Vaghri language

Last updated

Vaghri
Native to Pakistan
Region Sindh
Ethnicity Vagri
Native speakers
4,800 (2018) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 vgr
Glottolog vagh1246

Vaghri (Bavri) is an Indo Aryan language of Pakistan spoken by the Vagri. It is closely related to Gujarati.

Contents

Phonology

Consonants [2]
BilabialDentalRetroflexPalatalVelarPharyngeal
PlosiveUnvoiced/p//ph//t//th//ʈ/h//c//ch//k//kh/
Voiced/b//bh//d//dh//ɖ/h//ɟ/h/ (j)/g//gh/
Fricative/s//h/
Nasal/m//n//ɳ//ŋ/
Tap/r//ɽ/
Lateral/l/
Semivowel/w//y/

/n/, /ɽ/, and /ɳ/ do not occur word-initially.

Vowels
FrontNear-frontCentralBack
UnroundedRounded
Close/i//ɯ//u/
Close-mid/e//ɪ/ (I)/ə/
ɒpen-mid/ɛ//ʌ//ɔ/ (o)
ɒpen/ɑ/ (a)/ɒ/

All vowels except /e/ and /ɔ/ can be nasalized. There are four 'true' dipthongs, these being /ɔɑ/, /ɑi/, /ɑu/, and /ɑɯ/.

The majority of monosyllabic words are CVC. ɛvery word has at least one accented syllable.

Morphology

Vaghri distinguishes two noun classes: Masculine and feminine. Neuter Indo-Aryan nouns are mostly classed masculine. Nouns ending in /-ɒ/ generally belong to the masculine class. Nouns ending in /-i/ are generally feminine.

Nouns in Vaghri are inflected for two numbers: singular and plural.

Plural inflection
MasculineFemininePlural
/-ɒ//-i//-ũ/
/-C//-Cũ/
/-a//-aũ/ (optional)

Masculine nouns can be inflected for additional cases:

Case endings for masculine nouns ending in -ɒ
CaseSingularPlural
Nominative/-ɒ//-ē/
Direct ɒbject/-ɒ//-ɛ/
ɒblique/-ɛ//-̃ɛ̃/
Vocative/-ɒ̄//-ɒ̄/ or /-ɒū/
All other nouns
CaseSingularPlural
Nominative/-∅//-ũ/
Direct ɒbject
ɒblique
Vocative/-∅//-ɛ̃/

Adjectives are inflected for noun class. There is no comparative affix, but the word wadhu can be used to indicate the comparative.

Vaghri pronouns inflect for case and number.

Personal pronouns
PersonCaseSingularPlural
1st personNom.ā̃ũasĩ
ɒbj.asā̃
ɒbl.asā̃
2nd personNom.ā̃i
ɒbj.toā̃i
ɒbl.toāi
3rd personNom.uu
ɒbj.ununi
ɒbl.ununi

Vaghri verbs, like other Indo-Aryan verbs, consist of three parts: A root, an affix, and a personal suffix. Passive voice is formed by adding -ā to the stem.

Vocabulary

Cardinal numerals [2]
NumberGlossVaghriGujarati
1onehekɽɒek
2twobe
3threetrɛtran̩
4fourcārcār
5fivepenjnpānc
6sixchɒcha
7sevensattsāt
8eightaʈʈhˈɑʈʰ
9ninenav
10tenɖɒdas
11elevenagiyārɒəɡijɑɾ
20twentywihvīs
30thirtytrihtrīs
40fortychāricāḷīs
50fiftypanjhapacās
60sixtysatʈhsāʈha
70seventysantɛrsittēra
80eightyɛsiɛ̃si
90ninetynevũnevu
100one hundred

ɒrdinal numerals are as follows:

NumberGlossVaghri masc.Gujarati masc.Vaghri fem.Gujarati fem.
1stfirstpɛhrɒpahelopɛhripahli
2ndsecondbyobijobaibaji
3rdthirdtryotrijotraitriji
4thfourthcothocothocothicothi
5thfifthpanjhpānomũpanjhmipānemi
6thsixthchaʈʈhochaʈʈhochaʈʈhichaʈʈhi
7thseventhsattmũsātmɒsattmisātmi
8theighthaʈʈhāʈʈhaʈʈhmiāʈʈhmi
9thninthnumũnavmɒnũminavmi
10thtenthɖɒmũdasmɒdɒmidasmi

Footnotes

  1. Vaghri at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 Shankerlal, Vyas Gajendra (30 April 1966). The dialect of the vaghers of okhamandal: descriptive grammar (PhD thesis). Gujarat University. Retrieved 13 September 2024.

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References