Wasi-wari

Indo-Iranian language spoken in Afghanistan

Prasun

Vâsi-vari, Wâsi-wari, Prasuni, Paruni
Native to| Afghanistan
Region| Pārūn Valley

Native speakers

| 8,000 (2011)[1]

Language family

Indo-European

* Indo-Iranian
* Nuristani
* Prasun

Early forms

Proto-Indo-European

* Proto-Indo-Iranian
* Proto-Nuristani

Language codes
ISO 639-3| `prn`
Glottolog| `pras1239`
ELP| Prasuni
Linguasphere| `58-ACB-b`

Prasun is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Prasun is a Nuristani language spoken in the Prasun Valley in Afghanistan.

Prasun belongs to the Indo-European language family, and is on the Nuristani group of the Indo-Iranian branch. Prasun is considered as the most divergent of the Nuristani languages.

The Prasun-speaking people are now mostly Muslim since the imposition of Islam by the Afghan ruler Abdur Rahman Khan in 1895.[2] They first followed out of intimidation, then became more devout as younger generations studied Islamic scriptures in Pakistan and India and came back to preach Islam,[3] but they also keep some vestiges of their indigenous pre-Islamic religion.[4] Literacy rates are low: below 1% for people who have it as a first language, and between 15% and 25% for people who have it as a second language.[citation needed]

## Name

[edit]

The endonym Vâsi [waˈsi] is ultimately cognate with Kamviri Přâsü̃ [pɽaˈsỹ] (whence the name Prasun) and Katë Přâsiu [pɽaˈsju].[5]

## Demographics

[edit]

Prasun is a language spoken by the Vâsi (Prasuni) people who are located in the Pârun Valley, known as Vâsi-gul, at the beginning of the Pech River basin in Nuristan Province of northeastern Afghanistan. The native names of the language are Vâsi-vari in the Ṣupu dialect, and Vâsi-veri in the Seć dialect, but it is also known as Prasun, Prasuni, Pārūni, Veron, Verou, and Veruni. The population of Vâsi-gul is between 3,000-6,000, and there are approximately 8,000 native speakers within the valley and other areas, which makes it a vulnerable language.

## Dialects

[edit]

Prasun is broken up into three dialects that are spoken in six villages. The upper dialect, Ṣupu-vari, is spoken in the northernmost village, Ṣupu (Shtive). The central dialect, üšüt-üćü-zumu-vari, is spoken in the middle four villages, Seć (Pronz), Üćü (Dewa), Üšüt (Kshtoki), and Zumu. The lower dialect, Uṣüt-vare, is spoken in Uṣüt (Pashki), the lowest village. For this article, most cited forms will be based on the Seć dialect unless specified otherwise.[6]

One characteristic feature defining all Prasun dialects is the shift of ancient *d to l, which was lost in intervocalic position in other Nuristani languages, such as vazala [wɘˈzɘlɘ] "shoe", compared to Ashkun vâćâ [vaˈt͡sa], Kamviri vâćo [vaˈt͡so], and Nuristani Kalasha oćä [oˈt͡sæ], and the pervasive lenition of initial stops, such as viṭa [wiʈɘ] "wing", compared to Ashkun pâṭu [paˈʈu] "feather", Kamviri pâṭü [paˈʈy] "feather", and Nuristani Kalasha paṭä [paˈʈæ] "feather, wing".

## Classification

[edit]

Prasun is part of the Nuristani branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, which show both Iranian and Indo-Aryan influences, but are otherwise not closely related.[7] Nuristani languages were formerly considered to be Dardic languages,[8] however, they are dissimilar enough from the other Dardic languages to constitute their own branch of the Indo-Iranian language tree. There was also previously confusion on whether "Wasi-wari" and "Prasun" were the same or separate languages, but it was determined that both names referred to the same language.[9] Although it is substantially different from the other Nuristani languages, Prasun shares some similarities with Katë, mainly due to borrowing and areal contacts.[10]

## Phonology

[edit]

### Vowels

[edit]

Prasun has eight vowels, â, u, o, i, e, ü, ö, and the unmarked vowel, a, which is pronounced as a high central vowel, [ɨ]. Long vowels are denoted with the IPA symbol /:/, such as [iː].

## Vocabulary

[edit]

### Pronouns

[edit]

Person  | Nominative  | Accusative  | Genitive

|
|
|

1st  | sg.  | unzu | ândeiš | am
pl.  | âsẽ | âs
2nd  | sg.  | üy | ütyöiš | ĩ
pl.  | miū | âsen

### Numerals

[edit]

Number | Prasun (Strand)

|

1 | ipin, attege (upün)
2 | lūe (lü)
3 | chhī (ćši)
4 | chipū (čpu)
5 | uch (vuču)
6 | ushū (vuṣ)
7 | sete (sata)
8 | aste (âsta)
9 | nūh (nu)
10 | leze (leza)
11 | zizh (züz (Zumu), źuzu (Uṣüt))
12 | wizū (vüzu)
13 | chhīza (čiz (Zumu), ćšiza (Uṣüt))
14 | chipults (čpulć)
15 | vishilhts (višilć)
16 | ushulhts (uṣulć)
17 | setilts (setliz)
18 | astilts (âstliz)
19 | nalts (nâlć)
20 | zū (źu)
30 | lezaij
40 | jibeze (žibeze)
50 | lejjibets
60 | chichegzū
70 | chichegzālets
80 | chipegzū
90 | chipegzualets
100 | ochegzū

[11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Prasun at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). The Vâsi. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/vasi.html
3. ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). Topics in Vâsi Ethnography: Peacemaking. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/VasiCulture/Zaman8.html
4. ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). Topics in Vâsi Ethnography: Keepers of the Former Gods. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/VasiCulture/Zaman1.html
5. ^ Strand (2022) “Ethnolinguistic and genetic clues to Nûristânî origins.” International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction 19: 267-353. Wiesbaden: Reichert.
6. ^ Strand, R. F. (2000). The Vâsi. Retrieved from: http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Vasi/vasi.html
7. ^ Strand, R. F. (2010). Nurestâni languages. In Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved from: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nurestani-languages
8. ^ Grierson, G. A. (1919). Specimens of the Dardic or Piśācha languages (including Kāshmīrī). Linguistic Survey of India, 8 (2), 59. Retrieved from: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/lsi/lsi.php?volume=8-2&pages=584#page/74/mode/1up
9. ^ Strand, R. F. (1973). Notes on the Nūristāni and Dardic languages. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 93, 297-305. Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/599462
10. ^ Strand, R. F. (2010). Nurestâni languages. In Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved from: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nurestani-languages
11. ^ Grierson,G. A. (1919). Specimens of the Dardic or Piśācha languages (including Kāshmīrī). Linguistic Survey of India, 8 (2), 67. Retrieved from: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/lsi/lsi.php?volume=8-2&pages=584#page/82/mode/1up

## External links

[edit]

* Prasuni at the Endangered Languages Project

* v
* t
* e

Nuristani languages

Katë|

* Katë
* Western
* Northeastern
* Southeastern

Prasun|

* Prasun

Ashkun|

* Ashkun

Southern group|

* Nuristani Kalasha
* Tregami
* Zemiaki

Proto-language|

* Proto-Nuristani

* v
* t
* e

Languages of Afghanistan

Official languages|

* Dari
* Pashto

* Afghanistan portal

Regional languages|

* Balochi
* Nuristani (language family)
* Pashayi
* Tajiki
* Turkmen
* Uzbek

Minority languages|

* Ashkun
* Brahui
* Katë
* Khowar
* Kyrgyz
* Moghol
* Nuristani Kalasha
* Pamiri
* Ishkashimi
* Munji
* Shughni
* Yidgha
* Prasun
* Tregami
* Wakhi
* Zemiaki

Sign languages|

* Afghan Sign Language

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