Sarikoli language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sarikoli
تۇجىك زىڤ / سەرىقۇلى زىڤ[1]
Tujik ziv / Sarikhuli ziv Тоҷик зив
Native toChina
RegionPamir (Taxkorgan County)
EthnicitySarikolis
Native speakers
16,000 (2000)[2]
Uyghur Arabic alphabet (unofficial)[3]
Official status
Official language in
China
Language codes
ISO 639-3srh
Glottologsari1246
ELPSarikoli
Linguasphere58-ABD-eb
Xinjiang Province. Light blue are areas where Sarikoli is spoken.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

The Sarikoli language (also Sariqoli, Selekur, Sarikul, Sariqul, Sariköli) is a member of the Pamir subgroup of the Southeastern Iranian languages spoken by the Pamiris of Xinjiang, China. It is officially referred to in China as the "Tajik language", although it is different from the related Iranian language spoken in Tajikistan, which is considered a dialect of Persian.

Nomenclature[edit]

Sarikoli is officially referred to as "Tajik" (Chinese: 塔吉克语, Tǎjíkèyǔ) in China.[4] However, it is not closely related to Tajik (a form of Persian) as spoken in Tajikistan because Sarikoli is an Eastern Iranian language, closely related to other Pamir languages largely spoken in the Badakshan regions of Tajikistan and Afghanistan, whereas the Western Iranian Farsi-Dari-Tajik is a polycentric language of a related but distinctly and historically different type. Both of these types of language and dialect clusters have been geographically separated by great distances and mountainous terrain over the course of long periods of time during which many differences of pronunciation, wording and xenolinguistic borrowings or retention of older forms or word choices accumulated over time.[5] It is also referred to as Tashkorghani,[6] after the ancient capital of the Sarikoli kingdom -- now the Tashkurgan (or Taxkorgan) Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang, China. However, the usage of the term Tashkorghani is not widespread among scholars.[citation needed]

The earliest written accounts in English are from the 1870s which generally use the name "Sarikoli" to refer to the language, but some written accounts since that time may use a different pronunciation derived from transcribing Chinese phonetics of the term into English as "Selekur(i)".[7] Modern Chinese researchers often mention Sarikoli and Tajik names in their papers.[8][3]

Distribution of speakers[edit]

The number of speakers is around 35,000; most reside in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in Southern Xinjiang Province, China. The Chinese name for the Sarikoli language, as well as the usage of Sarikol as a toponym, is Sàléikuòlèyǔ (萨雷阔勒语). Speakers in China typically use Chinese and Uyghur to communicate with people of other ethnic groups in the area. The rest are found in the Pakistani-controlled sector of Kashmir, closely touching the Pakistan-Chinese international borders.

Writing system[edit]

The language has no official written form. Linguist Gao Erqiang, publishing in China, used IPA to transcribe the sounds of Sarikoli in his book and dictionary,[1] while Tatiana N. Pakhalina, publishing in Russia, used an alphabet similar to that of the Wakhi language in hers.[9][10] The majority of Sarikoli-speakers attend schools using Uyghur as the medium of instruction.[citation needed]

Uyghur alphabet[edit]

In recent years, Sarikoli speakers in China have used Uyghur Arabic alphabet to spell out their language.[3]

Sarikoli Uyghur Arabic Alphabet
No. Letter IPA Latin Eq.[1] No. Letter IPA Latin Eq.
1 ئا [ɔ] O o 20 غ [ʁ] Gh gh
2 ئە [ɑ]/[ɛ] A a 21 ݝ [ɣ] Gc gc
3 ب [b] B b 22 ف [f] B b
4 پ [p] P p 23 ڤ [v] V v
5 ت [t] T t 24 ق [q] Kh kh
6 ث [θ] Ss ss 25 ك [k]/[c] K k
7 ج [d͡ʑ] J j 26 گ [g]/[ɟ] G g
8 چ [t͡ɕ] Q q 27 ڭ [ŋ] Ng ng
9 څ [t͡s] Ts ts 28 ل [l] L l
10 خ [χ] H h 29 م [m] M m
11 ݗ [x] C c 30 ن [n] N n
12 ځ [d͡z] Dz dz 31 ھ [h] Hy hy
13 د [d] D d 32 ئۇ [u] U u
14 ذ [ð] Zz zz 33 ئۈ [y] Ü ü
15 ر [r] R r 34 ۋ [w] W w
16 ز [z] Z z 35 ئې [e] E e
17 ژ [ʑ] Zh zh 36 ئى [i] I i
18 س [s] S s 37 ي [j] Y y
19 ش [ɕ] X x

Latin alphabet variants[edit]

Gao Erqiang Sarikoli latin alphabet[edit]

In 1958, linguist Gao Erqiang studied Sarikoli in collaboration with Tajik linguists, using 37 symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet for the transcription of the language. In the 1996 Sarikoli–Han dictionary, Gao uses an alphabet of 26 letters and 8 digraphs based on Pinyin.[1]

Sarikoli alphabet (Gao 1996)[1]
Uppercase A B C D DZ E F G GC GH H HY I J K KH L M
Lowercase a b c d dz e f g gc gh h hy i j k kh l m
Pronunciation a b x d d͡z e f ɡ ɣ ʁ χ h i d͡ʒ k q l m
Uppercase N O P Q R S SS T TS U Ü V W X Y Z ZY ZZ
Lowercase n o p q r s ss t ts u ü v w x y z zy zz
Pronunciation n o p t͡ʃ r s θ t t͡s u ɯ v w ʃ j z ʒ ð

Pakhalina Sarikoli latin alphabet[edit]

In the Sarikoli latin alphabet version by linguist Tatiana N. Pakhalina,[9] the sounds are represented by these letters:

Letter А а B b C c Č č D d δ δ E e Ɛ ε Ə ə F f G g Ɣ ɣ Ɣ̆ ɣ̆ I i Ʒ ʒ J̌ ǰ K k L l М м N n O o P p Q q R r S s
IPA [a] [b] [t͡s] [t͡ʃ] [d] [ð] [e] [ɛ] [ə] [f] [g] [ʁ] [ɣ] [i] [d͡z] [ɖ͡ʐ] [k] [l] [m] [n] [o] [p] [q] [r] [s]
Letter Š š T t ϑ ϑ U u Ů ů V v W w Х х Х̌ х̌ У у Z z Ž ž Ы ы
IPA [ʃ] [t] [θ] [u] [uː] [v] [w] [χ] [x] [j] [z] [dʑ] [ɯ]

Phonology[edit]

Vowels[edit]

Front Central Back
High i ⟨i⟩ ɯ ⟨ы⟩ u ⟨u⟩
Near-high ʊ ⟨ů⟩
High-mid e ⟨e⟩ ə ⟨ə⟩ o ⟨o⟩
Low-mid ɛ ⟨ɛ⟩ (ɔ) ⟨o⟩
Low a ⟨a⟩
  • /o/ may also be heard as [ɔ, ʌ].

Sarikoli vowel ɔ/o is an allophone with Uyghur vowel a. Sarikoli vowel a is an allophone with Uyghur vowel æ. Sarikoli vowels have undergone the same chain shift as Tajik, Uzbek, and other Central Asian Pamir languages. The vowel chain shift looks like the following:[11]

Sarikoli vowels as used in Russian works (IPA values in brackets):

a [a], e [e], ɛy [ɛi̯] (dialectal æy or ay [æi̯ / ai̯]), ɛw [ɛu̯] (dialectal æw or aw [æu̯ /au̯]), ə [ə], i [i], o [o / ɔ], u [u], ы [ɯ] (dialectal ů [ʊ]). In some dialects also long variants of those vowels can appear: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ы̄, ǝ̄. (citation?)

Consonants[edit]

Sarikoli has 30 consonants:[12]

Sarikoli consonants according to Russian Iranologist transcription (IPA values in slashes): p /p/, b /b/, t /t/, d /d/, k /k ~ c/, g ~ ɟ/, q /q/, c /ts/, ʒ /dz/, č /tɕ/, ǰ /dʑ/, s /s/, z /z/, /x/, γ̌ /ɣ/, f /f/, v /v/, θ /θ/, δ /ð/, x /χ/, γ /ʁ/, š /ɕ/, ž /ʑ/, h /h/, w /w/, y /j/, m /m/, n /n, ŋ/, l /l/, r /r/

Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ (ŋ) ⟨n⟩
Plosive voiceless p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ k ~ c ⟨k⟩ q ⟨q⟩
voiced b ⟨b⟩ d ⟨d⟩ ɡ ~ ɟ ⟨g⟩
Affricate voiceless ts ⟨c⟩ ⟨č⟩
voiced dz ⟨ʒ⟩ ⟨ǰ⟩
Fricative voiceless f ⟨f⟩ θ ⟨θ⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ɕ ⟨š⟩ x ⟨x̌⟩ χ ⟨x⟩ h ⟨h⟩
voiced v ⟨v⟩ ð ⟨δ⟩ z ⟨z⟩ ʑ ⟨ž⟩ ɣ ⟨γ̌ ⟩ ʁ ⟨γ⟩
Approximant w ⟨w⟩ l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩
Rhotic r ⟨r⟩

Stress[edit]

Most words receive stress on the last syllable; however, a minority receive stress on their first syllable. Also, several noun declensions and verb inflections regularly place stress on their first syllable, including the imperative and interrogative.[5]

Vocabulary[edit]

Although to a large extent the Sarikoli lexicon is quite close to those of other Eastern Iranian languages, there are a large number are words unique to Sarikoli and the closely related Shughni that are not found in other Eastern Iranian languages like Wakhi, Pashto or Avestan.

Lexical comparison of eight Iranian languages together with an English translation[5]
English gloss Persian Tajik Wakhi Pashto Shughni Sarikoli Ossetic Avestan
one jæk (یک) jak (‍як) ji jaw (يو) jiw iw iw (иу) aēuua-
meat ɡuʃt (گوشت) ɡuʃt (гушт) ɡuʂt ɣwaxa, ɣwaʂa (غوښه) ɡuːxt ɡɯxt zizä (дзидза) gao- (N. gāuš)
son pesær (پسر) pisar (писар) putr zoi (زوی) puts pɯts fɪ̈rt (фырт) puθra-
fire ɒteʃ (آتش) otaʃ (оташ) rɯχniɡ or (اور) joːts juts ärt (арт) ātar-
water ɒb (اب) ob (об) jupk obə (اوبه) xats xats don (дон) ap-
hand dæst (دست) dast (даѕт) ðast lɑs (لاس) ðust ðɯst kʼuχ (къух) zasta-
foot (پا) po (по) pɯð pxa, pʂa (پښه) poːð peð fäd (фад) paδa-, pāδa-
tooth dændɒn (دندان) dandon (дандон) ðɯnðɯk ɣɑx, ɣɑʂ (غاښ) ðinðʉn ðanðun dəndäg (дӕндаг) daṇtān-
eye tʃæʃm (چشم) tʃaʃm (чашм) tʂəʐm stərɡa (سترګه) tsem tsem səʃt (цæст) dōiθra-; caṣ̌man-
horse æsb (اسب) asp (асп) jaʃ ɑs (آس) voːrdʒ vurdʒ bəχ (бӕх) aspa-
cloud æbr (ابر) abr (абр) mur urjadz (اوريځ) abri varm əvräʁ (æврагъ) / miʁ (мигъ) abda-; aβra-, aβrā-; maēγa-
wheat ɡændom (گندم) ɡandum (гандум) ɣɯdim ɣanam (غنم) ʒindam ʒandam mənəw (мæнæу) gaṇtuma-
many besjɒr (بسيار) bisjor (бисёр) təqi ɖer, pura (ډېر، پوره) bisjoːr pɯr fyr (фыр) paoiri-
high bolænd (بلند) baland (баланд) bɯland lwaɻ (لوړ) biland bɯland bərʒond (бӕрзoнд) bərəzaṇt-
far dur (دور) dur (дур) ðir ləre (لرې) ðar ðar därd (дард) dūra-
good χub (خوب) χub (хуб) baf xə, ʂə (ښه) χub tʃardʒ χorʒ (хорз) vaŋha-
small kutʃik (کوچک)) χurd (хурд) dzəqlai ləɡ, ləʐ (لږ) dzul dzɯl gɪ̈ssɪ̈ɫ (гыццыл) kasu-
to say ɡoft (گفت) ɡuft (гуфт) xənak wajəl (ويل) lʉvd levd zurɪ̈n (дзурын) vac-; aoj-; mrū-; saŋh-
to do kærd (کرد) kard (кард) tsərak kawəl (کول) tʃiːd tʃeiɡ kənɪ̈n (кæнын) kar-
to see did (ديد) did (дид) wiŋɡ winəm (وينم) wiːnt wand wɪ̈nɪ̈n (уынын) dī-, viŋ-

Sample Text[edit]

The following text is a paragraph from Gao Erqiang's "Tajik-Chinese Dictionary" (1996), talking about the significance of the development of a writing system for the language of Tajiks of Xinjiang, both in Chinese and Sarikoli. The Sarikoli text is written in the "Pinyin" developed by Gao Erqiang for use in the dictionary. Below, the text is also transcribed in an equivalent Uyghur-Arabic alphabet.[1]


Latin script Awal birinqi masala qi ter gap kayan. Tujik milat hüyan ziv yost. Yad ziv optunum noya ar doira khulanmix soud. Janubi Xinjongan Yurkond, Puskom, KHarghalegh, Pixan khatorlekh juiefan wi Tujik heil uhxox na yozzin, Di juienj Tujik heil asos az jat hü ziv khulanmix kayin, Hü milatan wi ziv khulanmix qeig wa a wi tarakhi qeig Asosi KHonün zzujenj hyukhukh. Agar i milatan ghov ziv vid, kitubi ziv tsa na vid, di rang zivan wi rafond wa tarakhiyot qaklimari diqur hird. M dos qeig levd alo k yü milat Asosi KHonün zzujenj az hyukhukh tulukh bahyrimand na sezzjenj soud. Yizekh levjenj a ziv hotirlamix qeigiquz balgü, yani i mi khati münosibatlig vezzjenj pinyin sestimo qi qer wezzd khati hyusil sezzjenj, dian hyiq rang sir nist, Pinyin loyayan wi tüzülüx mofekh tsa soud, hyiq rang alukat mas peidu na soud. Vizekhan at ziv mazzon vezzjenj zidiyat mas ubiktip hyolda i taraf set khati ter sawiya khati birligir yozzd. Müstakhil tarakhi qogcjenj i zivan Kyamon wiri mos yetiquz i yizekh vid karak. Ilim wa rafond az nuhto zoct alo yad douliri uighun qer.
ئەۋەل بىرىنچى مەسەلە چى تېر گەپ كەيەن. تۇجىك مىلەت خۈيەن زىڤ ياست. يەد زىڤ ئاپتۇنۇم نايە ئەر دايرە قۇلانمىش ساۇد. جەنۇبى شىنجاڭەن يۇركاند، پۇسكام، قەرغەلېغ، پىشان قەتارلېق جۇىېفەن ۋى تۇجىك خېىل ئۇخشاش نە ياذىن، دى جۇىېنج تۇجىك خېىل ئەساس ئەز جەت خۈ زىڤ قۇلەنمىش كەيىن، خۈ مىلەتەن ۋى زىڤ قۇلەنمىش چېىگ ۋە ئە ۋى تەرەقى چېىگ ئەساسى قانۈن ذۇجېنج ھۇقۇق. ئەگەر ئى مىلەتەن غاڤ زىڤ ڤىد، كىتۇبى زىڤ څە نە ڤىد، دى رەڭ زىڤەن ۋى رەفاند ۋە تەرەقىيات چەكلىمەرى دىچۇر خىرد. مداس چېىگ لېڤد ئەلا كيۈ مىلەت ئەساسى قانۈن ذۇجېنج ئەز ھۇقۇق تۇلۇق بەھرىمەند نە سېذجېنج ساۇد. يىزېق لېڤجېنج ئە زىڤ خاتىرلەمىش چېىگىچۇز بەلگۈ، يەنى ئى مى قەتى مۈناسىبەتلىگ ڤەذجېنج «پىن‌يىن» سېستىما چى چېر ۋەذد قەتى ھۇسىل سېذجېنج، دىەن ھىچ رەڭ سىر نىست، «پىن‌يىن» لايەيەن ۋى تۈزۈلۈش مافېق څە ساۇد، ھىچ رەڭ ئەلۇكەت مەس پېيدۇ نە ساۇد. ڤىزېقەن ئەت زىڤ مەذان ڤەذجېنج زىدىيەت مەس ئۇبىكتىپ ھالدە ئى تەرەف سېت قەتى تېر سەۋىيە قەتى بىرلىگىر یاذد. مۈستەقىل تەرەقى چاݝجېنج ئى زىڤەن كيەمان ۋىرى ماس يېتىچۇز ڤىد كەرەك. ئىلىم ۋە رەفاند ئەز نۇختا زاݗت ئەلا يەد داۇلىرى ئۇىغۇن چېر.
Chinese 先说第一个问题。塔吉克族有自己的语言。这种语言在自 治县通用,是无法用其他语言代替的。和南疆莎车、泽普、叶 城等地的塔吉克人不同,这里很多塔吉克人只使用或基本上 使用自己语言。使用和发展本民族语言是宪法赋予的权利。如果一个民族只有口头语而没有书面语,这个语言的使用和 发展实际上就受到限制,也就不能合理享受宪法给予的权 利。文字就是记录语言的符号,用的是相关的一套拼音系 统,其中没有什么神秘,拼音方案设计周到也不会产生繁 难。文和语之问可能具有的矛盾将会通过客观而明智的处理 达到很大程度上的一致。一个独立发展的语言总要有和他相适应的文字。这从学术上或实用上说是理所当然的。/span>
English Let’s talk about the first question first. The Tajiks have their own language. This language is commonly used in the autonomous county and cannot be replaced by other languages. Unlike the Tajiks in Yarkand, Poskam, Kargilik and other places in southern Xinjiang, many Tajiks here exclusively or largely exclusively use their own language. The use and development of the national language is a right conferred by the constitution. If a nation only has a spoken language but no written language, the use and development of this language will actually be restricted, and it will not be able to reasonably enjoy the rights granted by the constitution. Writing is a set of symbols that record language, and a related pinyin system is used. There is nothing mysterious about it, and a well-designed pinyin scheme will not cause any complications. Possible contradictions between text and language will be treated objectively and wisely to achieve a large degree of consistency. A language that develops independently must have a set of characters that are suitable for it. This is a matter of course from an academic or practical point of view.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Gao, Erqiang (高尔锵) (1996). 塔吉克汉词典 [Tajik-Chinese Dictionary] (in Simplified Chinese). Sichuan Nationalities Publishing House (四川民族出版社). ISBN 978-7-5409-1744-9.
  2. ^ Sarikoli at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. ^ a b c Yang, Yi-fang 杨亦凡; Abdurahman Tursun 阿不都热合曼·吐尔逊 Aray Zangbek 阿来·藏别克 Qian, Wei-liang 钱伟量 (2017). "Jīyú "Yīdài Yīlù" zhànlüè shìjiǎo de Zhōngguó Tǎjíkè yǔyán wénzì bǎohù yǔ chuánchéng wèntí fēnxī" 基于"一带一路"战略视角的中国塔吉克语言文字保护与传承问题分析 [Research of Protection and Inheritance of Sarikoli Tajik Language and Characters]. Jiāmùsī zhíyè xuéyuàn xuébào / Journal of Juamjusi Education Institute (in Chinese). 2017 (4): 263–265. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1000-9795.2017.04.176. 近代以来,我国塔吉克族使用阿拉伯维吾尔文拼写高山塔吉克语
  4. ^ A wide variety of varied transcriptions of the name "Sarikoli" are used in linguistic discussions, such as 萨里库尔语, Sàlǐkùěryǔ, 萨雷阔勒语, Sàléikuòlèyǔ, 色勒库尔语, Sèlèkùěryǔ or 撒里科里语, Sǎlǐkēlǐyǔ.
  5. ^ a b c Gao, Erqiang (1985). Tǎjíkèyǔ jiǎnzhì 塔吉克语简志 [Outline of the Tajik language] (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
  6. ^ Rudelson, Justin Jon (2005). Lonely Planet Central Asia Phrasebook: Languages of the Silk Road. Footscray: Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 1-74104-604-1.
  7. ^ Shaw, Robert (1876). "On the Ghalchah Languages (Wakhí and Sariḳolí)". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 45 (2): 139–278 – via biodiversitylibrary.org.
  8. ^ Xiren Kurban & Zhuang (2008)
  9. ^ a b Pakhalina, Tatiana N. (Татьяна Н. Пахалина) (1966). Sarykol'skij Jazyk Сарыкольский язык [The Sarikoli Language] (in Russian). Moskva: Akademia Nauk SSSR.
  10. ^ Pakhalina, Tatiana N. (Татьяна Н. Пахалина) (1971). Sarykol'sko-russkij slovar' Сарыкольско-русский словарь [Sarikoli–Russian Dictionary] (in Russian). Moskva: Akademia Nauk SSSR.
  11. ^ Ido, S. (2017). The Vowel System of Jewish Bukharan Tajik: With Special Reference to the Tajik Vowel Chain Shift. Journal of Jewish Languages, 5(1), 81–103. doi:10.1163/22134638-12340078
  12. ^ Kim, Deborah (2017). Topics in the syntax of Sarikoli. Leiden University.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]