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Kholosi language

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Kholosi
Native toHormozgan Province, Iran
Native speakers
c. 1800 (2014)[1]
Perso-Arabic
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologkhol1241

Kholosi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in two villages in southern Iran that was first described in 2008.[2] At its current status, the language is considered endangered. In 2008, it was only spoken in the neighboring villages of Kholus and Gotav. As it is located on the Iranian Plateau and surrounded by Iranian languages, it draws heavily from them.[2]

Classification

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Kholosi is definitively known to be an Indo-Aryan language albeit with significant lexical borrowing from Iranian languages given its geographical location. At the lexical level, it seems to share vocabulary largely with the Sindhi languages,[2] which are the source of other Indo-Aryan migrations to the Middle East such as Luwati in Oman.

Phonology

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While no published phonology has been found on Kholosi, the following phonology has been constructed from examples provided in the sources below.[2][3][1]

Vowels
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid
Low ɑ ɑː

Kholosi also contains the diphthongs /ɑi, ɑw, ow/ and possibly others.

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasals m n ɳ ŋ*
Stops p b t d t͡ʃ d͡ʒ k ɡ
Fricatives f v s z ʂ x h
Approximants l j
Taps ɽ
Trills r

Note*: The phonemes marked with an asterisk are assumed based on the structure of the attested phonemes.

Grammar

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Anonby and Bahmani (2013)[2] made some brief notes on Kholosi grammar, but so far no grammatical sketch nor a full grammar of the language has been documented.

Morphology

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Nouns and noun phrases

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Nouns have inherent grammatical gender, and adjectives agree in gender with the head noun. Attributive adjectives follow the head noun, unlike other Indo-Aryan languages. Numerals precede the head noun.[3]

Verbs and verb phrases

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Kholosi uses several light verbs to form noun-verb compounds. This is a common feature of Indo-Iranian languages.

The adverb precedes the verb it modifies.[3]

Case and adpositions

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Kholosi has noun-suffixed postpositions (e.g. the genitive marker -jo which agrees with the gender of the possessor) as characteristic of Indo-Aryan languages.

Syntax

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Kholosi is a verb-final language with SOV word order.[3]

Vocabulary

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Kholosi has roughly twice the number of Indo-Aryan terms in its basic lexicon than Iranian borrowings. The primary source of Iranian borrowings is Persian, but Larestani and Bandari (in the same geographical area) also appear to have contributed vocabulary.[2]

A high degree of similarity with Indo-Aryan languages

Indo-Aryan vocabulary in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
ear guš kān kanu kan kān kan
stomach šekam pēt pēʈ pēʈ pētˤ per
throat galu nāɽi naɽī nəɽī qandī kerlo
neck gardan gēči ɠičī, ɠātō kand gər(ək) korr
blood xun rāt ratu rat rat rat
urine edrār, šāš meter muʈru mutar mutur muter
maternal uncle dāi momo māmo māmā mām kako
dog sag kotoro kutō kottrō snōta džukel
tail dom pēč pučʰu pučʰ(ɽi) panč(ək) porri
snake mār sap nā̃gu sap sap sap
meat gušt māz gūšt/mas gōs māsī mas
egg toxme morġ āɳo bēdō/ano īnō āna anro
dirt xāk māti miʈī/mati/dhur/dazu/mer maʈī dūl mel
water āb puni pāɳī pāɳī pānī pani
rain bārān meh mīh̃ã βarsād wārsīnda brišind
old (thing) kohne peroɳo purāɳō, pōɽʰō, jhuni junō, purānō pnāra purano
heavy sangin gāwro ɠarō bʰāɽi grāna pharo
dry xošk sako suko sukō, sukelō sukho
black syāh kāro kārō kārō qāla kalo

Kholosi Indo-Iranian vocabulary aligned with Indo-Aryan sound changes

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
hand dast hāt hatʰu hatʰ xašt vast
tooth dandān dānd ᶑãndu dəndʰ dānd dand
fish māhi māči mačʰī məčʰī mačča mačho
star setāre taro tārō tārō yēldəz čerxaj
three seh tereda ʈī/tre trē trən trin
round gerd golāndo gōl gōl čōrm-
say goftan vetai čaβaɳ čōnũ ft- phen-
this in he kado/a-

A significant proportion of structures shared with neighbouring Iranian languages

Iranian vocabulary in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
head sar, kalle kallo matʰō matʰō sər šero
nose bini, damāġ domāġ naku pan nāk nakh
bone ostoxān assaxān haɖō həɖ xar(ək) kokalo
leaf barg barg panu pan kāġatˤ patrin
root riše rišo pāɽa mūɽ drab
dust gard gard dʰuɽ rajj, dʰuɽ ġabare porrik
cloud abr awr jʰuɽ, kakar βəɖar ġēm lučh
summer tābestān tābesān unahāɽo ūnārō awasār nilaj
winter zemestān zemesān siāro siyārō slāla jivend
iron āhan āhan lohu ḥadīd sastro
think fekr kard feker kai sōčaɳ sōčiɳũ fikr kar-

Words illustrating the local character of Iranian vocabulary in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Remarks
scorpion aġrab akrab cf. Lārestani (Evaz), Keshmi akrab
cloud abr awr cf. Bushehri, Keshmi, S. Luri awr
sand šen, māse lamer cf. Lārestani (Lār) lamr
chicken morġ čūki cf. Lārestani (Lār) čikala
whistling sut fitak, sūt cf. Bandari (Bushehr) fike, Keshmi fištak

Lack of contrastive aspiration on stops in Kholosi[dubiousdiscuss]

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
tall boland taɽgo ɖrigho lamō, dʰərgō dərga, drōnga
skin pust xāl kʰala, čamɽī čam, čamɽi qal morthi
cold sard tāzo tʰādʰō tʰādʰō sīlda tato
weave bāft sībai uɳaɳu sibʰīnũ sīw- khuv-
hand dast hāt hatʰu hatʰ xašt vast
tail dom pēč pučʰu pučʰ, pučʰ ɽipanč(ək) porri
fish māhi māči mačʰī məčʰī mačča mačho

A full fricative series in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
all hame sāf sabh

sabʰai

marē, mərē sa sa
grass alaf(/giyāh) xāz gāhu gās čar
ant murče moxoro makoɽo mākuɽō mōrī, mˤōri kiri
big bozorg vazzo Vaᶑō βaᶑō drōnga baro
near nazdik vāzo vējʰō bājūme čanč- paš-

Lack of an implosive series in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
heavy sangin gāwro ɠarō bʰāɽi grāna pharo
neck gardan gēči ɠičī, ɠātō kand gər(ək) kerlo
two do bāro ɓa dī, dədī duj
buy xarid genai vathanu ɠəɳnũ pār- kin-
swell motavarrem šod sojo suʄaɳ soʄnũ šuvľ-

Complex predicates in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
walk ġadam zad vāt viyo halaɳ halnũ raw- phir-
stand up boland šod bolan to bīhaɳ uʈʰinũ, ubʰotʰīnũ št- ašt-
lie down derāz kešid sɑ̄ to halaɳ halnũ pašl-
fly parvāz kard pall kerɑmai uᶑraɳ, ūᶑaɳ uɖnũ fər- urn-
swim šenā kard šenow kai taraɳ βenjinũ, tar karīnũ nan-

Distinctive structures in Kholosi

Distinctive Kholosi vocabulary

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
hair mu βāra βāɽ wāl bal
mouth dahān, dahan vāt muhũ, vat məh muj
knee zānu āɽak gōᶑō gū̃nʈʰō lūlək koč
man mard kozoro maɳʰū̃ bʰāi māɽū, marad mnəs murš
child bače viyow ɓāru bačō qər, putr čhavo
stone sang rōxo paʈʰar paʈʰar, paʈʈʰar wāʈ barr
fire āteš mangal bāhi ʈānɖʰō āg jag
small kuček nōko nanɖʰō nənɖʰo qətˤka cikno
full por dang bʰaryal bʰarelō, pūrō, saʄō bardˤa pherdo
one yek poko hik akro yēka, yōka jekh
tie bastan pālai ɓadʰaɳ bandʰinũ phand-

References

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  1. ^ a b Anonby, Erik; Bahmani, Hassan Mohebbi (2013). "Shipwrecked and Landlocked: A Description of Kholosi, an Indo-Aryan language of Southwest Iran" (PDF). Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Iranian Linguistics. Further Topics in Iranian Linguistics.[dead link]
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Shipwrecked and landlocked : Discovery of an Indo-Aryan language in southwest Iran" (PDF). Bamling-research.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  3. ^ a b c d Tahereh Rezaei. "First notes on the syntax of Kholosi as a heritage language in the south of Iran" (PDF).

Further reading

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