|
Of
the three languages, Guresi is spoken in the Gurez district and
the other two languages, viz., Shina of Dras and Brokskat are spoken
in the Ladakh district
|
| 2.
The Place of Brokskat Among the Shina Languages: |
|
According
to Grierson, Astori, Drasi, Chilasi and Guresi are very similar
(L.S.I. Vol.VIII : Part II). Gilgiti and Brokskat are not stated
to be similar to those. Since Gilgiti is the oldest member of the
Shina languages as mentioned above it is compared with Brokskat
to establish that Brokskat is a Shina language and not a Tibeto-Burman
language in spite of its many borrowings from the neighbouring Tibeto-Burman
languages.
|
| The
vowels of Gilgiti according to Bailey are : |
| i |
i. |
i: |
|
u |
u. |
u: |
| e |
e. |
e: |
|
|
o. |
o: |
|
|
|
a. |
a: |
|
|
|
|
| Vowels
of Brokskat are: |
|
i
|
i.
|
i:
|
|
u
|
u.
|
u:
|
|
e
|
|
e:
|
|
o
|
o.
|
o:
|
|
E.
|
|
^
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|
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|
|
a.
|
a:
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|
| A
comparison of both inventories shows that the vowel system of Gilgiti
closely resembles that of Brokskat. |
| The
consonants of Gilgiti according to Bailey are: |
|
t
|
|
|
|
|
k
|
|
|
b
|
d
|
|
|
|
|
g
|
|
|
th
|
h
|
|
|
|
kh
|
|
|
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c
|
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|
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|
|
ch
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
f
|
|
s
|
 |
|
|
|
h
|
| v |
|
z |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
m
|
|
n
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
l
|
|
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|
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|
|
r
|
|
|
y
|
|
|
|
|
| The
consonants of Brokskat are: |
|
|
Ph
|
th
|
th
|
|
|
kh
|
|
|
|
c
|
|
|
|
|
|
f
|
|
s
|
|
|
|
h
|
|
v
|
|
z
|
|
|
|
|
|
m
|
n
|
n
|
|
ñ
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
w
|
|
R
|
Y
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Brokskat
has all the consonants of Giligiti except /ch/, the alveolar
aspirated affricate. It has the additional consonants p, ph, q,
n, ñ,
and
which may be due to the influence of surrounding Tibeto-Burman langauges,
such as Ladakhi and Purki, and some may be due to Urdu. |
| Word
final vowel is dropped both in Gilgiti and in Brokskat. |
|
Gilgiti |
Brokskat |
|
mase - mas I |
mase
- mas ‘I’ |
|
basa
- bas ‘we’ |
|
|
| Gender:
|
| There
are two genders in Gilgiti, i.e., masculine and feminine. Masculine
nouns end in - o: and femine nouns end in i: as in ma: lo: means ‘father’
and ma: li: means ‘mother’. In Brokskat, the gender distinction is
not morphologically marked consistently. But the original gender markers
are carried by the adjective in Brokskat as in i:
go mu
means ‘tall man’ and tâa: li mole means ‘beautiful girl’. |
| Number:
|
| In
Gilgiti, the nominative plural always ends in e. But in Brokskat,
the plural is marked by i, yo, and da. All these plural markers
are morphologically conditioned. But the Gilgiti plural marker is
carried by the adjectives modifying masculine nouns in Brokskat. The
masculine singular number is o, masculine plural is e and the feminine
singular plural is i. |
i:
go mu
:
ge mu
|
‘tall man’
‘tall men’ |
|
|
| |
