Nuristani Historical Linguistics

This post will attempt to summarize in detail the reflexes of the Proto-Indo-Iranian sequence *r̥H in the attested Nuristani languages and their common ancestor, Proto-Nuristani. ( For abbreviations and sources, see this post . For Nuristani orthographic conventions, see this post .) Introduction The Proto-Indo-Iranian sequence *r̥H is one of the more difficult sequences to reconstruct based on Indo-Aryan and Iranian evidence. Palmér (2019) provides a detailed explanation on the reflexes of * r̥H in Indo-Aryan and Iranian, summarized below according to his interpretation. Old Indo-Aryan reflects * r̥H in four different ways: ir/īr/ur/ūr summarized below:   *r̥H > ur / C +labial  _V, _ u̯V   *r̥H >  ūr / C +labial _C, _C u̯,  _́ u̯V  * r̥H > i r / C -labial  _V, _ i̯V   *r̥H >   ī r / C -labial _C, _C i̯ ,  _́ i̯ V   Old Iranian reflects * r̥H in three different ways: *ar/*ər/*ruu̯ conditioned in three different ways si...

This post consists of words in Nuristani that are inherited and have supporting Proto-Indo-Iranian reconstructions alongside the proposed Proto-Nuristani reconstruction. This list is continually updated. Parentheses in reconstructions are uncertain segments, while brackets indicate reconstructible segments (for example, *ek[a/ā] implies that *eka and *ekā are both reconstructible.) ( For abbreviations and sources, see this post . For Nuristani orthographic conventions, see this post .) (1) PIIr. *panča "five" > PNur. *pan ča > Ash. (M) <ponc> ~ <punc> / põ ċ/ ~ /pũċ/ , (T) <pọ̄nc> ~ <pūn č>  / põ ċ/ ~ /pũċ/ , (S) <p′o˜ć>  / põ ċ/ > Kt. (W/NE/SE) puč > Pr. wuč ~ wučˈū /wu č/ ~ /wu čú/ > NKal. (Wg/Zh) <p ū č> / pu č / , (N) <pon č> ~ <pu˜č>  / põ ċ/ ~ /pũċ/ > Tr. (G) <p′o˜č> /põ č/ (2) PIIr. *nápāt- "grandson" > PNur. *nap ā(k/t)a- > Ash. (M) <'nawä̃> ~ <'nʌwa> /náva/, (...

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>, ...

One phoneme mentioned in Halfmann (2025) is the presence of * ã in Proto-Nuristani reconstruction. The relevant mention of this claim is found in page 94: With this in mind, the word for ‘wool’ can be reconstructed as either PNur. *warnaka-/*warrãka- or *wərnaka-/*wərrãka-, but certainly not as *ūrnaka- as would be required for a parallel with the Indo-Aryan development. Here, we will try to justify the existence of a distinct Proto-Nuristani vowel phoneme * ã by looking at the cognate sets below, and determine if any of the Proto-Nuristani reconstructions above agree with the application of the Comparative Method: Sources For practical reasons, only attested forms alongside a Proto-Indo-Iranian reconstruction will be cited below. Richard Strand's website (https://nuristan.info/lngFrameL.html) will be used alongside sources for Ashkun (Morgenstierne 1929, 1934), Katë (Halfmann 2024), Prasun (Buddruss & Degener 2017), Nuristani Kalasha (Degener 1998, Tāza 2017), and Tregami...

In this post, we explore the historical development of consonant clusters in the Nuristani languages. The last two posts covered single consonant and vowel correspondences. However, similar to vowel developments, consonant clusters have not received much attention before Halfmann (2025)'s recent book on the position of the Nuristani languages. This post will attempt to find regular reflexes of Proto-Indo-Iranian consonant clusters in the Nuristani languages. Some of these were already discussed by Halfmann (2025). Due to lack of information, not all Proto-Indo-Iranian consonant clusters are represented here, though that may change with further research. Sound correspondences We will start with normative (excluding conditioned reflexes) consonant cluster correspondences for the Nuristani languages, based on clearly inherited forms. For practical reasons, only attested forms alongside a Proto-Indo-Iranian reconstruction will be cited below. Richard Strand's website (https:...