| Wasi-wari | |
| Also Known As: | Prasun, Paruni |
| Nativename: | Vâsi-vari, Vâsi-veri |
| States: | Afghanistan |
| Region: | Pārūn Valley |
| Speakers: | 8,000 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Indo-Iranian |
| Fam3: | Nuristani |
| Iso3: | prn |
| Glotto: | pras1239 |
| Glottorefname: | Prasun, Paruni |
| Lingua: | 58-ACB-b |
| Notice: | Indic |
Wasi-wari (Vâsi-vari, Vâsi-veri) is the language of the Wasi people, spoken in a few villages in the Pārūn Valley (Prasun Valley) in Afghanistan. It also goes by the name Prasun or Paruni.
Wasi-wari belongs to the Indo-European language family, and is on the Nuristani group of the Indo-Iranian branch. Wasi-wari is the most divergent of the Nuristani languages.
The Prasuni people are now mostly Muslim since the imposition of Islam by the Afghan ruler Abdur Rahman Khan in 1896.[1] They first followed out of intimidation, then became more devout as younger generations studied Islamic scriptures in Pakistan and India and came back to preach Islam,[2] but they also keep some vestiges of their indigenous pre-Islamic religion.[3] Literacy rates are low: below 1% for people who have it as a first language, and between 15% and 25% for people who have it as a second language.
The name of the language derives from its endonym Vâsi pronounced as /waˈsi/, with cognates such as Kamviri Přâsü̃ pronounced as /pɽaˈsỹ/ (whence the alternative name Prasun) and Kata-vari Přâsiu pronounced as /pɽaˈsju/. Pārūni comes from the two national languages of Afghanistan, Pashto and Dari.
Wasi-wari is a language spoken by the Vâsi (Prasuni) people who are located in the Pârun Valley, known as Vâsi-gul, at the beginning of the Pech River basin in Nuristan Province of northeastern Afghanistan. The native names of the language are Vâsi-vari in the Ṣupu dialect, and Vâsi-veri in the Seć dialect, but it is also known as Prasuni, Prasun, Vasi-vari, Pārūni, Pārūn, Veron, Verou, and Veruni. The population of Vâsi-gul is between 3,000-6,000, and there are approximately 8,000 native speakers within the valley and other areas, which makes it a vulnerable language.
Wasi-wari is broken up into three dialects that are spoken in six villages. The upper dialect, Ṣupu-vari, is spoken in the northernmost village, Ṣupu (Shtive). The central dialect, üšüt-üćü-zumu-vari, is spoken in the middle four villages, Seć (Pronz), Üćü (Dewa), Üšüt (Kshtoki), and Zumu. The lower dialect, Uṣüt-vare, is spoken in Uṣüt (Pashki), the lowest village. For this article, most cited forms will be based on the Seć dialect unless specified otherwise.[4]
One characteristic feature defining all Wasi-wari dialects is the shift of ancient *d to l, which was lost in intervocalic position in other Nuristani languages, such as vazala pronounced as /wɘˈzɘlɘ/ "shoe", compared to Ashkun vâćâ pronounced as /vaˈt͡sa/, Kamviri vâćo pronounced as /vaˈt͡so/, and Waigali oćä pronounced as /oˈt͡sæ/, and the pervasive lenition of initial stops, such as viṭa pronounced as /wiʈɘ/ "wing", compared to Ashkun pâṭu pronounced as /paˈʈu/ "feather", Kamviri pâṭü pronounced as /paˈʈy/ "feather", and Waigali paṭä pronounced as /paˈʈæ/ "feather, wing".
Wasi-wari is part of the Nuristani branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, which show both Iranian and Indo-Aryan influences, but are otherwise not closely related.[5] Nuristani languages were formerly considered to be Dardic languages,[6] however, they are dissimilar enough from the other Dardic languages to constitute their own branch of the Indo-Iranian language tree. There was also previously confusion on whether Wasi-wari and Prasun were the same or separate languages, but it was determined that both names referred to the same language.[7] Although it is substantially different from the other Nuristani languages, Wasi-wari forms the northern cluster of Nuristâni languages with Kamkata-vari, so they share some similarities.[8]
Wasi-wari has eight vowels, â, u, o, i, e, ü, ö, and the unmarked vowel, a, which is pronounced as a high central vowel, [ɨ]. Long vowels are denoted with the IPA symbol pronounced as //://, such as [iː].
| Person | Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | sg. | unzu | ândeiš | am |
| pl. | âsẽ | âs | ||
| 2nd | sg. | üy | ütyöiš | ĩ |
| pl. | miū | âsen | ||
| Number | Prasuni (Strand) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ipin, attege (upün) | |
| 2 | lūe (lü) | |
| 3 | chhī (ćši) | |
| 4 | chipū (čpu) | |
| 5 | uch (vuču) | |
| 6 | ushū (vuṣ) | |
| 7 | sete (sata) | |
| 8 | aste (âsta) | |
| 9 | nūh (nu) | |
| 10 | leze (leza) | |
| 11 | zizh (züz (Zumu), źuzu (Uṣüt)) | |
| 12 | wizū (vüzu) | |
| 13 | chhīza (čiz (Zumu), ćšiza (Uṣüt)) | |
| 14 | chipults (čpulć) | |
| 15 | vishilhts (višilć) | |
| 16 | ushulhts (uṣulć) | |
| 17 | setilts (setliz) | |
| 18 | astilts (âstliz) | |
| 19 | nalts (nâlć) | |
| 20 | zū (źu) | |
| 30 | lezaij | |
| 40 | jibeze (žibeze) | |
| 50 | lejjibets | |
| 60 | chichegzū | |
| 70 | chichegzālets | |
| 80 | chipegzū | |
| 90 | chipegzualets | |
| 100 | ochegzū |