Notes on Phalura

58 Pages·1941·2.948 MB·English

by  Georg Morgenstierne

N O T E S O N P H A L U R A
A N UNKNOWN DARDIC
.
LANGUAGE OF CHITRAL
BY
GEORG MORGENSTIERNE
rf ?! '
, p,
4
h
.;L
' I
Skrifter utgitt av
Det N o r s k e Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo.
Hletoriek-flloeofisk klasse.
1932.
No. I. L y d e r B r u n : Segen und Fluch im Urchristentum. Kr. g,oo.
a. C. S. W i d e r b e r g : Akershus festning. Et bidrag ti1 dens bygningshistorie
inntil utgangen av Christian IV's regjering. Kr. 12.50.
H a 1l f r i d C h r i s t i a n s e n : Gimsey-milet. Fonologi og orddannelse.
Kr. 15,oo.
H a r r i s II i r k e 1a n d : ~Aniu nd 8HnHw in den Psalmen. Kr. ~o,oo.
N i 1 s L i d: Jolesveinar og grederikdomsgudar. Kr. 10,oo.
C a t h a r i n u s E 11 i n g : Nye Bidrag ti1 Belysning a£ norsk Folkemusik.
Kr. 1.50.
1933.
No. I. G ust a v I n d r e- b e : Norske innsjenamn. 11. Kr. 12,oo.
a. I. R e i c h b o r n K j e n n e r u d : Vhr gamle trolldomsmedisin. 11. Kt. I 1,oo.
3. J o h a n S c h r e i n e r : Nederland og Norge 1625-1650. Trelastutfersel og
handelspolitikk. Kr. I o,oo.
G e o r g S v e r d r u p : Fra gravskikker ti1 dedstro i nordisk bronsealder.
Kr. 7,oo.
H. P. B a r d e n : Trekk av synsopfatningen og dens utvikling. Kr. 4,50.
E i v i n d S. E n g e 1 s t a d : Die hanseatische Kunst in Norwegen. Kr. 10,oo.
1934.
No. I. N. H a r b o e: Les conditions subjectives de la culpabilite. Tome 111. Kr. 7.00.
w a. Guto r m G j e s s i n g: Studier i norsk merovingertid. Kronologi og old-
sakformer. Kr. 22,oo.
3. J ens A r up S e i p: Lagmann og lagting i senmiddelalderen og det 16de
Arhundre. Kr. 7.00.
1935.
No. I. f M a r i u s H ae g s t a d : Vestnorske maalfere fyre I 350. 11. Tillegg. Kr. 7,oo.
D 2. C h r. S. S t a n g : Die westrussische Kanzleisprache des CroDfiirstentums
Litauen. Kr. 12.00.
1936.
No. I. A r n e N e s s: Erkenntnis und wissenschaftliches Verhalten. Kr. 16,oo.
2. H a 1 v d a n W e x e l s e n F r e i h o w : Henrik Ibsens ,Brand<(. Litterar-psyko-
logisk studie. Kr. 8,oo.
3. An n e H o l t s m a r k: En islandsk scholasticus fra det 12. irhundre. Kr. 8,oo.
w 4. B j a r n i A 6 a 1b j a r n a r s o n: Om de norske kongers sagaer. Kr. 12.50.
5. H a 11 v a r d L i e : Studier i Heimskringlas stil. Dialogene og talene. Kr. 7.20.
1937.
No. I. J u 1 i e E. B a c k e r : Dedeligheten Idandt lungetuherkulese. Kr. 8,oo.
w a. S i g u r d 9 s t r e m: Individ og samfund i skonomiena rett. Kr. 10,oo.
w 3. H. L u d i n Ja n s e n : Die spitjiidische Psalmendichtung, ihr Entstehungskreis und
ihr ~Sitzi m Lebena. Eine literaturgeschichtlich-soziologische Untersuchung.
Kr. 10,oo.
1938.
NO. 1. Em i 1 S c h j e t h : Gegenstands- und Verhaltnislehre. Kr. I 8.00.
2. Ei nar M olland: The Conception of the Gospel in the Alexandrian Theology.
Kr. 14.00.
3. B. E b be 1 1: Alt-agyptische Bezeichnungen fiir Krankheiten und Symptome.
Kr. 7,00.
4. A r n e N e ss: "Truth" as Conceived by those who are Not Professional Philo-
sophers. Kr 12,oo.
5- Emi 1 B i r kel i : Fedrekult i Norge. Kr. 12,oo.
6. Erl i ng Petersen: Macro-Dynamic Aspects of the Equation of Exchange.
Kr. 7,50.
7. P e r N y q u i s t G r 0 t v e d t : Lydverket i lovhandskrifter fra Borgartingslag
I 300-1 350. Med et tillegg om serastnorske diplomer. Kt. I 2.00.
8. S e m A u s t ru m d a I: B61-tal i Rogaland. Landsk~ld-studier yver tid-bolken
I 300- I 838. Kr. 5,oo.
g. C h r. S. S t a n g : Die altrussische Urkundensprache der Stadt Polozk. Kt. 14,oo.
N O T E S O N P H A L U R A
A N UNI<NO\\'N DARDIC
LANGUAGE OF CHITRAL
BY
GEORG MORGENSTIERNE
WITH ONE MAP
SKRIFTEURT GITT AV DET NORSKE\. IIDENSKAPS-AKADI E05~1~.I0
11. HIST.-FILOSK. LASSE.1 940. NO. 5
O S L O
I I<ORIMISJON 110s JAC014 DYl3WAD
7941
Fremlagt i fellesmste den 8. novernber 1940
Trykt for Fridtjof Nansens fond
A. W. RRBGGERS ROKTRYKKERI .4/S

Sketch-Map of Lower Chitral.
Introduction.
Lower Chitral is one of the most polyglott regions in Asia. Here,
I.
within an area of some 3000 square kilometres, no less than ten distinct
languages are spoken. About most of them we possess some information,
but two Dardic dialects, Phaliiya and Dameli, were until recently com-
pletely unknown.
Already Biddulph was aware that a separate language which he calls
Dangarik, was spoken in a few villages in Lower Chitral. He writes' that
'Ashuret, Beorai, Poorgal and Icalkatak are inhabited by a tribe said to
speak a language cognate with Shina, who are still styled Dangariks by
their neighbours, though they have long ago embraced Islam'. In another
place2 he states that he has 'not been able to obtain the language of the
Chitral Dangariks, but there seems to be no reason to suppose that they
have any connection with the Shins of Gilgit.'
Also Captain B. E. M. Gurdon, who was in political employ in Chitral
from 1895 to 1902, in a report draws the attention to the fact that the
people of Ashreth, Beori, Purigal and some other villages speak the dialect
called Palola or Dangarikwar.
No specimen of this language is, however, given in tlie LSI, and
during my stay in Chitral in 1929 I theref~ree ndeavoured to collect some
information about it.
According to Gurdon 'Palola' is spoken in tlie following villages: Beori
(71 families); Ashreth (60 fani.); Gos (9 fam.); Purigal (12f a~n.a) nd Kalkatak
(16f am.). Besides it is spoken in Sau (100 fam.), in Narsat on the I<unar
liiver, in Dowgal and Bir Kot in Baslikar, and in Gunladand in Dir. 'The
existence of Phal. in As/I?'P/~G, hos, Bioyi and Pzm'gal was affirmed by
my informants, but they asserted that Kalasha was spoken in Kalkutak. Snu
on Afghan territory speaks a dialect closely related to Phal., although
probably strongly influenced by the surrounding Gawar-Bati, spoken in Arar'sal,
etc. East of Chitral Gumiiridnn~a nd Asl~reti n Bashkar are inhabited by
members of the same tribe, and according to Stein there is also a village
I 'l'rilxs of the tlindoo Koosh (Calc, 1880),p . 64.
Op. cit., p. I 13.
-
GEORG MORGENSTIERNE H.-F. I<].
called Asret in Torwal. But Birkdt and Dbugal in Bashkar are probably
inhabited by Bashkariks and Pathans.' The number of speakers of Phal.
in Chitral scarcely exceeds 800 - I ooo.
9 The correct name of the language appears to be Pha'liiya, but
2.
also the form Pa'lgla (cf. Gurdon's Palola) was heard. Sometimes the local
names ASvtti, B2jqri were used, and once I heard Dnggarik~b at 'the
Dangarik language'. Doggarik was said to be the Khowar name of the
language, and the country round Chilas on the Indus was called ?aggarstlin.*
According to Biddulph3 the appelation of Dangarike, i. e., 'cow-people' is
applied to all the Shina-speaking people by their neighbours. He asserts that
the Shin aversion against the cow and domestic fowls is shared by the
Dangariks of Chitral and by the Kalash Kafirs who dwell close to them.
And he takes this to be an indication that the tribes in question are of
Hindu origin.
My informants all agreed that their tribe had come from Chilas, in
Shina-speaking territory two or three generations ago, only a generation
before the time when Biddulph found the tribe fully established in its present
habitation. Although Phal. is, as we shall see, closely related to, and prob-
ably an offshoot of, Shina, it must, however, have branched off at a con-
siderably earlier date. In several important respects it is much more archaic
than any dialect of Shina, and it presents few points of special resemblance
with Chilasi Shina. It also contains a number of innovations and traces of
having been influenced by the languages surroundillg it at present. And,
finally, the marked difference between the dialects of different villages must
have taken some time to develop. But the tradition is no doubt correct
in mentioning the Indus valley near Chilas as being the starting-point for
the Dangarik invasion or infiltration into Kohistan and the Kunar Valley.
5 3. My informants from Ashret were:
I) Said-ul Amir, a young, quite intelligent man. Examined in Chitral
village. My chief informant.
Aslam Xan. Examined in Ashret.
2)
3) A middle-aged man, examined in Ziarat, above Ashret.
4) Mohammad jan, examined in Mirkhani, near Ashret.
My other informants were Mahmad Sali from Biori (B), a man from
Purigal (P), and Mirza Ali $ah from Arandu (S). He was himself a speaker
of Gawar-Bati, and had as a young man given information about this langu-
age for the LSI. But he had lived as a boy in Sau, and he asserted that
he knew the dialect of that village. His recollection of Savi words was
probably rather imperfect, and, when asked, on a later occasion, to repeat
the words I had written down from his dictation, he gave more or less
V. Notes on Rashkarik, AO, XVIII, pp. 106, sqq.
CI. Dangaristan, Riddulph, op. cit., p. r rq.
Op. cit., p. I 13.
1940. NO. 5. NOTES ON PHALRUA 9
different forms of many words. In some cases these latter forms appeared
to be more correct, but he no doubt mixed his Savi a good deal with GB.
How much, it is impossible to tell, as this dialect has evidently been influenced
to a large extent by GB. At any rate his information suffices to prove that
Savi is really a dialect of Phal.
'The following description of Phal. is based mainly upon my material
from the Ashret dialect.
5
4. The close connection between Phal. and Shina has been briefly
indicated in my Report on a Linguistic Mission to N. W. India.' Phonetically
Phal. is considerally more archaic than Sh. It has retained the aspiration
of mediae, at any rate in the phonetic sense, while this feature has been
given up by most, if not all, dialects of Shina. Postvocalic sibilants and
r remain, groups consisting of an occlusive + r are not assimilated2; and
st have been preserved to a greater extent than in Shina, and nlZ < ndlt
has not been assimilated into n. Evidently Phal. has escaped from the
influence of Sh. before this language had reached its present stage of
development. How long ago the separation took place, is impossible to tell,
but the number of phonetic archaisms indicate a period of at least some
hundred years. In its new environments, surrounded by Kalasha, Icati,
Khowar, Dameli and Bashkarik, the phonetic structure of Phal. has had a
better chance of subsisting. It is interesting to note that the development
of voiced aspirates into consonant clusters is paralleled in Kal.
Morpliologically Phal. in the main agrees with Sh., and influence from
other languages can scarcely be made probable. But it has developed a
number of forms of its own, especially in the verb inflection.
5 5. As might be expected, it is the vocabulary which most clearly
reveals the vicissitudes of the history of Phal. It contains a large number
of typical Sh. words, some of which have been mentioned in my Report,
and many others, which will appear from a perusal of the vocabulary.
But it is, on the other hand, evident that Phal., apart from recent
loan-words from Ichowar, the dominant language of Chitral, possesses a
number of words in common with the Dardic languages of its present home.
A few examples of such words are given below. Others will be found
in the Voc. - Some of these words may, of course, occur also in unre-
corded S.W. Sh. dialects.
iiqg14 sickle. - Dam., GB., Bashk., Torw.; but Sh. gilgit. bisdc.
nntlbhi.: nineteen. Kandia nl+iBt%; but Sh. p. uksnih.
a1ra,s!i chin. Dam. dro~ti;R ashk. i'rit, Torw. hn'rts; but Sh. c'hgm.
fit.:tiy apricot. Icohistani diall., Pashai, etc.; but Sh. iari.
I'i(ci)riin rainbow. Dam. idrap etc., but Sh. btgon.
bn'bni apple. Dam., Icohistani diall., but Sh. pa/d.
'
PP. 54, sqq.
Shina or Pales in the Indus Kohistan still has cr < fr.
I0 GEORG MORGENSTIERNE H.-F. K1.
bh~ns ister. - Maiya, Chilis, Kshm., Lhd., etc.; but Sh. sn.
tan'dis' fourteen. - Dam. EandfS, Kandia (Maiyi) Enndas'; but Sh. p.
tahundti, etc.
gariiri throat. - Bashk., Torw.; but Sh. ~o"@.
ghiiru horse. Dam., GB, Kohistani dialects, etc., but Sh. a'Spii.
RuEtlr dog. - Kohistani diall.; but Sh. SW.
kir snow. - Dam. and Kal., but Sh. hin.
khar ass. Kal.u., Dam., Kafir languages, Chilis, etc., but Sh. zakun.
prnipil transpiration. - Dam. pras'py~f, Ka1.u. pre~pil; GB. plaitti
(pnSi!?); but Sh. gilg. girom, chil. hfifnk, jijelut pastd.
rf~lrnCf ish. - Dam. ri"mraC, Bashk. tnaC, etc.; but Sh. Ehi'mii.
rat blood. - Kohistani diall., Kshm., Lhd.; but Sh. ftf.
tbrrrn forehead. - GB., Dam., Bashk.; but Sh. ni'fau.
My notes on the Biyori and Purigal dialects are too scanty to permit
a comparison with the vocabulary of Ashreti. Note, however:
A fandai top of the head: B tiil; A siik, ma~kirann eck: B, P biz
(zIia1.u.); A Sio hare: B, P SaSiiik, etc.; A j/zaggiir liver : B ~byun(< Khow.);
A nevi navel: B bntak; A Sign, sigaf sand: B der.
SOUNDS AND SOUND-SYSTEM.
5
6. Vowels.
i ZI i Zi
e o P d
a ii
The short n is usually of the (A) type. In the diphthong ai, and in
2 also after n palatal consonant, (ri') is sounded. Thus, Elii2diS '14'; Sariil 2,
Sa" I 'autumn'; ytinbiit 2, yn" I 'millstone'. A reduced (a), probably a
variant of [a], was heard in a few words.
I have noted e in some words, e. g., in bheS- 1 (bhaS- z) 'to sit down';
Ihs 'having done'; dig'g~r'b lacksmith'. But probably this is a variant of e.
E
Short 2' is frecluently written r in my notes (e.g ., rnr~d,/l trnu, kl$rno, a'&).
Similarly the open character of the short u appears from notations
such as iinr7, b/!iirrr/~,b o(rf.3, etc. After a palatal 1 heard ii in jiil- 2, k~'iii)~I.o
The phoneme o is usually written 9 in my notes. Thus, 9'i.hd, 9Fh.7, ub9.
In the pronunciation of an overshort vowel was often heard between
2
a voiced consonant and /I. E. g., b'hrn 2, I3 (bh~nI ); de/leldi (rihedi I);
duhrimi (dlzrinri I); d~lr~'yrim(cl ll€.rl.rrrir I ); ne1/rt?r (4hfr I); guhul~i.rdl I);
h i j JI But also f"/rii.st I, 2; rnf'hiEs I, 2, etc.
Long [i] hai sometimes been written i (mi=m i), and for ii I have
noted fi in some words, probably in order to indicate a full labialization.
There is some vacillation between t? and t in my notes, hut there is
nothing to indicate that they form two distinct phonemes. In a few cases
I have written i or e" for E; e. g. in crbhini I ("t?ti 2).