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Burushaski language
Burushaski is a language isolate spoken by some 40-50,000 people in the Hunza and Yasin valleys in northern Pakistan. While it contains many loanwords from the surrounding languages (particularly Urdu, Khowar, and Shina), enough original vocablulary remains to set it apart from these neighbors. While attempts have been made to establish a relationship between Burushaski and Sumerian, Basque, and the Caucasian and Dravidian language families, these efforts have met little acceptance from linguists. There are four dialects of Burushaski: Hunza, Gojal, Nagar, and Yasin.
Phonology
The information below was adapted from the online PDF article Burushaski: An Extraordinary Language in the Karakoram Mountains.
Consonants
| |
Bilabial |
Dental |
Alveo-
palatal |
Retroflex |
Velar |
Uvular |
Glottal |
| Stops |
Voiceless |
p |
t |
|
t. |
k |
q |
|
| Aspirated |
ph |
th |
|
t.h |
kh |
|
|
| Voiced |
b |
d |
|
d. |
g |
|
|
| Affricates |
|
ts |
tS |
ts. |
|
|
|
| Fricatives |
Voiceless |
|
s |
S |
s. |
x |
|
h |
| Voiced |
|
z |
Z |
z. |
G |
|
|
| Nasals |
m |
n |
|
|
N |
|
|
| Liquids* |
w |
l |
j |
|
|
|
|
| Rhotic |
|
r |
|
|
|
|
|
* Liquids are glides and laterals.
Vowels
| |
Front |
Central |
Back |
| High |
i |
|
u |
| Mid |
e |
|
o |
| Low |
|
a |
|
Referenced By
Hunza | Isolate languages | Isolated language | Ket language | Language isolate | Language isolates
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