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Kholosi language

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Kholosi
Native toHormozgan Province, Iran
Native speakersc. 1800 (2014)
Language familyIndo-European
Writing systemPerso-Arabic
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologkhol1241

Kholosi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in two villages in southern Iran that was first described in 2008. At its current status, the language is considered endangered. In 2008, it was only spoken in the neighboring villages of Kholus and Gotav. As it is located on the Iranian Plateau and surrounded by Iranian languages, it draws heavily from them.

Classification

Kholosi is definitively known to be an Indo-Aryan language albeit with significant lexical borrowing from Iranian languages given its geographical location. At the lexical level, it seems to share vocabulary largely with the Sindhi languages, which are the source of other Indo-Aryan migrations to the Middle East such as Luwati in Oman.

Phonology

While no published phonology has been found on Kholosi, the following phonology has been constructed from examples provided in the sources below.

Vowels
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid
Low ɑ ɑː

Kholosi also contains the diphthongs /ɑi, ɑw, ow/ and possibly others.

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasals m n ɳ ŋ*
Stops p b t d t͡ʃ d͡ʒ ʃ k g
Fricatives f v s z x h
Approximants l ɽ j
Trills r

Note*: The phonemes marked with an asterisk are assumed based on the structure of the attested phonemes.

Grammar

Anonby and Bahmani (2013) made some brief notes on Kholosi grammar, but so far no grammatical sketch nor a full grammar of the language has been documented.

Morphology

Nouns and noun phrases

Nouns have inherent grammatical gender, and adjectives agree in gender with the head noun. Attributive adjectives follow the head noun, unlike other Indo-Aryan languages. Numerals precede the head noun.

Verbs and verb phrases

Kholosi uses several light verbs to form noun-verb compounds. This is a common feature of Indo-Iranian languages.

The adverb precedes the verb it modifies.

Case and adpositions

Kholosi has noun-suffixed postpositions (e.g. the genitive marker -jo which agrees with the gender of the possessor) as characteristic of Indo-Aryan languages.

Syntax

Kholosi is a verb-final language with SOV word order.

Vocabulary

Kholosi has roughly twice the number of Indo-Aryan terms in its basic lexicon than Iranian borrowings. The primary source of Iranian borrowings is Persian, but Larestani and Bandari (in the same geographical area) also appear to have contributed vocabulary.

A high degree of similarity with Indo-Aryan languages

Indo-Aryan vocabulary in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
ear guš kān kanu kan kān kān
stomach šekam pēt pēʈ pēʈ pētˤ per
throat galu nāɽi naɽī nəɽī qandī
neck gardan gēči ɠičī, ɠātō kand gər(ək)
blood xun rāt ratu rat rat
urine edrār, šāš meter muʈru mutar mutur miter
maternal uncle dāi momo māmo māmā mām
dog sag kotoro kutō kottrō snōta jukle
tail dom pēč pučʰu pučʰ(ɽi) panč(ək) kuyruka
snake mār sap nā̃gu sap sap
meat gušt māz gūšt gōs māsī mās
egg toxme morġ āɳo bēdō īnō āna vānvro
dirt xāk māti miʈī maʈī dūl
water āb puni pāɳī pāɳī pānī pāni
rain bārān meh mīh̃ã βarsād wārsīnda beršundo
old (thing) kohne peroɳo purāɳō, pōɽʰō junō, purānō pnāra pʰuro
heavy sangin gāwro ɠarō bʰāɽi grāna
dry xošk sako sukal sukō, sukelō sukʰo
black syāh kāro kārō kārō qāla kālo, qālo

Kholosi Indo-Iranian vocabulary aligned with Indo-Aryan sound changes

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
hand dast hāt hatʰu hatʰ xašt vāst
tooth dandān dānd ᶑãdu dəndʰ dānd dānd
fish māhi māči mačʰī məčʰī mačča maččʰo
star setāre taro tārō tārō yēldəz
three seh tereda ʈī trē trən terin
round gerd golāndo gōl gōl čōrm-
say goftan vetai čaβaɳ čōnũ ft- pʰen-
this in he ā-

A significant proportion of structures shared with neighbouring Iranian languages

Iranian vocabulary in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
head sar, kalle kallo matʰō matʰō sər šoru
nose bini, damāġ domāġ panu pan nāk nāk
bone ostoxān assaxān haɖō həɖ xar(ək) qoqālā
leaf barg barg panu pan kāġatˤ yārpaki
root riše rišo pāɽa mūɽ
dust gard gard dʰuɽ rajj, dʰuɽ ġabare
cloud abr awr jʰuɽ, kakar βəɖar ġēm boluti
summer tābestān tābesān hāɽu ūnārō awasār
winter zemestān zemesān siāro siyārō slāla
iron āhan āhan lohu ḥadīd
think fekr kard feker kai sōčaɳ sōčiɳũ fikr kar-

Words illustrating the local character of Iranian vocabulary in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Remarks
scorpion aġrab akrab cf. Lārestani (Evaz), Keshmi akrab
cloud abr awr cf. Bushehri, Keshmi, S. Luri awr
sand šen, māse lamer cf. Lārestani (Lār) lamr
chicken morġ čūki cf. Lārestani (Lār) čikala
whistling sut fitak, sūt cf. Bandari (Bushehr) fike, Keshmi fištak

Lack of contrastive aspiration on stops in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
tall boland taɽgo ɖrigho lamō, dʰərgō dərga, drōnga
skin pust xāl kʰala, čamɽī čam, čamɽi qal
cold sard tāzo tʰādʰō tʰādʰō sīlda tatto, tatʰo
weave bāft sībai uɳaɳu sibʰīnũ sīw- kʰuv-
hand dast hāt hatʰu hatʰ xašt vāst
tail dom pēč pučʰu pučʰ, pučʰ ɽipanč(ək) kuyruka
fish māhi māči mačʰī məčʰī mačča maččʰo

A full fricative series in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
all hame sāf sabʰai marē, mərē sa hāmi, sir
grass alaf(/giyāh) xāz gāhu gās kʰās
ant murče moxoro makoɽo mākuɽō mōrī, mˤōri kʰiri, giri
big bozorg vazzo βaᶑō βaᶑō drōnga tʰevro
near nazdik vāzo βējʰō bājūme čanč- bāšu

Lack of an implosive series in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
heavy sangin gāwro ɠarō bʰāɽi grāna
neck gardan gēči ɠičī, ɠātō kand gər(ək)
two do bāro ɓa dī, dədī duy
buy xarid genai ɠinhaɳu ɠəɳnũ pār- l-
swell motavarrem šod sojo suʄaɳ soʄnũ

Complex predicates in Kholosi

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
walk ġadam zad vāt viyo halaɳ halnũ raw-
stand up boland šod bolan to bīhaɳ uʈʰinũ, ubʰotʰīnũ št-
lie down derāz kešid sɑ̄ to halaɳ halnũ
fly parvāz kard pall kerɑmai uᶑraɳ, ūᶑaɳ uɖnũ fər-
swim šenā kard šenow kai taraɳ βenjinũ, tar karīnũ nan-

Distinctive structures in Kholosi

Distinctive Kholosi vocabulary

English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani
hair mu βāra βāɽ wāl
mouth dahān, dahan vāt muhũ məh muy
knee zānu āɽak gōᶑō gū̃nʈʰō lūlək døbiki
man mard kozoro maɳʰū̃ bʰāi māɽū, marad mnəs murš
child bače viyow ɓāru bačō qər, putr tinčʰā, čʰā
stone sang rōxo paʈʰar paʈʰar, paʈʈʰar wāʈ bār
fire āteš mangal bāhi ʈānɖʰō āg yag
small kuček nōko nanɖʰō nənɖʰo qətˤka čʰā
full por dang bʰaryal bʰarelō, pūrō, saʄō bardˤa
one yek poko hik akro yēka, yōka yekʰ, yek
tie bastan pālai ɓadʰaɳ bandʰinũ

Writing system

Kholosi is generally not written and doesn't have a official script yet. The Perso-Arabic script script is in use using the Persian alphabet.

References

  1. ^ Anonby, Erik; Bahmani, Hassan Mohebbi (2013). "Shipwrecked and Landlocked: A Description of Kholosi, an Indo-Aryan language of Southwest Iran" (PDF). Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Iranian Linguistics. Further Topics in Iranian Linguistics.
  2. ^ "Shipwrecked and landlocked : Discovery of an Indo-Aryan language in southwest Iran" (PDF). Bamling-research.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  3. ^ Tahereh Rezaei. "First notes on the syntax of Kholosi as a heritage language in the south of Iran" (PDF).
Indo-Aryan languages
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See also
Indo-Iranian languages
Nuristani languages
Iranian languages
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