Bartangi language
| Bartangi | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province |
| Ethnicity | 3,000 Bartang (1990) |
|
Indo-European
|
|
| None | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | (included in sgh) |
| Glottolog | bart1238 |
The Bartangi language is a Pamir language spoken along the Bartang River from Yemtz to Nikbist, in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. It is typically classified as a dialect of Shughni, but is quite distinct. Within Bartangi, there are two (sub)dialects, Basid and Sipandzh, which are named after the villages in which they are spoken. It is not written.
As of 1990, there are between 2,500 and 3,000 speakers of Bartangi. While the population continues to grow, civil war and Russian efforts to assimilate the Bartangi or move them to cities have caused the language to dwindle. In addition, the popularity of Tajik and Russian as the languages of education and modernization have contributed to the decline of Bartangi.
Bartangi is most similar to Rushani and Orosori, two neighboring Sughni dialects. Features that distinguish them include the form of the second person, a tu tense in Bartangi, and the Bartangi plural suffix -en.
The language was unknown to Europe until the early twentieth century, when French linguist Robert Gauthiot published his findings on the area in his 1916 essay Notes zur le yazgoulami, dialecte iraniem des confins du Pamir. After the discovery of the Bartangi people, there was an increase in interest in the Shughni provinces, but due to the difficult landscape, very few explorers visited the area, and publications on the language dropped off, though in 1924 a Bartangi lullaby was printed.
The next major European involvement in the area was by the Russians, who over the course of the nineteenth century had conquered parts of Tajikistan until its formal declaration as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic in 1929. Despite Tajikistan declaring independence in 1991, permanent Russian influence in language, culture, and politics have led to the loss of several Pamir languages. Tajik, an Iranian language which is the national language of Tajikistan, serves as a common language through all Tajik provinces. In addition, with a 96% literacy rate throughout the province, even the isolated region of Bartang is well-versed in the national languages of Tajik, Uzbek, and Russian. Russian is currently the language of education and the intelligentsia in Tajikistan, and the influence of these larger languages are required for communication between speakers of the various Pamir languages.
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Wikipedia