Brahui ( / b r ə ˈ h uː i / brə- HOO -ee ; Brahui: براہوئی ; also known as Brahvi or Brohi) is a Dravidian language spoken by the Brahui people who are mainly found in the central Balochistan Province of Pakistan , with smaller communities of speakers scattered in parts of Iranian Baluchestan , Afghanistan , and Turkmenistan (around Merv ) and by expatriate Brahui communities in Iraq , Qatar , and the United Arab Emirates . It is isolated from the nearest Dravidian-speaking neighbouring population of South India by a distance of more than 1,500 kilometres (930 mi). The Kalat , Khuzdar , Mastung , Quetta , Bolan , Nasirabad , Nushki , and Kharan districts of Balochistan Province are predominantly Brahui-speaking.
48-713: Mengal ( Brahui : مینگل ) is an ethnic Brahui tribe inhabiting Balochistan , Pakistan . It belongs to the Jhalawani branch of the Brahui tribes, and is bilingual in Brahui and Balochi . According to the official list by Mir Ahmad Yar , the last Khan of Kalat , Mengal was originally one of the Jaṭṭ tribes inhabiting Balochistan. In the Balochi language, plurals of substantives and collective nouns are formed, generally, by adding
96-542: A gliding vowel or a vowel glide , is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable . Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech apparatus ) moves during the pronunciation of the vowel. In most varieties of English , the phrase "no highway cowboy" ( / n oʊ ˈ h aɪ w eɪ ˈ k aʊ b ɔɪ / noh HY -way KOW -boy ) has five distinct diphthongs, one in every syllable . Diphthongs contrast with monophthongs , where
144-420: A 2009 UNESCO report, Brahui is one of the 27 languages of Pakistan that are facing the danger of extinction. It was classified as "unsafe", the least endangered level out of the five levels of concern (Unsafe, Definitely Endangered, Severely Endangered, Critically Endangered and Extinct). This status has since been renamed to "vulnerable". Talár is the first daily newspaper in the Brahui language. It uses
192-494: A diphthong differently than when those sounds are produced in hiatus. For example, due to English diphthong raising , many North American English speakers pronounce /aɪ/ with closer vowels than /a.ɪ/ , and, among a subset of those, the diphthong /aʊ/ may be similarly raised as compared to /a.ʊ/ . In words coming from Middle English , most cases of the Modern English diphthongs [aɪ̯, oʊ̯, eɪ̯, aʊ̯] originate from
240-476: A diphthong, they can be transcribed with two vowel symbols with a period in between. Thus, lower can be transcribed ⟨ ˈloʊ.ɚ ⟩, with a period separating the first syllable, / l oʊ / , from the second syllable, ⟨ ɚ ⟩. The non-syllabic diacritic is used only when necessary. It is typically omitted when there is no ambiguity, as in ⟨ haɪ kaʊ ⟩. No words in English have
288-509: A diphthong. Diphthongs often form when separate vowels are run together in rapid speech during a conversation. However, there are also unitary diphthongs, as in the English examples above, which are heard by listeners as single-vowel sounds ( phonemes ). In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), monophthongs are transcribed with one symbol, as in English sun [sʌn] , in which ⟨ ʌ ⟩ represents
336-424: A monophthong becomes a diphthong. Monophthongization or smoothing is a vowel shift in which a diphthong becomes a monophthong. While there are a number of similarities, diphthongs are not the same phonologically as a combination of a vowel and an approximant or glide. Most importantly, diphthongs are fully contained in the syllable nucleus while a semivowel or glide is restricted to the syllable boundaries (either
384-434: A monophthong. Diphthongs are transcribed with two symbols, as in English high /haɪ/ or cow /kaʊ/ , in which ⟨ aɪ ⟩ and ⟨ aʊ ⟩ represent diphthongs. Diphthongs may be transcribed with two vowel symbols or with a vowel symbol and a semivowel symbol. In the words above, the less prominent member of the diphthong can be represented with the symbols for the palatal approximant [ j ] and
432-535: A more peripheral vowel and ends with a more central one, such as [ɪə̯] , [ɛə̯] , and [ʊə̯] in Received Pronunciation or [iə̯] and [uə̯] in Irish . Many centering diphthongs are also opening diphthongs ( [iə̯] , [uə̯] ). Diphthongs may contrast in how far they open or close. For example, Samoan contrasts low-to-mid with low-to-high diphthongs: Narrow diphthongs are the ones that end with
480-506: A partial length distinction between long /aː eː iː oː uː/ and diphthongs /aɪ̯ aʊ̯/ and short /a i u/ . Brahui does not have short /e, o/ due to influence from neighbouring Indo-Aryan and Iranic languages, the PD short *e was replaced by a, ē and i, and ∗o by ō, u and a in root syllables. Brahui consonants show patterns of retroflexion but lack the aspiration distinctions found in surrounding languages and include several fricatives such as
528-628: A similar length. In languages with only one phonemic length for pure vowels, however, diphthongs may behave like pure vowels. For example, in Icelandic , both monophthongs and diphthongs are pronounced long before single consonants and short before most consonant clusters. Some languages contrast short and long diphthongs. In some languages, such as Old English , these behave like short and long vowels, occupying one and two morae , respectively. Languages that contrast three quantities in diphthongs are extremely rare, but not unheard of; Northern Sami
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#1732801190081576-563: A vowel which on a vowel chart is quite close to the one that begins the diphthong, for example Northern Dutch [eɪ] , [øʏ] and [oʊ] . Wide diphthongs are the opposite – they require a greater tongue movement, and their offsets are farther away from their starting points on the vowel chart. Examples of wide diphthongs are RP/GA English [aɪ] and [aʊ] . Languages differ in the length of diphthongs, measured in terms of morae . In languages with phonemically short and long vowels, diphthongs typically behave like long vowels, and are pronounced with
624-884: A vowel, European Portuguese has 14 phonemic diphthongs (10 oral and 4 nasal), all of which are falling diphthongs formed by a vowel and a nonsyllabic high vowel. Brazilian Portuguese has roughly the same amount, although the European and non-European dialects have slightly different pronunciations ( [ɐj] is a distinctive feature of some southern and central Portuguese dialects, especially that of Lisbon). A [w] onglide after /k/ or /ɡ/ and before all vowels as in quando [ˈkwɐ̃du] ('when') or guarda [ˈɡwaɾðɐ ~ ˈɡwaʁdɐ] ('guard') may also form rising diphthongs and triphthongs . Additionally, in casual speech, adjacent heterosyllabic vowels may combine into diphthongs and triphthongs or even sequences of them. In addition, phonetic diphthongs are formed in most Brazilian Portuguese dialects by
672-434: Is a less precise or broader transcription, since these diphthongs usually end in a vowel sound that is more open than the semivowels [j w] or the close vowels [i u] . Transcribing the diphthongs as ⟨ aɪ̯ aʊ̯ ⟩ is a more precise or narrower transcription, since the English diphthongs usually end in the near-close vowels [ɪ ʊ] . The non-syllabic diacritic , the inverted breve below ⟨◌̯⟩ ,
720-635: Is believed to be of: 35% Perso-Arabic origin, 20% Balochi origin, 20% Indo-Aryan origin, 15% Dravidian origin, and 10% unknown origin. Franklin Southworth (2012) proposes that Brahui is not a Dravidian language, but can be linked with the remaining Dravidian languages and Elamite to form the " Zagrosian family ," which originated in Southwest Asia (southern Iran) and was widely distributed in South Asia and parts of eastern West Asia before
768-490: Is contradicted by genetic evidence that shows the Brahui population to be indistinguishable from neighbouring Balochi speakers, and genetically distant from central Dravidian speakers. The main Iranian contributor to Brahui vocabulary, Balochi , is a Northwestern Iranian language , and moved to the area from the west only around 1000 AD. One scholar places the migration as late as the 13th or 14th century. The Brahui lexicon
816-411: Is known to contrast long, short and "finally stressed" diphthongs, the last of which are distinguished by a longer second element. In some languages, diphthongs are single phonemes , while in others they are analyzed as sequences of two vowels, or of a vowel and a semivowel. Certain sound changes relate to diphthongs and monophthongs . Vowel breaking or diphthongization is a vowel shift in which
864-400: Is more close than the first (e.g. [ai] ); in opening diphthongs, the second element is more open (e.g. [ia] ). Closing diphthongs tend to be falling ( [ai̯] ), and opening diphthongs are generally rising ( [i̯a] ), as open vowels are more sonorous and therefore tend to be more prominent. However, exceptions to this rule are not rare in the world's languages. In Finnish , for instance,
912-399: Is not clear which symbol represents the syllable nucleus, or when they have equal weight. Superscripts are especially used when an on- or off-glide is particularly fleeting. The period ⟨ . ⟩ is the opposite of the non-syllabic diacritic: it represents a syllable break. If two vowels next to each other belong to two different syllables ( hiatus ), meaning that they do not form
960-590: Is not known to have been written in a Brahmi -based script; instead, it has been written in the Arabic script since the second half of the 20th century. Other Dravidian languages have also been historically written in the Arabic script by the Muslim minority speakers of each respective language, namely Arabi-Tamil and Arabi-Malayalam . In Pakistan, an Urdu based Nastaʿlīq script is used in writing. Brahui orthography
1008-460: Is placed under the less prominent part of a diphthong to show that it is part of a diphthong rather than a vowel in a separate syllable: [aɪ̯ aʊ̯] . When there is no contrastive vowel sequence in the language, the diacritic may be omitted. Other common indications that the two sounds are not separate vowels are a superscript, ⟨ aᶦ aᶷ ⟩, or a tie bar, ⟨ a͡ɪ a͡ʊ ⟩ or ⟨ a͜ɪ a͜ʊ ⟩. The tie bar can be useful when it
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#17328011900811056-415: Is possible for languages to contrast [ij] and [iː] . Diphthongs are also distinct from sequences of simple vowels. The Bunaq language of Timor, for example, distinguishes /sa͡i/ [saj] 'exit' from /sai/ [saʲi] 'be amused', /te͡i/ [tej] 'dance' from /tei/ [teʲi] 'stare at', and /po͡i/ [poj] 'choice' from /loi/ [loʷi] 'good'. Some languages or dialects also articulate the component sounds of
1104-554: Is that the Brahui were part of a Dravidian migration into north-western parts of the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd millennium BC, but unlike other Dravidians who migrated to the south, they remained in Sarawan and Jahlawan since before 2000 BC. However, some other scholars see it as a recent migrant language to its present region. They postulate that Brahui could only have migrated to Balochistan from central India after 1000 AD. This
1152-658: Is unique in having the letter Urdu : ڷ representing the sound [ ɬ ] . Table below presents the letters adopted for Brahui orthography: More recently, a Roman-based orthography named Brolikva (an abbreviation of Brahui Roman Likvar ) was developed by the Brahui Language Board of the University of Balochistan in Quetta and adopted by the newspaper Talár . Below is the new promoted Bráhuí Báşágal Brolikva orthography: The letters with diacritics are
1200-470: The English and Italian languages, among others, many phoneticians do not consider rising combinations to be diphthongs, but rather sequences of approximant and vowel. There are many languages (such as Romanian ) that contrast one or more rising diphthongs with similar sequences of a glide and a vowel in their phonetic inventory (see semivowel for examples). In closing diphthongs, the second element
1248-531: The Middle High German diphthongs than to standard German diphthongs: Apart from these phonemic diphthongs, Bernese German has numerous phonetic diphthongs due to L-vocalization in the syllable coda, for instance the following ones: Yiddish has three diphthongs: Diphthongs may reach a higher target position (towards /i/ ) in situations of coarticulatory phenomena or when words with such vowels are being emphasized. There are five diphthongs in
1296-666: The vocalization of /l/ in the syllable coda with words like sol [sɔw] ('sun') and sul [suw] ('south') as well as by yodization of vowels preceding / s / or its allophone at syllable coda [ ʃ ~ ɕ ] in terms like arroz [aˈʁojs ~ ɐˈʁo(j)ɕ] ('rice'), and / z / (or [ ʒ ~ ʑ ] ) in terms such as paz mundial [ˈpajz mũdʒiˈaw ~ ˈpa(j)ʑ mũdʑiˈaw] ('world peace') and dez anos [ˌdɛjˈz‿ɐ̃nu(j)s ~ ˌdɛjˈz‿ɐ̃nuɕ] ('ten years'). Phonetically, Spanish has seven falling diphthongs and eight rising diphthongs. In addition, during fast speech, sequences of vowels in hiatus become diphthongs wherein one becomes non-syllabic (unless they are
1344-404: The voiceless lateral fricative [ɬ] , a sound not otherwise found in the region. Consonants are also very similar to those of Balochi, but Brahui has more fricatives and nasals (Elfenbein 1993). Stress in Brahui follows a quantity-based pattern, occurring either on the first long vowel or diphthong, or on the first syllable if all vowels are short. Brahui is the only Dravidian language which
1392-526: The Indo-Aryan migration. There are no important dialectal differences. Jhalawani (southern, centered on Khuzdar ) and Sarawani (northern, centered on Kalat ) dialects are distinguished by the pronunciation of *h, which is retained only in the north (Elfenbein 1997). Brahui has been influenced by the Iranian languages spoken in the area, including Persian , Balochi and Pashto . Brahui vowels show
1440-731: The Middle English long monophthongs [iː, ɔː, aː, uː] through the Great Vowel Shift , although some cases of [oʊ̯, eɪ̯] originate from the Middle English diphthongs [ɔu̯, aɪ̯] . The dialect of Hamont (in Limburg ) has five centring diphthongs and contrasts long and short forms of [ɛɪ̯] , [œʏ̯] , [ɔʊ̯] , and [ɑʊ̯] . The Afrikaans language has its origin in Dutch but differs in many significant ways, including
1488-590: The Oslo dialect of Norwegian , all of them falling: An additional diphthong, [ʉ͍ɪ] , occurs only in the word hui in the expression i hui og hast "in great haste". The number and form of diphthongs vary between dialects. Diphthongs in Faroese are: Diphthongs in Icelandic are the following: Combinations of semivowel /j/ and a vowel are the following: In French , /wa/ , /wɛ̃/ , /ɥi/ and /ɥɛ̃/ may be considered true diphthongs (that is, fully contained in
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1536-533: The ethnic group no longer speak Brahui. There are also an unknown (but very small) number of expatriate Brahuis in the Arab States of the Persian Gulf , and Turkmenistan. There is no consensus as to whether Brahui is a relatively recent language introduced into Balochistan or the remnant of a formerly more widespread Dravidian language family. According to Josef Elfenbein (1989), the most common theory
1584-537: The following contexts: There are also certain instances of compensatory diphthongization in the Majorcan dialect so that /ˈtroncs/ ('logs') (in addition to deleting the palatal plosive) develops a compensating palatal glide and surfaces as [ˈtrojns] (and contrasts with the unpluralized [ˈtronʲc] ). Diphthongization compensates for the loss of the palatal stop (part of Catalan's segment loss compensation). There are other cases where diphthongization compensates for
1632-417: The labiovelar approximant [ w ] , with the symbols for the close vowels [ i ] and [ u ] , or the symbols for the near-close vowels [ ɪ ] and [ ʊ ] : Some transcriptions are broader or narrower (less precise or more precise phonetically) than others. Transcribing the English diphthongs in high and cow as ⟨ aj aw ⟩ or ⟨ ai̯ au̯ ⟩
1680-475: The latter as ⟨eeu⟩ . In diminutives ending in /ki/ formed to monosyllabic nouns, the vowels /u, ɪə, ʊə, ɛ, ə, œ, ɔ, a, ɑː/ are realised as closing diphthongs [ui, ei, oi, ɛi, əi, œi, ɔi, ai, ɑːi] . In the same environment, the sequences /ɛn, ən, œn, ɔn, an/ are realized as [ɛiɲ, əiɲ, œiɲ, ɔiɲ, aiɲ] , i.e. as closing diphthongs followed by palatal nasal. Phonemic diphthongs in German : In
1728-598: The long vowels, post-alveolar and retroflex consonants, the voiced velar fricative and the voiceless lateral fricative. 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. مُچَّا اِنسَاںک آجو او اِزَّت نَا رِد اَٹ بَرےبَر وَدِى مَسُّنو. اوفتے پُهِى او دَلِىل رَسےںگَانے. اَندَادے وفتے اَسِ اےلو تون اِىلُمِى اے وَدِّفوئِى اے. Muccá insáńk ájo o izzat ná rid aŧ barebar vadí massuno. Ofte puhí o dalíl raseńgáne. andáde ofte asi elo ton ílumí e vaddifoí e. According to
1776-470: The loss of point of articulation features (property loss compensation) as in [ˈaɲ] ('year') vs [ˈajns] ('years'). The dialectal distribution of this compensatory diphthongization is almost entirely dependent on the dorsal plosive (whether it is velar or palatal) and the extent of consonant assimilation (whether or not it is extended to palatals). The Portuguese diphthongs are formed by the labio-velar approximant [w] and palatal approximant [j] with
1824-465: The new Roman orthography and is "an attempt to standardize and develop [the] Brahui language to meet the requirements of modern political, social and scientific discourse." Diphthong A diphthong ( / ˈ d ɪ f θ ɒ ŋ , ˈ d ɪ p -/ DIF -thong, DIP - ; from Ancient Greek δίφθογγος (díphthongos) 'two sounds', from δίς (dís) 'twice' and φθόγγος (phthóngos) 'sound'), also known as
1872-435: The onset or the coda). This often manifests itself phonetically by a greater degree of constriction, but the phonetic distinction is not always clear. The English word yes , for example, consists of a palatal glide followed by a monophthong rather than a rising diphthong. In addition, the segmental elements must be different in diphthongs [ii̯] and so when it occurs in a language, it does not contrast with [iː] . However, it
1920-462: The opening diphthongs /ie̯/ and /uo̯/ are true falling diphthongs, since they begin louder and with higher pitch and fall in prominence during the diphthong. A third, rare type of diphthong that is neither opening nor closing is height-harmonic diphthongs, with both elements at the same vowel height. These may have occurred in Old English : A centering diphthong is one that begins with
1968-714: The south, and bordering on the province of Sindh to the east. Brahui language Brahui is the only Dravidian language that is primarily written in the Perso-Arabic script . It is also written in the Latin script . Brahui is spoken in the central part of Pakistani Balochistan , mainly in Kalat , Khuzdar and Mastung districts, but also in smaller numbers in neighboring districts, as well as in Afghanistan which borders Pakistani Balochistan; however, many members of
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2016-586: The suffix "gal" to the noun itself, tribes like Jadgal, Kurdgal are formed in this manner, similarly the term Mengal (Meng-gal,) merely denotes the Meng (Ming, or Men, or Min) name of a tribe and the suffix "gal" means (Speech and group), thus meaning (the group of Mins). The Mengal tribal area is around 70,000 square miles (180,000 km), stretching from the Helmand River in the North to Lasbela District in
2064-612: The syllable nucleus: [u̯a], [u̯ɛ̃], [y̯i], [y̯ɛ̃] ). Other sequences are considered part of a glide formation process that turns a high vowel into a semivowel (and part of the syllable onset) when followed by another vowel. Diphthongs Semivowels In Quebec French , long vowels are generally diphthongized in informal speech when stressed . Catalan possesses a number of phonetic diphthongs, all of which begin ( rising diphthongs ) or end ( falling diphthongs ) in [j] or [w] . In standard Eastern Catalan, rising diphthongs (that is, those starting with [j] or [w] ) are possible only in
2112-492: The terms "falling" and "rising" are used, instead, to refer to vowel height , i.e. as synonyms of the terms "closing" and "opening". See below.) The less prominent component in the diphthong may also be transcribed as an approximant , thus [aj] in eye and [ja] in yard . However, when the diphthong is analysed as a single phoneme , both elements are often transcribed with vowel symbols ( /aɪ̯/ , /ɪ̯a/ ). Semivowels and approximants are not equivalent in all treatments, and in
2160-403: The tongue or other speech organs do not move and the syllable contains only a single vowel sound. For instance, in English, the word ah is spoken as a monophthong ( / ɑː / ), while the word ow is spoken as a diphthong in most varieties ( / aʊ / ). Where two adjacent vowel sounds occur in different syllables (e.g. in the English word re-elect ) the result is described as hiatus , not as
2208-433: The use of diphthongs in the place of several non-diphthong Dutch double vowels, or double-vowels being pronounced differently. Examples include: The long diphthongs (or 'double vowels') are phonemically sequences of a free vowel and a non-syllabic equivalent of /i/ or /u/ : [iu, ui, oːi, eu, ɑːi] . Both [iu] and [eu] tend to be pronounced as [iu] , but they are spelled differently: the former as ⟨ieu⟩ ,
2256-570: The varieties of German that vocalize the /r/ in the syllable coda , other diphthongal combinations may occur. These are only phonetic diphthongs, not phonemic diphthongs, since the vocalic pronunciation [ɐ̯] alternates with consonantal pronunciations of /r/ if a vowel follows, cf. du hörst [duː ˈhøːɐ̯st] 'you hear' – ich höre [ʔɪç ˈhøːʀə] 'I hear'. These phonetic diphthongs may be as follows: The diphthongs of some German dialects differ from standard German diphthongs. The Bernese German diphthongs, for instance, correspond rather to
2304-440: The vowel sequences *[a.ɪ a.ʊ] , so the non-syllabic diacritic is unnecessary. Falling (or descending ) diphthongs start with a vowel quality of higher prominence (higher pitch or volume) and end in a semivowel with less prominence, like [aɪ̯] in eye , while rising (or ascending ) diphthongs begin with a less prominent semivowel and end with a more prominent full vowel, similar to the [ja] in yard . (Sometimes, however,
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