| Badeshi | |
|---|---|
 Badeshi written in the Arabic script | |
| Native to | Pakistan |
| Region | Bishigram Valley, Chail |
| Ethnicity | Badeshi people |
Native speakers | 3 (2018)[1] |
Indo-European
| |
| Arabic script,[2] words also transcribed inLatin script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bdz |
| Glottolog | bade1240 |
Badeshi is an unclassifiedIndo-Iranian language spoken in northernPakistan.[3] The language is critically endangered and considered at risk of extinction. In 2018, theBBC found three men who could still speak the language.[1][4]
Muhammad Zaman Sagar, a field linguist connected to the Forum for Language Initiative, has worked on this language. But as a result of his research during two years, he collected only about one hundred words.[1] In July 2007, he visited theBishigram Valley again and spent some days with the people there. There are efforts to retain a record of the language by linguistZubair Torwali among others.[5] Torwali has posited that it may be related toYidgha orWakhi.[5]
In 2018, BBC reporters found three old men (Said Gul, Ali Sher and Rahim Gul) who could still speak Badeshi in theBishigram Valley inNorthern Pakistan.[1] They claimed that the language had initially been spoken by nine or ten families in their village, but that theTorwali language had taken over. The men had also worked in tourist areas in theSwat Valley, where they spokePashto. Someromanised phrases of Badeshi were:[1]