Kata-vari (Kâta-vari) is a dialect of the Kamkata-vari language spoken by the Kata in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The most used alternative names are Kati, Kativiri or Bashgali.
| Kata-vari | |
|---|---|
| Kati | |
| Kâta-vari | |
| Native to | Afghanistan, Pakistan |
| Region | Nuristan, Kunar, Chitral |
Native speakers | 140,000 (2017)[1] |
Indo-European
| |
| Arabic script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bsh |
| Glottolog | kati1270 |
| ELP | Kati |
It is spoken by approximately 40,000 people (mostly in Afghanistan, just over 3,700 in Pakistan), and its speakers are Muslim. Literacy rates are low: below 1% for people who have it as a first language, and between 15% and 25% for people who have it as a second language.
There are two main sub-dialects: Eastern Kata-vari and Western Kata-vari. In Afghanistan, Western Kata-vari is spoken in the Ramgal, Kulam, Ktivi and Paruk valleys of Nuristan. Eastern Kata-vari is spoken in the upper Landai Sin Valley. In Pakistan, Eastern Kata-vari or Shekhani is spoken in Chitral District, in Gobor and the upper Bumboret Valley.
The dialect of Ktivi has lost nasalization, so that ǰâře- [d͡ʒaˈɻe] "to kill" corresponds to Kamviri ǰâňa- [d͡ʒaˈɽ̃ɘ]. For this article, most cited forms will be based on the Ktivi dialect.
Name edit
The name derives from Kâta [kaˈtɘ], the ethnonym of the Kata people in Kamkata-vari, with the suffix vari [βɘˈɾi] "language, speech". Cognates of the ethnonym in other Nuristani languages include Waigali Kẫta [kãˈtɐ].
Phonology edit
Consonants edit
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Palato- alveolar |
Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | ʈ | k | ||
| voiced | b | d | ɖ | ɡ | |||
| Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | t͡ʃ | t͡ʂ | |||
| voiced | d͡ʒ | d͡ʐ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | (f) | s | ʃ | ʂ | (x) | |
| voiced | v | z | (ʒ) | ʐ | (ɣ) | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ŋ | |||
| Tap | ɾ | (ɽ) | |||||
| Approximant | lateral | l | |||||
| central | ɻ | (j) | |||||
- Sounds /ʒ ɽ ɣ/ occur from neighboring languages. /f x/ are borrowed from loanwords.
- /ʈ/ can also be heard as an allophone [ɽ].
- [j] is heard as an allophone of /i/.
- /v/ can also be heard as bilabial [β] or a labial approximant [w].
Vowels edit
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ə | u |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Low | a |
- Mid /ə/ can be heard as a close central [ɨ].
Vocabulary edit
Pronouns edit
| Person | Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | sg. | uze | ie | iema |
| pl. | imu | |||
| 2nd | sg. | tiu | tu | tuma |
| pl. | šo | |||
Numbers edit
- ev
- diu
- tre
- štavo
- puč
- ṣu
- sut
- uṣṭ
- nu
- duć
References edit
- ^ Kata-vari at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- Grjunberg, Aleksandr L. (1980). Jazyk Kati: Teksty, Grammatičeskij Očerk. Moskva: Glavnaya Redaktsija Vostočnoj Literatury.
- Strand, Richard F. (1973). Notes on the Nūristāni and Dardic Languages. Journal of the American Oriental Society.
- Strand, Richard F. (2010). "Nurestâni Languages". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- Strand, Richard F. (2011). "Kâtʹa-vari Lexicon". Retrieved 22 November 2020.
External links edit
- Strand, Richard F. (1997–2013). "Nuristan: Hidden Land of the Hindu-Kush". Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- Strand, Richard F. (1997). "The kâtʹa, kʹom, mumʹo, kṣtʹo, biniʹo, ǰâmčʹo, and ǰâšʹa". Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- Strand, Richard F. (1998). "The kâtʹa". Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- Strand, Richard F. (2011). "Kâtʹa-vari Lexicon". Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- Strand, Richard F. (2011). "The Sound System of Kt'ivřâ·i vari". Retrieved 16 January 2012.