| Sheikhgal | |
|---|---|
| Watali | |
| Opedigal | |
 | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Kashmir Valley |
| Ethnicity | Watal |
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
Sheikhgal orWatali is an unclassifiedIndo-Aryan language[1] ofJammu and Kashmir, India. Its speakers, the formerly nomadicWatals,[2] are found throughoutKashmir, particularly in the districts ofSrinagar (Parimpora,Nowhatta,Dargah,Natipora,Hawal),Baramulla (Bandipora,Khawja Bagh,Sopore andTangmarg),Pulwama (Lolaab andLassipora) andKupwara (Kanthpora,Kulgam,Haihama,Magam,Handwara,Tarathpora).[3] Among its speakers the language is also known asOpedigal orPhiri kathi.[4]
Although attitudes towards the language are generally negative,[5] the community is compact[6] and Sheikhgal is the dominant language within the home.[7] However, in other domains (market, workplace etc.) the language of wider communicationKashmiri is the preferred choice, even with other speakers of Sheikhgal.[8] Within the family, there is a slight shift away from using Sheikhgal (85% of those interviewed by Mullick speak Sheikhgal with their spouses but only 69% do so with their children).[9]
| Front-Central | Near-back/Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | iː | uː |
| Near-close | ɪ | ʊ |
| Close-mid | eː | oː |
| Mid | ə | |
| Open-mid | ɛː | ɔː |
| Open | aː |
| Labial | Dental/ | Retroflex | Post-alv. | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Stop/ | voiceless | p | t̪ | ʈ | t͡ʃ | k | q | |
| voiced | b | d̪ | ɖ | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ɢ | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | ç | x | ||
| voiced | v | z | ʒ | ʝ | ɣ | |||
| Rhotic | ɾ~r | ɽ | ||||||
| Lateral | l | ɭ | ||||||
