Prasun is a

Nuristani language The Nuristani languages are one of the three groups within the Indo-Iranian language family, alongside the Indo-Aryan and Iranian languages. They have approximately 214,000 speakers primarily in Nuristan and Kunar provinces in northeastern Afg ...

spoken in the Prasun Valley in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Prasun belongs to the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term ''family'' is a metaphor borrowed from biology, with the tree model used in historical linguistics ...

, and is on the Nuristani group of the Indo-Iranian branch. Prasun is considered as the most divergent of the

Nuristani languages The Nuristani languages are one of the three groups within the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian language family, alongside the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan and Iranian languages, Iranian languages. They have approximately 214,000 speakers ...

. The Prasun-speaking people are now mostly Muslim since the imposition of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

by the

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

ruler

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan (Pashto: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) also known by his epithet, The Iron Amir, was Amir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for perpetrating the Hazara genocide, but also uniting the ...

in 1895. They first followed out of intimidation, then became more devout as younger generations studied Islamic scriptures in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and came back to preach Islam, but they also keep some vestiges of their indigenous pre-Islamic religion. Literacy rates are low: below 1% for people who have it as a

first language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

, and between 15% and 25% for people who have it as a

second language A second language (L2) is a language spoken in addition to one's first language (L1). A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a foreign language. A speaker's dominant language, which ...

Name

The endonym ''Vâsi'' is ultimately cognate with Kamviri ''Přâsü̃'' (whence the name ''Prasun'') and Katë ''Přâsiu'' .

Demographics

Prasun is a language spoken by the Vâsi (Prasuni) people who are located in the Pârun Valley, known as Vâsi-gul, at the beginning of the

Pech River The Pech River () is located in eastern Afghanistan. Course The Pech River system is fed from glaciers and snow from the Hindu Kush range to its north. The river rises in central Nuristan Province and flows south and southeasterly through the ...

basin in

Nuristan Province Nuristan, also spelled as Nurestan or Nooristan (Pashto: ; Katë: ), is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It is divided into seven districts and is Afghanistan's least populous province, with a ...

of northeastern

. The native names of the language are ''Vâsi-vari'' in the Ṣupu dialect, and ''Vâsi-veri'' in the Seć dialect, but it is also known as ''Prasun, Prasuni, Pārūni, Veron, Verou'', and ''Veruni''. The population of Vâsi-gul is between 3,000-6,000, and there are approximately 8,000 native speakers within the valley and other areas, which makes it a vulnerable language.

Dialects

Prasun is broken up into three

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

s that are spoken in six villages. The upper dialect, Ṣupu-vari, is spoken in the northernmost village, Ṣupu (Shtive). The central dialect, üšüt-üćü-zumu-vari, is spoken in the middle four villages, Seć (Pronz), Üćü (Dewa), Üšüt (Kshtoki), and Zumu. The lower dialect, Uṣüt-vare, is spoken in Uṣüt (Pashki), the lowest village. For this article, most cited forms will be based on the Seć dialect unless specified otherwise. One characteristic feature defining all Prasun dialects is the shift of ancient ''*d'' to ''l'', which was lost in intervocalic position in other Nuristani languages, such as ''vazala'' "shoe", compared to Ashkun ''vâćâ'' , Kamviri ''vâćo'' , and

Nuristani Kalasha Nuristani Kalasha ('), also known as ''Waigali'', is a Nuristani language spoken by about 10,000 people in the Nuristan Province of Afghanistan. The native name is ''Kalaṣa-alâ'' 'Kalasha-language'. "Waigali" refers to the dialect of the V� ...

''oćä'' , and the pervasive lenition of initial stops, such as ''viṭa'' "wing", compared to Ashkun ''pâṭu'' "feather", Kamviri ''pâṭü'' "feather", and

''paṭä'' "feather, wing".

Classification

Prasun is part of the Nuristani branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, which show both Iranian and Indo-Aryan influences, but are otherwise not closely related. Nuristani languages were formerly considered to be

Dardic languages The Dardic languages (also Dardu or Pisaca), or Hindu-Kush Indo-Aryan languages, are a group of several Indo-Aryan languages spoken in northern Pakistan, northwestern India and parts of northeastern Afghanistan. This region has sometimes been re ...

, however, they are dissimilar enough from the other Dardic languages to constitute their own branch of the Indo-Iranian language tree. There was also previously confusion on whether "Wasi-wari" and "Prasun" were the same or separate languages, but it was determined that both names referred to the same language. Although it is substantially different from the other Nuristani languages, Prasun shares some similarities with Katë, mainly due to borrowing and areal contacts.

Phonology

Vowels

Prasun has eight vowels, â, u, o, i, e, ü, ö, and the unmarked vowel, a, which is pronounced as a high central vowel, � Long vowels are denoted with the IPA symbol , such as ː

Vocabulary

Pronouns

Numerals

Grierson,G. A. (1919). Specimens of the Dardic or Piśācha languages (including Kāshmīrī). ''Linguistic Survey of India'', 8 (2), 67. Retrieved from: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/lsi/lsi.php?volume=8-2&pages=584#page/82/mode/1up

References

External links

Prasuni
at the Endangered Languages Project Languages of Afghanistan Nuristani languages {{ie-lang-stub