Munji language

The Munji language (Template:Langx, Template:Langx), also known as Munjani (Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Munjani: ), Munjhan (), and the Munjiwar language, is a Pamir language spoken in the Munjan valley in the Kuran wa Munjan district of the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan. It is similar to the Yidgha language, which is spoken in the Upper Lotkoh Valley of Chitral, west of Garam Chashma in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Historically, Munji displays the closest possible linguistic affinity with the now-extinct Bactrian language.

The Garam Chashma area became important during the Soviet–Afghan War. During the invasion, the Soviets were unable to stop the flow of arms and men back and forth across the Dorah Pass that separates Chitral, in Pakistan, from Badakshan in Afghanistan. The two dialects spoken in the area of Mamalgha Valley and the area of Munjan Valley differed, being the northern and southern dialects. The language has moved to parts of Chitral, after the War in Afghanistan forced the Munji-speaking people to flee to safer areas.

Despite Dari being the predominant language of the region, attitudes towards Munji are highly positive, and among speakers, few predict a decline in use.

Phonology

Munji Consonants

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Post-alv.	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link
Stop	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Affricate	voiceless		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	voiced		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Approximant			Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Tap/Trill			Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link

Vowels

Munji language has 8 vowel phonemes, these are [ə] ,[a] ,[ɔ] ,[ʊ] ,[u] ,[ɪ] ,[ɛ] ,[i]. Five of these vowels are lengthened in pronunciation, [i], [u], [ɛ], [ɔ], [a]. And the three central vowels [ɪ], [ʊ], [ə] are pronounced as short. The short vowels are neutralized in unstressed syllables, so that even native speakers are not aware of which specific vowel they are using.

As for orthography, native Munji words that have the 5 long vowels, these vowels are written with explicit letters, as defined in orthographic conventions of Munji. The three short vowels are written using diacritics which are dropped in most cases. Loanwords entering Munji via Persian (Dari) are written as they would in Persian.

Munji Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Near-close	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Mid	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Open		Template:IPA link

Orthography

Attempts at compiling and standardizing an alphabet for Munji was first started in 2010. Samar linguistic institute, the Afghan branch of SIL International, an organization dedicated to preservation of language and development of literacy, has compiled a standardized orthography and various educational and linguistic material on Munji language. In 2017, the Munji orthography was given official confirmation by the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan, Afghanistan's official language regulator.

The alphabet is derived from Persian alphabet, but consists of 10 additional letters. Some of these letters are to represent phonemes that do not exist in Persian (Dari), while others are to clarify and specify vowel and consonant phonemes for better clarity and less ambiguity.

Transliteration	IPA	Forms				Unicode	Notes
		Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial
O o	Template:IPAblink			-		U+0622 U+0627	Vowel phoneme [ɔ] is represented with () when at the beginning of a word, and with () when in the middle or end of a word.
Ā ā	Template:IPAblink			-		U+0623	Unique to Munji, not used as such in Persian (Dari). Similar letter exists in Turkmen orthography. Vowel phoneme [ä] is represented with () whether at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.
- / A a / U u / I i	Template:IPAblink (Template:IPAblinkTemplate:IPAblinkTemplate:IPAblink)		-	-		U+0627	Letter alif at the beginning of a word can serve two functions. First, it precedes vowel letters () [u], () [i], or () [ɛ]. Second, it acts as a vowel carrier for diacritics of the three short vowels of Munji, [ə], () [ʊ], and () [ɪ].
B b	Template:IPAblink					U+0628
P p	Template:IPAblink					U+067e
T t	Template:IPAblink~Template:IPAblink					U+062a
S s	Template:IPAblink					U+062b	Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin.
J̌ ǰ	Template:IPAblink					U+062c
Č č	Template:IPAblink					U+0686
H h	Template:IPAblink~Template:IPAblink					U+062d	Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin.
X x	Template:IPAblink					U+062e
C c	Template:IPAblink					U+0685	Unique to Munji, not part of Persian (Dari) alphabet. Similar letter exists in Pashto, Khowar, Shughni, and Wakhani orthographies.
J j	Template:IPAblink					U+0681	Unique to Munji, not part of Persian (Dari) alphabet. Similar letter exists in Pashto, Khowar, Shughni, and Wakhani orthographies.
D d	Template:IPAblink~Template:IPAblink			-	-	U+062f
Z z	Template:IPAblink			-	-	U+0630	Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin.
R r	Template:IPAblink			-	-	U+0631
Z z	Template:IPAblink			-	-	U+0632
Ž ž	Template:IPAblink~Template:IPAblink			-	-	U+0698
Ǧ ǧ	Template:IPAblink			-	-	U+0696	Unique to Munji, not part of Persian (Dari) alphabet. Similar letter exists in Pashto, Shughni, and Wakhani orthographies.
S s	Template:IPAblink					U+0633
Š š	Template:IPAblink‍~Template:IPAblink					U+0634
X̌ x̌	Template:IPAblink					U+069a	Unique to Munji, not part of Persian (Dari) alphabet. Similar letter exists in Pashto, Shughni, and Wakhani orthographies.
S s	Template:IPAblink					U+0635	Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin.
Z z	Template:IPAblink					U+0636	Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin.
T t	Template:IPAblink					U+0637U	Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin.
Z z	Template:IPAblink					U+0638	Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin.
-	Template:IPAblink/Template:IPAblink					U+0639	Only used in loanwords of Arabic origin.
Gh gh	Template:IPAblink					U+063a
F f	Template:IPAblink					U+0641
V v	Template:IPAblink					U+06a4	Unique to Munji, not part of Persian (Dari) alphabet. Similar letter exists in Shughni, Wakhani, and other orthographies beyond Afghanistan, such as Kurdish.
Q q	Template:IPAblink					U+0642
K k	Template:IPAblink					U+06a9
Ḱ ḱ	Template:IPAblink~Template:IPAblink					U+0762	Unique to Munji, not part of Persian (Dari) alphabet. No similar letter exists in any other orthography.
G g	Template:IPAblink					U+06af
Ǵ ǵ	Template:IPAblink~Template:IPAblink					U+06B1	Unique to Munji, not part of Persian (Dari) alphabet. No similar letter exists in any other orthography.
L l	Template:IPAblink					U+0644
M m	Template:IPAblink					U+0645
N n	Template:IPAblink					U+0646
W w	Template:IPAblink			-	-	U+0648
Ū ū	Template:IPAblink			-		U+0624	Unique to Munji, not used as such in Persian (Dari). Indicates a vowel, and when a word begins with this vowel phoneme, the letter needs to be preceded by alif ().
H h	Template:IPAblink~Template:IPAblink					U+0647
A a	Template:IPAblink			-	-		Only at the end of the word does this letter represent vowel phoneme [ə]. In the middle of words, this vowel is represented with diacritic () which is usually dropped in writing. At the beginning of a word, the diacritic is placed on top of alif ()
I i / Y y	Template:IPAblink / Template:IPAblink		-			U+06cc	Represents two phonemes based on context, [i] and [j]. If used at the beginning of a word, if representing consonant [j], it will be written standalone , if representing a vowel [i], it will be preceded by alif . Not used at the end of the word. Instead, either () or () are used for representing the phonemes [j] or [i] respectively.
Y y	Template:IPAblink			-	-	U+06CD	Unique to Munji, not part of Persian (Dari) alphabet. Similar letter exists in Pashto orthography. This letter is only used at the end of a word to represent the phoneme [j]. Elsewhere in a word, the letter ye is used.
I i	Template:IPAblink			-	-	U+064A	Unique to Munji, not part of Persian (Dari) alphabet. Similar letter exists in Pashto orthography. This letter is only used at the end of a word to represent the phoneme [i]. Elsewhere in a word, the letter ye () is used.
E e	Template:IPAblink					U+06d0	Unique to Munji, not part of Persian (Dari). Similar letter exists in Pashto and Uzbek orthographies. Indicates a vowel, and when a word begins with this vowel phoneme, the letter needs to be preceded by alif ().

Vowels

Munji language has 8 vowel phonemes, these are A a [ə], Ā ā [a], O o [ɔ], U u [ʊ], Ū ū [u], Ə ə [ɪ], E e [ɛ], I i[i]. Five of these vowels are lengthened in pronunciation, [i], [u], [ɛ], [ɔ], [a]. And the three central vowels [ɪ], [ʊ], [ə] are pronounced as short.

As for orthography, native Munji words that have the 5 long vowels, these vowels are written with explicit letters, as defined in orthographic conventions of Munji. The three short vowels are written using diacritics which are dropped in most cases. Loanwords entering Munji via Persian (Dari) (which can be native Persian words, or Arabic or Turkic or European words) are written as they would in Persian.

A a	Ā ā	O o	U u	Ū ū	Ə ə	E e	I i
[ə]	[a]	[ɔ]	[ʊ]	[u]	[ɪ]	[ɛ]	[i]
Vowels at the beginning of a word
Vowels at the middle of a word
Vowels at the end of a word
			-		-

Text sample

Below is a short passage of sample phrases.

Munji Arabic Alphabet
Latin Transliteration	Template:Translit
Translation	-

Further reading

• Template:Cite JIPA