Sarikoli language

Infobox Language
name=Sarikoli
nativename="tujik ziv"
states=China
speakers=approximately 20,500 (1990)
familycolor=Indo-European
fam2=Indo-Iranian
fam3=Iranian
fam4=Eastern
fam5=Southeastern
fam6=Pamir
script=None, Arabic,
iso2=ira
iso3=srh

The Sarikoli language (also Selekur, Sarikul, Sariqul, Sariköli) is a member of the Pamir subgroup of the Southeastern Iranian languages spoken by Tajiks in China. It is officially referred to in China as the "Tajik language"; however, it is actually from a different subgroup within the Iranian family than the language which is official in Tajikistan.

Nomenclature

Sarikoli is officially referred to as "Tajik" (塔吉克语/unicode|Tǎjíkèyǔ) in China, as the ethnic group who speak it identify themselves as Tajiks and not Pamiris (just as their Wakhi do in Pakistan). [A wide variety of alternative transcriptions of the name "Sarikoli" are also used in linguistic discussions, such as 萨里库尔语/unicode|Sàlǐkùěryǔ, 萨雷阔勒语/unicode|Sàléikuòlèyǔ, 色勒库尔语/unicode|Sèlèkùěryǔ, or 撒里科里语/unicode|Sǎlǐkēlǐyǔ.] However, it is no more closely related to Tajik as spoken in Tajikistan (a Western Iranian language) than the other Pamir languages.cite book
last=Gawarjon (高尔锵/Gāo Ěrqiāng)
title=Outline of the Tajik language (塔吉克语简志/Tǎjíkèyǔ Jiǎnzhì)
publisher=Nationalities Publishing House
date=1985
location=Beijing ] It is also referred to as Tashkorghani,cite book
last=Rudelson
first=Justin Jon
title=Lonely Planet Central Asia Phrasebook: Languages Of The Silk Road
publisher=Lonely Planet Publications
date=January 2005
isbn=1741046041] after the ancient capital of the Sarikoli kingdom (now a county of Xinjiang); however, this usage is not widespread among scholars.

The earliest written accounts in English, from the 1870s, generally use the name "Sarikoli".cite journal
last=Shaw
first=Robert
title=On the Ghalchah Languages (Wakhi and Sarikoli)
journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal
volume=XIV
publisher=Asiatic Society of Bengal
date=1876]

Distribution of speakers

The number of speakers is in the tens of thousands; most reside in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in southern Xinjiang Province, China. Speakers in China typically use Uyghur and Chinese to communicate with people of other ethnic groups in the area. It is mutually unintelligible with the related Wakhi language, also the mother tongue of a minority of Tajiks in China.cite book
last=Arlund
first=Pamela
title=An Acoustic, Historical, and Developmental Analysis of Sarikol Tajik Diphthongs.
year=2006
publisher=The University of Texas
location=Arlington, Texas
pages=p8]

Orthography

The language has no official written form. Gawarjon, publishing in China, used IPA to transcribe the sounds of Sarikoli in his book and dictionary,cite book
last=Gawarjon (高尔锵/Gāo Ěrqiāng)
title=塔吉克汉词典 (Tǎjíkè-Hàn Cìdiǎn)
publisher=Sichuan Nationalities Publishing House
date=1996
location=Sichuan
isbn=754091744X] while Pakhalina, publishing in Russia, used an alphabet similar to that of the Wakhi language in hers.cite book
last=Pakhalina
first=Tatiana N.
title=The Sarikoli Language (Сарыкольский язык/Sarykol'skij Jazyk)
publisher=Akademia Nauk SSSR
location=Moscow
date=1966] [cite book
last=Pakhalina
first=Tatiana N.
title=Sarikoli-Russian Dictionary (Сарыкольско-русский словарь/Sarykol'sko-russkij slovar')
publisher=Akademia Nauk SSSR
location=Moscow
date=1971] Because the majority of Sarikoli-speakers attend schools using Uyghur as the medium of instruction, some may be able to write their language using the Uyghur alphabet.

Phonology

Vowels

Sarikoli vowels as used in Russian works (IPA values in bracelets):

a [a] , e [e] , εy [ɛi̯] (dialectal ay or ay [æi̯ / ai̯] , εw [ɛu̯] (dialectal æw or aw [æu̯ /au̯] , ə [ə] , i [i] , o [o / ɔ] , u [u] , ы [ɯ] (dialectal ů [ʊ] ) In some dialects also long variants of those vowels can appear: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ы̄, ǝ̄.

Consonants

Sarikoli has 29 consonants:

Sariqoli consonants according to Russian Iranologist transcription (IPA values in bracelets):p [p] , b [b] , t [t] , d [d] , k [k / c] , g [ɡ / ɟ] , q [q] , c [ʦ] , ʒ [ʣ] , č [ʧʲ] , ǰ [ʤʲ] , s [s] , z [z] , x̌ [x] , γ̌ [ɣ] , f [f] , v [v] , θ [θ] , δ [ð] , x [χ] , γ [ʁ] , š [ʃʲ] , ž [ʒʲ] , w [w] , y [j] , m [m] , n [n / ŋ] , l [l] , r [r]

Stress

Most words receive stress on the last syllable; however, a minority receive stress on their first syllable. Also, several noun declensions and verb inflections regularly place stress on their first syllable, including the imperative and interrogative.

Vocabulary

The Sarikoli lexicon is quite close to those of other Eastern Iranian languages, and exhibits some similarities and some differences with Western Iranian languages such as Persian or Tajik.

References

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=srh Ethnologue report for Sarikoli]
* [http://www.china.org.cn/english/null/139538.htm The Tajik Ethnic Group in China]
* [http://dspace.uta.edu/handle/10106/431 An Acoustic, Historical, and Developmental Analysis of Sarikol Tajik Diphthongs] , Pamela S. Arlund, The University of Texas at Arlington.