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Wikipedia / Wanetsi

Waṇetsi (), also called Tarīno () and sometimes Tsalgari (), is an eastern Iranian language that is spoken mainly in northern regions of the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is sometimes considered a distinct variety of Pashto and perhaps is a representation of a more archaic, or very early, form of Pashto. In some cases, Wanetsi shares similarities with the Pamir language of Munji, being a sort of bridge between the former and Pashto. However, Wanetsi is generally unintelligible to Pashto speakers.

It is spoken by the Tareen in Balochistan, Pakistan, primarily in Harnai (هرنای) (Harnai District) and Chawter (چوتېر) area in Sanjawi, northern Balochistan, Pakistan. The language is at risk of extinction due to lack of attention and a perception that it is a language of foreigners.

History

Professor Prods Oktor Skjærvø states:

According to Encyclopædia Iranica Waṇetsi branched off from the other Pashto dialects in the Middle Iranian stage:

Research

The first known linguistic research on Waṇetsi was conducted in 1929 by Georg Morgenstierne. Since then linguists like Josef Elfenbein have worked and researched on this archaic Pashto dialect. In his book "Tarin aw Tarīno", Syed Khair Muhammad Arif has also included a small dictionary of Waṇetsi. ٙBut much work remains to be done on understanding Waṇetsi.

Poetry

The Waṇetsi Poet Nizamuddin Nizami Tarin, a Spin Tarin from Chawter, has also compiled poetry in the language. An excerpt from his poem in Waṇetsi:

Music

The singer Khayam Tareen (خيام ترين) has also sung songs in Waṇetsi.

Phonology

Consonants

  • Waṇetsi has [] and [] for Pashto ښ and ږ, respectively.

  • څ does not merge with [s] but can be pronounced as [] and ځ does not merge with [z] but can be pronounced as [].

  • [] is dropable in Waṇetsi e.g. هغه becomes اغه

Vowels

  • Josef Elfenbein states: "ī and ū are not phonemically distinct from i and u respectively, and are pronounced [i] and [u] respectively when unstressed (and not [ɪ] and [ʊ] as in Kākaṛī), and [iː] and [uː] when stressed."

  • There is a marked spontaneous tendency to palatalize "ī" as "yī" and "ē" as "yē"; and to labialize "ū" as "wū" and "ō" as "wo". Initial delabialization is common in "wū" as "ū" and "wō" as "ō".

  • The stressed short "á" is often lengthened, and an unstressed long "ā" shortened.

  • The standard weakening of final vowels in Waṇetsi makes the masculine-feminine gender distinction much less audible: [ə] and [a] are not phonemically distinct when unstressed in any position. But stressed final ә́ is kept apart from stressed á as in general Pashto.

Nasalisation

Waṇetsi also has vowel nasalisation which is transcribed as / ̃/ or ں in the Pashto alphabet.

Stress

Verbs

Like Pashto, verbs have final stress in the imperfective aspect and initial stress in the perfective aspect.Examples:

Words

Stress can also change the meaning of words, as in Pashto.

Example:

Subdialects

Tarīno is subdivided into the Harnāi variety and the Chawter variety.

Grammatical comparison with general Pashto

Adpositions

Possessive

The possessive postposition غه is used instead of دExample:

Idiomatic Expression

Tareeno also varies from Pashto in idiomatic expression.

Example:

نهير /nahī́r/ “thought” - used with the verb to hit

Verbal Suffixes

First Person Suffix

The first person verbal suffixes also change:

Second Person Suffix

Some verbal suffixes like the feminine third person suffix [ه and ې] are the same:

Third Person Suffix

Past Suffix

Like standard Pashto the third person suffix for verbs with the root وتل the third person past suffix is different for the singular and plural.

Comparison with general Pashto

Poetry

The following is provided by Zamir Gulbahar (ظمير ګلبهار), a Tareeno poet from Harnai:

Lexical Comparison

The following list has been provided by the Waṇetsi poet Nizamuddin Nizami

Sentence Comparison

Sample 1

The following examples have been provided by Nizamuddin Nizami

Sample 2

The following examples have been provided by Nizamuddin Nizami

Sample 3

The following examples have been provided by Nizamuddin Nizami

Sample 4

The following examples have been provided by Nizamuddin Nizami

Grammar

Nouns - Morphology

Class 1

  • Masculine Animate: mə́ser - elder (In general Pashto: mə́sər

    Masculine Animate: lewә́- wolf

    Masculine Animate: xar- donkey

    Masculine Animate: pšə́ - tom-cat (in general Pashto: piš)

    Masculine Inanimate: dārū́ - medicine

    Masculine Inanimate: kor - house

    Feminine Animate: pšī - cat (in general Pashto: piśó)

    Feminine Inanimate: lyār - way (in general Pashto: lār)

    Feminine Inanimate: xwā́šī - mother-in-law

    Feminine Inanimate: čaṛə́ - mother-in-law

    Feminine Inanimate: lergā́ - stick

Class 2

  • Masculine Animate: yirźá - bear (in general Pashto: يږ [yәẓ̌, yәg, yәź])

    Masculine Animate: spa -dog (in general Pashto: spáy)

    Masculine Inanimate: wagaṛá -village (in general Pashto: kə́lay)

    Feminine Animate: spī - female-dog (in general Pashto spə́i)

Class 3

  • Masculine Inanimate: špaźmi -moon (in general Pashto spoẓ̌mə́i, a feminine noun)

    Feminine Inanimate: méle -celebration (in general Pashto melá)

Class 4

  • Masculine Animate: spor- horseman

    Masculine Inanimate: rebún - shirt

Class 5

  • Masculine Animate: ğal

Agglutinative Formation

The (e)ya case is agglutinative.

Demonstratives

In Waṇetsi اغه [aɣa] functions for both Pashto دغه (this) and هغه (that).

Verb Infinitive

Where as General Pashto employs the ل [ә́l] to the past stem to make it infinitive, Waṇetsi employs نګ [ang] to the past stem to make it infinitive.

Bibliography

  • J. H. Elfenbein, (1984). "The Wanetsi Connexion: Part I". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1): 54–76.

  • J. H. Elfenbein, (1984). "The Wanetsi Connexion: Part II". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (2): 229–241.

  • J. H Elfenbein, (1967). "Lanḍa Zor Wəla Waṇecī". Archiv Orientální. XXXV: 563–606.

See also

References