Nuristani Historical Linguistics

Dameli is an Indo-Iranian language whose precise classification as Indo-Aryan or Nuristani is still debated. Indeed, Dameli contains a substantial layer of Nuristani-derived words, some of which are part of the language's basic vocabulary. Here, we will try to sort out the Indo-Aryan and Nuristani layers on both lexical and morphological grounds. ( For abbreviations and sources, see this post . For Nuristani orthographic conventions, see this post .) Documentation Morgenstierne (1942) provides us with the first detailed look of the Dameli language, calling it a "Kafir-Dardic" language. He describes some salient Nuristani phonological developments (such as the development of IE palatovelars) alongside a sketch morphology and lexicon. Perder (2013) is the first comprehensive grammar of Dameli, covering most essential features of the language. We will use Perder's orthography when citing Dameli forms. The Nuristani component of Dameli One easily recognizable criterion fo...

A persistent issue in Nuristani historical linguistics is the widely inconsistent orthographic variation among different linguists. Since the Nuristani languages are in general sparsely documented and ignored by linguists working within the broader Indo-Iranian (and Indo-European) linguistics, this post will attempt to rectify the different orthographical conventions, following the proposal laid out by Halfmann (2021, 2023, 2024, 2025). Stress is marked with an acute accent, but is not indicated in monosyllabic words. Orthographic forms are enclosed in angle brackets. ( For abbreviations and sources, see this post .)   Richard Strand On his website , Richard Strand lays out a general transcription convention for all cited Nuristani word forms that is explained in detail here . He uses a phonemic transcription, which does not take into account allophonic variation and conditioned sound changes. Thus, he represents Kt. (SE) vuṣṭ "eight" as < ʹusṭ >, without representing ...

Every language borrows words from another language. The Nuristani languages are no exception - in fact, they have a long history of borrowing words from other languages, particularly the Indo-Aryan languages. In fact, borrowing from Indo-Aryan very likely stems back to the Middle Indo-Aryan period. There are also likely borrowings from Bactrian (Halfmann 2023), and within Nuristani, Prasun has a sizable layer of Katë borrowings. For practical reasons, we will exclude more recent loanwords from Arabic/Persian and European languages. In addition, since Indo-Aryan loanwords make up the majority of earlier loanwords in Nuristani languages, we will focus on them unless specified otherwise. To indicate a borrowing, the symbol <= will be used. ( For abbreviations and sources, see this post .) What counts as a borrowing Because Nuristani languages are only known since the 19th century, identifying earlier borrowings requires knowing the prehistory of these languages. This requires deducing ...

While at first glance reconstructing Proto-Nuristani seems to be straightforward, it is important to exercise caution in reconstructing unrecoverable segments that are not found in the modern Nuristani reflexes. ( For abbreviations and sources, see this post .) An example is given below: PIIr. * ȷ́ ʰarH-a i̯ n a- "golden > red" (Halfmann 2025) + *-ka- > Kt. (W) z ëřë́, NE zëňë́, (SE) j̈ëňë́ As mentioned in the source above, a PNur. * j̈ aren á ka- could be reconstructed. The pretonic correspondence of Kt. / ë/ in all dialects suggests earlier *e. But there are no traces of the final syllable, nor the sequence *-ar-, so these segments have to be inferred from other Indo-Iranian languages (such as OIA h ári-) . It is still possible to deduce the final vowel of some Proto-Nuristani etyma, particularly through forms descending from an extended *-ka-. Consider the cognate set for "milk": PNur. * j̈ara- "milk" (Halfmann 2025) >  Ash. (M/T) <zọ̄>, ...

Within the Nuristani languages, there is often a perceived divide between Prasun and the rest of the Nuristani languages (Ashkun, Kat ë , Nuristani Kalasha, and Tregami). While the exact interrelationships between the Nuristani languages remain unclear, this post examines the plausbility of a "Core Nuristani" subgroup containing all Nuristani languages other than Prasun. Prasun is often considered to be the most divergent Nuristani language, due to far-reaching sound changes and other unique features (such as *d > l in all positions). As Halfmann (2025) pointed out, the Prasun language may have separated at an early stage from the initial Nuristani dialect continuum. Defining subgroups In defining subgroups of a particular language family, shared exclusive innovations and/or irregularities provide the best evidence. This stands in contrast to shared retentions, which are not considered useful for subgrouping. In the case of the whole Nuristani family including Prasun, six ...