Torwali (Torwali: توروالی ), also known as Bahrain Kohistani , is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Torwali people , and concentrated in the Bahrain and Chail areas in the Swat Kohistan region of the Swat District in northern Pakistan . The Torwali language is said to have originated from the pre-Muslim communities of Swat. It is the closest modern Indo-Aryan language still spoken today to Niya , a dialect of Gāndhārī , a Middle Indo-Aryan language spoken in the ancient region of Gandhara . Torwali and Gawri languages are collectively classified as "Swat Kohistani".
8-625: Bahrain ( Torwali : بحرین; also spelled Behrain ), formerly known in Torwali as Bhaunal , is a town located in Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , Pakistan , 60 km north of Mingora at an elevation of 4,700 ft on the right bank of the Swat river . Geographically in the Swat Kohistan region, it is named Bahrain (lit. "two rivers") due to its location at the confluence of
16-467: A series of central (reduced?) vowels, transcribed as: ⟨ä⟩ , ⟨ü⟩ , ⟨ö⟩ . Lunsford had some difficulty determining vowel phonemes and suggested there may be retracted vowels with limited distribution: /ɨ/ (which may be [i̙] ), /e̙/, /ə̙/ . Retracted or retroflex vowels are also found in Kalash-mondr . The phonemic status of the breathy voiced series
24-558: Is debatable. Sounds with particularly uncertain status are marked with a superscript question mark. The Torwali language does not have a fixed orthography. The existing and widely used Torwali Character set was proposed by Inam Ullah, who proposed representations for unique sounds in Torwali language which later received official designations from the Unicode with the support of University of Chicago in 2005. The Torwali orthography
32-553: The Catalogue of Endangered Languages . There have been efforts to revitalize the language since 2004, and mother tongue community schools have been established by Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi (Institute for Education and Development) (IBT) . Although descriptions of Torwali phonology have appeared in the literature, some questions still remain unanswered. Edelman's analysis, which was based on Grierson and Morgenstierne, shows nasal counterparts to at least /e o a/ and also found
40-951: The Köppen climate classification . The average temperature in Bahrain is 16.6 °C or 61.9 °F, while the annual precipitation averages 866 millimetres or 34.09 inches. November is the driest month with 21 millimetres or 0.83 inches of precipitation, while March, the wettest month, has an average precipitation of 120 millimetres or 4.72 inches. July is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 27.0 °C or 80.6 °F. The coldest month, January, has an average temperature of 4.8 °C or 40.6 °F. Torwali language The words "Kohistan" and Kohistani are generic terms. Kohistan in Persian and in Urdu means as "land of mountains" whereas "Kohistani" refers to 'language spoken in
48-566: The Daral and Swat rivers. It is known for its riverside tourist resorts, local handicrafts, and its view of the merging of the Daral and Swat rivers. It also serves as a base camp for the trail that leads to the Daral and Saidgai lakes. Behrain is the tehsil headquarter of Behrain Tehsil . With a mild and generally warm and temperate climate, Bahrain has a humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ) under
56-519: The land mountains" or 'people of the mountains. Joan Baart is the only author who used the term "Bahrain Kohistani" for the Torwali language. Ethnologue, twenty seventh edition suggests Kohistani, Torwalak, Torwalik and Turvali as alterative names for the language while Torwali as an autonym for it. Torwali is an endangered language : it is characterised as "definitely endangered" by UNESCO 's Atlas of Endangered Languages, and as "vulnerable" by
64-603: Was developed by Idara Baraye Taleem wa Taraqi (IBT) i.e. institute for education and development from 2005-2008 wherein text books for children were developed along with the Alphabet book and primer in Torwali under the Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education program by the abovementioned organization. An online source, the website of IBT where efforts of revitalizing the Torwali language can be found along with resources in and about
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