Dameli language

Dameli (دَميلي), also Damia, Damɛ̃ḍī, Dāmia bāṣa or Gidoj, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic subgroup spoken by approximately 5,000 people in the Domel Town, in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Dameli
Dāmya bāṣa
Native to	Pakistan
Region	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Ethnicity	Damia
Native speakers	5,000 (2001)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Dardic Kunar Dameli
Language codes
ISO 639-3	dml
Glottolog	dame1241
ELP	Dameli

The Domel or Damel Valley is about ten miles south of Drosh on the East Side of the Chitral or Kunar river, on the road from the Mirkhani Fort to the pass of Arandu.

Dameli is still the main language in the villages where it is spoken, and it is regularly learned by children. Most of the men speak Pashto as a second language, and some also speak Khowar and Urdu, but there are no signs of massive language change.

Study

Emil Perder's 2013 dissertation, A Grammatical Description of Dameli, based on the author's field work, is the first comprehensive description of the Dameli language. Before Perder's work, the main source of information on Dameli was an article by Georg Morgenstierne, published in 1942: "Notes on Dameli: A Kafir-Dardic Language of the Chitral". A sociolinguistic survey written by Kendall Decker (1992) contains a chapter on Dameli.

Classification

The language is classified as an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic subgroup. It is notable for containing a significant degree of words deriving from the Nuristani languages, even in basic vocabulary, though the pronoun system and morphology are characteristically of Dardic origin. The Dardic languages were first thought to be as an independent branch within Indo-Iranian, but today they are placed within Indo-Aryan following Morgenstierne's work.

Phonology

The following tables set out the phonology of the Dameli Language.

Vowels

	Front	Back
High	i, iː	u
Mid	e, eː	oː
Low	a	ɑː

Vowels are distinguished by quality, length, and nasality. It is possible that [u] and [o] may serve as variants of /u/ and /u:/. Occasionally, the vowels /u/ and /i/ can be reanalyzed as semivowels /w/ and /j/, respectively, in order to fit the syllable structure.

Consonants

		Labial	Coronal	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɳ (ṇ)		(ŋ)
Stop	voiceless	p	t	ʈ (ṭ)		k	(q)
	voiced	b	d	ɖ (ḍ)		g
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	ʈʰ		kʰ
Affricate	plain		ts (ċ)	tʂ (c̣)	tʃ (č)
	aspirated		tsʰ	tʂʰ	tʃʰ
Fricative	voiceless		s	ʂ (ṣ)	ʃ (š)	x		h
	voiced			ʐ (ẓ)	ʒ (ž)	ɣ
Approximant		ʋ (w)	l	ɻ (ẉ)	j ( )
Rhotic			r	ɽ (ṛ)

Tones

Perder distinguishes two tones: rising and falling, but concludes that they require further study.

Syllable structure

Dameli has a limited amount of syllable structures. Consonants clusters are allowed at the onset and coda, but only with a certain set of consonants. Any consonant except /ɳ/ can appear at the start of a syllable. In word final position, only voiceless unaspirated stops can occur.

Morphology

Nouns

Nouns can be inflected for number and case and refer to things that are inanimate or animate. They belong either to the masculine or feminine gender. However, the gender system is in decline among speakers. The general plural suffix is -nam. However, some words borrowed from Pashto retain their plural suffixes.

Cases

Dameli is a split ergative language. With past and perfective forms, the system is ergative, and with nonpast and perfective forms, the system is accusative. There are two sets of cases: core and periphery. The 'core' cases include the unmarked/nominative form and the ergative form, and the periphery cases include the locative and instrumental. Kinship terms may also include a separate case, called the vocative. The nominative case is typically unmarked in the imperfective and nonpast forms, as seen in this example.

i

3SG.ANIM.PROX

žami

woman

c̣ʰiir

milk

brikin-ni

sell-IMPRF.3SG.F

i žami c̣ʰiir brikin-ni

3SG.ANIM.PROX woman milk sell-IMPRF.3SG.F

This woman is selling milk

However, in the past and perfective forms, it becomes the marked ergative case.

mas-sãã

3SG.ANIM.PROX-POSS

putr-es-ee

son-KIN.3-ERG

tasãã-Ø

3SG-POSS-M

ɡram

village

ta

of

ek

one

mač

man

žan-ee

kill-PFV.3SG

mas-sãã putr-es-ee tasãã-Ø ɡram ta ek mač žan-ee

3SG.ANIM.PROX-POSS son-KIN.3-ERG 3SG-POSS-M village of one man kill-PFV.3SG

His son killed a man from his village.

The locative is created by adding the suffix -a to the end of the noun. It can also be used to encode a third argument in an ditransitive verb.

tu

2SG.NOM

kul-a

house-LOC

t^hop-i

be.IMPFV.2SG-Q

tu kul-a t^hop-i

2SG.NOM house-LOC be.IMPFV.2SG-Q

Are you home?

The instrumental case is formed by adding the suffix -ee.

ay

1SG.NOM

braadun-ee

catapult-INS

wigi-num

fire-IMPFV.1SG

ay braadun-ee wigi-num

1SG.NOM catapult-INS fire-IMPFV.1SG

I am shooting with a catapult

Instrumental case can also be used to denote a place along the way to somewhere else or to express how something is said in another language.

Kinship

The kinship system of Dameli takes into account relative age, relative generation, gender, and whether the relationship is by-blood or by-marriage. Seven generations are distinguished: the generation of the anchor and the three generations preceding or following them. The third generation preceding the anchor is only used in the term for great-grandfather, parbap and the term for grandfather, bap, is used to mean ancestor. All kinship terms are distinguished by gender, and may or may not share the same root. The anchor's gender is also occasionally taken into account; the term used for a woman's mother-in-law is not the same as a man's. For relative age, the anchor is generally considered, but in the case of relatives by marriage, the parent's age is considered.

Kinship terms

Consanguineal kin		Affinal kin
Term	Gloss	Term	Gloss
parbap	great-grandfather	pašur	father-in-law, wife's maternal uncle
bap, baloodadi	grandfather	ǰeṣṭaali	wife's mother, wife's maternal aunt
yei, balooyi	grandmother	preeš	husband's mother
dadi	father	pʰaapa	paternal aunt's husband
yii	mother	mamaani	maternal uncle's wife
pitri	paternal uncle	žami, ištrii	wife, woman
ǰeṣṭadadi	paternal uncle (older)	aštrakaa	wives, women
mažuma dadi	paternal uncle (middle)	bareu, mač	husband, man
sureedadi, učuṭadadi	paternal uncle (younger)	ẓami	wife's brother, sister's husband
pʰaapi	paternal aunt	saaraani	wife's sister
žeṣṭeri pʰaapi	paternal aunt (older)	deer	husband's brother
mažumi pʰaapi	paternal aunt (middle)	ǰeṣṭa deer	husband's older brother
surui pʰaapi	paternal aunt (younger)	mažuma deer	husband's brother (middle)
nan	maternal aunt, father's sister in law	suruu deer	husband's younger brother
žeṣṭi	maternal aunt (older)	žamili	husband's sister
mam	maternal uncle, mother's brother-in-law	bražei	brother's wife
braa, braadi (pl.)	brother	saaraana	sister's husband, wife's sister's husband
bay	brother (older)	bawi	son's wife, nephew's wife
suree	brother (younger)	zaamaa	daughter's husband, niece's husband
pas, pasari (pl.)	sister	abeeni	co-wife
bibi	sister (older)	dram	friend, blood-brother
surei	sister (younger)	paai	boy
put	son, fraternal nephew	brei	girl
žu	daughter, fraternal niece	kuẉa, zaatak	child
ṣpaṣi	sororal nephew, sororal niece
nawaasa (m.), nawaasi (f.)	grandson, granddaughter
kaṛwaasa (m.), kaṛwaasi (f.)	great-grandson, great-granddaughter

Kinship terms can be inflected in three different ways: an unmarked form, a second person form, and a third person form. Second person is marked with the suffix -un/-in and third person is marked with -es. The suffix -oo, which only occurs on kinship terms, takes on a vocative role as it is used to address the subject. Unlike other nouns, kinship terms generally take the plural suffix -suu instead of -nam.

Pronouns

Pronouns in Dameli are inflected for five factors: person, number, distance, animacy, and case.

Personal pronouns

Pronoun	Nomative	Oblique	Ergative
1SG	ay	muu
2SG	tu	too
3SG.ANIM.PROX	i	mas	manii
3SG.ANIM.DIST	see	tas	tanii
3SG.INAM.PROX	yee
3SG.INAM.DIST	see
1PL	ay	amaa
2PL	bi	mya
3PL.ANIM.PROX	mẽẽ	masuu
3PL.ANIM.DIST	tẽẽ	tasuu
3PL.INAM.PROX	mẽẽ
3PL.INAM.DIST	tẽẽ

The locative is formed with the addition of the suffix -a to the oblique form. Third person pronouns can also be used as determiners when inserted in front of a noun.

tu

2SG.NOM

mas

3SG.ANIM.PROX.OBL

paai

boy

ku

why

žan-op

kill-PFV.2SG

tu mas paai ku žan-op

2SG.NOM 3SG.ANIM.PROX.OBL boy why kill-PFV.2SG

Why did you kill this boy?

tẽẽ

3PL.INAN.DIST

kul

house

naɡi

fall

prat-ee

give−PFV.3SG

tẽẽ kul naɡi prat-ee

3PL.INAN.DIST house fall give−PFV.3SG

Those houses fell down.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns

Gloss	Masculine owned	Feminine owned
1SG	mãã	mããi
2SG	tãã	tããi
3SG.ANIM.PROX	masãã	masããi
3SG.ANIM.DIST	tasãã	tasããi
1PL	amuna	amuni
2PL	mina	mini
3PL.ANIM.PROX	masuna	masuni
3PL.ANIM.DIST	tasuna	tasuni
Possessive marker
3SG.ANIM	sãã	sããi
3PL.ANIM	suna	suni

The possessive reflexive pronoun taanu is used indicate that something is owned by an already-defined person, much like English 'one's own'. It is inflected for gender agreement with the noun it modifies.

Interrogative pronouns

The interrogative and relative pronouns are kya 'what', kii/kuree 'who', keeraa 'which', and kasãã 'whose'.

Adjectives

In Dameli, some adjectives show gender agreement and some do not. Generally, dimensions other than gender are not considered. Generally, -a marks agreement with a masculine noun, and -i marks agreement with a feminine noun.

muu

1SG.OBL

ta

from

kaaya

remembrance

aaċ-i

come-CP

daro

is

mãã-i

1SG.POSS-F

šumaa-i

beautiful-F

daaman

Domel(F)

ta

of

gurum

morning

muu ta kaaya aaċ-i daro mãã-i šumaa-i daaman ta gurum

1SG.OBL from remembrance come-CP is 1SG.POSS-F beautiful-F Domel(F) of morning

I remember the morning of my beautiful Domel.

The suffixes -bana and -bani denote similarity to a noun, somewhat like English '-ish' or 'like'. The suffix -baṣ denote ability as in matrambaṣ 'legible' (lit. able to be read). Some more suffixes include -weela, roughly equivalent to 'having x', and -pin 'full of x'.

Numerals

The basic numerals of Dameli are as follows:

Cardinal numerals

Number	Dameli
1	ek
2	duu
3	traa
4	čoor
5	pããč
6	ṣoo
7	sat
8	aṣ
9	noo
10	daš
11	yaaš
20	biši
21	bišiyoek
40	duubiši
100	pããčbiši, sawa
1000	zara

The numerals are in base ten, but can be analyzed as base 20 in specific cases (ex: traa-biši 'sixty' lit. three-twenty). Ordinal numerals take on the suffix -am. Collective numerals are expressed with the suffix -i.

Verbs

A typical Dameli verb root contains one or two syllables. Roots can be intransitive, transitive, or ditransitive. The main distinction is between transitive and intransitive verbs. Some common verbs use alternative roots when in the perfective aspect. For example, in the verb 'to die', the root naṣṭ is used in the perfective and the root br in other contexts. The causative suffix -a (used in the future and perfective) and -aai (used in the imperfective and past). Verbs may also use the 'second causative', becoming ditransitive. Verbs are inflected for six finite tense-aspect-mood categories: perfective, imperfective, indirect past, potential past, future, and imperative. There are an additional five non-finite tense-aspect-mood qualities: infinitive, present participle, past participle, inchoative participle, and conjunctive participle.

Dameli verbs are inflected for person, number, gender, evidentiality, and TAM. The past tense marker taa is used when forming complex TAM constructions.

Copulas

Two different copula verbs are used: one for animate subjects and one for inanimate subjects.

Tense	Animate	Inaminate
Imperfective	th-	daru
Present
Perfective		beru
Past
Future	b-
Indirect past	bai-
Present participle	baal
Past participle	baisan
Conjunctive participle	bai

Perfective

Form	Intransitive	Transitive	Causative
1SG	-úm		-m
2SG	-óp		-p
3SG.M	-aa	-ee
3SG.F	-úi	-ee
1PL	-úma		-ama
2PL	-óba		-aba
3PL	-ún	-én	-en

The perfective aspect is the most basic verb form, describing an action as a singular, whole occurrence. It also refers to events that the speaker witnessed.

Imperfective

Form	Intransitive/Transitive	Causative
1SG	-num	-m
2SG	-nap	-ap
3SG.M	-na	-a
3SG.F	-ni	-i
1PL	-numa	-ma
2PL	-naba	-ba
3PL	-nun	-n

The imperfective form expresses the simple present, the continuous past, and completed actions with currently relevant outcomes. Combining the imperfective with taa creates the past continuous form.

Indirect Past

Form	Intransitive	Transitive	Causative
1SG	-thum
2SG	-thop
3SG.M	-thaa	-thee
3SG.F	-thui	-thee
1PL	-thuma
2PL	-thoba
3PL	-thun	-then

The indirect past is used to indicate events that the speaker did not directly witness in the past.

Potential past

Form	Inflection
1SG	-tʰim
2SG	-tʰis
3SG.M	-tʰiyo
3SG.F	-tʰima
1PL	-tʰima
2PL	-tʰiba
3PL	-tʰin

The potential past is used to indicate events that may have happened in the past, but that the speaker is not sure of.

Future

Form	Inflection
1SG	-im
2SG	-es
3SG	-o
1PL	-ima
2PL	-iba
3PL	-in

Imperative

Form	Intransitive/Transitive	Causative
SG	-ee	-i
PL	-aa	-ya

The imperative is used to indicate commands and requests.

Non-finite

Non-finite verb forms

Form	Suffix
Infinitive	-an
Present participle	-aal
Past participle	-isan
Inchoative participle	-em
Conjunctive participle	-i

An epenthetic vowel is inserted if the suffix would otherwise create a non-compatible cluster. The infinity functions as a 'verbal noun'. The conjunctive participle functions as a converb, mainly serving to mark the adverb. In negative imperatives, the prohibitive marker ma is used before the imperative verb form.

Causative

Verbs can take a causative and 'second causative' suffix. Generally, an intransitive verb will become transitive with a causative suffix, and ditransitive with a second causative suffix. For instance, the verb 'to sit' has three levels of causativity:

taga

before?

tali

until

ay

1SG.NOM

aram-a

rest-LOC

ni

not

niš-im

sit-FUT.1SG

tee

that

taga tali ay aram-a ni niš-im tee

before? until 1SG.NOM rest-LOC not sit-FUT.1SG that

I will not sit down to rest, until…

ãã

and

muu

1SG.ERG

keeraa

which

paai

boy

madrasa-a

madrasa-LOC

niš-aai-tʰum

sit-CAUS-INDIRPST.1SG

ba

TOP

ãã muu keeraa paai madrasa-a niš-aai-tʰum ba

and 1SG.ERG which boy madrasa-LOC sit-CAUS-INDIRPST.1SG TOP

And the boy that I sat in the madrassah...

ay

1SG.NOM

mãã-Ø

1SG.POSS−M

maam-a

maternal.uncle−OBL

ṣawaai

by

mas

3SG.ANIM.PROX

niš-aw-aai-m

sit−CAUS2−CAUS−PFV.1SG

ay mãã-Ø maam-a ṣawaai mas niš-aw-aai-m

1SG.NOM 1SG.POSS−M maternal.uncle−OBL by 3SG.ANIM.PROX sit−CAUS2−CAUS−PFV.1SG

I sat him down through my uncle (I asked my uncle to calm him down)

The first example uses the intransitive verb to refer to the act of sitting; the second example uses the transitive verb to describe the act of making someone else sit, and the third example uses a second causative to describe the action of the subject, I, making the object, the boy, sit through the medium of the uncle.

Postpositions

There are two major categories of postpositions: those that require the locative case and those that don't. There are five postpositions that require the preceding noun to have the locative case: ki 'to', ṣaži 'in order to', ṣawaai 'for, by, through', mili 'with (comitative)', and ĩĩ 'appropriate place.' ṣawaai is primarily used to describe the second argument of a ditransitive verb. ĩĩ is always cliticized to the preceding noun. Other, non-locative pospositions are ta 'from, of, than', ṣaa 'on', neẉ 'under', taprei 'for', bãĩ 'towards', tagii 'from', and tali 'until.

Question words

The basic non-prominal question words are as follows:

Word	Gloss
keer	when
kanuu	how
ku	why
kaa	where (general)
kutaal	where (direction)
kati	how many
kya	what

Syntax

Dameli exhibits typical Indo-Aryan syntax. The default word order for most clause types is Subject-Object-Verb. The basic clause can contain a clause adverbial, the subject, and the predicate, consisting of the object and verb. The clause adverbial provides context for the rest of the clause. The subject, a noun phrase, declares the agent of the verb. Indirect objects are generally placed before direct objects. Locative predicates are generally postnominal. Negation is typically placed before the verb it negates.

The basic noun phrase has three sections: a determiner (indicating number or proximity), an attribute (adjective or adverb), and a head (noun). In this phrase, ek 'one' serves as the determiner, lee ɣarib 'very poor' serves as an attribute, and mač 'man' serves as the head.

ek

one

lee

very

ɣarib

poor

mač

man

ek lee ɣarib mač

one very poor man

A very poor man

Adverbials can express time (i.e. yesterday, tomorrow), space (i.e. here, far), and intensifiers (i.e. very).

Common adverbials

Gloss	Dameli
yesterday	doos
today	mudya
tomorrow	beraa ki
here	ayaa
there	tara
near	oor
far	phar
very/many	lee

Coordination in Dameli is when two qualities which are expected to occur together and form a single unit. They can be formed using the clitic -o or by putting the terms in sequences, such as yei bap 'grandfather and grandmother' and aan-o baraan 'inside and outside'. Conjunction coordination is expressed with the coordinator ãã. Disjunctive coordination is expressed with kuu or ya 'or'. Adversative coordination (like English 'but') is expressed with leekin and xu.

The topic particles ta and ba denote a previously mentioned topic and a new topic, respectively. The vocative particle a can be placed in front of any description word to create a vocative clause.

See also

• Languages of Pakistan
• Languages of Chitral

Further reading

• Decker, Kendall D. (1992) Languages of Chitral. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 5. Islamabad: National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University and Summer Institute of Linguistics. xxii, 257 p. ISBN 969-8023-15-1.
• Morgenstierne, Georg (1926) Report on a Linguistic Mission to Afghanistan. Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning, Serie C I-2. Oslo. ISBN 0-923891-09-9.
• Morgenstierne, Georg (1942) "Notes on Dameli. A Kafir-Dardic Language of Chitral." Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap Vol. 12: 115 - 198.

External links

• Georg Morgenstierne multimedia database
• Richard Strand's Nuristan site with relevant material on closely related languages in Afghanistan
• Perder, Emily. A Grammatical Description of Dameli