], i [i], o [o / ɔ], u [u], ы [ɯ] (dialectal ů [ʊ]). In some dialects also long variants of those vowels can appear: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ы̄, ǝ̄. (citation?)

Consonants

Sarikoli has 30 consonants:[12]

Sarikoli consonants according to Russian Iranologist transcription (IPA values in slashes): p /p/, b /b/, t /t/, d /d/, k /k ~ c/, g ~ ɟ/, q /q/, c /ts/, ʒ /dz/, č /tɕ/, ǰ /dʑ/, s /s/, z /z/, /x/, γ̌ /ɣ/, f /f/, v /v/, θ /θ/, δ /ð/, x /χ/, γ /ʁ/, š /ɕ/, ž /ʑ/, h /h/, w /w/, y /j/, m /m/, n /n, ŋ/, l /l/, r /r/

Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m m n n (ŋ) n
Plosive voiceless p p t t k ~ c k q q
voiced b b d d ɡ ~ ɟ g
Affricate voiceless ts c č
voiced dz ʒ ǰ
Fricative voiceless f f θ θ s s ɕ š x χ x h h
voiced v v ð δ z z ʑ ž ɣ γ̌ ʁ γ
Approximant w w l l j y
Rhotic r r

Stress

Most words receive stress on the last syllable; however, a minority receive stress on their first syllable. Also, several noun declensions and verb inflections regularly place stress on their first syllable, including the imperative and interrogative.[4]

Vocabulary

Although to a large extent the Sarikoli lexicon is quite close to those of other Eastern Iranian languages, there are a large number are words unique to Sarikoli and the closely related Shughni that are not found in other Eastern Iranian languages like Wakhi, Pashto or Avestan.

Lexical comparison of eight Iranian languages together with an English translation[4]
English gloss Persian Tajik Wakhi Pashto Shughni Sarikoli Ossetic Avestan
onejæk (یک)jak (‍як)jijaw (يو)jiwiw iw (иу)aēuua-
meatɡuʃt (گوشت)ɡuʃt (гушт)ɡuʂtɣwaxa, ɣwaʂa (غوښه)ɡuːxtɡɯxt zizä (дзидза) gao- (N. gāuš)
sonpesær (پسر)pisar (писар)putrzoi (زوی)putspɯts fɪ̈rt (фырт)puθra-
fireɒteʃ (آتش)otaʃ (оташ)rɯχniɡor (اور)joːtsjuts ärt (арт)ātar-
waterɒb (اب)ob (об)jupkobə (اوبه)xatsxats don (дон)ap-
handdæst (دست)dast (даѕт)ðastlɑs (لاس)ðustðɯst kʼuχ (къух) zasta-
foot (پا)po (по)pɯðpxa, pʂa (پښه)poːðpeð fäd (фад) paδa-, pāδa-
toothdændɒn (دندان)dandon (дандон)ðɯnðɯkɣɑx, ɣɑʂ (غاښ)ðinðʉnðanðun dəndäg (дӕндаг)daṇtān-
eyetʃæʃm (چشم)tʃaʃm (чашм)tʂəʐmstərɡa (سترګه)tsemtsem səʃt (цæст)dōiθra-; caṣ̌man-
horseæsb (اسب)asp (асп)jaʃɑs (آس)voːrdʒvurdʒ bəχ (бӕх)aspa-
cloudæbr (ابر)abr (абр)mururjadz (اوريځ)abrivarm əvräʁ (æврагъ) / miʁ (мигъ)abda-; aβra-, aβrā-; maēγa-
wheatɡændom (گندم)ɡandum (гандум)ɣɯdimɣanam (غنم)ʒindamʒandam mənəw (мæнæу)gaṇtuma-
manybesjɒr (بسيار)bisjor (бисёр)təqiɖer, pura (ډېر، پوره)bisjoːrpɯr fyr (фыр)paoiri-
highbolænd (بلند)baland (баланд)bɯlandlwaɻ (لوړ)bilandbɯland bərʒond (бӕрзoнд) bərəzaṇt-
fardur (دور)dur (дур)ðirləre (لرې)ðarðar därd (дард) dūra-
goodχub (خوب)χub (хуб)bafxə, ʂə (ښه)χubtʃardʒ χorʒ (хорз)vaŋha-
smallkutʃik (کوچک))χurd (хурд)dzəqlailəɡ, ləʐ (لږ)dzuldzɯl gɪ̈ssɪ̈ɫ (гыццыл) kasu-
to sayɡoft (گفت)ɡuft (гуфт)xənakwajəl (ويل)lʉvdlevd zurɪ̈n (дзурын) vac-; aoj-; mrū-; saŋh-
to dokærd (کرد)kard (кард)tsərakkawəl (کول)tʃiːdtʃeiɡ kənɪ̈n (кæнын) kar-
to seedid (ديد)did (дид)wiŋɡwinəm (وينم)wiːntwand wɪ̈nɪ̈n (уынын)dī-, viŋ-

References

  1. Sarikoli at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 3 Yang, Yi-fang 杨亦凡; Abdurahman Tursun 阿不都热合曼·吐尔逊 Aray Zangbek 阿来·藏别克 Qian, Wei-liang 钱伟量 (2017). "Jīyú "Yīdài Yīlù" zhànlüè shìjiǎo de Zhōngguó Tǎjíkè yǔyán wénzì bǎohù yǔ chuánchéng wèntí fēnxī" 基于"一带一路"战略视角的中国塔吉克语言文字保护与传承问题分析 [Research of Protection and Inheritance of Sarikoli Tajik Language and Characters]. Jiāmùsī zhíyè xuéyuàn xuébào / Journal of Juamjusi Education Institute (in Chinese). 2017 (4): 263–265. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1000-9795.2017.04.176. 近代以来,我国塔吉克族使用阿拉伯维吾尔文拼写高山塔吉克语
  3. A wide variety of varied transcriptions of the name "Sarikoli" are used in linguistic discussions, such as 萨里库尔语, Sàlǐkùěryǔ, 萨雷阔勒语, Sàléikuòlèyǔ, 色勒库尔语, Sèlèkùěryǔ or 撒里科里语, Sǎlǐkēlǐyǔ.
  4. 1 2 3 Gao, Erqiang (1985). Tǎjíkèyǔ jiǎnzhì 塔吉克语简志 [Outline of the Tajik language] (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
  5. Rudelson, Justin Jon (2005). Lonely Planet Central Asia Phrasebook: Languages of the Silk Road. Footscray: Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 1-74104-604-1.
  6. Shaw, Robert (1876). "On the Ghalchah Languages (Wakhí and Sariḳolí)". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 45 (2): 139–278 via biodiversitylibrary.org.
  7. Xiren Kurban & Zhuang (2008)
  8. Gao, Erqiang (高尔锵) (1996). 塔吉克汉词典 [Tajik-Chinese Dictionary] (in Simplified Chinese). Chengdu: Sichuan Nationalities Publishing House (四川民族出版社). ISBN 978-7-5409-1744-9.
  9. 1 2 Pakhalina, Tatiana N. (Татьяна Н. Пахалина) (1966). Sarykol'skij Jazyk Сарыкольский язык [The Sarikoli Language] (in Russian). Moskva: Akademia Nauk SSSR.
  10. Pakhalina, Tatiana N. (Татьяна Н. Пахалина) (1971). Sarykol'sko-russkij slovar' Сарыкольско-русский словарь [Sarikoli–Russian Dictionary] (in Russian). Moskva: Akademia Nauk SSSR.
  11. Gao 1996.
  12. Kim, Deborah (2017). Topics in the syntax of Sarikoli. Leiden University.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.