Badeshi language

Badeshi is an almost extinct unclassified Indo-Iranian language spoken in Pakistan.[2] Its distinctiveness is unconfirmed; it may be a family name. In 2014 "Ethnologue, Languages of the World" stated Badeshi had not been spoken for at least three generations but in 2018 the BBC found three men who could still speak the language.[3]

Badeshi
Native toPakistan
RegionBishigram (Chail) Valley
Native speakers
3 known (2018)
Arabic script[1], words also transcribed in Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3bdz
Glottologbade1240[2]

Muhammad Zaman Sagar, a field linguist connected to the Forum for Language Initiative, has worked on this language. But as a result of his research during two years, he collected only about one hundred words.[3] In July 2007 he visited the Bishigram Valley again and spent some days with the people there. There are efforts to retain a record of the language by linguist Zubair Torwali among others.[4]

In 2018, BBC reporters found three old men (Said Gul, Ali Sher and Rahim Gul) who could still speak Badeshi in the Bishigram Valley in Northern Pakistan.[3] They said that the Torwali language had taken over from Badeshi in their village. The men also had worked in tourist areas in the Swat valley where they spoke Pashto. Some phrases of Badeshi were:

  • Meen naao Rahim Gul thi - My name is Rahim Gul
  • Meen Badeshi jibe aasa - I speak Badeshi
  • Theen haal khale thi? - How do you do?
  • May grot khekti - I have eaten
  • Ishu kaale heem kam ikthi - There is not much snowfall this year[3]

References
  1. "Usage of Nasta'liq in the Modern Publications - Typography Day" (PDF). Typography Day.
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Badeshi". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Syed, Zafar (2018-02-26). "Only three people speak this language". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  4. Khaliq, Fazal (10 January 2018). "Swat's ancient language breathing its last". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
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