| Dawoodi | |
|---|---|
| Domaaki | |
| Native to | Pakistan |
| Region | Nager and Hunza Valleys |
| Ethnicity | Domaa |
Native speakers | 340 (2011)[1] |
| Arabic script[2] | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | dmk |
| Glottolog | doma1260 |
| ELP | Domaaki |
Dawoodi (دَاؤُدِی), also known asDomaakí (ڈوماکی),Ḍumāki,[3] orDomaá, is an endangered[4]Indo-Aryan language spoken by a few hundred people living in theGilgit-Baltistan territory in northern Pakistan. It is historically related to theCentral Indo-Aryan languages of the Indian Midlands, though it has been significantly influenced by its neighbours.[5]
The speakers of the language belong to a small ethnic minority that lives dispersed among the larger regional groups. The majority of Doma communities have in the past switched to the dominant Shina language, with their original language surviving only in the Burushaski areas ofNagar andHunza.[5] There is a distinct dialect in each of those two areas; they are still mutually intelligible despite numerous differences.
According to local traditions, the Dooma's ancestors came somewhere from the south; according to the speakers themselves their forebears arrived in the Nager andHunza Valleys fromKashmir, and northPunjab in separate groups and over an extended period of time viaBaltistan,Gilgit, Darel, Tangir,Punial and evenKashghar.
All Dawoodi speakers are proficient in the languages of their host communities (Burushaski and/orShina) as well as in their own mother tongue. Many of them also knowUrdu, which they have learned at school or picked up while working in other parts of Pakistan.
The nameDomaki is perceived aspejorative by the speakers, who nowadays prefer the termDawoodi, which is associated with theIslamic figure of Dawood.[6]