Sarikoli language

Sarikoli
تۇجىك زىڤ / سەرىقۇلى زىڤ Tujik ziv / Sarikhuli ziv Тоҷик зив
Native to	China
Region	Pamir (Taxkorgan County)
Ethnicity	Sarikolis
Native speakers	16,000 (2000)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Eastern Shugni–Yazgulami Shughnani Sarikoli
Writing system	Uyghur Arabic alphabet (unofficial)
Official status
Official language in	China
Language codes
ISO 639-3	srh
Glottolog	sari1246
ELP	Sarikoli
Linguasphere	58-ABD-eb
Xinjiang Province. Light blue are areas where Sarikoli is spoken.

The Sarikoli language (also Sariqoli, Selekur, Sarikul, Sariqul, Sariköli) is a member of the Pamir subgroup of the Southeastern Iranian languages spoken by the Pamiris of Xinjiang, China. It is officially referred to in China as the "Tajik language", although it is different from the related Iranian language spoken in Tajikistan, which is considered a dialect of Persian.

Nomenclature

Sarikoli is officially referred to as "Tajik" (Chinese: 塔とう吉よし克かつ语, Tǎjíkèyǔ) in China. However, it is not closely related to Tajik (a form of Persian) as spoken in Tajikistan because Sarikoli is an Eastern Iranian language, closely related to other Pamir languages largely spoken in the Badakshan regions of Tajikistan and Afghanistan, whereas the Western Iranian Farsi-Dari-Tajik is a polycentric language of a related but distinctly and historically different type. Both of these types of language and dialect clusters have been geographically separated by great distances and mountainous terrain over the course of long periods of time during which many differences of pronunciation, wording and xenolinguistic borrowings or retention of older forms or word choices accumulated over time. It is also referred to as Tashkorghani, after the ancient capital of the Sarikoli kingdom -- now the Tashkurgan (or Taxkorgan) Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang, China. However, the usage of the term Tashkorghani is not widespread among scholars.

The earliest written accounts in English are from the 1870s which generally use the name "Sarikoli" to refer to the language, but some written accounts since that time may use a different pronunciation derived from transcribing Chinese phonetics of the term into English as "Selekur(i)". Modern Chinese researchers often mention Sarikoli and Tajik names in their papers.

Distribution of speakers

The number of speakers is around 35,000; most reside in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in Southern Xinjiang Province, China. The Chinese name for the Sarikoli language, as well as the usage of Sarikol as a toponym, is Sàléikuòlèyǔ (萨雷阔勒语). Speakers in China typically use Chinese and Uyghur to communicate with people of other ethnic groups in the area. The rest are found in parts of the Pakistani-administered Kashmir, closely touching the Pakistan-Chinese international borders in the north east.

Writing system

The language has no official written form. Linguist Gao Erqiang, publishing in China, used IPA to transcribe the sounds of Sarikoli in his book and dictionary, while Tatiana N. Pakhalina, publishing in Russia, used an alphabet similar to that of the Wakhi language in hers. The majority of Sarikoli-speakers attend schools using Uyghur as the medium of instruction.

Uyghur alphabet

Main article: Uyghur Arabic alphabet

In recent years, Sarikoli speakers in China have used Uyghur Arabic alphabet to spell out their language.

Sarikoli Uyghur Arabic Alphabet

No.	Letter	IPA	Latin Eq.	No.	Letter	IPA	Latin Eq.
1	ئا	[ɔ]	O o	20	غ	[ʁ]	Gh gh
2	ئە	[ɑ]/[ɛ]	A a	21	ݝ	[ɣ]	Gc gc
3	ب	[b]	B b	22	ف	[f]	B b
4	پ	[p]	P p	23	ڤ	[v]	V v
5	ت	[t]	T t	24	ق	[q]	Kh kh
6	ث	[θしーた]	Ss ss	25	ك	[k]/[c]	K k
7	ج	[d͡ʑ]	J j	26	گ	[g]/[ɟ]	G g
8	چ	[t͡ɕ]	Q q	27	ڭ	[ŋ]	Ng ng
9	خ	[χかい]	H h	28	ل	[l]	L l
10	ݗ	[x]	C c	29	م	[m]	M m
11	څ	[t͡s]	Ts ts	30	ن	[n]	N n
12	ځ	[d͡z]	Dz dz	31	ھ	[h]	Hy hy
13	د	[d]	D d	32	ئۇ	[u]	U u
14	ذ	[ð]	Zz zz	33	ئۈ	[y]	Ü ü
15	ر	[r]	R r	34	ۋ	[w]	W w
16	ز	[z]	Z z	35	ئې	[e]	E e
17	ژ	[ʑ]	Zy zy	36	ئى	[i]	I i
18	س	[s]	S s	37	ي	[j]	Y y
19	ش	[ɕ]	X x

Letter	Latin Eq.
ئاۋ	Ou ou
ئېي	Ei ei

Latin alphabet variants

Gao Erqiang Sarikoli latin alphabet

In 1958, linguist Gao Erqiang studied Sarikoli in collaboration with Tajik linguists, using 37 symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet for the transcription of the language. In the 1996 Sarikoli–Han dictionary, Gao uses an alphabet of 26 letters and 8 digraphs based on Pinyin.

Sarikoli alphabet (Gao 1996)

Uppercase	A	B	C	D	DZ	E	F	G	GC	GH	H	HY	I	J	K	KH	L	M
Lowercase	a	b	c	d	dz	e	f	g	gc	gh	h	hy	i	j	k	kh	l	m
Pronunciation	a	b	x	d	d͡z	e	f	ɡ	ɣ	ʁ	χかい	h	i	d͡ʒ	k	q	l	m
Uppercase	N	O	P	Q	R	S	SS	T	TS	U	Ü	V	W	X	Y	Z	ZY	ZZ
Lowercase	n	o	p	q	r	s	ss	t	ts	u	ü	v	w	x	y	z	zy	zz
Pronunciation	n	o	p	t͡ʃ	r	s	θしーた	t	t͡s	u	ɯ	v	w	ʃ	j	z	ʒ	ð

Pakhalina Sarikoli latin alphabet

In the Sarikoli latin alphabet version by linguist Tatiana N. Pakhalina, the sounds are represented by these letters:

Letter	А а	B b	C c	Č č	D d	δでるた δでるた	E e	Ɛ εいぷしろん	Ə ə	F f	G g	Ɣ ɣ	Ɣ̆ ɣ̆	I i	Ʒ ʒ	J̌ ǰ	K k	L l	М м	N n	O o	P p	Q q	R r	S s
IPA	[a]	[b]	[t͡s]	[t͡ʃ]	[d]	[ð]	[e]	[ɛ]	[ə]	[f]	[g]	[ʁ]	[ɣ]	[i]	[d͡z]	[ɖ͡ʐ]	[k]	[l]	[m]	[n]	[o]	[p]	[q]	[r]	[s]
Letter	Š š	T t	ϑ ϑ	U u	Ů ů	V v	W w	Х х	Х̌ х̌	У у	Z z	Ž ž	Ы ы
IPA	[ʃ]	[t]	[θしーた]	[u]	[uː]	[v]	[w]	[χかい]	[x]	[j]	[z]	[dʑ]	[ɯ]

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i ⟨i⟩		ɯ ⟨ы⟩	u ⟨u⟩
Near-high			ʊ ⟨ů⟩
High-mid	e ⟨e⟩	ə ⟨ə⟩	o ⟨o⟩
Low-mid	ɛ ⟨ɛ⟩		(ɔ) ⟨o⟩
Low		a ⟨a⟩

• /o/ may also be heard as [ɔ, ʌ].

Sarikoli vowel ɔ/o is an allophone with Uyghur vowel a. Sarikoli vowel a is an allophone with Uyghur vowel æ. Sarikoli vowels have undergone the same chain shift as Tajik, Uzbek, and other Central Asian Pamir languages. The vowel chain shift looks like the following:

• [a] → [a]/[æ]
• [aː] → [ɔ]
• [o] → [u]
• [u] → [ɵ]/[y]

Sarikoli vowels as used in Russian works (IPA values in brackets):

a [a], e [e], ɛy [ɛi̯] (dialectal æy or ay [æi̯ / ai̯]), ɛw [ɛu̯] (dialectal æw or aw [æu̯ /au̯]), ə [ə], i [i], o [o / ɔ], u [u], ы [ɯ] (dialectal ů [ʊ]). In some dialects also long variants of those vowels can appear: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ы̄, ǝ̄. (citation?)

Consonants

Sarikoli has 30 consonants:

Sarikoli consonants according to Russian Iranologist transcription (IPA values in slashes): p /p/, b /b/, t /t/, d /d/, k /k ~ c/, g /ɡ ~ ɟ/, q /q/, c /ts/, ʒ /dz/, č /tɕ/, ǰ /dʑ/, s /s/, z /z/, x̌ /x/, γがんま̌ /ɣ/, f /f/, v /v/, θしーた /θしーた/, δでるた /ð/, x /χかい/, γがんま /ʁ/, š /ɕ/, ž /ʑ/, h /h/, w /w/, y /j/, m /m/, n /n, ŋ/, l /l/, r /r/

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m ⟨m⟩		n ⟨n⟩		(ŋ) ⟨n⟩
Plosive	voiceless	p ⟨p⟩		t ⟨t⟩	k ~ c ⟨k⟩		q ⟨q⟩
	voiced	b ⟨b⟩		d ⟨d⟩	ɡ ~ ɟ ⟨g⟩
Affricate	voiceless			ts ⟨c⟩	tɕ ⟨č⟩
	voiced			dz ⟨ʒ⟩	dʑ ⟨ǰ⟩
Fricative	voiceless	f ⟨f⟩	θしーた ⟨θしーた⟩	s ⟨s⟩	ɕ ⟨š⟩	x ⟨x̌⟩	χかい ⟨x⟩	h ⟨h⟩
	voiced	v ⟨v⟩	ð ⟨δでるた⟩	z ⟨z⟩	ʑ ⟨ž⟩	ɣ ⟨γがんま̌ ⟩	ʁ ⟨γがんま⟩
Approximant		w ⟨w⟩		l ⟨l⟩	j ⟨y⟩
Rhotic				r ⟨r⟩

Stress

Most words receive stress on the last syllable; however, a minority receive stress on their first syllable. Also, several noun declensions and verb inflections regularly place stress on their first syllable, including the imperative and interrogative.

Vocabulary

Although to a large extent the Sarikoli lexicon is quite close to those of other Eastern Iranian languages, there are a large number are words unique to Sarikoli and the closely related Shughni that are not found in other Eastern Iranian languages like Wakhi, Pashto or Avestan.

Lexical comparison of eight Iranian languages together with an English translation

English gloss	Persian	Tajik	Wakhi	Pashto	Shughni	Sarikoli	Ossetic	Avestan
one	jæk (یک)	jak (‍як)	ji	jaw (يو)	jiw	iw	iw (иу)	aēuua-
meat	ɡuʃt (گوشت)	ɡuʃt (гушт)	ɡuʂt	ɣwaxa, ɣwaʂa (غوښه)	ɡuːxt	ɡɯxt	zizä (дзидза)	gao- (N. gāuš)
son	pesær (پسر)	pisar (писар)	putr	zoi (زوی)	puts	pɯts	fɪ̈rt (фырт)	puθしーたra-
fire	ɒteʃ (آتش)	otaʃ (оташ)	rɯχかいniɡ	or (اور)	joːts	juts	ärt (арт)	ātar-
water	ɒb (اب)	ob (об)	jupk	obə (اوبه)	xats	xats	don (дон)	ap-
hand	dæst (دست)	dast (даѕт)	ðast	lɑs (لاس)	ðust	ðɯst	kʼuχかい (къух)	zasta-
foot	pɒ (پا)	po (по)	pɯð	pxa, pʂa (پښه)	poːð	peð	fäd (фад)	paδでるたa-, pāδでるたa-
tooth	dændɒn (دندان)	dandon (дандон)	ðɯnðɯk	ɣɑx, ɣɑʂ (غاښ)	ðinðʉn	ðanðun	dəndäg (дӕндаг)	daṇtān-
eye	tʃæʃm (چشم)	tʃaʃm (чашм)	tʂəʐm	stərɡa (سترګه)	tsem	tsem	səʃt (цæст)	dōiθしーたra-; caṣ̌man-
horse	æsb (اسب)	asp (асп)	jaʃ	ɑs (آس)	voːrdʒ	vurdʒ	bəχかい (бӕх)	aspa-
cloud	æbr (ابر)	abr (абр)	mur	urjadz (اوريځ)	abri	varm	əvräʁ (æврагъ) / miʁ (мигъ)	abda-; aβべーたra-, aβべーたrā-; maēγがんまa-
wheat	ɡændom (گندم)	ɡandum (гандум)	ɣɯdim	ɣanam (غنم)	ʒindam	ʒandam	mənəw (мæнæу)	gaṇtuma-
many	besjɒr (بسيار)	bisjor (бисёр)	təqi	ɖer, pura (ډېر، پوره)	bisjoːr	pɯr	fyr (фыр)	paoiri-
high	bolænd (بلند)	baland (баланд)	bɯland	lwaɻ (لوړ)	biland	bɯland	bərʒond (бӕрзoнд)	bərəzaṇt-
far	dur (دور)	dur (дур)	ðir	ləre (لرې)	ðar	ðar	därd (дард)	dūra-
good	χかいub (خوب)	χかいub (хуб)	baf	xə, ʂə (ښه)	χかいub	tʃardʒ	χかいorʒ (хорз)	vaŋha-
small	kutʃik (کوچک))	χかいurd (хурд)	dzəqlai	ləɡ, ləʐ (لږ)	dzul	dzɯl	gɪ̈ssɪ̈ɫ (гыццыл)	kasu-
to say	ɡoft (گفت)	ɡuft (гуфт)	xənak	wajəl (ويل)	lʉvd	levd	zurɪ̈n (дзурын)	vac-; aoj-; mrū-; saŋh-
to do	kærd (کرد)	kard (кард)	tsərak	kawəl (کول)	tʃiːd	tʃeiɡ	kənɪ̈n (кæнын)	kar-
to see	did (ديد)	did (дид)	wiŋɡ	winəm (وينم)	wiːnt	wand	wɪ̈nɪ̈n (уынын)	dī-, viŋ-

Sample Text

The following text is a paragraph from Gao Erqiang's "Tajik-Chinese Dictionary" (1996), talking about the significance of the development of a writing system for the language of Tajiks of Xinjiang, both in Chinese and Sarikoli. The Sarikoli text is written in the "Pinyin" developed by Gao Erqiang for use in the dictionary. Below, the text is also transcribed in an equivalent Uyghur-Arabic alphabet.

Latin script	Awal birinqi masala qi ter gap kayan. Tujik milat hüyan ziv yost. Yad ziv optunum noya ar doira khulanmix soud. Janubi Xinjongan Yurkond, Puskom, KHarghalegh, Pixan khatorlekh juiefan wi Tujik heil uhxox na yozzin, Di juienj Tujik heil asos az jat hü ziv khulanmix kayin, Hü milatan wi ziv khulanmix qeig wa a wi tarakhi qeig Asosi KHonün zzujenj hyukhukh. Agar i milatan ghov ziv vid, kitubi ziv tsa na vid, di rang zivan wi rafond wa tarakhiyot qaklimari diqur hird. M dos qeig levd alo k yü milat Asosi KHonün zzujenj az hyukhukh tulukh bahyrimand na sezzjenj soud. Yizekh levjenj a ziv hotirlamix qeigiquz balgü, yani i mi khati münosibatlig vezzjenj pinyin sestimo qi qer wezzd khati hyusil sezzjenj, dian hyiq rang sir nist, Pinyin loyayan wi tüzülüx mofekh tsa soud, hyiq rang alukat mas peidu na soud. Vizekhan at ziv mazzon vezzjenj zidiyat mas ubiktip hyolda i taraf set khati ter sawiya khati birligir yozzd. Müstakhil tarakhi qogcjenj i zivan Kyamon wiri mos yetiquz i yizekh vid karak. Ilim wa rafond az nuhto zoct alo yad douliri uighun qer.
	ئەۋەل بىرىنچى مەسەلە چى تېر گەپ كەيەن. تۇجىك مىلەت خۈيەن زىڤ ياست. يەد زىڤ ئاپتۇنۇم نايە ئەر دايرە قۇلانمىش ساۇد. جەنۇبى شىنجاڭەن يۇركاند، پۇسكام، قەرغەلېغ، پىشان قەتارلېق جۇىېفەن ۋى تۇجىك خېىل ئۇخشاش نە ياذىن، دى جۇىېنج تۇجىك خېىل ئەساس ئەز جەت خۈ زىڤ قۇلەنمىش كەيىن، خۈ مىلەتەن ۋى زىڤ قۇلەنمىش چېىگ ۋە ئە ۋى تەرەقى چېىگ ئەساسى قانۈن ذۇجېنج ھۇقۇق. ئەگەر ئى مىلەتەن غاڤ زىڤ ڤىد، كىتۇبى زىڤ څە نە ڤىد، دى رەڭ زىڤەن ۋى رەفاند ۋە تەرەقىيات چەكلىمەرى دىچۇر خىرد. مداس چېىگ لېڤد ئەلا كيۈ مىلەت ئەساسى قانۈن ذۇجېنج ئەز ھۇقۇق تۇلۇق بەھرىمەند نە سېذجېنج ساۇد. يىزېق لېڤجېنج ئە زىڤ خاتىرلەمىش چېىگىچۇز بەلگۈ، يەنى ئى مى قەتى مۈناسىبەتلىگ ڤەذجېنج «پىن‌يىن» سېستىما چى چېر ۋەذد قەتى ھۇسىل سېذجېنج، دىەن ھىچ رەڭ سىر نىست، «پىن‌يىن» لايەيەن ۋى تۈزۈلۈش مافېق څە ساۇد، ھىچ رەڭ ئەلۇكەت مەس پېيدۇ نە ساۇد. ڤىزېقەن ئەت زىڤ مەذان ڤەذجېنج زىدىيەت مەس ئۇبىكتىپ ھالدە ئى تەرەف سېت قەتى تېر سەۋىيە قەتى بىرلىگىر یاذد. مۈستەقىل تەرەقى چاݝجېنج ئى زىڤەن كيەمان ۋىرى ماس يېتىچۇز ڤىد كەرەك. ئىلىم ۋە رەفاند ئەز نۇختا زاݗت ئەلا يەد داۇلىرى ئۇىغۇن چېر.‎
Chinese	先さき说第一いち个问题。塔とう吉よし克かつ族ぞく有ゆう自己じこ的てき语言。这种语言在自あらじ 治ち县通用つうよう,是ぜ无法用よう其他语言代替だいたい的てき。和南わなみ疆莎车、泽普、叶かのう 城しろ等地とうち的てき塔とう吉よし克人かつと不同ふどう,这里很多塔とう吉よし克人かつと只ただ使用しよう或ある基本きほん上じょう 使用しよう自己じこ语言。使用しよう和わ发展本ほん民族みんぞく语言是ぜ宪法赋予的てき权利。如果一个民族只有口头语而没有书面语,这个语言的てき使用しよう和わ 发展实际上じょう就受到限げん制せい,也就不能ふのう合理ごうり享受きょうじゅ宪法给予的てき权 利り。文字もじ就是记录语言的てき符号ふごう,用よう的てき是ぜ相しょう关的一いち套拼音おん系けい 统,其中没ぼつ有ゆう什么神秘しんぴ,拼音方案ほうあん设计周到しゅうとう也不会かい产生繁しげる 难。文和ふみかず语之问可能かのう具有ぐゆう的てき矛盾むじゅん将しょう会かい通どおり过客观而明智めいち的てき处理 达到很大程度ていど上じょう的てき一致いっち。一个独立发展的语言总要有和他相适应的文字。这从学がく术上或ある实用上じょう说是理り所しょ当然とうぜん的てき。/span>
English	Let’s talk about the first question first. The Tajiks have their own language. This language is commonly used in the autonomous county and cannot be replaced by other languages. Unlike the Tajiks in Yarkand, Poskam, Kargilik and other places in southern Xinjiang, many Tajiks here exclusively or largely exclusively use their own language. The use and development of the national language is a right conferred by the constitution. If a nation only has a spoken language but no written language, the use and development of this language will actually be restricted, and it will not be able to reasonably enjoy the rights granted by the constitution. Writing is a set of symbols that record language, and a related pinyin system is used. There is nothing mysterious about it, and a well-designed pinyin scheme will not cause any complications. Possible contradictions between text and language will be treated objectively and wisely to achieve a large degree of consistency. A language that develops independently must have a set of characters that are suitable for it. This is a matter of course from an academic or practical point of view.

Further reading

• Arlund, Pamela S. (2006). An Acoustic, Historical, and Developmental Analysis of Sarikol Tajik Diphthongs (PhD thesis). University of Texas. hdl:10106/438.
• Xiren Kurban 西にし仁ひとし·库尔班はん Zhuang, Shu-ping 庄しょう淑よし萍 (2008). "Zhōngguó Tǎjíkèyǔ Sèlēikùěr fāngyán gàishù" 中国ちゅうごく塔とう吉よし克かつ语色勒库尔方言ほうげん概がい述じゅつ [A Probe Into China-Tajik Selekur Dialect]. Yǔyán yǔ fānyì / Language and Translation (in Chinese). 2008 (1): 13–19. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1001-0823.2008.01.003.

External links

• The Tajik Ethnic Group in China