Sarikoli language

The Sarikoli language is a member of the Pamir subgroup of the Southeastern Iranian languages spoken by the Pamiris in Xinjiang, China and Chitral, Pakistan. It is officially referred to in China as the "Tajik language", although it is different from the Tajik language spoken in Tajikistan, which is closely related to Persian.

Nomenclature

Sarikoli is officially referred to as "Tajik" in China. However, it is distantly related to Tajik because Sarikoli is an Eastern Iranian language, thereby being closely related to the other Pamir languages of Badakhshan, whereas Tajik is a Western Iranian language spoken in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. 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". 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 Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County in Southern Xinjiang, China, and the Upper Chitral District of Pakistan, specifically the Broghil Valley. The Chinese name for the Sarikoli language, as well as the usage of Sarikol as a toponym, is Sàléikuòlèyǔ. Speakers in China typically use Chinese and Uyghur to communicate with people of other ethnic groups in the area.

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

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

No.	Letter	IPA	Latin Eq.	No.	Letter	IPA	Latin Eq.
1			O o	20			Gh gh
2		/	A a	21			Gc gc
3			B b	22			F f
4			P p	23			V v
5			T t	24			Kh kh
6			Ss ss	25		/	K k
7			J j	26		/	G g
8			Q q	27			Ng ng
9			H h	28			L l
10			C c	29			M m
11			Ts ts	30			N n
12			Dz dz	31			Hy hy
13			D d	32			U u
14			Zz zz	33			Ü ü
15			R r	34			W w
16			Z z	35			E e
17			Zy zy	36			I i
18			S s	37			Y y
19			X x	-	-	-	-

Letter	Latin Eq.
	Oi oi
	Ou ou
	Ei ei
	Eu eu

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.

Uppercase

Lowercase

Pronunciation

Uppercase

Lowercase

Pronunciation

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

E e

Ɛ ε

Ə ə

F f

G g

Ɣ ɣ

Ɣ̆ ɣ̆

I i

Ʒ ʒ

J̌ ǰ

K k

L l

М м

IPA

Letter

N n

O o

P p

Q q

R r

S s

Š š

T t

U u

Ü ü

V v

W w

Х х

Х̌ х̌

У у

Z z

Ž ž

Ы ы

IPA

Phonology

Vowels

// may also be heard as .

Sarikoli vowel / is an allophone with Uyghur vowel. Sarikoli vowel is an allophone with Uyghur vowel. 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:

→ /
→
→
→ /

Sarikoli vowels as used in Russian works :
In some dialects also long variants of those vowels can appear: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ы̄, ǝ̄.

Consonants

Sarikoli has 30 consonants:
Sarikoli consonants according to Russian Iranologist transcription : p, b, t, d, k, g, q, c, ʒ, č, ǰ, s, z, x̌, γ̌, f, v, θ, δ, x, γ, š, ž, h, w, y, m, n, l, '''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 of words unique to Sarikoli and the closely related Shughni that are not found in other Eastern Iranian languages like Wakhi, Pashto or Avestan.

English gloss	Persian	Tajik	Wakhi	Pashto	Shughni	Sarikoli	Ossetic	Avestan
one							iw	aēuua-
meat							zizä	gao-
son						fɪ̈rt	puθra-
fire							ärt	ātar-
water							don	ap-
hand							kʼuχ	zasta-
foot							fäd	paδa-, pāδa-
tooth							dəndäg	daṇtān-
eye							səʃt	dōiθra-; caṣ̌man-
horse							bəχ	aspa-
cloud							əvräʁ / miʁ	abda-; aβra-, aβrā-; maēγa-
wheat							mənəw	gaṇtuma-
many							fyr	paoiri-
high							bərʒond	bərəzaṇt-
far							därd	dūra-
good							χorʒ	vaŋha-
small	)						gɪ̈ssɪ̈ɫ	kasu-
to say							zurɪ̈n	vac-; aoj-; mrū-; saŋh-
to do							kənɪ̈n	kar-
to see							wɪ̈nɪ̈n	dī-, viŋ-

Sample text

The following text is a paragraph from Gao Erqiang's "Tajik-Chinese Dictionary", 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 Persian 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.
Uyghur alphabet
Chinese	先说第一个问题。塔吉克族有自己的语言。这种语言在自治县通用,是无法用其他语言代替的。和南疆莎车、泽普、叶城等地的塔吉克人不同,这里很多塔吉克人只使用或基本上使用自己语言。使用和发展本民族语言是宪法赋予的权利。如果一个民族只有口头语而没有书面语,这个语言的使用和发展实际上就受到限制,也就不能合理享受宪法给予的权利。文字就是记录语言的符号,用的是相关的一套拼音系统,其中没有什么神秘,拼音方案设计周到也不会产生繁难。文和语之问可能具有的矛盾将会通过客观而明智的处理达到很大程度上的一致。一个独立发展的语言总要有和他相适应的文字。这从学术上或实用上说是理所当然的。
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 Yarkant, 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 ethnic language is a right conferred by the constitution. If an ethnicity 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.