A Grammar of Khowar: Descriptive and Comparative Analysis
A pioneering linguistic study documenting Khowar’s complex structure and historic oral tradition, shaped by centuries of cultural exchange in northern Pakistan.

Grammar of Khowar is the first comprehensive English-language study of Khowar, a unique Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern Pakistan. Drawing on over thirty years of field research, Elena Bashir provides a detailed snapshot of the language at a critical moment in its evolution, as increasing cultural and economic pressures accelerate linguistic change.

The book presents Khowar’s phonology, morphology, and syntax, alongside an in-depth analysis of how its grammatical structures shape the way speakers conceptualize the world. Rife with original example sentences—many sourced from oral texts recorded in multiple villages—this work preserves linguistic data that might otherwise be lost. A special appendix includes a thirty-page sample text in Khowar’s Perso-Arabic script, followed by a romanized transcription and English translation, offering an invaluable resource for scholars.

A critical contribution to South Asian linguistics, this book underscores the urgency of studying and preserving endangered mountain languages before they fade from use.
 
1146304919
A Grammar of Khowar: Descriptive and Comparative Analysis
A pioneering linguistic study documenting Khowar’s complex structure and historic oral tradition, shaped by centuries of cultural exchange in northern Pakistan.

Grammar of Khowar is the first comprehensive English-language study of Khowar, a unique Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern Pakistan. Drawing on over thirty years of field research, Elena Bashir provides a detailed snapshot of the language at a critical moment in its evolution, as increasing cultural and economic pressures accelerate linguistic change.

The book presents Khowar’s phonology, morphology, and syntax, alongside an in-depth analysis of how its grammatical structures shape the way speakers conceptualize the world. Rife with original example sentences—many sourced from oral texts recorded in multiple villages—this work preserves linguistic data that might otherwise be lost. A special appendix includes a thirty-page sample text in Khowar’s Perso-Arabic script, followed by a romanized transcription and English translation, offering an invaluable resource for scholars.

A critical contribution to South Asian linguistics, this book underscores the urgency of studying and preserving endangered mountain languages before they fade from use.
 
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A Grammar of Khowar: Descriptive and Comparative Analysis

A Grammar of Khowar: Descriptive and Comparative Analysis

by Elena Bashir
A Grammar of Khowar: Descriptive and Comparative Analysis

A Grammar of Khowar: Descriptive and Comparative Analysis

by Elena Bashir

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Overview

A pioneering linguistic study documenting Khowar’s complex structure and historic oral tradition, shaped by centuries of cultural exchange in northern Pakistan.

Grammar of Khowar is the first comprehensive English-language study of Khowar, a unique Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern Pakistan. Drawing on over thirty years of field research, Elena Bashir provides a detailed snapshot of the language at a critical moment in its evolution, as increasing cultural and economic pressures accelerate linguistic change.

The book presents Khowar’s phonology, morphology, and syntax, alongside an in-depth analysis of how its grammatical structures shape the way speakers conceptualize the world. Rife with original example sentences—many sourced from oral texts recorded in multiple villages—this work preserves linguistic data that might otherwise be lost. A special appendix includes a thirty-page sample text in Khowar’s Perso-Arabic script, followed by a romanized transcription and English translation, offering an invaluable resource for scholars.

A critical contribution to South Asian linguistics, this book underscores the urgency of studying and preserving endangered mountain languages before they fade from use.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781800088160
Publisher: U C L Press, Limited
Publication date: 12/06/2025
Series: Grammars of World and Minority Languages
Pages: 368
Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Elena Bashir is a researcher and was previously a professor of Urdu at the University of Chicago.

Table of Contents

List of figures and tables
Using the grammar
Acknowledgements and list of contributors

1 Introduction
2 Phonology
3 Word formation
4 Nominal morphology
5 Deictic elements 6 Verbs
7 Adjectival modification
8 Adverbial modification
9 Morphosyntax
10 Morphosemantics
Appendix. Text, ‘Jeshtanan Shilogh’, a folktale rendered by Mumtaz Hussain

References
Index

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