Shughni is one of the Pamir languages of the Southeastern Iranian language group. Its distribution is in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in Tajikistan, Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan, Chitral district in Pakistan and Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County in China.Karamšoev, Dodchudo K. (1988–99). Šugnansko-russkij slovar. 3 vols. Moskva: Nauka. (Vol. 2), / (Vol. 3)
Shughni-Rushani tends towards SOV word order, distinguishes a masculine and feminine gender in nouns and some adjectives, as well as the 3rd person singular of verbs. Shughni distinguishes between an absolutive and an oblique case in its system of pronouns. Rushani is noted for a typologically unusual 'double-oblique' construction, also called a 'transitive case', in the past tense. Normally Soviet school scientists consider Rushani as a close but independent language to Shughni, while Western school scientists codes Rushani as a dialect of Shughni due to Afghanistan Rushani speakers living in the Shighnan district of Badakhshan Province.
Distribution
The Shughni people in Tajikistan speak Tajik Persian, while Shughni is mostly used locally in everyday conversation.; Dodykhudoeva, Leyla. Shughni // The Iranian Languages. Ed. by Gernot Windfuhr. Oxon: Routledge, 2009. P. 801. ISBN 978-0-7007-1-131-4.
Shughni also serves as a secondary, more local lingua franca for communication in the regional capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region—the city of Khorog—as well as throughout the region and even beyond.; Dodykhudoeva, Leyla. Shughni // The Iranian Languages. Ed. by Gernot Windfuhr. Oxon: Routledge, 2009. P. 801. ISBN 978-0-7007-1-131-4. In Tajikistan, Shughni is not formally taught in schools, though it may be used unofficially for communication between teachers and students in primary grades.
According to the 1980s data, about 50,000 Shughnis lived in GBAO.Karamšoev, Dodchudo K. (1988–99). Šugnansko-russkij slovar. 3 vols. Moskva: Nauka. (Vol. 2), / (Vol. 3) As of 1997, approximately 100,000 people spoke Shughni.
Shughni speakers in Afghanistan are mostly monolingual. In Afghanistan, Shughni was unofficially taught in schools, and in the 2010s a Shughni program for primary school students was created.
According to the All-Union Population Census of the USSR in the 1920s, only six people reported Shughni as their native language—for unknown reasons, some ethnic groups, including the Shughni, did not report their language. By the 1980s, about 50,000 Shughni lived in GBAO, and in Afghan Shighnan, according to researcher , at least 25,000. As of 1997, approximately 100,000 people spoke Shughni. According to , the number of Shughni speakers ranges from 80,000 to 100,000,; Dodykhudoeva, Leyla. Shughni // The Iranian Languages. Ed. by Gernot Windfuhr. Oxon: Routledge, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7007-1-131-4. while Katja Mueller estimates around 130,000.
The Shughni language is listed in the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger as "vulnerable". On the EGIDS scale, it has a status of 6a, or "vigorous". This means it is used in oral communication in informal settings and learned by children as a native language, despite a relatively small number of speakers, though in many communicative domains (education, culture, and science) it is often displaced by other languages. Therefore, Shughni is currently not endangered, but it may potentially face risk of extinction in the future.
Dialects
Rushani, Bartangi, Oroshori (Roshorvi), Khufi and Shughni proper are considered to be dialects. However, Bartangi and Khufi are quite distinct and may be separate languages.
Phonology
Vowels The following are the vowels of Shughni: +Shughni vowelsFrontCentralBackCloseNear-closeClose-mid()Open-midOpen~ Long vowels occur as /, , , , /.
Consonants The following are the consonants of Shughni: +Shughni consonants Labial Dental/Alveolar Post-alveolar Velar UvularGlottal Nasal Plosive/AffricatevoicelessvoicedFricativevoiceless()voiced Approximant Rhotic
/r/ can be realised as a trill [r] or a tap [ɾ]. Velar sounds /x, ɣ/ can also be realised as more fronted palatal sounds [ç, ʝ].
Orthography
Shughni people live in both Afghanistan and Tajikistan. For the past 100 years, the two countries have had diverging orthographic standards. On either side of the border, Shughni literaturists, being previously an unwritten language, have relied heavily on the existing orthographic standards and conventions in coming up with an orthography for Shughni language.
In Tajikistan, the Persian alphabet was replaced by the Latin alphabet in 1928, and 11 years afterwards in 1939, the Latin alphabet was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. The Tajik Cyrillic alphabet is based on Russian orthography, and is similar to that of Uzbek in neighboring Uzbekistan. Thus, the alphabets developed in Tajikistan for the Shughni language, have been Cyrillic and Latin.
In Afghanistan, Dari Persian, with the Persian script, is the literary language of the nation. Pashto language (Eastern Iranian language) too, with its own alphabet, derived from Persian, but with unique features and conventions, is the co-official language of Afghanistan. Thus, the Shughni orthography being developed by literaturists in Afghanistan has been derived from Persian, and additionally borrowing letters from Pashto if needed.
Historical development
The question of whether the Shughni language possessed an ancient writing system remains a subject of research. The only recorded mention of a possible ancient Shughni script comes from the Chinese traveler Xuanzang in the 7th century CE. In his work Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, he mentions a country called Shiqini, which researchers identify with Shughnan. According to Xuanzang, the writing system of Shiqini was similar to that of the Tocharians, probably referring to the Eastern Iranian Bactrian alphabet.
From the second half of the 19th century, attempts were made to adapt the Persian script for Shughni. Some poetry (e.g., by the poet Mullo Lochin, 1860–1920) and medical or historical works (e.g., by Shohzoda Muhammad) were written in it, but the practice never became widespread.
During the same period, Shughni began to attract scholarly attention. The first Shughni grammar was compiled by the English researcher Robert Shaw in 1877, using a Latin-based transcription with diacritics. In 1883, the Russian scholar D. L. Ivanov produced the first Shughni dictionary; his manuscripts used Cyrillic with additional Latin letters, while the published version employed the Anders Johan Sjögren's Cyrillic alphabet. In the early 20th century, further publications on Shughni appeared, though the language itself remained largely unwritten.
Latin alphabet
The Latin-based writing system used for the Shughni language comprises 39 letters, combining standard Latin characters with diacritical marks and some additional modified letters adopted from the Hellenic alphabet. Although this alphabet has never been officially standardized, it has been widely employed in academic articles and linguistic studies devoted to the Shughni language and related Eastern Iranian Pamir languages:
Capital letters A Ā B C Č D Δ E Ê F G Ɣ Ɣ̌ I Ī J̌ K L M N O P Q R S Š T Θ U Ū Ů V W X X̌ Y Z Ž Ʒ Lower case a ā b c č d δ e ê f g ɣ ɣ̌ i ī ǰ k l m n o p q r s š t θ u ū ů v w x x̌ y z ž ʒ
Persian alphabet
The process of compiling a Persian derived alphabet for Shughni has been a long and iterative one, over a period starting from 2004, with the publication of the first book on phonology and orthography of Shughni language by Khair Mohammad Haidari.Khair Mohammad "Haidari", (2004) Alphabet of Shughni Language / الفبای زبان شغنی. (Dari) Academy of sciences of Afghanistan, Kabul, Afghanistan.
This was followed by a 2011 publication by Dr. Nur Ali Dost from Montreal-based "Sohravardi Foundation for Iranian Studies",Dr. Nur Ali Dost (2011) Shughni Language Alphabet / الفبای زبان شغنی (Dari). Sohravardi Foundation for Iranian Studies, Montreal, Canada. (Archive) a 2011 compilation by Mazhab Shah ZahooriMazhab Shah Zahoori (19 February 2011). Determining and using the Shughni alphabet by Mazhab Shah Zahoori / تعین واستفاده الفبای شغنی توسط مذهب شاه ظهوری (Dari). Sīmā-yi Shughnān Publications Office. (Archive) and two other by Alishah Sabbar and Calgary-based Dr. Khush Nazar Parmerzad.Nawruz Ali Sabitī. (1 March 2011) Some matters surrounding the proposed alphabet of Sughnani language / مطالبی پيرامون الفبای مطروحه زبان شغنانی (Dari). Fayzabad, Afghanistan. (Archive)
This led to controversy, correspondence, and collaboration between Shughni literaturists and academics, who over the following years, agreed upon specific set of consonants, and a specific standardized way of representing vowels.Nawruz Ali Sabitī. (1 May 2012) The discussion of the structure of alphabet of Shughnani language should be resumed / گفتگوی ساختار الفبای زبان شغنانی از سر گرفته شود (Dari). Fayzabad, Afghanistan. (Archive)Nawruz Ali Sabitī. (25 April 2011). A reflection on the thoughtful research of Noor Ali Dost, Ph.D., regarding the Shoghnani alphabet / تأملی در قسمت پژوهش مدبرانه محترم دکتورانت نور علی دوست در مورد الفبای شغنانی (Dari). Fayzabad, Afghanistan. (Archive)
The Afghan government has officially adopted Shughni orthography as well, and the Ministry of Education has created textbooks to be used in Badakhshan Province.
Letters
Below table demonstrates the 44-letter Persian-derived Shughni alphabet.Nawruz Ali Sabitī. (22 September 2016) A phonemic alphabet scheme for the Pamir languages / طرح الفبای فونیمیکی برای زبان های پامیری (Dari). Fayzabad, Afghanistan. (Archive)Ali Bek Salik (15 July 2020). How to learn Shoghani language outside of Afghanistan? (Dari). Calgary, Canada. Sīmā-yi Shughnān Publications Office. (Archive)