Kundal Shahi language

Kundal Shahi (کنڈل شاہی, Kunḍal Šāhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 700 people in the Kundal Shahi village of Neelam Valley in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.^[2] It is an endangered language and its speakers are shifting to Hindko.^[3]

Kundal Shahi
کنڈل شاہی Kunḍal Šāhī
Native to	Pakistan
Region	Neelam Valley
Native speakers	700 (2005)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Dardic Shinaic Kundal Shahi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	shd
Glottolog	kund1257
Kundal Shahi Show map of Azad Kashmir Kundal Shahi Show map of Pakistan
Coordinates: 34.5548°N 73.8439°E / 34.5548; 73.8439

Phonology

The following tables set out the phonology of Kundal Shahi.^[4]

Vowels

Kundal Shahi is unusual amongst Dardic languages in that it has front rounded vowels.^[5]

	Front		Central	Back
	unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
Close	i iː	y yː		u uː
Close-Mid	e eː	øː	ə	o oː
Open-Mid	ɛ ɛː		ʌ	ɔ ɔː
Open			a aː

Consonants

Like Kashmiri, Kundal Shahi is unusual amongst Dardic languages in that it lacks retroflex fricatives and affricates.^[5]

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɳ		(ŋ)
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	ʈ	tʃ	k
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	ʈʰ	tʃʰ	kʰ
	voiced	b	d	ɖ	dʒ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s		ʃ	x	h
	voiced		z
Lateral			l
Flap			ɾ	ɽ
Approximant					j	w

Tone

Kundal Shahi, like many Dardic languages, has either phonemic tone or, as in Kundal Shahi, pitch accent.^[6] Words may have only one accented mora, which is associated with high pitch; the remaining mora have a default or low pitch.^[5]

Endangered

Kundal Shahi is severely endangered with less than 500 speakers, most of whom are over the age of 40.^[7]