Munji language

The Munji language, also known as Munjani, Munjhan and the Munjiwar language,[3] is a Pamir language spoken in Munjan valley in Badakhshan Province in northeast Afghanistan. It is similar to the Yidgha language, which is spoken in the Upper Lotkoh Valley of Chitral, west of Garam Chashma in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.[4]

For the Sino-Tibetan language, see Mondzi language.

Munji
مونجى
Native to	Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan
Native speakers	5,300 (2008)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Eastern Munji–Yidgha? Munji
Writing system	None
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mnj
Glottolog	munj1244[2]
Linguasphere	58-ABD-ba

Historically, Munji displays the closest possible linguistic affinity with the now-extinct Bactrian language.[5]

The Garam Chashma area became important during the Soviet–Afghan War. During the invasion, the Soviets were unable to stop the flow of arms and men back and forth across the Dorah Pass that separates Chitral, in Pakistan, from Badakshan in Afghanistan. The two dialects spoken in the area of Mamalgha Valley and the area of Munjan Valley differed, being the northern and southern dialects. The language has moved to parts of Chitral, after the War in Afghanistan forced the Munji-speaking people to flee to safer areas.[6]

Despite Dari being the predominate language of the region, attitudes towards Munji are highly positive, and among speakers, few predict a decline in use.[7]

References

1. Munji at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Munji". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
3. "Did you know Munji is threatened?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
4. Risley, H.H.; E.A. Gait (1903). Report on the Census of India, 1901. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing. p. 294. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06.
5. Waghmar, Burzine K. (2001) 'Bactrian History and Language: An Overview.' Journal of the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute, 64. pp. 40-48.
6. Decker, Kendell D. (1992). Languages of Chitral. National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan and Summer Institute of Linguistics. p. 50.
7. Daniela Beyer; Simone Beck (2011). "A linguistics assessment of the Munji language in Afghanistan". Language Documentation and Conservation. 6: 38–103.

Further reading

• Decker, Kendall (1992). Languages of Chitral. Islamabad: National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University and Summer Institute of Linguistics.
• Morgenstierne, Georg (1926). Report on a Linguistic Mission to Afghanistan. Oslo: Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning, Serie C I-2. ISBN 0-923891-09-9.