Yaghnobi language

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Yaghnobi
Яғнобӣ зивок
Yaghnobī zivok
Native to Tajikistan
Regionoriginally from Yaghnob Valley, in 1970s relocated to Zafarobod, in 1990s some speakers returned to Yaghnob
Ethnicity Yaghnobi people
Native speakers
12,000 (2004) [1]
Early form
Dialects
  • Eastern Yaghnobi
  • Western Yaghnobi
Cyrillic script
Latin script
Perso-Arabic script
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3 yai
Glottolog yagn1238
ELP Yaghnobi
Linguasphere 58-ABC-a
Yaghnobi regions.jpg
Yaghnobi-speaking areas and enclaves of Yaghnobi-speakers among a Tajik majority
Lang Status 60-DE.svg
Yaghnobi is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010) [4]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Yaghnobi [a] [b] is an Eastern Iranian language spoken in the upper valley of the Yaghnob River in the Zarafshan area of Tajikistan by the Yaghnobi people. It is considered to be a direct descendant of Sogdian and has sometimes been called Neo-Sogdian in academic literature. [5] There are some 12,500 Yaghnobi speakers, divided into several communities. The principal group lives in the Zafarobod area. There are also resettlers in the Yaghnob Valley. Some communities live in the villages of Zumand and Kůkteppa and in Dushanbe or its vicinity.

Contents

Most Yaghnobi speakers are bilingual in Tajik, a dialect of Persian. [6] Yaghnobi is mostly used for daily family communication, and Tajik is used by Yaghnobi-speakers for business and formal transactions. A Russian ethnographer was told by nearby Tajiks, long hostile to the Yaghnobis, who were late to adopt Islam, that the Yaghnobis used their language as a "secret" mode of communication to confuse the Tajiks. The account led to the belief by some that Yaghnobi or some derivative of it was used as a secret code. [7]

The language is taught in elementary school within the ethnic community, and Tajikistan has also enacted legislation to support education in minority languages, including Yaghnobi. [8]

There are two main dialects: a western and an eastern one. They differ primarily in phonetics. For example, historical corresponds to t in the western dialects and s in the eastern: metmes 'day' from Sogdian mēθmyθ. Western ay corresponds to Eastern e: wayšweš 'grass' from Sogdian wayš or wēšwyš. The early Sogdian group θr (later ṣ̌) is reflected as sar in the east but tir in the west: saráytiráy 'three' from Sogdian θrē/θray or ṣ̌ē/ṣ̌ayδry. There are also some differences in verbal endings and the lexicon. In between the two main dialects is a transitional dialect that shares some features of both other dialects.

Writing

Yaghnobi was mostly unwritten until recent times, but according to Andreyev, some of the Yaghnobi scholars used the Persian script for writing the language before 1928, mainly when they needed to hide some information from the Tajiks. [9]

Nowadays, the language is largely transcribed by scholars using a modified Latin alphabet, with the following symbols:

a (á)bčde (é)fg
ɣhi (í)ī (ī́)ǰk
qlm (m̃)n (ñ)o (ó)pr
sštu (ú)ū (ū́)ʏ (ʏ́)v
w (u̯)xyzž

In the 1990s, Sayfiddin Mirzozoda of the Tajik Academy of Sciences introduced a modified Tajik alphabet for writing Yaghnobi, in addition to several textbooks intended to for elementary school students. [10] :23 The shared orthography between Tajik and Yaghnobi transliterated according to Mirzozoda’s scheme offered the promise of improved literacy among Tajik-literate Yaghnobi youth, but since 2006 the Tajik government has stopped providing funding for the printing of Yaghnobi textbooks and the hiring of teachers of Yaghnobi, and so these efforts have largely stagnated. [10] :8–9 Additionally, Mirzozoda's method of transliteration presents a few notable drawbacks in that it does not distinguish between the short and long forms of every vowel, it does not distinguish between [v] and [β] , and it has no inherent markings for the indication of stress, as can be seen in Mirzozoda's alphabet, reproduced with its IPA correspondences in this table below. [10] [11] :24

А а

( [a] , [] )

Б б

( [b] )

В в

( [v] , [β] )

Г г

( [g] )

Ғ ғ

( [ʁ] )

Д д

( [d] )

Е е

( [e] , [] )

Ё ё

( [jo] , [joː] )

Ж ж

( [ʒ] )

З з

( [z] )

И и

( [i] )

Ӣ ӣ

( [] )

й

( [] )

К к

( [k] )

Қ қ

( [q] )

Л л

( [l]

М м

( [m] )

Н н

( [n] )

О о

( [o] , [] )

П п

( [p] )

Р р

( [r] )

С с

( [s] )

Т т

( [t] )

У у

( [u] )

Ӯ ӯ

( [] )

Ф ф

( [f] )

Х х

( [x] )

Ҳ ҳ

( [ħ] )

Ч ч

( [t͡ʃ] )

Ҷ ҷ

( [d͡ʒ] )

Ш ш

( [ʃ] )

Ю ю

( [ju] , [juː] )

Я я

( [ja] )

Ъ ъ

( [ʕ] )

Cyrillic script

The Yaghnobi Alphabet was same as Tajik but with Ԝ.

А аБ бВ вԜ ԝГ гҒ ғ
Д дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ и
Ӣ ӣЙ йК кҚ қЛ лМ м
Н нО оП пР рС сТ т
У уӮ ӯФ фХ хҲ ҳЧ ч
Ҷ ҷШ шЪ ъЭ эЮ юЯ я

Notes to Cyrillic:

  1. The letter й never appears at the beginning of a word. Words beginning with ya-, yo- and yu-/yū-/yʏ are written as я-, ё- and ю-, and the combinations are written in the middle of the word: viyóra is виёра[vɪ̆ˈjoːra].
  2. Use of ӣ and ӯ is uncertain, but they seem to distinguish two similar-sounding words: иранка and ӣранка, рупак and рӯпак. Perhaps ӣ is also used as a stress marker as it is also in Tajik, and ӯ can also be used in Tajik loanwords to indicate a Tajik vowel ů[ɵː], but it can have some other unknown use.[ citation needed ]
  3. In older texts, the alphabet did not use letters Ъ ъ and Э э. Instead of Tajik ъ, Yaghnobi and е covered both Tajik е and э for /e/. Later, the letters were integrated into the alphabet so the older етк was changed into этк to represent the pronunciation [ˈeːtkʰ] (and not *[ˈjeːtkʰ]). Older ша’мак was changed to шаъмак[ʃʲɑʕˈmak].
  4. /je/ and /ji/ are written е and и. Yaghnobi и can be */ji/ after a vowel like in Tajik, and ӣ after a vowel is */jiː/. Also, е has two values: word-initially and after a vowel, it is pronounced [jeː], but after a consonant, it is [eː]. /je/ is rare in Yaghnobi and is only in Tajik or Russian loans, the only example for /je/ is Европа[ˈjeːvrɔpa], a Russian loanword.
  5. Russian letters Ц ц, Щ щ, Ы ы and Ь ь, which can be used in Tajik loans from Russian, are not used in Yaghnobi. They are written as they are pronounced by the Yaghnobi speakers, not as they are written originally in Russian: aeroplane is самолет/самолёт in Russian, written самолёт in Tajik and pronounced [səmɐˈlʲɵt] in Russian and in Tajik. In Yaghnobi, it is written as самалиёт and follows the Yaghnobi pronunciation [samalɪˈjoːtʰ] or [samajˈloːtʰ]. The word concert is borrowed from Russian концерт[kɐnˈtsɛrt] in the form кансерт[kʰanˈseːrtʰ]). Compare with Tajik консерт.

Phonology

Yaghnobi includes 9 monophthongs (3 short, 6 long), 8 diphthongs, and 27 consonants.

Vowels

Front Back
shortlongshortlong
Close и /ɪ/и/ӣ //у/ӯ //у /ʊ/у/ӯ //
Mid е/э //о /ɔː/
Open а /a/а /ɑː/

The diphthongs in Yaghnobi are /ai̯,ɔːi̯,ʊi̯,uːi̯,yːi̯,ɪi̯,ɔːu̯,au̯/. /ai̯/ only appears in native words in the western dialects, eastern dialects have // in its place, except in loanwords.

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Post‐
alveolar
Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
plain lab.
Nasal м /m/н /n/
Stop voiceless п /p/т /t/[ c ]к /k/қ /q/
voiced б /b/д /d/[ ɟ ]г /ɡ/
Affricate voiceless ч //
voiced ҷ //
Fricative voiceless ф /f/с /s/ш /ʃʲ/х /χ/хԝ /χʷ/ҳ /ħ/ҳ /h/
voiced в /v/з /z/ж /ʒʲ/ғ /ʁ/ъ /ʕ/
Approximant ԝ /β̞/л /l/й /j/
Trill р /r/

Morphology

W, E and Tr. refer to the Western, Eastern and Transitional dialects.

Noun

Case endings:

CaseStem ending is consonantStem ending is vowel other than -aStem ending is -a
Sg. Direct (Nominative)-a
Sg. Oblique-i-y-ay (W), -e (E)
Pl. Direct (Nominative)-t-t-ot
Pl. Oblique-ti-ti-oti

Examples:

Pronouns

PersonNominative SingularOblique SingularEnclitic SingularNominative PluralOblique PluralEnclitic Plural
1stmanman-(i)mmoxmox-(i)mox
2ndtutaw-(i)tšumóxšumóx-šint
3rdax, áwi, (aw), íti, (īd)-(i)šáxtit, íštitáwtiti, ítiti-šint

The second person plural, šumóx is also used as the polite form of the second person pronoun.

Numerals

Eastern YaghnobiWestern YaghnobiTajik loan
1īīyak, yag, ya
2 [12] du
3saráytⁱráyse, say
4tᵘfór, tafórtᵘfór, tⁱfórčor
5pančpančpanǰ
6uxšuxššiš, šaš
7avd, aftafthaft
8aštašthašt
9nau̯nau̯nuʰ
10dasdasdaʰ
11das īdas īyozdáʰ
12das dūdas dʏdᵘwozdáʰ
13das saráydas tⁱráysenzdáʰ
14das tᵘfór / tafórdas tᵘfór / tⁱfórčordáʰ
15das pančdas pančponzdáʰ
16das uxšdas uxššonzdáʰ
17das avd / aftdas afthabdáʰ, havdáʰ
18das aštdas ašthaždáʰ
19das nau̯das nau̯nūzdáʰ
20bīst [13]
30bī́st-at dasbī́st-at das
40dū bīstdʏ bīstčil
50dū nī́ma bīstdʏ nī́ma bīstpinǰóʰ, panǰóʰ
60saráy bīsttⁱráy bīstšast
70saráy nī́ma bīsttⁱráy nī́ma bīst, tⁱráy bī́st-u dashaftód
80tᵘfór / tafór bīsttᵘfór / tⁱfór bīsthaštód
90tᵘfór / tafór nī́ma bīsttᵘfór / tⁱfór nī́ma bīstnavád
100(sat)(sat)sad
1000hazór

Verb

Personal endings – present:

PersonSingularPlural
1st-omišt-īmišt
2nd-īšt-tišt (W, Tr.), -sišt (E)
3rd-tišt (W), -či (E, Tr.)-ošt

Personal endings – preterite (with augment a-):

PersonSingularPlural
1sta- -ima- -om (W), a- -īm (E, Tr.)
2nda-a- -ti (W, Tr.), a- -si (E)
3rda-a- -or

By adding the ending -išt (-št after a vowel; but -or+išt > -ošt) to the preterite, the durative preterite is formed.

The present participle is formed by adding -na to the verbal stem. Past participle (or perfect participle) is formed by addition of -ta to the stem.

The infinitive is formed by addition of ending -ak to the verbal stem.

Negation is formed by prefix na-, in combination with augment in preterite it changes to nē-.

The copula is this:

PersonSingularPlural
1stīmom
2ndištot (W, Tr.), os (E)
3rdast, -x, xast, ásti, xástior

Lexicon

Knowledge of Yaghnobi lexicon comes from three main works: from a Yaghnobi-Russian dictionary presented in Yaghnobi Texts by Andreyev and Peščereva and then from a supplementary word list presented in Yaghnobi Grammar by Xromov. The last work is Yaghnobi-Tajik Dictionary compiled by Xromov's student, Sayfiddīn Mīrzozoda, himself a Yaghnobi native speaker. Persian words represent the majority of the lexicon (some 60%), followed by words of Turkic origin (up to 5%, mainly from Uzbek) and a few Russian words (about 2%; through the Russian language, also many international words came to Yaghnobi). Only a third of the lexicon is of Eastern-Iranian origin and can be easily comparable to those known from Sogdian, Ossetian, the Pamir languages or Pashto.[ citation needed ]

A Yaghnobi-Czech dictionary was published in 2010 by the Charles University Faculty of Arts. [14]

Sample texts

A group of Yaghnobi-speaking schoolchildren from Tajikistan 12Yagnobi people.jpg
A group of Yaghnobi-speaking schoolchildren from Tajikistan
LatinFálɣar-at Yáɣnob asosī́ láfz-šint ī-x gumū́n, néki áxtit toǰīkī́-pi wó(v)ošt, mox yaɣnobī́-pi. 'Mʏ́štif' wó(v)omišt, áxtit 'Muždív' wó(v)ošt.
CyrillicФалғарат Яғноб асосӣ лафзшинт ӣх гумун, неки ахтит тоҷикипӣ ԝоошт, мох яғнобипӣ. 'Мӯштиф' ԝоомишт, ахтит 'Муждив' ԝоошт.
IPA[ˈfalʁɑratʰˈjɑʁnɔˑbasɔˑˈsiːˈlafzʃʲɪntʰˈiːχɡʊˈmoːnˈneːcʰeˈɑχtʰɪtʰtʰɔˑdʒʲiˑˈcʰiːpʰeˈβ̞oːˀɔˑʃʲtʰmoːʁjɑʁnɔˑˈbiːpʰeˈmyːʃʲtʰɪfˈβ̞oːˀɔˑmɪʃʲtʰˈɑχtʰɪtʰmʊʒʲˈdɪvˈβ̞oːˀɔˑʃʲtʰ]
TranslationIn Falghar and in Yaghnob, it is certainly one basic language, but they speak Tajik and we speak Yaghnobi. We say 'Müštif', they say 'Muždiv'.

An anecdote about Nasreddin

LatinCyrillicIPATranslation
Nasriddī́n ī xūd či bozór uxš tangái axirī́n.Насриддин ӣ хӯд чи бозор ухш тангаи ахирин.[nasre̝ˈdːiːnˈiːˈχuːdˈtʃɪ̞bɔˑˈzoːrˈʋ̘χʃʲtʰaŋˈɟa̝jĕ̝ɑχĕ̝ˈriːn] Nasreddin bought a tubeteika at the bazaar for six tangas.
Kaxík woxúrdš avī́, čáwi apursóšt:Кахик ԝохурдш авӣ, чаԝи апурсошт:[cʰaˈχecʰβ̞ɔˑˈχʋˑrdʃʲaˈve̝ː|ˈtʃaβ̞eapʰʋrˈsoːɕt]Everyone he met asked him:
"Xūd čof pūl axirī́nī?""Худ чоф пул ахиринӣ?"[ˈχuːdˈtʃoːfˈpʰuːlɑχĕ̝ˈriːne̝ˑ]"How much money have you bought the tubeteika for?"
Nasriddī́n ī́ipiš ǰawób atifár, dúipiš ǰawób atifár, tiráyipiš ǰawób atifár, aɣór:Насриддин ӣипиш ҷаԝоб атифар, дуипиш ҷаԝоб атифар, тирайипиш ҷаԝоб атифар, ағор:[nasre̝ˈdːiːnˈiːjĕ̝pʰe̝ʃʲdʒaˈβ̞oːbatʰĕ̝ˈfar|ˈdʋ̘je̝pʰe̝ʃʲdʒaˈβ̞oːbatʰĕ̝ˈfar|tʰɪ̆ˈraje̝pʰe̝ʃʲdʒaˈβ̞oːbatʰĕ̝ˈfar|ɑˈʁoːr]Nasreddin answered to the first of them, he answered to the second of them, he answered to the third of them, then he said,
"Hámaipi ǰawób tifaróm, zīq vómišt.""Ҳамаипӣ ҷаԝоб тифаром, зиқ вомишт."[ˈhama̝jĕ̝pʰe̝dʒaˈβ̞oːbtʰĕ̝faˈro̝ːm|ˈze̝ˑqʰˈvo̝ːmɪʃʲtʰ]"If I answer to everyone, I will go crazy."
Ax xūdš či sarš anós, bozórisa adáu̯, fayród akún:Ах хӯдш чи сарш анос, бозориса адаԝ, файрод акун:[ˈaχˈχuːdʃʲˈtʃɪ̞ˈsarɪ̆ʃʲaˈnoːs|bɔˑˈzoːrɪsaaˈdau̯|fai̯ˈroːdaˈkʰʋn]He took the tubeteika off his head, ran to the bazaar, and cried,
"E odámt!"Э одамт![ˈeːɔˑˈdamtʰ]"Hey, people!
Daràu̯-daráwi maydónisa šau̯t, īyóka ǰām vʏt!Дараԝ-дараԝи майдониса шаԝт, ӣёка ҷаъм вӯйт![darˌau̯-daˈraβ̞emai̯ˈdoːne̝saˈʃʲau̯tʰ|iˑjˈoːcʰaˈdʒɑːmˈvyːtʰ]Go quickly to the square, gather somewhere over there!
Kattóti šumóxpi árkšint ast!"Каттоти шумохпӣ аркшинт аст."[cʰaˈtʰːoːtʰe̝ʃʲʋ̆ˈmoːχpʰe̝ˈarcʃʲɪ̞ntˌastʰ]The Big Ones have something to deal with you."
Odámt hamáš maydóni īyóka ǰām avór, áni šáhri hičúxs nàapiráxs.Одамт ҳамаш майдони ӣёка ҷаъм авор, ани шаҳри ҳичухс наапирахс.[ɔˑˈdamtʰhaˈmaʃʲmai̯ˈdoːne̝iˑjˈoːcʰaˈdʒɑːmaˈvoːr|ˈane̝ˈʃʲahrɪhe̝ˑˈtʃʋ̝χsˌna̝ˀa̝pʰĕ̝ˈraχs]Everyone had gathered somewhere at the square, no one else had remained in the city.
Nasriddī́n balandī́i sári asán, fayród akún:Насриддин баландии сари асан, файрод акун:[nasre̝ˈdːiːnbalanˈdiːjĕ̝ˈsare̝aˈsan|fai̯ˈroːdaˈkʰʋn]Nasreddin came upon a high place, and cried:
"E odámt, ɣiríft, nihíš xūd man uxš tangái axirī́nim.""Э одамт, ғирифт, ниҳиш хӯд ман ухш тангаи ахириним."[ˈeːɔˑˈdamtʰ|ʁĕ̝ˈre̝ftʰ|nĕ̝ˈhe̝ˑʃʲˈχūdˈmanˈʋ̘χʃʲtʰaŋˈɟa̝jĕ̝ɑχĕ̝ˈriːne̝m]"Hey people, to let you know, I bought this tubeteika for six tangas."

Notes

  1. Also rendered as Yaghnabi, Yagnobi or Yagnabi; endonym: Яғнобӣ зивок, romanized: Yaɣnobī́ zivók, pronounced [jaʁnɔːˈbiːzɪ̆ˈvoːkʰ] ; Tajik: Забони яғнобӣ, romanized: Zaboni yaghnobī, pronounced [zɐˈbɔːnɪjɐʁnɔːˈbiː]
  2. Linguistic abbreviation: YAGH

References

  1. Yaghnobi at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. Gernot Windfuhr, 2009, "Dialectology and Topics", The Iranian Languages, Routledge
  3. Paul Bergne (15 June 2007). The Birth of Tajikistan: National Identity and the Origins of the Republic. I.B.Tauris. pp. 6–. ISBN   978-1-84511-283-7.
  4. "Atlas of the world's languages in danger". unesdoc.unesco.org. p. 40. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  5. Bielmeier. R. Yaghnobi in Encyclopedia Iranica
  6. Kazakevich, Olga; Kibrik, Aleksandr (2007). "Language Endangerment in the CIS". In Brenzinger, Matthias (ed.). Language Diversity Endangered. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter Mouton. p. 238. doi:10.1515/9783110197129.233.
  7. See С. И. Климчицкий: Секретный язык у ягнобцев и язгулёмцев. In: Академия наук СССР – Труды Таджикистанской базы, т. IX – 1938 – История – язык – литература. Akademijaji Fanho SSSR: Asarhoji ʙazaji Toçikiston, çildi IX – Tarix – zaʙon – adaʙijot. Москва – Ленинград (: Издательство Академии наук СССР), 1940. 104–117.
  8. The two deportations of Yaghnob
  9. М. С. Андреев, Материалы по этнографии Ягноба, Душанбе (Дониш) 1970, pp. 38–39
  10. 1 2 3 Bird, Brian A. (2007). Aspects of Yaghnobi Grammar (MA thesis). Eugene: University of Oregon. Archived from the original on 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  11. Novák, Ľubomír (January 2018). "Yaghnobi: An Example of a Language in Contact" (PDF). Chatreššar. 2. Univerzita Karlova, Filozofická Fakulta: 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-12-29. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  12. Ronald Emmerick, Iranian, in Indo-European Numerals (1992, →ISBN, edited by Jadranka Gvozdanovic), page 312
  13. Ronald Emmerick, Iranian, in Indo-European Numerals (1992, →ISBN, edited by Jadranka Gvozdanovic), page 312.
  14. Award-winning Yaghnobi-Czech dictionary captures dying language

Further reading

(M. S. Andrejev, Je. M. Peščereva, Jagnobskije teksty s priloženijem jagnobsko-russkogo slovarja, Moskva – Leningrad 1957) (in Russian)

(M. N.Bogoljubov, Jagnobskij /novosogdijskij/ jazyk. Issledovanija i materialy. Avtoreferat na soiskanije učenoj stepeni doktora filologičeskix nauk, Leningrad 1956) (in Russian)

(M. N. Bogoljubov: Jagnobskij jazyk. In: V. V. Vinogradov (ed.): Jazyki narodov SSSR. Tom pervyj: Indojevropejskije jazyki. Moskva, 1966, p. 342–361) (in Russian)

(S. Mirzozoda, Yaɣnobī zivok, Dušanbe 1998) (in Tajik)

(S. Mirzozoda, Luɣat-i yaɣnobī – tojikī, Dušanbe 2002) (in Tajik)

(Ľ. Novák: Yaghnobi-Czech Dictionary with an Outline of Yaghnobi Grammar. Praha 2010) (in Czech)

(A. L. Xromov, Jagnobskij jazyk, Moskva 1972) (in Russian)

(A. L. Xromov, Jagnobskij jazyk. In. V. S. Rastorgujeva (ed.): Osnovy iranskogo jazykoznanija. Novoiranskije jazyki II. – Vostočnaja gruppa. Moskva 1987, p. 644–701.) (in Russian)