Nuristani languages from an areal and typological point of view

Professor Henrik Liljegren presents a paper summarizing the characteristic properties of Nuristani languages, ranging from the sound system to word order and other features of grammar. The paper is published in a special issue of the International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction.

In the spring of 2017, Henrik Liljegren had the opportunity to work with speakers of six Nuristani language varieties and record first-hand data in Kabul. He now presents a paper summarizing the characteristic properties of these languages, ranging from the sound system to word order and other grammatical features.

While previous studies have focused on individual Nuristani languages, this paper represents the first attempt to provide an areal and typological overview of the Nuristani languages.

The Kunar Valley, near Nuristan. Photo: Abdullah Soan
 

Some properties typical of Nuristani

Nuristani is a small group of closely related languages spoken in a mountainous region of northeastern Afghanistan, primarily within the boundaries of Nuristan Province. While Nuristani shares some commonalities with other languages in the wider Hindu Kush region, including Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Tibeto-Burman, and the isolate Burushaski, it also exhibits a unique set of structural properties that can be termed typically Nuristani. These include the presence of a retroflex approximant, linguistic coding of complex spatial distinctions, kinship suffixes, and a set of finely tuned discourse markers. 

While Nuristani generally comes out as internally homogeneous, there is one language that deviates from the others: Prasun. In certain respects, particularly morpho-syntactically, Prasun shows a closer affinity to languages other than its closest Nuristani kin. This could be the result of substratal influence. Additionally, Nuristani appears to be the source of subareal patterns detectable also in some neighbouring non-Nuristani communities, most likely related to a shared pre-Muslim context.

The article is published in International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction 19/2022. 

About the journal IJDL (medialibrary.reichert-verlag.de)

Article in the Digital Academic Archive, DiVA (Open Access from sep 2023)

Map of Nuristan Province.