{"id":60720,"date":"2016-08-16T00:19:29","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T19:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/?p=60720"},"modified":"2016-08-16T09:28:52","modified_gmt":"2016-08-16T04:28:52","slug":"linguistic-skills-flourishing-among-the-multilingual-residents-of-gigit-baltistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/2016\/08\/16\/linguistic-skills-flourishing-among-the-multilingual-residents-of-gigit-baltistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Linguistic skills flourishing among the multilingual residents of Gilgit-Baltistan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

By\u00a0Syed Mujahid Ali Shah<\/strong><\/p>\n

Till the near past\u00a0when\u00a0people from different linguistic regions visited one another in Gilgit Baltistan ,they always \u00a0needed a translator for communication. While I was ten years old \u00a0my Shina speaking \u00a0maternal grand-parents family members from Minapin \u00a0in Shinaki area\u00a0( lower region of Hunza-Nagar in the west where people speak Shina)\u00a0and Nomal\u00a0visited our home in\u00a0Phakar Nagar\u00a0situated just\u00a0four Kilometers in the east of Minapin \u00a0in Burushso Nagar,(\u00a0upper region in the east where \u00a0people \u00a0speak Brushaski) .Whenever one had to talk to my Burushaski speaking paternal grandfather or neighbouring old people in my village they used to call someone able to speak Shina who might have lived in Gilgit to help them as \u00a0translator.<\/p>\n

It is recently that Urdu has become a lingua franca \u00a0for\u00a0Balti, Shina, Khowar, Wakhi, Domaaki, Burushaski, Pashtu and Punjabi speakers in Gilgit Baltistan\u00a0.In Nagar valley on every social occasion when people \u00a0from both\u00a0Burusho-Nagar and Shinaki-Nagar\u00a0meet\u00a0they use make code switching and code shifting for communication. Similarly in Hunza when people from the three different linguistic regions of the\u00a0Shinaki in lower regions in the south, Brusuho-Hunza at central town areas and Wakhi in upper region namely Gojal \u00a0come together, \u00a0Urdu becomes their language rather than English, especially among the young people.<\/p>\n

This situation has boosted up Urdu in the region.<\/p>\n

Dr. Muhammad Ali Siddiqui\u00a0who taught students of Gilgit Baltistan at Pakistan Study Centre,University of Karachi wrote in a newspaper article as\u00a0\u201c The Karachites will be surprised to know that when it comes to written Urdu the average Gilgiti, Balti or Hunzai proves to be a better communicator in Urdu than most of the Karachi boys and girls”<\/p>\n

He further describes the growth of Urdu poetry in Gilgit Baltistan as “A mushaira recently held in the valley below the world-famous Rakaposhi peak outdid the\u00a0Lucknow\u00a0style of mushairas. A participant described its grandeur in the following words. \u201cEven the full moon, stuck as the crown on the Rakaposhi head, was presenting the Aadab in the\u00a0Lucknow\u00a0style, and the whole valley seemed intoxicated with the mushaira grandeur.\u201d”<\/p>\n

While giving thee\u00a0reason to marvelous Urdu poetry in Gilgit Baltistanin Dr.Siddiqui has taken the point of view of \u00a0Dr.Nasir Uddin Hunzai as”\u00a0In the Northern Areas the language of the elite and aristocracy, insofar as cultural expression is concerned, is Persian; hence one is taken by surprise by the imagery of Northern Areas\u2019 poets. It sounds so musical and sweet that it easily wins over lovers of the traditional diction of Urdu poetry.”.<\/p>\n

But as for as the extra ordinary skills of the \u00a0students of Gilgit Baltistan to learn and write poetry in Urdu as their second \u00a0language is concerned it is not only Persian as an embedding language of Gilgit Baltistan being that of \u00a0historically \u00a0language \u00a0of elites but more than that it is the experience of students from their very child hood to learn more \u00a0languages spoken in the area when they have to move to \u00a0main\u00a0educational\u00a0cities \u00a0like Gilgit and Skardu\u00a0which are multi lingual societies . While \u00a0Persian as a language of\u00a0elites and autocrats may have a limited impression on mass level. Because the then illiterate\u00a0commons\u00a0of Gilgit Baltistan could not read and write Persian except that of listening\u00a0\u00a0it from religious scholars.\u00a0As the education had been historically a recent \u00a0phenomenon\u00a0in the region where education was not allowed in the then principalities in the region before British period when the \ufb01rst state-sponsored school was established \u00a0in\u00a01892\u00a0in Gilgit city.In 1948\u00a0primary schools grew to\u00a050 and\u00a03 primary schools were upgraded to middle schools \u00a0in Gilgit and Skardu regions.\u00a0After 1970s with the end of fuedal system and construction of Karakoram Highway education became a common phenomenon in the region when elected leaders established schools in the region and people were allowed to go to educational institutions out side of the \u00a0then principalities into over all the country and the world.<\/p>\n

Today when in government,private and NGO school systems education is \u00a0accesible to almost of the population in Gilgit Baltistan and youth in the area aquire education in modern languages of Urdu and Endglish and through \u00a0media and communication, globalization and modernization have made their way into the area,being \u00a0only spoken ,the indigenous languages of Gilgit Baltistan \u00a0are \u00a0pose to endangerement . In such a situation with every \u00a0\u00a0death of an\u00a0ielder person \u00a0in\u00a0the \u00a0area \u00a0a bit of the laguage he spoke also\u00a0diminishes .<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0\u00a0UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World\u2019s Languages in Danger\u00a0, in Gilgit Baltistan languages like Brushaski Khowar and Balti\u00a0are venerable, Wakhi , Domaaki and Chilisso are critically endangered \u00a0.In some cases like that of\u00a0Domaaki the languges is critically endangered\u00a0\u00a0with only 500 speaker left who are scattered \u00a0in Gilgit ,Ghizer and Hunza-Nagar districts. Among many reasons one big reason of its endagerenment \u00a0is that because the native\u00a0speakers of younger generation have literally stopped using it. As the the Domaaki speakers were confinement to the special trait of blacksmith by local kings in the past which the youth do not want to speak to be their past identification any more.<\/p>\n

The languages of Gilgit Baltistan have also been tried to be documented . But very limited literal works can bee seen in the world catalogues<\/p>\n

In Shina language ,dialects of which are mainly spoken in\u00a0districts of\u00a0Gilgit,Diamer and\u00a0Astor\u00a0while in western parts of Hunza-Nagar ,some parts of Skardu and Ghanche \u00a0and in a considerable part of Ghizer district, Gilgit based Shina poet\u00a0Mohammed Amin Zia has written.\u00a0\u00a0Shina Qa\u2019ida aur Grammar in\u00a01986 .He has been working on a co-authored series of work on a \u00a0translating Shina idioms and phrases into German and English with\u00a0Georg\u00a0Buddruss which have been published \u00a0in various international research journals in 1987,1993 and 1996.<\/p>\n

Abdul Khaliq\u00a0Taj \u00a0compiled.\u00a0Shina qa\u2019idah.\u00a0and published in\u00a01989. Shakeel Ahmad Shakeel has written \u00a0Shina short stories in the\u00a0books of\u00a0\u00a0Dadi Shulukay,\u00a0Alkhan Basharon,\u00a0Gilgiti\u00a0and \u00a0Folktales in the Shina of Gilgit\u00a0was\u00a0coauthored by Karla F. Rudolph and \u00a0published by \u00a0Summer Institute of Linguistics and National Institute of Pakistan Studies,\u00a0Quaide-e-Azam\u00a0University in 1998.<\/p>\n

His \u00a0other books of\u00a0Shina may Parhna Likhna : Aik Taaruf\u00a0and\u00a0Shina \u2013 Urdu \u2013 Angrezi Bol Chal\u00a0\u00a0he has tried to introduce\u00a0\u00a0alphabets to make the language written and readable.\u00a0Ruth Laila\u00a0Schmid\u00a0\u00a0and\u00a0Razwal Kohistani.\u00a0have worked on grammer of Kohastani dialect of Shina and compared it with various other dialects in Gilgit Baltistan.They published various research papers including those in 1985 2000,2001and 2004.<\/p>\n

In Balti language mainly spoken in districts of Skardu and Ghanche in Baltistan division an Skardu based writer and educationist Muhammad Yousuf Hussainabadi has translated The Holy Quran into Balti language in 1995.Dr\u00a0Richard Keith Sprigg has compiled a Balti-English dictionary in 2002.<\/p>\n

Brushaski is spoken in three dilects in the valleys of Hunza, and Nagar \u00a0in district Hunza-Nagar and one in Yasin Valley of district Ghizer .When I started learning German for my studies and living in\u00a0Germany\u00a0for my current master programme \u00a0at Greifswald University it was quite interesting for me to know that in the very \u00a0limited German vocabulary of mine I found 6 words which sound almost alike and \u00a0mean the same as Brushasky dialects of Hunza and Nagar .Some samples\u00a0are as follow:
\n\"Capture\"<\/a>
\nIn Brushasky late Professor Dr. Hermann Beger at Heidelberg University published his first work on Yasini Dialect of Brushuski in Yasin valley district Ghizer \u00a0with the name\u00a0Das Yasin-Burushaski (Werchikwar) : Grammatik, Texte, Worterbuch\u00a0\u00a0in 1974 \u00a0which comprised grammer,translation of Brushusaski text into German and \u00a0a \u00a0Brushaski(Yasini)\/Werchikwar-German dictionary,.He worked closely with Dr.Naseer Uddin Hunzai in bringing his next volume of similar pattern on Hunza and Nagar dilects of Burushaski \u00a0“Die Burushaski-Sprache von Hunza und Nager.\u00a03 Bde. 1. Grammatik. 2. Texte mit \u00dcbersetzungen. 3. W\u00f6rterbuch”\u00a0It also comprised\u00a0grammer translation of Burushaski text into German and a Burushaski(Hunza and Nagar)-German Dictionary.\u00a0Recently The\u00a0\u2018Burushaski Urdu Lughat\u2019 Vol-1 and 2 have been published \u00a0by\u00a0University\u00a0of\u00a0Karachi\u00a0\u00a0in\u00a02006\u00a0and 2009 respectively under the supervision of \u00a0Dr.Naseeruddin Hunzai. .<\/p>\n

Syed Yahya Shah gave an orientation of Burushaski and Shina terminologies related to the primitive \u00a0myth of Shamnism in the Gilgit,Hunza and Nagar in his book\u00a0Brushaal ke Qabail\u00a0published in 2005.<\/p>\n

The language of \u00a0Khowar spoken in some parts of Ghizer district in Gilgit Baltistan and Chitral district of Khaybar Pakhtunkhaw province has been aslo focused to some linguists like \u00a0and\u00a0Georg\u00a0Morgenstierne has written \u00a0\u00a0Some Features of Khowar Morphology.1947 .Badshah Munir Bukhari who compared Urdu and Khowar in 2001.<\/p>\n

In Wakhi language which is spoken in the upper region of Hunza called Gojal, \u00a0Wakhi Tajik Cultural Association Pakistan organises annual Wakhi \u00a0cultural festival and encourages poetry and music in the language<\/p>\n

Among all the languages of Gilgit Baltistan critically endangered language of \u00a0Domaaki in the area, still needs \u00a0literary attention to compile \u00a0the dictionary of the language.<\/p>\n

Documentation of the spoken languages through literary work is the mile stone in protecting them.\u00a0Karakoram\u00a0International\u00a0University\u00a0can start study programmes in these languages But\u00a0to thrive they need\u00a0revitalisation efforts to brought back to public life.<\/p>\n

Since the languages have no culture of writings therefore only electronic media can play main role to preserve and develop these languages in\u00a0the region. Two state run radio stations in Gilgit and Skardu are presenting one to two hour programme daily in the languages of Burushaski,Shina Wakhi .Khowar and Balti\u00a0except\u00a0Domaaki\u00a0which has had played great \u00a0role in this regard. In the future telivision can play very important role to revitalize the endangered languages of Gilgit Baltistan.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Syed Mujahid Ali Shah is a sociologist and nature conservationist\/ecologist based in Nagar<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Syed Mujahid Ali Shah Till the near past\u00a0when\u00a0people from different linguistic regions visited one another in Gilgit Baltistan ,they always \u00a0needed a translator for communication. While I was ten years old \u00a0my Shina speaking \u00a0maternal grand-parents family members from Minapin \u00a0in Shinaki area\u00a0( lower region of Hunza-Nagar in the west where people speak Shina)\u00a0and Nomal\u00a0visited …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs-op-ed"],"better_featured_image":{"id":60723,"alt_text":"","caption":"","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":432,"height":432,"file":"2016\/08\/Mujahid.jpg","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"Mujahid-260x250.jpg","width":260,"height":250,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pamirtimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Mujahid.jpg?resize=260%2C250&ssl=1"},"120x85":{"file":"Mujahid-120x85.jpg","width":120,"height":85,"source_url":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Mujahid-120x85.jpg"},"150x150":{"file":"Mujahid-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"source_url":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Mujahid-150x150.jpg"},"415x260":{"file":"Mujahid-415x260.jpg","width":415,"height":260,"source_url":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Mujahid-415x260.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"post":60720,"source_url":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Mujahid.jpg"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pamirtimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Mujahid.jpg?fit=432%2C432&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60720"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60726,"href":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60720\/revisions\/60726"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamirtimes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}