| Kashmiri | |
| States: | India and Pakistan |
| Region: | Kashmir (Kashmir division and parts of Chenab valley, Jammu and Kashmir, parts of northern Azad Kashmir) |
| Ethnicity: | Kashmiris |
| Speakers: | million |
| Date: | 2011 |
| Ref: | e26 |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Indo-Iranian |
| Fam3: | Indo-Aryan |
| Fam4: | Dardic |
| Fam5: | Eastern Dardic |
| Fam6: | Kashmiric |
| Dia1: | Kishtwari, Poguli[1] [2] |
| Script: | Official: Perso-Arabic script (contemporary)[3] Others: Devanagari (informally used by some sections within the Kashmiri Pandit community after 1990),[4] [5] [6] Sharada script (ancient/liturgical) |
| Nation: |  India
|
| Iso1: | ks |
| Iso2: | kas |
| Iso3: | kas |
| Glotto: | kash1277 |
| Glottorefname: | Kashmiri |
| Notice: | IPA |
Kashmiri [9] or Koshur[10] (Kashmiri:,, pronounced as /ks/) is a Dardic Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris of the Kashmir region,[11] primarily in the Kashmir Valley of the Indian-administrated union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, over half the population of that territory.[12] Kashmiri has split ergativity and the unusual verb-second word order.
Since 2020, It has been made an official language of Jammu and Kashmir along with Dogri, Hindi, Urdu and English.[13] Kashmiri is also among the 22 scheduled languages of India.
Kashmiri is spoken by roughly five percent of Pakistani-administrated Azad Kashmir's population.[14]
There are about 6.8 million speakers of Kashmiri and related dialects in Jammu and Kashmir and amongst the Kashmiri diaspora in other states of India.[15] Most Kashmiri speakers are located in the Kashmir Valley and other areas of Jammu and Kashmir.[16] In the Kashmir valley, they form a majority.
Kashmiri is spoken by roughly five percent of Azad Kashmir's population.[14] According to the 1998 Pakistan Census, there were 132,450 Kashmiri speakers in Azad Kashmir.[17] Native speakers of the language were dispersed in "pockets" throughout Azad Kashmir,[18] [19] particularly in the districts of Muzaffarabad (15%), Neelam (20%) and Hattian (15%), with very small minorities in Haveli (5%) and Bagh (2%). The Kashmiri spoken in Muzaffarabad is distinct from, although still intelligible with, the Kashmiri of the Neelam Valley to the north. In Neelam Valley, Kashmiri is the second most widely spoken language and the majority language in at least a dozen or so villages, where in about half of these, it is the sole mother tongue. The Kashmiri dialect of Neelum is closer to the variety spoken in northern Kashmir Valley, particularly Kupwara. At the 2017 Census of Pakistan, as many as 350,000 people declared their first language to be Kashmiri.[20] [21]
A process of language shift is observable among Kashmiri-speakers in Azad Kashmir according to linguist Tariq Rahman, as they gradually adopt local dialects such as Pahari-Pothwari, Hindko or move towards the lingua franca Urdu.[22] [23] This has resulted in these languages gaining ground at the expense of Kashmiri.[24] [25] There have been calls for the promotion of Kashmiri at an official level; in 1983, a Kashmiri Language Committee was set up by the government to patronise Kashmiri and impart it in school-level education. However, the limited attempts at introducing the language have not been successful, and it is Urdu, rather than Kashmiri, that Kashmiri Muslims of Azad Kashmir have seen as their identity symbol.[26] Rahman notes that efforts to organise a Kashmiri language movement have been challenged by the scattered nature of the Kashmiri-speaking community in Azad Kashmir.
The Kashmiri language is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.[27] It was a part of the eighth Schedule in the former constitution of the Jammu and Kashmir. Along with other regional languages mentioned in the Sixth Schedule, as well as Hindi and Urdu, the Kashmiri language was to be developed in the state.[28] After Hindi, Kashmiri is the second fastest growing language of India, followed by Meitei (Manipuri) as well as Gujarati in the third place, and Bengali in the fourth place, according to the 2011 census of India.[29]
Persian began to be used as the court language in Kashmir during the 14th centuries, under the influence of Islam. It was replaced by Urdu in 1889 during the Dogra rule.[30] [31] In 2020, Kashmiri became an official language in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the first time.[32] [33] [34]
Poguli and Kishtwari are closely related to Kashmiri, which are spoken in the mountains to the south of the Kashmir Valley and have sometimes been counted as dialects of Kashmiri.
The people in the Chenab region of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir mainly speak Kashmiri, but the accent and various words differentiate it from the Kashmiri spoken in the Kashmir Valley. The Chenab Times, a news outlet known for promoting lesser-known languages, has termed this language as Chenabich Kashir, meaning the Kashmiri language spoken in Chenab Valley.[35]
Kashmiri has the following phonemes.[36]
The oral vowels are as follows:
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | |
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | |
| Low | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ |
The short high vowels are near-high, and the low vowels apart from pronounced as //aː// are near-low.
Nasalization is phonemic. All sixteen oral vowels have nasal counterparts.
| Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Post-alv./ Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||
| Stop/ Affricate | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| Trill | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
Palatalization is phonemic. All consonants apart from those in the post-alveolar/palatal column have palatalized counterparts.
Kashmiri, as also the other Dardic languages, shows important divergences from the Indo-Aryan mainstream. One is the partial maintenance of the three sibilant consonants s ṣ ś of the Old Indo-Aryan period. For another example, the prefixing form of the number 'two', which is found in Sanskrit as dvi-, has developed into ba-/bi- in most other Indo-Aryan languages, but du- in Kashmiri (preserving the original dental stop d). Seventy-two is dusatath in Kashmiri, bahattar in Hindi-Urdu and Punjabi, and dvisaptati in Sanskrit.
Certain features in Kashmiri even appear to stem from Indo-Aryan even predating the Vedic period. For instance, there was an /s/ > /h/ consonant shift in some words that had already occurred with Vedic Sanskrit (This tendency was complete in the Iranian branch of Indo-Iranian), yet is lacking in Kashmiri equivalents. The word rahit in Vedic Sanskrit and modern Hindi-Urdu (meaning 'excluding' or 'without') corresponds to rost in Kashmiri. Similarly, sahit (meaning 'including' or 'with') corresponds to sost in Kashmiri.
There are three orthographical systems used to write the Kashmiri language: the Perso-Arabic script, the Devanagari script and the Sharada script. The Roman script is also sometimes informally used to write Kashmiri, especially online.[3]
Today Kashmiri is primarily written in Perso-Arabic (with some modifications).[37] Among languages written in the Perso-Arabic script, Kashmiri is one of the scripts that regularly indicates all vowel sounds.[38]
The Kashmiri Perso-Arabic script is recognized as the official script of Kashmiri language by the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.[39] [40] [41] [42] The Kashmiri Perso-Arabic script has been derived from Persian alphabet. The consonant inventory and their corresponding pronunciations of Kashmiri Perso-Arabic script doesn't differ from Perso-Arabic script, with the exception of the letter ژ, which is pronounced as pronounced as /link/ instead of pronounced as /link/. However, the vowel inventory of Kashmiri is significantly larger than other Perso-Arabic derived or influenced South Asian Perso-Arabic scripts. There are 17 vowels in Kashmiri, shown with diacritics, letters (alif, waw, ye), or both. In Kashmiri, the convention is that most vowel diacritics are written at all times.
Despite Kashmiri Perso-Arabic script cutting across religious boundaries and being used by both the Kashmiri Hindus and the Kashmiri Muslims,[43] some attempts have been made to give a religious outlook regarding the script and make Kashmiri Perso-Arabic script to be associated with Kashmiri Muslims, while the Kashmiri Devanagari script to be associated with some sections of Kashmiri Hindu community.[44] [45] [46]
The Kashmiri language was traditionally written in the Sharada script after the 8th Century A.D.[47] The script grew increasingly unsuitable for writing Kashmiri because it couldn't adequately represent Kashmiri peculiar sounds by the usage of its vowel signs.[48] Therefore, it is not in common use today and is restricted to religious ceremonies of the Kashmiri Pandits.[49]
| Name | Forms | IPA | Transliteration[50] | Example[51] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kashmiri | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial | Kashmiri Word | IPA | Meaning | ||||
| ạlif | pronounced as / /∅/, silent/ | – | afsānü | pronounced as / /afsaːnɨ// | Short Story | ||||||
| bē | pronounced as / /b/ / | b | bikhạ̄r' | pronounced as / /bikʰəːrʲ// | Beggar | ||||||
| pē | pronounced as / /p/ / | p | pampōsh | pronounced as / /pampoːʃ// | Lotus flower | ||||||
| pha | pronounced as / /pʰ/ / | ph | phal | pronounced as / /pʰal// | Fruit | ||||||
| tē | pronounced as / /t̪/ / | t | tajvīz | pronounced as / /t̪ad͡ʒwiːz// | Proposal | ||||||
| tha | pronounced as / /t̪ʰ/ / | th | thạ̄l' | pronounced as / /t̪ʰəːlʲ// | Plate | ||||||
| ṭē | pronounced as / /ʈ/ / | ṭ | ṭūp' | pronounced as / /ʈuːpʲ// | Cap | ||||||
| ṭha | pronounced as / /ʈʰ/ / | ṭh | ṭhūl | pronounced as / /ʈʰuːl// | Egg | ||||||
| sē | pronounced as / /s/ / | s | sobūth | pronounced as / /sobuːt̪ʰ// | Proof | ||||||
| jīm | pronounced as / /d͡ʒ/ / | j | jāy | pronounced as / /d͡ʒaːj// | Place | ||||||
| chīm | pronounced as / /t͡ʃ/ / | ch, č | chạ̄n̂d' | pronounced as / /t͡ʃə̃ːd̪ʲ// | Silver | ||||||
| chha | pronounced as / /t͡ʃʰ/ / | chh, čh | chhān | pronounced as / /t͡ʃʰaːn// | Carpenter | ||||||
| hay | pronounced as / /h/ / | h | ḥājath | pronounced as / /haːd͡ʒat̪ʰ// | Need | ||||||
| khay | pronounced as / /x/ /~pronounced as / /kʰ/ / | kh | khatarnākh | pronounced as / /xatarnaːkʰ// | Dangerous | ||||||
| dāl | pronounced as / /d̪/ / | d | dukān | pronounced as / /d̪ukaːn// | Shop | ||||||
| ḍāl | pronounced as / /ɖ/ / | ḍ | ḍọḍ | pronounced as / /ɖɔɖ// | One and a half | ||||||
| zāl | pronounced as / /z/ / | z | zehan | pronounced as / /zehan// | Mind | ||||||
rē | pronounced as / /r// | r | rükh khrọkh | pronounced as / /rɨkʰ// pronounced as / /kʰrɔkʰ// | Line Snore | ||||||
| ṛē | pronounced as / /ɽ/ / | ṛ | lạṛkü | pronounced as / /ləɽkɨ// | Boy | ||||||
| zē | pronounced as / /z/ / | z | zāman | pronounced as / /zaːman// | Yawn | ||||||
| tsē | pronounced as / /t͡s/ / | ts | tsạr | pronounced as / /t͡sər// | House sparrow | ||||||
| tsha | pronounced as / /t͡sʰ/ / | tsh | tshāy | pronounced as / /t͡sʰaːj// | Shadow | ||||||
| sīn | pronounced as / /s/ / | s | sangur | pronounced as / /sãɡur// | Mountain | ||||||
| shīn | pronounced as / /ʃ/ / | sh, š | shod | pronounced as / /ʃod̪// | Pure, Genuine | ||||||
| sọ̄d | pronounced as / /s/ / | s | sadqü | pronounced as / /sad̪qɨ// | Charity | ||||||
| zọ̄d | pronounced as / /z/ / | z | ẓạ̄mīn | pronounced as / /zəːmiːn// | Responsible, Guarantor | ||||||
| tọy | pronounced as / /t̪/ / | t | tōtü | pronounced as / /t̪oːt̪ɨ// | Parrot | ||||||
| zọy | pronounced as / /z/ / | z | zạ̄lim | pronounced as / /zəːlim// | Cruel | ||||||
| ạ̄n | pronounced as //∅/, silent / | – | U+0639 | aqül | pronounced as / /aqɨl// | Wisdom | |||||
| gạ̄n | pronounced as / /ɣ/~/ɡ/ / | g, ğ | gọsü | pronounced as / /ɣɔsɨ// | Anger | ||||||
| fē | pronounced as / /f/~/pʰ/ / | f | firin' | pronounced as / /firinʲ// | Sweet pudding | ||||||
| qāf | pronounced as / /q/~/k/ / | q | qāshwü | pronounced as / /qaːʃwɨ// | Spoon | ||||||
| kīf | pronounced as / /k/ / | k | kọkur | pronounced as / /kɔkur// | Chicken | ||||||
| kha | pronounced as / /kʰ/ / | kh | khọr | pronounced as / /kʰɔr// | Foot | ||||||
| gāf | pronounced as / /ɡ/ / | g | gāsh | pronounced as / /ɡaːʃ// | Light | ||||||
| lām | pronounced as / /l/ / | l | U+0644 | lọkchār | pronounced as / /lɔkt͡ʃaːr// | Childhood | |||||
| mim | pronounced as / /m/ / | m | marüg | pronounced as / /marɨɡ// | Meadow | ||||||
| nūn | pronounced as / /n/, /◌̃// | n | nab | pronounced as / /nab// | Sky | ||||||
| nūn gọna | pronounced as / /◌̃// | ñ | U+06BA | dāñ zạmīn | pronounced as / /d̪ãː zəmiːn// | Paddy field | |||||
| wāw | pronounced as / /w// | v, w | van | pronounced as / /wan// | Forest | ||||||
| hē | pronounced as / /h// | h | U+06C1 | họpü wạhmü pagāh | pronounced as / /hɔpɨ// pronounced as / /wəhmɨ// pronounced as / /paɡaːh// | Chubby Fear, Anxiety Tomorrow | |||||
| yē | pronounced as / /j// | y | yāl pyālü | pronounced as / /jaːl// pronounced as / /pʲaːlɨ// | Hair of horse Cup | ||||||
| Lọkuṭ yē | |||||||||||
| boḍ yē | pronounced as / /j/ / | y | U+06D2 | ḍāy | pronounced as / /ɖaːj// | Two and a half | |||||
| tālür | pronounced as / /◌ʲ/ / | ', ⁱ | sǖt' | pronounced as / /sɨːt̪ʲ// | With | ||||||
| Name | Final vowel glyph (Vowel and letters bē and rē) | Medial vowel glyph (Vowel and letters bē and rē) | Initial vowel glyph | IPA | Transliteration[52] | Unicode | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kashmiri | Kashmiri Word | IPA | Meaning | ||||||
| zabar | pronounced as /[a]/ | a | apuz palav | pronounced as / /apuz// pronounced as / /palaw// | Lie Garments, Clothes | ||||
| mad | pronounced as /[aː]/ | ā | āb pān | pronounced as / /aːb// pronounced as / /paːn// | Lie Body | ||||
| amālü | pronounced as /[ə]/ | ạ, ö, ȧ | U+0623 U+0654 | ạchh gạr | pronounced as / /ət͡ʃʰ// pronounced as / /ɡər// | Eye Clock, Watch | |||
| amālü mad | pronounced as /[əː]/ | ạ̄, ȫ, ä | U+0672 | ạ̄s dạ̄n | pronounced as / /əːs// pronounced as / /d̪əːn// | Mouth Pomegranate | |||
| zēr | pronounced as /[i]/ | i, í | U+0650 | insān sir | pronounced as / /insaːn// pronounced as / /sir// | Human Being Secret | |||
| kashi zēr | pronounced as /[iː]/ | ī | Initial and Medial: U+06CC and U+0656 Final: U+06CC | īmān sīr wardī | pronounced as / /iːmaːn// pronounced as / /siːr// pronounced as / /ward̪iː// | Faith Brick Uniform | |||
| sāyi | pronounced as /[ɨ]/ | ü, ụ, u', ι | Initial: U+0625 Medial and Final: U+0655 | bü kạdül | pronounced as / /bɨ// pronounced as / /kəd̪ɨl// | I Bridge | |||
| sāyi mad | pronounced as /[ɨː]/ | ǖ, ụ̄, ū' | Initial: U+0673 Medial and Final: U+065F | tǖr khǖmü | pronounced as / /t̪ɨːr// pronounced as / /xɨːmɨ// | Cold Tent | |||
| pēsh | pronounced as /[u]/ | u | U+064F | puj | pronounced as / /pud͡ʒ// | Butcher | |||
| kashi wāwuk | pronounced as /[uː]/ | ū | U+0648 and U+0657 | pūt | pronounced as / /puːt̪// | Chick | |||
| nīmü wāwuk | pronounced as /[o]/ | o, ó | U+06C6 | dob | pronounced as / /d̪ob// | Washerman | |||
| wāwuk | pronounced as /[oː]/ | ō | U+0648 | mōr | pronounced as / /moːr// | Peacock | |||
| lạṭ' wāwuk | pronounced as /[ɔ]/ | ọ, ŏ | U+06C4 | gọlāb | pronounced as / /ɡɔlaːb// | Rose | |||
| lạṭ' wāwuk mad | pronounced as /[ɔː]/ | ọ̄, ŏa | sọ̄d | pronounced as / /sɔːd̪// | One and a quarter | ||||
| nīmü yāyuk | pronounced as /[e]/ | e, ë | Initial and Medial: U+06CC and U+065A Final: U+06D2 and U+065A | beni me | pronounced as / /beni// pronounced as / /me// | Sister Me, I | |||
| yāyuk | pronounced as /[eː]/ | ē | Initial and Medial: U+06CC Final: U+06D2 | rēsh | pronounced as / /reːʃ// | Beard | |||
| gōl yāyuk | - | pronounced as /[ʲa]/ | ĕ, ya | Initial and Medial: U+0620 | mĕqrāz | pronounced as / /mʲaqraːz// | Scissors | ||
| Letter | क | ख | ग | च | छ | ज | च़ | छ़ | ज़ | ट | ठ | ड | त | थ | द | न | प | फ | ब | म | य | र | ल | व | श | स | ह | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | pronounced as /[k]/ | pronounced as /[kʰ]/ | pronounced as /[g]/ | pronounced as /[t͡ʃ]/ | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰ]/ | pronounced as /[d͡ʒ]/ | pronounced as /[t͡s]/ | pronounced as /[t͡sʰ]/ | pronounced as /[z]/ | pronounced as /[ʈ]/ | pronounced as /[ʈʰ]/ | pronounced as /[ɖ]/ | pronounced as /[t]/ | pronounced as /[tʰ]/ | pronounced as /[d]/ | pronounced as /[n]/ | pronounced as /[p]/ | pronounced as /[pʰ]/ | pronounced as /[b]/ | pronounced as /[m]/ | pronounced as /[j]/ | pronounced as /[r]/ | pronounced as /[l]/ | pronounced as /[w]/ | pronounced as /[ʃ]/ | pronounced as /[s]/ | pronounced as /[h]/ | |
| Transliteration | k | kh | g | ch | chh | j | ts | tsh | z | ṭ | ṭh | ḍ | t | th | d | n | p | ph | b | m | y | r | l | w | sh | s | h |
There have been a few versions of the Devanagari script for Kashmiri.[53] The 2002 version of the proposal is shown below.[54] This version has readers and more content available on the Internet, even though this is an older proposal.[55] [56] This version makes use of the vowels ॲ/ऑ and vowel signsकॅ/कॉ for the schwa-like vowel pronounced as /[ə]/ and elongated schwa-like vowel pronounced as /[əː]/ that also exist in other Devanagari-based scripts such as Marathi and Hindi but are used for the sound of other vowels.
| Letter | ॲ | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | pronounced as /[a]/ | pronounced as /[aː]/ | pronounced as /[ə]/ | pronounced as /[əː]/ | pronounced as /[i]/ | pronounced as /[iː]/ | pronounced as /[ɨ]/ | pronounced as /[ɨː]/ | pronounced as /[u]/ | pronounced as /[uː]/ | pronounced as /[e]/ | pronounced as /[eː]/ | [əi] | pronounced as /[o]/ | pronounced as /[oː]/ | [ɔː] | pronounced as /[ɔ]/ | pronounced as /[◌̃]/ | |
| Transliteration | a | ā | ạ | ạ̄ | i | ī | ü | ǖ | u | ū | e | ē | ai | o | ō | ọ̄ | ọ | ̃ | |
| Vowel mark indicated on consonant k | or |
Tabulated below is the latest (2009) version of the proposal to spell the Kashmiri vowels with Devanagari.[57] [58] The primary change in this version is the changed stand alone characters ॳ / ॴ and vowel signs ks-Deva | कऺ / ks-Deva | कऻ for the schwa-like vowel pronounced as /[ə]/ & elongated schwa-like vowel pronounced as /[əː]/ and a new stand alone vowel and vowel sign ks-Deva | कॏ for the open-mid back rounded vowel pronounced as /[ɔ]/ which can be used instead of the consonant व standing-in for this vowel.
| Letter | ॳ | ॴ | ॶ | ॷ | ऎ | ऒ | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | pronounced as /[a]/ | pronounced as /[aː]/ | pronounced as /[ə]/ | pronounced as /[əː]/ | pronounced as /[i]/ | pronounced as /[iː]/ | pronounced as /[ɨ]/ | pronounced as /[ɨː]/ | pronounced as /[u]/ | pronounced as /[uː]/ | pronounced as /[e]/ | pronounced as /[eː]/ | pronounced as /[əi]/ | pronounced as /[o]/ | pronounced as /[oː]/ | pronounced as /[ɔː]/ | pronounced as /[ɔ]/ | pronounced as /[◌̃]/ | |
| Transliteration[59] | a | ā | ạ | ạ̄ | i | ī | ü | ǖ | u | ū | e | ē | ai | o | ō | ọ̄ | ọ | ̃ | |
| Vowel mark indicated on consonant k |
| kōv kạ | ka | pronounced as /[ka]/ | ||||
| khvani khạ | kha | pronounced as /[kʰa]/ | ||||
| gagar gạ | ga | pronounced as /[ɡa]/ | ||||
| gāsi ghạ | gha | pronounced as /[ɡʰa]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this consonant. | |||
| nārug ṅạ | ṅa | pronounced as /[ŋa]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this consonant. | |||
| tsāṭuv chạ | cha | pronounced as /[t͡ʃa]/ | ||||
| tshvaṭiñ chhạ | chha | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰa]/ | ||||
| zayi jạ | ja | pronounced as /[d͡ʒa]/ | ||||
| zashiñ jhạ | jha | pronounced as /[d͡ʒʰa]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this consonant. | |||
| khvana phuṭi ñạ | ña | pronounced as /[ɲa]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this consonant. | |||
| ar mām̐ṭa | ṭa | pronounced as /[ʈa]/ | ||||
| sar mām̐ṭha | ṭha | pronounced as /[ʈʰa]/ | ||||
| ḍuḍ ḍạ | ḍa | pronounced as /[ɖa]/ | ||||
| ḍaka ḍhạ | ḍha | pronounced as /[ɖʰa]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this consonant. | |||
| nānaguri ṇạ | ṇa | pronounced as /[ɳa]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this consonant. | |||
| tov tạ | ta | pronounced as /[ta]/ | ||||
| thāshi thạ | tha | pronounced as /[tʰa]/ | ||||
| dadav dạ | da | pronounced as /[da]/ | ||||
| dūñ dhạ | dha | pronounced as /[dʰa]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this consonant. | |||
| nastūv nạ | na | pronounced as /[na]/ | ||||
| paḍuri pạ | pa | pronounced as /[pa]/ | ||||
| phariñ phạ | pha | pronounced as /[pʰa]/ | ||||
| bub bạ | ba | pronounced as /[ba]/ | ||||
| bāyi bhạ | bha | pronounced as /[bʰa]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this consonant. | |||
| mōv mạ | ma | pronounced as /[ma]/ | ||||
| yāva yạ | ya | pronounced as /[ja]/ | ||||
| raka rạ | ra | pronounced as /[ra]/ | ||||
| lāva lạ | la | pronounced as /[la]/ | ||||
| boḍu ḍuḍ ḍạ | ḷa | pronounced as /[ɭa]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this consonant. | |||
| vashi vạ | va | pronounced as /[wa]/ | ||||
| shakar shạ | sha | pronounced as /[ʃa]/ | ||||
| phāri ṣạ | ṣa | pronounced as /[ʂa]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this consonant. | |||
| sus sạ | sa | pronounced as /[sa]/ | ||||
| hala hạ | ha | pronounced as /[ha]/ |
| Name | Transliteration | IPA | Isolated glyph | Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ādau a | a | pronounced as /[a]/ | ||||
| aitav ā | ā | pronounced as /[aː]/ | ||||
| yeyev yē | i | pronounced as /[i]/ | ||||
| yisherav yī | ī | pronounced as /[iː]/ | ||||
| vọpal vō | u | pronounced as /[u]/ | ||||
| vọpal bā ū | ū | pronounced as /[uː]/ | ||||
| r̥enav | r̥ | pronounced as /[r̩]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this vowel. | |||
| rakhav | r̥̄ | pronounced as /[r̩ː]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this vowel. | |||
| leyev | l̥ | pronounced as /[l̩]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this vowel. | |||
| līsav | l̥̄ | pronounced as /[l̩ː]/ | The Kashmiri Language does not possess this vowel. | |||
| talavya yē | ē | pronounced as /[eː]/ | ||||
| tolī ai | ai | pronounced as /[əi]/ | ||||
| vuṭhō ō | ō | pronounced as /[oː]/ | ||||
| ashidī au | au | pronounced as /[ɔː]/ | ||||
| aḍi tsandra phyor | am̐ | pronounced as /[◌̃]/ | ||||
| mas phyori aṃ | aṃ | pronounced as /[n], [m]/ | ||||
| dō phyori aḥ | aḥ | pronounced as /[h]/ | ||||
| Name | Transliteration | IPA | Isolated vowel mark | Vowel mark indicated on consonant pa | Distinct ways of indicating vowel marks on special consonants | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vahāy | -ā | pronounced as /[aː]/ | = = = = | ||||
| mūnthar | -i | pronounced as /[i]/ | |||||
| ar mūnthar | -ī | pronounced as /[iː]/ | |||||
| khuru | -u | pronounced as /[u]/ | = = = = = = = = = | ||||
| ar khūrū | -ū | pronounced as /[uː]/ | = = = = = = = = = | ||||
| r̥enav r̥a | -r̥ | pronounced as /[r̩]/ | = | ||||
| rakhav ru | -r̥̄ | pronounced as /[r̩ː]/ | = | ||||
| leyev l̥a | -l̥ | pronounced as /[l̩]/ | |||||
| līsav l̥̄a | -l̥̄ | pronounced as /[l̩ː]/ | |||||
| hvanḍū | -ē | pronounced as /[eː]/ | |||||
| hvanjōr | -ai | pronounced as /[əi]/ | |||||
| oku shyūr | -ō | pronounced as /[oː]/ | |||||
| okushi vahāy | -au | pronounced as /[ɔː]/ | |||||
| aḍi tsandra phyor | -am̐ | pronounced as /[◌̃]/ | |||||
| mas phyori aṃ | -aṃ | pronounced as /[n], [m]/ | |||||
| dō phyori aḥ | -aḥ | pronounced as /[h]/ | |||||
Kashmiri is a fusional language with verb-second (V2) word order.[62] Several of Kashmiri's grammatical features distinguish it from other Indo-Aryan languages.
Kashmiri nouns are inflected according to gender, number and case. There are no articles, nor is there any grammatical distinction for definiteness, although there is some optional adverbial marking for indefinite or "generic" noun qualities.
The Kashmiri gender system is divided into masculine and feminine. Feminine forms are typically generated by the addition of a suffix (or in most cases, a morphophonemic change, or both) to a masculine noun. A relatively small group of feminine nouns have unique suppletion forms that are totally different from the corresponding masculine forms. The following table illustrates the range of possible gender forms:
| Process | Masculine | Feminine | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -en’ suffix | pronounced as /[d̪ukaːnd̪aːr]/ | pronounced as /[d̪ukaːnd̪aːrenʲ]/ | shopkeeper | |
| -bāy suffix | pronounced as /[maːʃʈar]/ | pronounced as /[maːʃʈarbaːj]/ | teacher | |
| -in’ + vowel change | pronounced as /[xar]/ | pronounced as /[xərinʲ]/ | donkey | |
| -ür + vowel change | pronounced as /[pʰot̪]/ | pronounced as /[pʰɔt̪ɨr]/ | basket | |
| Adding of affix | pronounced as /[huːn]/ | pronounced as /[huːnʲ]/ | dog/bitch | |
| vowel change | pronounced as /[ɡaɡur]/ | pronounced as /[ɡaɡɨr]/ | rat | |
| consonant change | pronounced as /[hokʰ]/ | pronounced as /[hot͡ʃʰ]/ | dry | |
| vowel/consonant change | pronounced as /[t̪ot̪]/ | pronounced as /[t̪ət͡s]/ | hot | |
| suppletive form | pronounced as /[marɨd̪]/ | pronounced as /[zanaːn]/ | man/woman | |
| masculine only | pronounced as /[nuːl]/ | --- | mongoose | |
| feminine only | --- | pronounced as /[mət͡ʃʰ]/ | housefly |
Some nouns borrowed from other languages, such as Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, Urdu or English, follow a slightly different gender system. Notably, many words borrowed from Urdu have different genders in Kashmiri.
There are five cases in Kashmiri: nominative, dative, ergative, ablative and vocative. Case is expressed via suffixation of the noun.
Kashmiri utilizes an ergative-absolutive case structure when the verb is in simple past tense. Thus, in these sentences, the subject of a transitive verb is marked in the ergative case and the object in nominative, which is identical to how the subject of an intransitive verb is marked.[63] However, in sentences constructed in any other tense, or in past tense sentences with intransitive verbs, a nominative-dative paradigm is adopted, with objects (whether direct or indirect) generally marked in dative case.
Other case distinctions, such as locative, instrumental, genitive, comitative and allative, are marked by postpositions rather than suffixation.
The following table illustrates Kashmiri noun declension according to gender, number and case.
| Masculine | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| Nom. | -Ø | -Ø | -Ø | -Ø | |
| Erg. | -pronounced as /[an]/ | -pronounced as /[aw]/ | -pronounced as /[i]/ | -pronounced as /[aw]/ | |
| Dat. | -pronounced as /[as]/ or -pronounced as /[is]/ or | -pronounced as /[an]/ | -pronounced as /[i]/ | -pronounced as /[an]/ | |
| Abl. | -pronounced as /[i]/ or -pronounced as /[ɨ]/ or | -pronounced as /[aw]/ | -pronounced as /[i]/ | -pronounced as /[aw]/ | |
| Voc. | -pronounced as /[aː]/ | -pronounced as /[aw]/ | -pronounced as /[ij]/ | -pronounced as /[aw]/ | |
Kashmiri verbs are declined according to tense and person, and to a lesser extent, gender. Tense, along with certain distinctions of aspect, is formed by the addition of suffixes to the verb stem (minus the infinitive ending - /un/), and in many cases by the addition of various modal auxiliaries. Postpositions fulfill numerous adverbial and semantic roles.
Present tense in Kashmiri is an auxiliary construction formed by a combination of the copula and the imperfective suffix -/aːn/ added to the verb stem. The various copula forms agree with their subject according to gender and number, and are provided below with the verb /jun/ (to come):
| 1st Person Sing. | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰus jiwaːn]/ | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰas jiwaːn]/ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd Person Sing. | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰukʰ jiwaːn]/ | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰakʰ jiwaːn]/ | |
| 3rd Person Sing. | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰu jiwaːn]/ | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰe jiwaːn]/ | |
| 1st Person Pl. | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰi jiwaːn]/ | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰa jiwaːn]/ | |
| 2nd Person Pl. | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰiw jiwaːn]/ | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰaw jiwaːn]/ | |
| 3rd Person Pl. | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰi jiwaːn]/ | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰe jiwaːn]/ |
Past tense in Kashmiri is significantly more complex than the other tenses, and is subdivided into three past tense distinctions. The simple (sometimes called proximate) past refers to completed past actions. Remote past refers to actions that lack this in-built perfective aspect. Indefinite past refers to actions performed a long time ago, and is often used in historical narrative or storytelling contexts.
As described above, Kashmiri is a split-ergative language; in all three of these past tense forms, the subjects of transitive verbs are marked in the ergative case and direct objects in the nominative. Intransitive subjects are marked in the nominative. Nominative arguments, whether subjects or objects, dictate gender, number and person marking on the verb.[64]
Verbs of the simple past tense are formed via the addition of a suffix to the verb stem, which usually undergoes certain uniform morphophonemic changes. First and third person verbs of this type do not take suffixes and agree with the nominative object in gender and number, but there are second person verb endings. The entire simple past tense paradigm of transitive verbs is illustrated below using the verb /parun/ ("to read"):
| Masculine | Feminine | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | |||
| 1st Person | pronounced as /[por]/ | pronounced as /[pərʲ]/ | pronounced as /[pər]/ | pronounced as /[pari]/ | ||
| 2nd Person | Non-honorific | pronounced as /[porut̪ʰ]/ | pronounced as /[pərit̪ʰ]/ | pronounced as /[pərɨt̪ʰ]/ | pronounced as /[parʲat̪ʰ]/ | |
| Honorific | pronounced as /[porwɨ]/ | pronounced as /[pəriwɨ]/ | pronounced as /[pərwɨ]/ | pronounced as /[pariwɨ]/ | ||
| 3rd Person | pronounced as /[por]/ | pronounced as /[pərʲ]/ | pronounced as /[pər]/ | pronounced as /[pari]/ | ||
A group of irregular intransitive verbs (special intransitives), take a different set of endings in addition to the morphophonemic changes that affect most past tense verbs.
| Masculine | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| 1st Person | -pronounced as /[us]/ | -pronounced as /[ʲ]/ | -pronounced as /[as]/ | -pronounced as /[i]/ | |
| 2nd Person | -pronounced as /[kʰ]/ | -pronounced as /[wɨ]/ | -pronounced as /[kʰ]/ | -pronounced as /[wɨ]/ | |
| 3rd Person | -Ø | -Ø | -pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰ]/ | -pronounced as /[i]/ | |
Intransitive verbs in the simple past are conjugated the same as intransitives in the indefinite past tense form.
| Masculine | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| 1st Person | -pronounced as /[jas]/ | -pronounced as /[jeːji]/ | -pronounced as /[jeːjas]/ | -pronounced as /[jeːji]/ | |
| 2nd Person | -pronounced as /[jaːkʰ]/ | -pronounced as /[jeːjiwɨ]/ | -pronounced as /[jeːjakʰ]/ | -pronounced as /[jeːjiwɨ]/ | |
| 3rd Person | -pronounced as /[joːw]/ | -pronounced as /[jeːji]/ | -pronounced as /[jeːji]/ | -pronounced as /[jeːji]/ | |
In contrast to the simple past, verb stems are unchanged in the indefinite and remote past, although the addition of the tense suffixes does cause some morphophonetic change. Transitive verbs are declined according to the following paradigm:
| Masculine | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| 1st/3rd Person | -pronounced as /[joːw]/ | -pronounced as /[eːji]/ | -pronounced as /[eːji]/ | -pronounced as /[eːji]/ | |
| 2nd Person | -pronounced as /[joːt̪ʰ]/ | -pronounced as /[eːjat̪ʰ]/ | -pronounced as /[eːjat̪ʰ]/ | -pronounced as /[eːjat̪ʰ]/ | |
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| singular | plural | singular | plural | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st/3rd Person | -pronounced as /[eːjoːw]/ | -pronounced as /[eːjaːji]/ | -pronounced as /[eːjaːji]/ | -pronounced as /[eːjaːji]/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd Person | -pronounced as /[eːjoːt̪ʰ]/ | -pronounced as /[eːjeːjat̪ʰ]}} | -pronounced as /[eːjeːjat̪ʰ]/ | -pronounced as /[eːjeːjat̪ʰ]/ |/ As in the simple past, "special intransitive" verbs take a different set of endings in the indefinite and remote past:
Regular intransitive verbs also take a different set of endings in the indefinite and remote past, subject to some morphophonetic variation:
Future tense intransitive verbs are formed by the addition of suffixes to the verb stem:
The future tense of transitive verbs, however, is formed by adding suffixes that agree with both the subject and direct object according to number, in a complex fashion:
AspectThere are two main aspectual distinctions in Kashmiri, perfective and imperfective. Both employ a participle formed by the addition of a suffix to the verb stem, as well as the fully conjugated auxiliary /aːsun/ ("to be")—which agrees according to gender, number and person with the object (for transitive verbs) or the subject (for intransitive verbs). Like the auxiliary, the participle suffix used with the perfective aspect (expressing completed or concluded action) agrees in gender and number with the object (for transitive verbs) or subject (for intransitives) as illustrated below:
The imperfective (expressing habitual or progressive action) is simpler, taking the participle suffix -/aːn/ in all forms, with only the auxiliary showing agreement. A type of iterative aspect can be expressed by reduplicating the imperfective participle. PronounsPronouns are declined according to person, gender, number and case, although only third person pronouns are overtly gendered. Also in third person, a distinction is made between three degrees of proximity, called proximate, remote I and remote II.
There is also a dedicated genitive pronoun set, in contrast to the way that the genitive is constructed adverbially elsewhere. As with future tense, these forms agree with both the subject and direct object in person and number.
AdjectivesThere are two kinds of adjectives in Kashmiri, those that agree with their referent noun (according to case, gender and number) and those that are not declined at all.[65] Most adjectives are declined, and generally take the same endings and gender-specific stem changes as nouns. The declinable adjective endings are provided in the table below, using the adjective /wɔzul/ ("red"):
Among those adjectives not declined are adjectives that end in -lad or -a, adjectives borrowed from other languages, and a few isolated irregulars. The comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are formed with the words tsor ("more") and sitha ("most"), respectively. NumeralsWithin the Kashmir language, numerals are separated into cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers. These numeral forms, as well as their aggregative (both, all the five, etc.), multiplicative (two times, four times, etc.), and emphatic forms (only one, only three, etc.) are provided by the table below.
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