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Wakhi Language (Passu local language)

. The Wakhi language belongs to the southern group of the Pamir languages, in the Iranian group of the Indo-European family of languages, where the different Ishkashmi and Wakhi languages are included. The Wakhi language, rich in archaisms, differs considerably from the Pamir languages, and generally from the southeastern group of Iranian languages, having certain common characteristics with the Indian languages. Although divided by borders, the Wakhi language is still very much the same, and dialectal differences are not great.

The language of mutual communication, and the written language, for the Ismaelites of the small nations of Pamir has been the Tadzhik language. The Wakhi oral tradition is also bilingual (Wakhi and Tadzhik). On the Upper Wakhandarya, there are noticeable Turkic influences in place-names. Wakhi-Kirgiz contacts are maintained even today. Many Wakhs also speak the Shugni language. The Wakhi folksong bul'bulik is principally a women's song, it is sung on the summer pastures. Before the establishment of the Soviet regime, the Wakhs were almost totally illiterate. Nowadays, schooling is obligatory for everyone. The language for schooling is, without exception, Tadzhik, which places Wakhi in a passive role and accelerates the disintegration of the language. In domestic situation, however, Wakhi is still preferred, whatever the subject, although most Wakhs speak Tadzhik quite fluently.

History. Until the second half of the 19th century, Wakhan was an autonomous region (Ishkashmi included), which from time to time succumbed to the rule of the Emirs of Badakhshan.

Ethnic culture. The climate of Wakhan is continental: it seldom rains, and snow is swept away by the icy east winds. The everyday life of the Wakhs is ruled by traditions. The main occupations are farming (wheat, barley and leguminous plants), and hending (cattle, sheep, goats and yaks). It is difficult to use machinery on the mountain slopes, therefore old primitive cultivation methods are used (for example, oxen are used for ploughing). One crop is figs, which in the past, have substituted for bread: figs ripened at the end of June, at a time when other food was most scarce, and long before the grain could be harvested. A historical Wakhi village, qishlaq, is small, containing a couple of adjoining houses from which each family had their own exit. The Wakh are Islamic and belong to the Ismaelite religious sect.

Writing. Like other Pamir languages, Wakhi has no written language. In the Soviet Union, Tadzhik is used for literary purposes, more specifically, the peculiar Wakhan dialect of the Tadzhik language. The only incidences of monolingualism would be amongst young children or old women. In Afghanistan, the Wakhs use Dard or Farsikabul, and Afghan or Pashto (Pushtu) for a written language; in China, primarily Uighur or Chinese. In Afghanistan, compared to the Tadzhik Wakhs, the extinction of the Wakhi language is a slower process, as there is no compulsory education and literacy is still not widespr

Wakhi Glossary 

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