| Shina | |
|---|---|
| Gilgiti | |
| ݜݨیاٗ Ṣiṇyaá | |
| Pronunciation | [ʂiɳjá] |
| Native to | Pakistan,India |
| Region | Gilgit-Baltistan,Kohistan,Drass,Gurez |
| Ethnicity | Shina |
Native speakers | 1.1 million (2018)[1] |
Early forms | |
| Arabic script (Nastaʿlīq)[2] | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:scl – Standard Shinaplk – Kohistani Shina |
| Glottolog | shin1264 Shinakohi1248 Kohistani Shina |
Distribution of Shina language in Dark Orange | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Shina (ݜݨیاٗ,Ṣiṇyaá,[ʂiɳjá]), also known by itsexonymGilgiti,[a] is anIndo-Aryan language of theDardic branch in theIndo-European language family, primarily spoken by theShina people,[3][4] native tonorthern Pakistan, specificallyGilgit-Baltistan andKohistan.[3][5] A small community of Shina speakers is also found inIndia, in theGurez valley ofJammu and Kashmir and inDras valley ofLadakh.[3]Outliers of Shina language such asBrokskat are found inLadakh,Kundal Shahi inAzad Kashmir,Palula andSawi inChitral,Ushojo in theSwat Valley andKalkoti inDir.[3]
It is one of the majorregional languages of Pakistan, being the most-widely spoken one in Gilgit-Baltistan. It is also spoken outside of Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan by Shina communities in major metropolitan areas around the country, particularlyIslamabad–Rawalpindi,Karachi,Lahore, andPeshawar.
Until recently, there was no writing system for the language. A number of schemes have been proposed, but presently, there is no single writing system used by speakers of Shina.[6] Shina is mostly a spoken language and not a written language.
Due to the effects of dominant languages in Pakistani media likeUrdu, Punjabi, andEnglish, in addition to the religious significance ofArabic andPersian, Shina is continuously expanding its vocabulary base with loan words.[7] This process is also ongoing with that of many otherlanguages in Pakistan. It has close relationships with other Indo-Aryan languages, especiallyHindko,Punjabi,Sindhi,Saraiki, and the dialects ofWestern Pahari.[8]
There are an estimated 1,146,000 speakers of both Shina andKohistani Shina inPakistan according toEthnologue (2018), a majority of whom reside in the provinces ofKhyber-Pakhtunkwa andGilgit-Baltistan. A small community of Shina speakers is also settled in theNeelam valley ofAzad Jammu and Kashmir.[9][10]
A small community of Shina speakers is also settled inIndia in the far north of theKargil district borderingGilgit-Baltistan. Their population is estimated to be around 32,200 according to the2011 census.[9]
The following is a description of the phonology of the Drasi, Shina variety spoken in India and the Kohistani variety in Pakistan.
The Shina principal vowel sounds:[11]
| Front | Mid | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrd. | rnd. | |||
| High | i | u | ||
| High-mid | e | o | ||
| Low-mid | ɛ | ə | ʌ | ɔ |
| Low | (æ) | a | ||
All vowels except /ɔ/ can be either long or nasalized, though no minimal pairs with the contrast are found.[11] /æ/ is heard from loanwords.[12]
In Shina there are the following diphthongs:[13]
In India, the dialects of the Shina language have preserved both initial and finalOIAconsonant clusters, while the Shina dialects spoken in Pakistan have not.[14]
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Shina words are often distinguished by three contrasting tones: level, rising, and falling tones. Here is an example that shows the three tones:
"The" (تھےࣿ) has a level tone and means the imperative "Do!"
When the stress falls on the first mora of a long vowel, the tone is falling.Thée (تھےٰ) means "Will you do?"
When the stress falls on the second mora of a long vowel, the tone is rising.Theé (تھےٗ) means "after having done".
| Shina alphabet |
|---|
| ابپتٹثجچحخڅځڇدڈذرڑزژڙسشݜصضطظعغڠفقکگلمنݨںوہ (ھ)ءیے |
ExtendedPerso-Arabic script |
Shina is one of the few Dardic languages with a written tradition.[15] However, it was an unwritten language until a few decades ago.[16] Only in the late 2010s has Shina orthography been standardized and primers as well as dictionaries endorsed by the territorial government ofGilgit-Baltistan have been published.[17][18]
Since the first attempts at accurately representing Shina's phonology in the 1960s, there have been several proposed orthographies for the different varieties of the language. Debates have centered on how to write several retroflex sounds not present inUrdu, and whether vowel length and tone should be represented.[19]
There are two main orthographic conventions now, one in Pakistani-controlled areas ofGilgit-Baltistan and inKohistan, and the other in Indian-controlled area ofDras,Ladakh.
Below, the alphabet has been standardized, documented, and popularized thanks to the efforts of literaturists such as Professor Muhammad Amin Ziya, Shakeel Ahmad Shakeel, and Razwal Kohistani. The alphabet established by these individuals has been developed for all Shina language dialects, including the Gilgit dialect and theKohistani dialect.[17][18][20] There are minor differences, such as the existence of the letterڦ inKohistani dialect of Shina. Furthermore, variations and personal preferences can be observed across Shina documents. For example, it is common to see someone useسً instead ofݜ for[ʂ], or usesukun◌ْ (U+0652) instead ofsmall sideway noon◌ࣿ (U+08FF) to indicate short vowels. However, these variations are no longer an issue. Another issue is that of how to write loanwords that use letters not found in Shina language, for example letters "س / ث / ص", which all sound like [s] in Shina. Some documents preserve the original spelling, despite the letters being homophones and not having any independent sound of their own, similar to orthographic conventions ofPersian andUrdu. Whereas other documents prefer to rewrite all loanwords in a single Shina letter, and thus simplify the writing, similar to orthographic conventions ofKurdish andUyghur.
Shina vowels are distinguished by length, by whether or not they're nasalized, and by tone. Nasalization is represented like other Perso-Arabic alphabets in Pakistan, withNun Ghunna (ن٘ـ / ـن٘ـ / ں). In Shina, tone variation only occur when there is a long vowel. There are conventions unique to Shina to show the three tones. In Shina conventions, specific diacritics are shown in conjunction with the lettersalif,waw,buṛi ye, andye (ا، و، یـ، ی، ے), as these letters are written down to represent long vowels. The diacriticsinverted damma◌ٗ (U+0657) andsuperscript alef◌ٰ (U+0670) represent a rising tone and a falling tone respectively. Another diacritic, asmall sideway noon◌ࣿ (U+08FF) is used to represent short vowels when need be.[21]
Below table shows Shina consonants.[17][18]
| Name | Forms | IPA | Transliteration[22] | Unicode | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shina | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial | ||||
| الف alif | ا | ـا | ا / آ | [ʌ],[∅],silent | – / aa | U+0622 U+0627 | At the beginning of a word it can either come with diacritic, or it can come in form ofalif-madda (آ), or it can be stand-alone and silent, succeeded by a vowel letter. Diacriticsاَ اِ، اُ can be omitted in writing. | |
| بےࣿ be | ب | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | [b] | b | U+0628 | |
| پےࣿ pe | پ | ـپ | ـپـ | پـ | [p] | p | U+067E | |
| تےࣿ te | ت | ـت | ـتـ | تـ | [t̪] | t | U+062A | |
| ٹےࣿ te | ٹ | ـٹ | ـٹـ | ٹـ | [ʈ] | ṭ | U+0679 | |
| ثےࣿ se | ث | ـث | ـثـ | ثـ | [s] | s | U+062B | Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin. Can be replaced with lettersiinس.[17] |
| جوࣿم ǰom | ج | ـج | ـجـ | جـ | [d͡ʒ] | ǰ | U+062C | |
| چےࣿ če | چ | ـچ | ـچـ | چـ | [t͡ʃ] | č | U+0686 | |
| څےࣿ tse | څ | ـڅ | ـڅـ | څـ | [t͡s] | ts | U+0685 | Letter borrowed fromPashto alphabet. In the official Shina orthography in Indian-Controlled Kashmir, the letterژ is used.[23] |
| ڇےࣿ c̣e | ڇ | ـڇ | ـڇـ | ڇـ | [ʈ͡ʂ] | c̣ | U+0687 | Unique letter for Shina language. Some Shina literatures and documents use two horizontal lines instead of four dots, useحٍـ instead ofڇـ. In the official Shina orthography in Indian-Controlled Kashmir, the letterچْ is used.[23] |
| حےࣿ he | ح | ـح | ـحـ | حـ | [h] | h | U+062D | Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin. Can be replaced with letterhayہ.[17] |
| خےࣿ khe | خ | ـخ | ـخـ | خـ | [x]~[kʰ] | kh | U+062D | Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin. Can be replaced with digraph letterkheکھ.[17] |
| دال daal | د | ـد | - | [d̪] | d | U+062F | ||
| ڈال ḍaal | ڈ | ـڈ | [ɖ] | ḍ | U+0688 | |||
| ذال zaal | ذ | ـذ | - | [z] | z | U+0688 | Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin. Can be replaced with letterzeز.[17] | |
| رےࣿ re | ر | ـر | - | [r] | r | U+0631 | ||
| ڑےࣿ ṛe | ڑ | ـڑ | [ɽ] | ṛ | U+0691 | |||
| زےࣿ ze | ز | ـز | [z] | z | U+0632 | |||
| ژےࣿ že / ǰe | ژ | ـژ | - | [ʒ]~[d͡ʒ] | ž / ǰ | U+0632 | Only used in loanwords of Persian and European origin. Can be replaced with letterjomج.[17] | |
| ڙےࣿ ẓe | ڙ | ـڙ | - | [ʐ] | ẓ | U+0699 | Unique letter for Shina language. Some Shina literatures and documents use two horizontal lines instead of four dots, useرً instead ofڙ. In the official Shina orthography in Indian-Controlled Kashmir, the letterجْ is used.[23] | |
| سِین siin | س | ـس | ـسـ | سـ | [s] | s | U+0633 | |
| شِین šiin | ش | ـش | ـشـ | شـ | [ʃ] | š | U+0634 | |
| ݜِین ṣiin | ݜ | ـݜ | ـݜـ | ݜـ | [ʂ] | ṣ | U+0687 | Unique letter for Shina language. Some Shina literatures and documents use two horizontal lines instead of four dots, useسً instead ofݜ. In the official Shina orthography in Indian-Controlled Kashmir, the letterشْ is used.[23] |
| صواد swaad | ص | ـص | ـصـ | صـ | [s] | s | U+0635 | Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin. Can be replaced with lettersiinس.[17] |
| ضواد zwaad | ض | ـض | ـضـ | ضـ | [z] | z | U+0636 | Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin. Can be replaced with letterzeز.[17] |
| طوے tooy | ط | ـط | ـطـ | طـ | [t̪] | t | U+0637 | Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin. Can be replaced with letterteت.[17] |
| ظوے zooy | ظ | ـظ | ـظـ | ظـ | [z] | z | U+0638 | Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin. Can be replaced with letterzeز.[17] |
| عَین ayn | ع | ـع | ـعـ | عـ | [ʔ],silent | - | U+0639 | Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin. Can be replaced with letteralifا.[17] |
| غَین gayn | غ | ـغ | ـغـ | غـ | [ɣ]~[ɡ] | g | U+0639 | Only used in loanwords of Arabic and Turkic origin. Can be replaced with lettergaafگ.[17] |
| فےࣿ fe / phe | ف | ـف | ـفـ | فـ | [f]~[pʰ] | f / ph | U+0641 | Only used in loanwords. Can be replaced with digraph letterpheپھ.[17] |
| قاف qaaf / kaaf | ق | ـق | ـقـ | قـ | [q]~[k] | q / k | U+0642 | Only used in loanwords of Arabic and Turkic origin. Can be replaced with letterkaafک.[17] |
| کاف kaaf | ک | ـک | ـکـ | کـ | [k] | k | U+0643 | |
| گاف gaaf | گ | ـگ | ـگـ | گـ | [ɡ] | g | U+06AF | |
| لام laam | ل | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | [l] | l | U+0644 | |
| مِیم miim | م | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | [m] | m | U+0645 | |
| نُون nuun | ن | ـن | ـنـ | نـ | [n] | n | U+0646 | |
| نُوݨ nuuṇ | ݨ | ـݨ | ـݨـ | ݨـ | [ɳ] | ṇ | U+0768 | In the official Shina orthography in Indian-Controlled Kashmir, the letterنْ is used.[23] |
| نُوں / نُون گُنَہ nū̃ / nūn gunna | ں /ن٘ | ـں | ـن٘ـ | ن٘ـ | /◌̃/ | ◌̃ | For middle of word: U+0646 plus U+0658 For end of word: U+06BA | |
| نُون٘گ nuung | ن٘گ | ـن٘گ | ـن٘گـ | ن٘گـ | /ŋ/ | ng | U+0646 plus U+0658 and U+06AF | Adigraph, counted as a letter.[17] |
| واؤ waaw | و / او | ـو | - | [oː] /[w] | w / ō | U+0648 | The letterwaaw can either represent consonant ([w/v]) or vowel ([oo]). It can also act as a carrier of vowel diacritics, representing several other vowels. At the beginning of a word, when representing a consonant, the letterwaaw will appear as a standalone character, followed by the appropriate vowel. If representing a vowel at the beginning of a word, the letterwaaw needs to be preceded by analifا. When the letterwaaw comes at the end of the word representing a consonant sound [w], ahamza is usedؤ to label it as such and avoid mispronunciation as a vowel.[21] | |
| ہَے hai | ہ | ـہ | ـہـ | ہـ | [h] | h | U+0646 | This letter differs fromdo-ac̣hi'ii hay (ھ) and they are not interchangeable. Similar to Urdu,do-chashmi hē (ھ) is exclusively used as a second part ofdigraphs for representingaspirated consonants. In initial and medial position, the letterhē always represents the consonant [h]. In final position, The letterhē can either represent consonant ([h]) or it can demonstrate that the word ends with short vowelsa◌َہ / ـَہ,i◌ِہ / ـِہ,u◌ُہ / ـُہ.[21] |
| ہَمزَہ hamza | ء | - | [ʔ],silent | ’ | U+0621 | Used mid-word to indicate separation between a syllable and another that starts with a vowel.hamza on top of letterswaaw andye at end of a word serves a function too. When the letterwaaw orye come at the end of the word representing a consonant sound [w] or [y], ahamza is usedؤ / ئ / ـئ to label it as such and avoid mispronunciation as a vowel.[17][21] | ||
| یےࣿ / لیکھی یےࣿ ye / leekhii ye | ی | ـی | ـیـ | یـ | [j] /[e] /[i] | y / e / i | U+06CC | The letterye can either represent consonant ([j]) or vowels ([e]/[i]). It can also act as a carrier of vowel diacritics, representing several other vowels. At the beginning of a word, when representing a consonant, the letterye will appear as a standalone character, followed by the appropriate vowel. If representing a vowel at the beginning of a word, the letterye needs to be preceded by analifا. When the letterye comes at the end of the word representing a consonant sound [j], ahamza is usedئ to label it as such and avoid mispronunciation as a vowel. When representing a vowel at the end of a word, it can only be [i]. For vowel [e], the letterbuṛi yeے is used.[21] |
| بُڑیࣿ یےࣿ buṛi ye | ے | ـے | - | [e] /[j] | e / y | U+06D2 | The letterbuṛi ye only occurs in final position. The letterbuṛi ye represents the vowel "ē" [eː] or the consonant "y" [j]. | |
| بھےࣿ bhe | بھ | ـبھ | ـبھـ | بھـ | [bʱ] | bh | U+0628 and U+06BE | Digraphs counted as letters.[17] |
| پھےࣿ phe | پھ | ـپھ | ـپھـ | پھـ | [pʰ] | ph | U+067E and U+06BE | |
| تھےࣿ the | تھ | ـتھ | ـتھـ | تھـ | [t̪ʰ] | th | U+062A and U+06BE | |
| ٹھےࣿ ṭhe | ٹھ | ـٹھ | ـٹھـ | ٹھـ | [ʈʰ] | ṭh | U+0679 and U+06BE | |
| جھوࣿم ǰhom | جھ | ـجھ | ـجھـ | جھـ | [d͡ʒʱ] | ǰh | U+062C and U+06BE | |
| چھےࣿ čhe | چھ | ـچھ | ـچھـ | چھـ | [t͡ʃʰ] | čh | U+0686 and U+06BE | |
| څھےࣿ tshe | څھ | ـڅھ | ـڅھـ | څھـ | [t͡sʰ] | tsh | U+0685 and U+06BE | Adigraph, counted as a letter.[17] In the official Shina orthography in Indian-Controlled Kashmir, the letterژھ is used.[23] |
| ڇھےࣿ c̣he | ڇھ | ـڇھ | ـڇھـ | ڇھـ | [ʈ͡ʂʰ] | c̣h | U+0687 and U+06BE | Adigraph, counted as a letter.[17] In the official Shina orthography in Indian-Controlled Kashmir, the letterچْھ is used.[23] |
| کھےࣿ khe | کھ | ـکھ | ـکھـ | کھـ | [kʰ] | kh | U+0643 and U+06BE | Digraphs counted as letters.[17] |
| گھےࣿ ghe | گھ | ـگھ | ـگھـ | گھـ | [ɡʱ] | gh | U+06AF and U+06BE | |
There are five vowels in Shina language. Each of the five vowels in Shina have a short version and a long version. Shina is also atonal language. Short vowels in Shina have a short high level tone˥. Long vowels can either have "no tone", i.e. a long flat tone˧, a long rising tone[˨˦], or a long falling tone (/˥˩/.
All five vowels have a defined way of presentation in Shina orthographic conventions, including letters anddiacritics. Although diacritics can and are occasionally dropped in writing. Short vowels [a], [i], and [u] are solely written with diacritics. Short vowels [e] and [o] are written with letterswaw andbuṛi ye. A unique diacritic, asmall sideway noon◌ࣿ (U+08FF) is used on top of these letters to indicate a short vowel.[21] Long vowels are written with a combination of diacritics and lettersalif,waaw orye.
Below table shows short vowels at the beginning, middle, and end of a word.[21][22]
| Vowel at the beginning of the word | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | e | i | o | u |
| اَ | ایࣿـ / اےࣿ | اِ | اوࣿ | اُ |
| Vowel at the middle of the word | ||||
| ـَ | یࣿـ / ـیࣿـ | ـِ | وࣿ / ـوࣿ | ـُ |
| Vowel at the end of the word | ||||
| ◌َہ / ـَہ | ےࣿ / ـےࣿ | ◌ِہ / ـِہ | وࣿ / ـوࣿ | ◌ُہ / ـُہ |
Below table shows long vowels at the beginning, middle, and end of a word, with "no tone", i.e. a long flat tone˧.[21][22]
| Vowel at the beginning of the word | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| aa | ee | ii | oo | uu |
| آ | ایـ / اے | اِیـ / اِی | او | اُو |
| Vowel at the middle of the word | ||||
| ا / ـا | یـ / ـیـ | ◌ِیـ / ـِیـ | و / ـو | ◌ُو / ـُو |
| Vowel at the end of the word | ||||
| ا / ـا | ے / ـے | ◌ِی / ـِی | و / ـو | ◌ُو / ـُو |
Below table shows long vowels at the beginning, middle, and end of a word, with a long rising tone[˨˦].[21][22]
| Vowel at the beginning of the word | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| aá | eé | ií | oó | uú |
| آٗ | ایٗـ / اےٗ | اِیٗـ / اِیٗ | اوٗ | اُوٗ |
| Vowel at the middle of the word | ||||
| اٗ / ـاٗ | یٗـ / ـیٗـ | ◌ِیٗـ / ـِیٗـ | وٗ / ـوٗ | ◌ُوٗ / ـُوٗ |
| Vowel at the end of the word | ||||
| اٗ / ـاٗ | ےٗ / ـےٗ | ◌ِیٗ / ـِی | وٗ / ـوٗ | ◌ُوٗ / ـُوٗ |
Below table shows long vowels at the beginning, middle, and end of a word, with a long falling tone (/˥˩/.[21][22]
| Vowel at the beginning of the word | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| áa | ée | íi | óo | úu |
| آٰ | ایٰـ / اےٰ | اِیٰـ / اِیٰ | اوٰ | اُوٰ |
| Vowel at the middle of the word | ||||
| اٰ / ـاٰ | یٰـ / ـیٰـ | ◌ِیٰـ / ـِیٰـ | وٰ / ـوٰ | ◌ُوٰ / ـُوٰ |
| Vowel at the end of the word | ||||
| اٰ / ـاٰ | ےٰ / ـےٰ | ◌ِیٰ / ـِیٰ | وٰ / ـوٰ | ◌ُوٰ / ـُوٰ |
Below is a short passage of sample phrases.[24]
| Shina Arabic alphabet (orthography ofGilgit-Baltistan andKohistan) | اَساٰ ایࣿک سَنِیٰلو گوٰݜ پَشیٰس. اَساٰ دَہِیٰلو گوٰݜ پَشیٰس. گوٰݜ جیٰجِہ دَہِیٰلوࣿ لیٰل بِیٰنوࣿ. گوٰݜ وَزِیٗ نَہ دِتوباٰلو. |
|---|---|
| Latin Transliteration | Asáa ek saníilo góoṣ pašées. Asáa dahíilo góoṣ pašées. Góoṣ jéeji dahíilo léel bíino. Góoṣ wazií na ditobáalo. |
| Translation | We saw a completely constructed house. We saw the house burnt down. The house appears burnt by someone. The house could not collapse completely. |
Shina is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic group, spoken in the Karakorams and the western Himalayas: Gilgit, Hunza, the Astor Valley, the Tangir-Darel valleys, Chilas and Indus Kohistan, as well as in the upper Neelam Valley and Dras. Outliers of Shina are found in Ladakh (Brokskat), Chitral (Palula and Sawi), Swat (Ushojo; Bashir 2003: 878) and Dir (Kalkoti).
The Shina dialects of India have retained both initial and final OIA consonant clusters. The Shina dialects of Pakistan have lost this distinction.
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