Kashmiri language

Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other Template:Contain special characters Kashmiri (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) or Koshur (Kashmiri: (Perso-Arabic, Official Script), ) is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic branch spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris of the Kashmir region, primarily in the Kashmir Valley and surrounding hills of the Indian-administrated union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, over half the population of that territory. Kashmiri has split ergativity and the unusual verb-second word order.

Since 2020, it has been made an official language of Jammu and Kashmir along with Dogri, Hindi, Urdu and English. Kashmiri is also among the 22 scheduled languages of India.

Kashmiri is spoken by roughly five percent of Pakistani-administrated Azad Kashmir's population.

Geographic distribution and status

There are about 6.8 million speakers of Kashmiri and related dialects in Jammu and Kashmir and amongst the Kashmiri diaspora in other states of India. Most Kashmiri speakers are located in the Kashmir Valley and other surrounding areas of Jammu and Kashmir. In the Kashmir Valley, Kashmiri speakers form the majority.

Kashmiri is spoken by roughly five percent of Azad Kashmir's population. According to the 1998 Pakistan Census, there were 132,450 Kashmiri speakers in Azad Kashmir. Native speakers of the language were dispersed in "pockets" throughout Azad Kashmir, particularly in the districts of Muzaffarabad (15%), Neelam (20%) and Hattian (15%), with very small minorities in Haveli (5%) and Bagh (2%). The Kashmiri spoken in Muzaffarabad is distinct from, although still intelligible with, the Kashmiri of the Neelam Valley to the north. In Neelam Valley, Kashmiri is the second most widely spoken language and the majority language in at least a dozen or so villages, where in about half of these, it is the sole mother tongue. The Kashmiri dialect of Neelum is closer to the variety spoken in northern Kashmir Valley, particularly Kupwara. At the 2017 Census of Pakistan, as many as 350,000 people declared their first language to be Kashmiri.

A process of language shift is observable among Kashmiri-speakers in Azad Kashmir according to linguist Tariq Rahman, as they gradually adopt local dialects such as Pahari-Pothwari, Hindko or move towards the lingua franca Urdu. This has resulted in these languages gaining ground at the expense of Kashmiri. There have been calls for the promotion of Kashmiri at an official level; in 1983, a Kashmiri Language Committee was set up by the government to patronise Kashmiri and impart it in school-level education. However, the limited attempts at introducing the language have not been successful, and it is Urdu, rather than Kashmiri, that Kashmiri Muslims of Azad Kashmir have seen as their identity symbol. Rahman notes that efforts to organise a Kashmiri language movement have been challenged by the scattered nature of the Kashmiri-speaking community in Azad Kashmir.

The Kashmiri language is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. It was a part of the Eighth Schedule in the former constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. Along with other regional languages mentioned in the Sixth Schedule, as well as Hindi and Urdu, the Kashmiri language was to be developed in the state. After Hindi, Kashmiri is the second fastest growing language of India, followed by Meitei (Manipuri) as well as Gujarati in the third place, and Bengali in the fourth place, according to the 2011 census of India.

Persian began to be used as the court language in Kashmir during the 14th centuries, under the influence of Islam. It was replaced by Urdu in 1889 during the Dogra rule. In 2020, Kashmiri became an official language in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the first time.

Poguli and Kishtwari are closely related to Kashmiri, which are spoken in the mountains to the south of the Kashmir Valley and have sometimes been counted as dialects of Kashmiri.

Phonology

Kashmiri has a very large phoneme inventory: 32 vowels and 62 consonants, giving that vowel nasalization and consonant palatalization are phonemic and not phonetic. It has the following phonemes.Template:Sfn

Vowels

The oral vowels are as follows:

	Front	Central	Back
High	Template:IPA link Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Mid	Template:IPA link Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Low		Template:IPA link Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link Template:IPA link

The short high vowels are near-high, and the low vowels apart from are near-low.

Nasalization is phonemic. All sixteen oral vowels have nasal counterparts.

Consonants

		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Post-alv./ palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Stop/ affricate	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	aspirated	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
Fricative	voiceless			Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
	voiced			Template:IPA link
Approximant		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link
Trill			Template:IPA link

Palatalization is phonemic. All consonants apart from those in the post-alveolar/palatal column have palatalized counterparts.

Archaisms

Kashmiri, as also the other Dardic languages, shows important divergences from the Indo-Aryan mainstream. One is the partial maintenance of the three sibilant consonants s ṣ ś of the Old Indo-Aryan period. For another example, the prefixing form of the number 'two', which is found in Sanskrit as dvi-, has developed into ba-/bi- in most other Indo-Aryan languages, but du- in Kashmiri (preserving the original dental stop d). Seventy-two is dusatath in Kashmiri, bahattar in Hindi-Urdu and Punjabi, and dvisaptati in Sanskrit.

Certain features in Kashmiri even appear to stem from Indo-Aryan even predating the Vedic period. For instance, there was an /s/ > /h/ consonant shift in some words that had already occurred with Vedic Sanskrit (This tendency was complete in the Iranian branch of Indo-Iranian), yet is lacking in Kashmiri equivalents. The word rahit in Vedic Sanskrit and modern Hindi-Urdu (meaning 'excluding' or 'without') corresponds to rost in Kashmiri. Similarly, sahit (meaning 'including' or 'with') corresponds to sost in Kashmiri.

Writing system

There are three orthographical systems used to write the Kashmiri language: the Perso-Arabic script, the Devanagari script and the Sharada script. The Roman script is also sometimes informally used to write Kashmiri, especially online.

The Kashmiri language was traditionally written in the Sharada script from the 8th Century AD onwards. Between the 8th and the first quarter of the 20th century AD, Sharada was the primary script of inscriptional and literary production in Kashmir for Sanskrit and Kashmiri. With increased use of Persian script for writing Kashmiri in the 19th century AD, and the growth of other brahmic scripts such as Devanagari and Takri, the use of Sharada declined. The Sharada script is inadequate for writing modern Kashmiri because it lacks sufficient signs to represent Kashmiri vowels. Modern usage of Sharada is limited to religious ceremonies and rituals of Kashmiri Pandits, and for horoscope-writing by them.

Today Kashmiri is primarily written in Perso-Arabic (with some modifications, such as additions of new signs to represent Kashmiri vowels). Among languages written in the Perso-Arabic script, Kashmiri is one of the scripts that regularly indicates all vowel sounds.

The Kashmiri Perso-Arabic script is recognized as the official script of Kashmiri language by the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. The Kashmiri Perso-Arabic script has been derived from Persian alphabet. The consonant inventory and their corresponding pronunciations of Kashmiri Perso-Arabic script doesn't differ from Perso-Arabic script, with the exception of the letter ژ, which is pronounced as Template:IPAslink instead of Template:IPAslink. However, the vowel inventory of Kashmiri is significantly larger than other Perso-Arabic derived or influenced South Asian Perso-Arabic scripts. There are 17 vowels in Kashmiri, shown with diacritics, letters (alif, waw, ye), or both. In Kashmiri, the convention is that most vowel diacritics are written at all times.

Despite Kashmiri Perso-Arabic script cutting across religious boundaries and being used by both the Kashmiri Hindus and the Kashmiri Muslims, some attempts have been made to give a religious outlook regarding the script and make Kashmiri Perso-Arabic script to be associated with Kashmiri Muslims, while the Kashmiri Devanagari script to be associated with some sections of Kashmiri Hindu community.

Perso-Arabic script

Consonants

Name	Forms				IPA	Transliteration	Unicode	Example
Kashmiri	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial				Kashmiri word	IPA	Meaning
ạlif					Template:Efn-ua	–	U+0627	afsānü		Short story
bē						b	U+0628	bikhạ̄r'		Beggar
pē						p	U+067E	pampōsh		Lotus flower
pha						ph	U+067E and U+06BE	phal		Fruit
tē						t	U+062A	tajvīz		Proposal
tha						th	U+062A and U+06BE	thạ̄l'		Plate
ṭē						ṭ	U+0679	ṭūp'		Cap
ṭha						ṭh	U+0679 and U+06BE	ṭhūl		Egg
sē						s	U+062B	sobūth		Proof
jīm						j	U+062C	jāy		Place
chīm						ch, č	U+0686	chạ̄n̂d'		Silver
chha						chh, čh	U+0686 and U+06BE	chhān		Carpenter
hay						h	U+062D	ḥājath		Need
khay					~	kh	U+062E	khatarnākh		Dangerous
dāl						d	U+062F	dukān		Shop
ḍāl						ḍ	U+0688	ḍọḍ		One and a half
zāl						z	U+0630	zehan		Mind
rē						r	U+0631	rükh khrọkh		Line Snore
ṛē						ṛ	U+0691	lạṛkü		Boy
zē						z	U+0632	zāman		Yawn
tsē						ts	U+0698	tsạr		House sparrow
tsha						tsh	U+0698 and U+06BE	tshāy		Shadow
sīn						s	U+0633	sangur		Mountain
shīn						sh, š	U+0634	shod		Pure, Genuine
sọ̄d						s	U+0635	sadqü		Charity
zọ̄d						z	U+0636	zạ̄mīn		Responsible, guarantor
tọy						t	U+0637	tōtü		Parrot
zọy						z	U+0638	zạ̄lim		Cruel
ạ̄n					Template:Efn-ua	–	U+0639	aqül		Wisdom
gạ̄n						g, ğ	U+063A	gọsü		Anger
fē						f	U+0641	firin'		Sweet pudding
qāf						q	U+0642	qāshwü		Spoon
kīf						k	U+0643	kọkur		Chicken
kha						kh	U+0643 and U+06BE	khọr		Foot
gāf						g	U+06AF	gāsh		Light
lām						l	U+0644	lọkchār		Childhood
mim						m	U+0645	marüg		Meadow
nūn						n	U+0646	nab		Sky
nūn gọna						ñ	U+06BA	dāñ zạmīn		Paddy field
wāw					Template:Efn-ua	v, w	U+0648	van		Forest
hē					Template:Efn-uaTemplate:Efn-ua	h	U+06C1	họpü wạhmü pagāh		Chubby Fear, anxiety Tomorrow
yē					Template:Efn-ua	y	U+06CC	yāl pyālü		Hair of horse Cup
Lọkuṭ yē
boḍ yē					Template:Efn-ua	y	U+06D2	ḍāy		Two and a half
tālür'						', Template:Not a typo	U+0620	sǖt'		With

Vowels

Name	Final vowel glyph (vowel and letters bē and rē )	Medial vowel glyph (vowel and letters bē and rē )	Initial vowel glyph	IPA	Transliteration	Unicode	Example
Kashmiri							Kashmiri word	IPA	Meaning
zabar					a	U+064E	apuz palav		Lie Garments, clothes
mad					ā	U+0622 U+0627	āb pān		Lie Body
amālü					ạ, ö, ȧ	U+0623 U+0654	ạchh gạr		Eye Clock, watch
amālü mad					ạ̄, ȫ, ä	U+0672	ạ̄s dạ̄n		Mouth Pomegranate
zēr					i, í	U+0650	insān sir		Human being Secret
kashi zēr					ī	Initial and Medial: U+06CC and U+0656 Final: U+06CC	īmān sīr wardī		Faith Brick Uniform
sāyi					ü, ụ, u', ι	Initial: U+0625 Medial and Final: U+0655	bü kạdül		I Bridge
sāyi mad					ǖ, ụ̄, ū'	Initial: U+0673 Medial and Final: U+065F	tǖr khǖmü		Cold Tent
pēsh					u	U+064F	puj		Butcher
kashi wāwuk					ū	U+0648 and U+0657	pūt		Chick
nīmü wāwuk					o, ó	U+06C6	dob		Washerman
wāwuk					ō	U+0648	mōr		Peacock
lạṭ' wāwuk					ọ, ŏ	U+06C4	gọlāb		Rose
lạṭ' wāwuk mad					ọ̄, ŏa	U+06C4 and U+0627	sọ̄d		One and a quarter
nīmü yāyuk					e, ë	Initial and Medial: U+06CC and U+065A Final: U+06D2 and U+065A	beni me		Sister Me, I
yāyuk					ē	Initial and Medial: U+06CC Final: U+06D2	rēsh		Beard
gōl yāyuk	-				ĕ, ya	Initial and Medial: U+0620	mĕqrāz		Scissors

Devanagari

Consonants

Letter	क	ख	ग	च	छ	ज	च़	छ़	ज़	ट	ठ	ड	त	थ	द	न	प	फ	ब	म	य	र	ल	व	श	स	ह
IPA
Transliteration	k	kh	g	ch	chh	j	ts	tsh	z	ṭ	ṭh	ḍ	t	th	d	n	p	ph	b	m	y	r	l	w	sh	s	h

Vowels

There have been a few versions of the Devanagari script for Kashmiri. The 2002 version of the proposal is shown below. This version has readers and more content available on the Internet, even though this is an older proposal. This version makes use of the vowels ॲ/ऑ and vowel signs कॅ/कॉ for the schwa-like vowel and elongated schwa-like vowel that also exist in other Devanagari-based scripts such as Marathi and Hindi but are used for the sound of other vowels.

Letter			ॲ															ं
IPA													[əi]			[ɔː]
Transliteration	a	ā	ạ	ạ̄	i	ī	ü	ǖ	u	ū	e	ē	ai	o	ō	ọ̄	ọ	̃
Vowel mark indicated on consonant k																	or

Tabulated below is the latest (2009) version of the proposal to spell the Kashmiri vowels with Devanagari. The primary change in this version is the changed stand alone characters ॳ / ॴ and vowel signs / for the schwa-like vowel & elongated schwa-like vowel and a new stand alone vowel and vowel sign for the open-mid back rounded vowel which can be used instead of the consonant व standing-in for this vowel.

Letter			ॳ	ॴ			ॶ	ॷ			ऎ			ऒ				ं
IPA	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink		Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink
Transliteration	a	ā	ạ	ạ̄	i	ī	ü	ǖ	u	ū	e	ē	ai	o	ō	ọ̄	ọ	̃
Vowel mark indicated on consonant k

Sharada script

Consonants

Name		Transliteration	IPA	Isolated glyph	Remarks
Template:Script	kōv kạ	ka		Template:Script
Template:Script	khvani khạ	kha		Template:Script
Template:Script	gagar gạ	ga		Template:Script
Template:Script	gāsi ghạ	gha		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this consonant.
Template:Script	nārug ṅạ	ṅa		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this consonant.
Template:Script	tsāṭuv chạ	cha		Template:Script
Template:Script	tshvaṭiñ chhạ	chha		Template:Script
Template:Script	zayi jạ	ja		Template:Script
Template:Script	zashiñ jhạ	jha		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this consonant.
Template:Script	khvana phuṭi ñạ	ña		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this consonant.
Template:Script	ar mām̐ṭa	ṭa		Template:Script
Template:Script	sar mām̐ṭha	ṭha		Template:Script
Template:Script	ḍuḍ ḍạ	ḍa		Template:Script
Template:Script	ḍaka ḍhạ	ḍha		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this consonant.
Template:Script	nānaguri ṇạ	ṇa		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this consonant.
Template:Script	tov tạ	ta		Template:Script
Template:Script	thāshi thạ	tha		Template:Script
Template:Script	dadav dạ	da		Template:Script
Template:Script	dūñ dhạ	dha		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this consonant.
Template:Script	nastūv nạ	na		Template:Script
Template:Script	paḍuri pạ	pa		Template:Script
Template:Script	phariñ phạ	pha		Template:Script
Template:Script	bub bạ	ba		Template:Script
Template:Script	bāyi bhạ	bha		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this consonant.
Template:Script	mōv mạ	ma		Template:Script
Template:Script	yāva yạ	ya		Template:Script
Template:Script	raka rạ	ra		Template:Script
Template:Script	lāva lạ	la		Template:Script
Template:Script	boḍu ḍuḍ ḍạ	ḷa		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this consonant.
Template:Script	vashi vạ	va		Template:Script
Template:Script	shakar shạ	sha		Template:Script
Template:Script	phāri ṣạ	ṣa		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this consonant.
Template:Script	sus sạ	sa		Template:Script
Template:Script	hala hạ	ha		Template:Script

Vowels

Name		Transliteration	IPA	Isolated glyph	Remarks
Template:Script	ādau a	a		Template:Script
Template:Script	aitav ā	ā		Template:Script
Template:Script	yeyev yē	i		Template:Script
Template:Script	yisherav yī	ī		Template:Script
Template:Script	vọpal vō	u		Template:Script
Template:Script	vọpal bā ū	ū		Template:Script
Template:Script	r̥enav	r̥		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this vowel.
Template:Script	rakhav	r̥̄		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this vowel.
Template:Script	leyev	l̥		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this vowel.
Template:Script	līsav	l̥̄		Template:Script	The Kashmiri language does not possess this vowel.
Template:Script	talavya yē	ē		Template:Script
Template:Script	tolī ai	ai		Template:Script
Template:Script	vuṭhō ō	ō		Template:Script
Template:Script	ashidī au	au		Template:Script
Template:Script	aḍi tsandra phyor	am̐		Template:Script
Template:Script	mas phyori aṃ	aṃ		Template:Script
Template:Script	dō phyori aḥ	aḥ		𑆃𑆂

Vowel mark

Name		Transliteration	IPA	Isolated vowel mark	Vowel mark indicated on consonant pa	Distinct ways of indicating vowel marks on special consonants
Template:Script	vahāy	-ā		𑆳	Template:Script	Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script
Template:Script	mūnthar	-i		𑆴	Template:Script
Template:Script	ar mūnthar	-ī		𑆵	Template:Script
Template:Script	khuru	-u		𑆶	Template:Script	Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script
Template:Script	ar khūrū	-ū		𑆷	Template:Script	Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script Template:Script = Template:Script
Template:Script	r̥enav r̥a	-r̥		𑆸	Template:Script	Template:Script = Template:Script
Template:Script	rakhav ru	-r̥̄		𑆹	Template:Script	Template:Script = Template:Script
Template:Script	leyev l̥a	-l̥		𑆺	Template:Script
Template:Script	līsav l̥̄a	-l̥̄		𑆻	Template:Script
Template:Script	hvanḍū	-ē		𑆼	Template:Script
Template:Script	hvanjōr	-ai		𑆽	Template:Script
Template:Script	oku shyūr	-ō		𑆾	Template:Script
Template:Script	okushi vahāy	-au		𑆿	Template:Script
Template:Script	aḍi tsandra phyor	-am̐		𑆀	Template:Script
Template:Script	mas phyori aṃ	-aṃ		𑆁	Template:Script
Template:Script	dō phyori aḥ	-aḥ		𑆂	Template:Script

Grammar

Kashmiri is a fusional languageTemplate:Sfn with verb-second (V2) word order Several of Kashmiri's grammatical features distinguish it from other Indo-Aryan languages.Template:Sfn

Nouns

Kashmiri nouns are inflected according to gender, number and case. There are no articles, nor is there any grammatical distinction for definiteness, although there is some optional adverbial marking for indefinite or "generic" noun qualities.Template:Sfn

Gender

The Kashmiri gender system is divided into masculine and feminine. Feminine forms are typically generated by the addition of a suffix (or in most cases, a morphophonemic change, or both) to a masculine noun.Template:Sfn A relatively small group of feminine nouns have unique suppletion forms that are totally different from the corresponding masculine forms.Template:Sfn The following table illustrates the range of possible gender forms:Template:Sfn

Process	Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
-en’ suffix			shopkeeper
-bāy suffix			teacher
-in’ + vowel change			donkey
-ür + vowel change			basket
Adding of affix			dog/bitch
vowel change			rat
consonant change			dry
vowel/consonant change			hot
suppletive form			man/woman
masculine only		---	mongoose
feminine only	---		housefly

Some nouns borrowed from other languages, such as Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, Urdu or English, follow a slightly different gender system. Notably, many words borrowed from Urdu have different genders in Kashmiri.Template:Sfn

Case

There are five cases in Kashmiri: nominative, dative, ergative, ablative and vocative.Template:Sfn Case is expressed via suffixation of the noun.

Kashmiri utilizes an ergative-absolutive case structure when the verb is in simple past tense.Template:Sfn Thus, in these sentences, the subject of a transitive verb is marked in the ergative case and the object in nominative, which is identical to how the subject of an intransitive verb is marked.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn However, in sentences constructed in any other tense, or in past tense sentences with intransitive verbs, a nominative-dative paradigm is adopted, with objects (whether direct or indirect) generally marked in dative case.Template:Sfn Other case distinctions, such as locative, instrumental, genitive, comitative and allative, are marked by postpositions rather than suffixation.Template:Sfn

Noun morphology

The following table illustrates Kashmiri noun declension according to gender, number and case.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

	Masculine		Feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
Nom.	-Ø	-Ø	-Ø	-Ø
Erg.	-	-	-	-
Dat.	- or - or	-	-	-
Abl.	- or - or	-	-	-
Voc.	-	-	-	-

Verbs

Kashmiri verbs are declined according to tense and person, and to a lesser extent, gender. Tense, along with certain distinctions of aspect, is formed by the addition of suffixes to the verb stem (minus the infinitive ending - /un/), and in many cases by the addition of various modal auxiliaries.Template:Sfn Postpositions fulfill numerous adverbial and semantic roles.Template:Sfn

Tense

Present tense in Kashmiri is an auxiliary construction formed by a combination of the copula and the imperfective suffix -/aːn/ added to the verb stem. The various copula forms agree with their subject according to gender and number, and are provided below with the verb /jun/ (to come):Template:Sfn

Present

	Masculine	Feminine
1st person sing.
2nd person sing.
3rd person sing.
1st person pl.
2nd person pl.
3rd person pl.

Past tense in Kashmiri is significantly more complex than the other tenses, and is subdivided into three past tense distinctions.Template:Sfn The simple (sometimes called proximate) past refers to completed past actions. Remote past refers to actions that lack this in-built perfective aspect. Indefinite past refers to actions performed a long time ago, and is often used in historical narrative or storytelling contexts.Template:Sfn

As described above, Kashmiri is a split-ergative language; in all three of these past tense forms, the subjects of transitive verbs are marked in the ergative case and direct objects in the nominative. Intransitive subjects are marked in the nominative.Template:Sfn Nominative arguments, whether subjects or objects, dictate gender, number and person marking on the verb.Template:Sfn

Verbs of the simple past tense are formed via the addition of a suffix to the verb stem, which usually undergoes certain uniform morphophonemic changes. First and third person verbs of this type do not take suffixes and agree with the nominative object in gender and number, but there are second person verb endings. The entire simple past tense paradigm of transitive verbs is illustrated below using the verb /parun/ ("to read"):Template:Sfn

Simple past (transitive)

		Masculine		Feminine
		singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person
2nd person	Non-honorific
	Honorific
3rd person

A group of irregular intransitive verbs (special intransitives), take a different set of endings in addition to the morphophonemic changes that affect most past tense verbs.Template:Sfn

Simple past (special intransitive)

	Masculine		Feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person	-	-	-	-
2nd person	-	-	-	-
3rd person	-Ø	-Ø	-	-

Intransitive verbs in the simple past are conjugated the same as intransitives in the indefinite past tense form.Template:Sfn

Simple past (intransitive)

	Masculine		Feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person	-	-	-	-
2nd person	-	-	-	-
3rd person	-	-	-	-

In contrast to the simple past, verb stems are unchanged in the indefinite and remote past, although the addition of the tense suffixes does cause some morphophonetic change.Template:Sfn Transitive verbs are declined according to the following paradigm:Template:Sfn

Indefinite past (transitive)

	Masculine		Feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1st/3rd person	-	-	-	-
2nd person	-	-	-	-

Remote past (transitive)

	Masculine		Feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1st/3rd person	-	-	-	-
2nd person	-	-	-	-

As in the simple past, "special intransitive" verbs take a different set of endings in the indefinite and remote past:Template:Sfn

Indefinite past (special intransitive)

	Masculine		Feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person	-	-	-	-
2nd person	-	-	-	-
3rd person	-	-	-	-

Remote past (special intransitive)

	Masculine		Feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person	-	-	-	-
2nd person	-	-	-	-
3rd person	-	-	-	-

Regular intransitive verbs also take a different set of endings in the indefinite and remote past, subject to some morphophonetic variation:Template:Sfn

Indefinite past (intransitive)

	Masculine		Feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person	-	-	-	-
2nd person	-	-	-	-
3rd person	-	-	-	-

Remote past (intransitive)

	Masculine		Feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person	-	-	-	-
2nd person	-	-	-	-
3rd person	-	-	-	-

Future tense intransitive verbs are formed by the addition of suffixes to the verb stem:Template:Sfn

Future (intransitive)

	Singular	Plural
1st person	-	-
2nd person	-	-
3rd person	-	-

The future tense of transitive verbs, however, is formed by adding suffixes that agree with both the subject and direct object according to number, in a complex fashion:Template:Sfn

Future (transitive)

	Singular object	Plural object
1st person sing.	-	-
1st person pl.	-	-
2nd person sing.	-	-
2nd person pl.	-	-
3rd person sing.	-	-
3rd person pl.	-	-

Aspect

There are two main aspectual distinctions in Kashmiri, perfective and imperfective. Both employ a participle formed by the addition of a suffix to the verb stem, as well as the fully conjugated auxiliary /aːsun/ ("to be")—which agrees according to gender, number and person with the object (for transitive verbs) or the subject (for intransitive verbs).Template:Sfn

Like the auxiliary, the participle suffix used with the perfective aspect (expressing completed or concluded action) agrees in gender and number with the object (for transitive verbs) or subject (for intransitives) as illustrated below:Template:Sfn

Masculine		Feminine
singular	plural	singular	plural
-	-	-	-

The imperfective (expressing habitual or progressive action) is simpler, taking the participle suffix -/aːn/ in all forms, with only the auxiliary showing agreement.Template:Sfn A type of iterative aspect can be expressed by reduplicating the imperfective participle.Template:Sfn

Pronouns

Pronouns are declined according to person, gender, number and case, although only third person pronouns are overtly gendered. Also in third person, a distinction is made between three degrees of proximity, called proximate, remote I and remote II.Template:Sfn

Nominative

		Masculine		Feminine
		singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person
2nd person			or or		or or
3rd person	proximate
	remote I
	remote II

Ergative

		Masculine		Feminine
		singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person
2nd person
3rd person	proximate
	remote I
	remote II

Dative

		Masculine		Feminine
		singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person
2nd person
3rd person	proximate
	remote I
	remote II

Ablative

		Masculine		Feminine
		singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person
2nd person
3rd person	proximate
	remote I
	remote II

There is also a dedicated genitive pronoun set, in contrast to the way that the genitive is constructed adverbially elsewhere. As with future tense, these forms agree with both the subject and direct object in person and number.Template:Sfn

	Masculine		Feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1st sing.
1st pl.
2nd sing.
2nd pl.
3rd sing. prox.
3rd pl. prox.
3rd sing. R I
3rd pl. R I
3rd sing. R II
3rd pl. R II

Adjectives

There are two kinds of adjectives in Kashmiri, those that agree with their referent noun (according to case, gender and number) and those that are not declined at all. Most adjectives are declined, and generally take the same endings and gender-specific stem changes as nouns.Template:Sfn The declinable adjective endings are provided in the table below, using the adjective ("red"):Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

	Masculine		Feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
Nom.
Erg.
Dat.
Abl.

Among those adjectives not declined are adjectives that end in - or -, adjectives borrowed from other languages, and a few isolated irregulars.Template:Sfn

The comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are formed with the words ("more") and ("most"), respectively.Template:Sfn

Numerals

Within the Kashmir language, numerals are separated into cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers.Template:Sfn These numeral forms, as well as their aggregative (both, all the five, etc.), multiplicative (two times, four times, etc.), and emphatic forms (only one, only three, etc.) are provided by the table below.Template:Sfn

	Cardinal	Ordinal	Aggregative	Multiplicative	Emphatic
Suffix		- for masculine - for feminine	-[ʋaj]	- or - for masculine - for feminine	-[j]
0.
1.		or or		or or
2.		or or		or or
3.		or or		or or
4.		or or		or or
5.	or or	or or		or or
6.		or or		or or
7.		or or		or or
8.		or or or or		or or
9.		or or		or or
10.	or or	or or		or or
11.	or or	or or
12.	or or	or or
13.		or or
14.		or or
15.		or or
16.		or or
17.		or or
18.		or or
19.		or or
20.		or or
21.		or or
22.		or or
23.		or or
24.		or or
25.		or or
26.		or or
27.		or or
28.		or or
29.		or or
30.		or or
31.		or or
32.		or or
33.		or or
34.		or or
35.	or or	or or or or
36.		or or
37.		or or
38.		or or
39.	or or	or or
40.	or or	or or
41.	or or	or or
42.	or or	or or
43.	or or	or or
44.	or or	or or
45.	or or or or or or	or or or or
46.	or or	or or
47.	or or	or or
48.	or or	or or
49.		or or
50.		or or
51.		or or
52.		or or
53.	or or	or or or or
54.		or or
55.	or or	or or or or
56.		or or
57.		or or
58.		or or
59.		or or
60.		or or
61.		or or
62.		or or
63.	or or	or or or or
64.		or or
65.	or or	or or or or
66.		or or
67.		or or
68.		or or
69.		or or
70.		or or
71.		or or
72.		or or
73.	or or	or or or or
74.		or or
75.	or or	or or or or
76.		or or
77.		or or
78.		or or
79.		or or
80.		or or
81.		or or
82.		or or
83.		or or
84.		or or
85.	or or	or or or or
86.		or or
87.		or or
88.		or or
89.		or or
90.		or or
91.		or or
92.		or or
93.	or or	or or or or
94.		or or
95.	or or	or or or or
96.		or or
97.		or or
98.		or or
99.		or or
100.		or or
101.		or or
102.		or or
200.		or or
300.		or or
400.		or or
500.	or or	or or or or
600.		or or
700.		or or
800.		or or
900.		or or
1000.		or or
1001.		or or
1002.		or or
1100.	or or or	or or or or or or or
1500.	or	or or or or or
10,000.	or or	or or or or
Hundred thousand		or or
Million	or or	or or or or
Ten million	or or	or or or or
Billion		or or
Hundred billion		or or

The ordinal number "1st" which is for its masculine gender and for its feminine gender is also known as and respectively.

Vocabulary

Kashmiri is an Indo-Aryan language and was heavily influenced by Sanskrit, especially early on. After the arrival of Islamic administrative rule in India, Kashmiri acquired many Persian loanwords. In modern times, Kashmiri vocabulary has imported words from English, Hindustani and Punjabi.

Preservation of old Indo-Aryan vocabulary

Kashmiri retains several features of Old Indo-Aryan that have been lost in other modern Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi-Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi. Some vocabulary features that Kashmiri preserves clearly date from the Vedic Sanskrit era and had already been lost even in Classical Sanskrit. This includes the word-form yodvai (meaning if), which is mainly found in Vedic Sanskrit texts. Classical Sanskrit and modern Indo-Aryan use the word yadi instead.

First person pronoun

Both the Indo-Aryan and Iranian branches of the Indo-Iranian family have demonstrated a strong tendency to eliminate the distinctive first person pronoun ("I") used in the nominative (subject) case. The Indo-European root for this is reconstructed as *eǵHom, which is preserved in Sanskrit as aham and in Avestan Persian as azam. This contrasts with the m- form ("me", "my") that is used for the accusative, genitive, dative, ablative cases. Sanskrit and Avestan both used forms such as ma(-m). However, in languages such as Modern Persian, Baluchi, Hindi and Punjabi, the distinct nominative form has been entirely lost and replaced with m- in words such as ma-n and mai. However, Kashmiri belongs to a relatively small set that preserves the distinction. 'I' is ba/bi/bo in various Kashmiri dialects, distinct from the other me terms. 'Mine' is myon in Kashmiri. Other Indo-Aryan languages that preserve this feature include Dogri (aun vs me-), Gujarati (hu-n vs ma-ri), Konkani (hā̃v vs mhazo), and Braj (hau-M vs mai-M). The Iranian Pashto preserves it too (za vs. maa), as well as Nuristani languages, such as Askunu (âi vs iũ).

Variations

There are very minor differences between the Kashmiri spoken by Hindus and Muslims. For 'fire', a traditional Hindu uses the word while a Muslim more often uses the Arabic word .

Sample text

Perso-Arabic script

Art. 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

Sharada script

Verses by Lalleshwari:

"I kept reciting the unique divine word "Om" and kept it safe in my heart through my resolute dedication and love. I was simply ash and by its divine grace got metamorphosed into gold."

One who recites the divine word "Omkār" by devotion is capable to build a bridge between his own and the cosmic consciousness. By staying committed to this sacred word, one doesn't require any other mantra out of thousands others.

See also

• Kashmir Valley
• Literature of Kashmir
• Kashmiri Wikipedia
• List of Kashmiri poets
• List of topics on the land and the people of “Jammu and Kashmir”
• Shina language
• States of India by Kashmiri speakers

Bibliography

• Template:Cite EB1911

External links

• Hook, Peter E. 1976. Is Kashmiri an SVO language? Indian Linguistics 37: 133–142.
• Kashmiri Language Textbook for Class1
• Kashmiri Language Textbook for Class 2
• Kashmiri Language Textbook for Class 3
• Kashmiri Language Textbook for Class 6
• Kashmiri Language Textbook for Class 8
• Kashmiri Language Textbook for Class 10
• Koshur: An Introduction to Spoken Kashmiri
• Template:Dead link
• "Neab", Kashmiri Language Literary Magazine
• "Sangarmal", Kashmiri Language Newspaper
• "Soan Meeraas", Kashmiri Language Newspaper
• the word koshur (𑆑𑆳𑆯𑆶𑆫𑇀) written on New Testament in Kashmiri (manuscript)