| Tirahi | |
|---|---|
| Tirāhī, Dardu | |
| Native to | Afghanistan |
| Ethnicity | perhaps 5,000Tirahi (no date)[1] |
Native speakers | (undated figure of 100)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tra |
| Glottolog | tira1253 |
| ELP | Tirahi |
 Tirahi is classified as Critically Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Tirahi is a nearly extinct if not already extinct[2]Indo-Aryan language[3] spoken in a few villages in the southeast ofJalalabad in theNangarhar Province of easternAfghanistan. It is spoken by older adults, who are likewise fluent inPashto.[1]
TheTirahis were expelled fromTirah in the present-dayKhyber District ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, by theAfridi Pashtuns.[4]Georg Morgenstierne claimed that Tirahi is "probably the remnant of a dialect group extending from Tirah through thePeshawar district intoSwat andDir."[5]
Spoken in theNangarhar Province of Northeastern Afghanistan, there are about 100 native speakers today, if any. This is mainly due to the majority of theTirahi people having assimilated into the dominantPashtun culture. Tirahi is also spoken in a couple of villages southeast of the Afghan city ofJalalabad,[6] such as Jaba, Mitarani, and Bara-khel.[7]
Tirahi is anIndo-Aryan language.[8] Further, Tirahi is part of the sub-group ofKohistani languages along with languages such asBateri,Chilisso,Gowro, and others. However, Tirahi also shares with languages spoken further to the east, such asKashmiri.[8] As a Dardic Language, Tirahi strongly preserves some vocabulary of spoken Sanskrit (cow - dēn in Tirahi, dhēnuh in Sanskrit, hand - ast in Tirahi, hastah in Sanskrit).[8] Being a language spoken in Afghanistan, Tirahi shares various words and grammatical constructs withPashto, a language spoken throughout Afghanistan to which many Tirahi speakers have become accustomed to speaking. Since Tirahi is entirely separated from the other Dardic languages, located south of theKabul River and west of theKhyber Pass, rendering it wholly encased by Pashto.[6] Tirahi also shares some vocabulary withKashmiri andShina such as the Tirahimala, for a father, the Kashmirimol, and the Shinamalo.[9]
Tirahi shows much influence fromPashto in phonology, lexicon and even morphology. However, its vocabulary exhibits a connection to Kohistani dialects. Therefore, Tirahi seems to occupy an intermediate position betweenPashto and theKohistani group.[10] Morgenstirne claims that Tirahi is "probably the remnant of a dialect group extending from Tirahi through thePeshawar district intoSwat andDir."[5]
Tirahi is aninflected language, having 5 cases:Nominative, Oblique,Genitive,Dative, andAblative. Adjectives, verbs, and nouns usually agree according to gender. Consonant-final nouns add e or a along with their traditional endings.[11] There appears to be an indefinite article, added to the end of the word as an -ī, similar toFarsi.[8]
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | mala - 'father' | mala | adam - 'man' | adam-a | |
| Oblique | mala | mal-an | adam-a | adam-an | |
| Dative | mala-s | mala | adam-a-s | adam-an | |
| Ablative | mala-si | mala-si | adam-a-si | adam-an | |
| Genitive | mala-ma | mala-si | adam-a-ma | adam-an-si |
1st person pronouns:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | au, ao | mā, ao |
| Oblique | mē | mēn |
| Dative | ma-si | ma-si |
| Genitive | myāna (m), myāni (s), myāna (p?) | N/A |
2nd person pronouns:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | tu, to | tao |
| Oblique | tē | tā |
| Dative | ta-si | N/A |
| Genitive | cā-na (m), cā-nī (m), cā-nī (f), cā-na (mfp) | tāma, tema |
It is very likely that this language is extinct. The Tirahi are "a group of unclear origin, almost completely assimilated by Pashtun" (Pstrusinska and Gray 1990).