Language Situation in the Western Pamir: Case of Linguistic Materials on the Endangerment of Ishkashimi Language

The Ishkashim language (one of Pamir Languages) relates to one group of Eastern-Iranian languages of the Indo-European family. It has no script or written tradition, and is limited to home use. Severely endangered, it is spoken by a small minority group (under 1000 speakers) in Ryn village of lshkashim district. Linguists associate lshkashim with the land of the Saka tribe (saka-Mama land of saks) and the Ishkashimi or Rini language is believed to be a remnant of the ancient tribe once widely used in the whole region. The authors explore some of the particular sounds of Ishkashimi language and compare it with the Ishkashimi language spoken in Afghanistan. Their analysis shows a certain divergence in the phonetic composition of the language in two countries. The paper stresses the importance of preserving this most endangered Pamiri language and offers a number of suggestions to revive the language. These include resolving the problem of its alphabet and phonetics, preparation of school textbooks, compilation of dictionaries, training specialist teachers of the language and introducing the language into local primary schools. The authors argue that addressing these problems may also serve the preservation of the culture in general.