Shughni language

Shughni
Shugnan-Rushan
xuǧnůn ziv/хуг̌ну̊н зив
Native to	Tajikistan, Afghanistan
Native speakers	unknown (50,000 Shughni proper, ca. 75,000 all varieties cited 1990)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Eastern Iranian Shugni–Yazgulami Shughnani Shughni
Dialects	Rushani dialect
Writing system	Arabic, Cyrillic, Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sgh
Glottolog	shug1248

Shughni is one of the Pamir languages of the Southeastern Iranian language group. Its distribution is in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in Tajikistan and Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan.

Shughni tends towards SOV word order, distinguishes a masculine and a feminine gender in nouns and some adjectives as well as the 3rd person singular of verbs. Shughni distinguishes between an absolutive and an oblique case in its system of pronouns. The Rushani dialect is noted for a typologically unusual 'double-oblique' construction, also called a 'transitive case', in the past tense.

Dialects

Rushani, Bartangi, Oroshor (Roshorvi), Khufi, and Shughni proper are considered to be dialects. However, Bartangi and Khufi are quite distinct, and may be separate languages.

Vocabulary

Chart of Sounds in Shughni

Letter	English equivalent	Usage in Shugni
A/a	apple, angry	bad, akuniath, aram, anor
Aa/aa	Harvard, march	xhaab, daav, zamunaa, baad
Ai/ai	bite, fire	taiyor, arai, aiyuum, maile
B/b	big, able	biyor, balad, abor
Ch/ch	church, chair	chiiz, chiid, choi, chorik
D/d	dead, dried	daak, diidor, murd, darc
Dh/dh	this, mother	dhid, dhust, dhud, pidhid, podh
Dz/dz	buds, lads	dzulik, pindz, wixhidz, majhdzuunj
E/e	elephant, egg	elak, qate, qine, biide
Ee/ee	same as above but longer	tseem, teez, deer, Apreel
Ey/ey	aid, ancient	peydow, xheydow,
Ff/ff	fat, roof	fort, famtow, faand, boft
G/h	girl, big	gaap, gandaa, gardha, yiga
Gh/gh		ghaats, ghalat, bogh, shagh
I/i	big, lift	nist, yiwath, khirs, chis
Ii/ii	feet, beat	tiidow, miidow, shiintow, zhiiwj
J/j	jam, barge	jumla, jazo, majlis, ajab
Jh/jh		jhinik, saajh, majh, sipajh
K/k	book, kit	kitob, maak, tukmaa, kiinaa
Kh/kh	loch, Khorog	khaat, sakht, bakht, kharid
L/l	like, feel	lap, liing, tambal, balad
M/m	mouse, meet	mund, tamand, famtow, shaam
N/n	nut, mean	naan, qand, fanaa, baandak
O/o	pot, shop	oyandaa, ofarin, boft, nolaan
Oo/oo	boot, poodle	noor, joor, mood, moon
P/p	paint, top	parwiin, lap, pardhedow, pool
Q/q	Quran	qamoch, qand, nuqtaa, qiin
R/r	rabbit, rob	raang, tsarang, roosht, rukhsat
S/s	sit, miss	sarake, baas, kasal, safar
Sh/sh	shout, bush	shamol, maash, bashand, shogird
T/t	title, time	tavaar, turd, sust, chust
Th/th	think, moth	achath, khobath, aquniath, thiir
Ts/ts	blitz, fits	tsavor, buts, tsarang, xhats
U/u	look, should	duzd, mund, tuid, buts
Uu/uu	earn, fern	luuvd, uun, yuudand, okhiruun
V/v	vet, leave	viidow, yelav, vaz, virod
W/w	few, wait	chiidow, wiintow, boware, wazmin
Xh/xh		xheidow, xhats, tuxhna, duxhman
Y/y	yellow, yet	yordam, yelav, oyandaa, boyad
Z/z	zoo, blaze	zamiin, bozor, zardak, ziird
Zh/zh	pleasure, de ja vu	zholaa, zhiiwj, ghazhd, zhow

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u
Near-close	ɪ		ʊ
Close-mid	e eː		o oː
Mid	əː
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open	a

Consonants

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Alveolo- palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m		n		ŋ
Plosive	p b		t d		k ɡ	q
Affricate			t͡s d͡z	t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Fricative	f v	θ ð	s z	ʃ ʒ	x ɣ	χ ʁ	h
Approximant		l		j	w
Rhotic		r

Literature

• Zarubin, I.I.. Shugnanskie teksty i slovar. Moskva : Izd-vo Akademii nauk SSSR, 1960.

External links

• Shughni Language Page
• The Shughni Grammar Project