Dawoodi (), also known as Domaakí (), Dumaki or Domaá, is an endangered

Indo-Aryan language The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...

spoken by a few hundred people living in the Gilgit-Baltistan territory in northern Pakistan. It is historically related to the

Central Indo-Aryan languages The Central Indo-Aryan languages or Hindi languages are a group of related language varieties Spoken across North India and Central India. These language varieties form the central part of the Indo-Aryan language family, itself a part of the ...

of the Indian Midlands, though it has been significantly influenced by its neighbours. The speakers of the language belong to a small ethnic minority that lives dispersed among the larger regional groups. The majority of Doma communities have in the past switched to the dominant Shina language, with their original language surviving only in the Burushaski areas of Nagar and

Hunza Hunza may refer to: * Hunza, Iran * Hunza Valley, an area in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan ** Hunza (princely state), a former principality ** Hunza District, a recently established district ** Hunza River, a waterway ** Hunza Peak, a mou ...

. There is a distinct dialect in each of those two areas; they are still mutually intelligible despite numerous differences. According to local traditions, the Dooma's ancestors came somewhere from the south; according to the speakers themselves their forbearers arrived in the Nager and

Valleys from Kashmir, and north

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

in separate groups and over an extended period of time via Baltistan, Gilgit, Darel, Tangir,

Punial The valley of Punial (Urdu: پونیال) is situated in Ghizer District in the Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, where hundreds of thousands of tourists visit annually. Punial is a mountainous valley situated at an elevation of about 5000–9000 fee ...

and even Kashghar. All Dawoodi speakers are proficient in the languages of their host communities (

Burushaski Burushaski (; ) is a language isolate spoken by Burusho people, who reside almost entirely in northern Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, with a few hundred speakers in northern Jammu and Kashmir, India. In Pakistan, Burushaski is spoken by people ...

and/or Shina) as well as in their own mother tongue. Many of them also know

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

by the speakers, who nowadays prefer the term ''Dawoodi'', which is associated with the Islamic figure of Dawood.

References

Bibliography

* Backstrom, Peter C. ''Languages of Northern Areas (Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 2)'', 1992. 417 pp. . * * Lorimer, D. L. R. 1939. ''The Dumaki Language: Outlines of the Speech of the Doma, or Bericho, of Hunza'', Dekker & Van De Vegt, 244 pp. * * Weinreich, Matthias. 2010. Language Shift in Northern Pakistan: The Case of Domaakí and Pashto. ''Iran and the Caucasus'' 14: 43-56. {{Indo-Aryan languages Indo-Aryan languages Languages of Gilgit-Baltistan