Burushaski language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Burushaski |
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| Native to | Pakistan |
| Region | Gilgit–Baltistan |
| Ethnicity | Burusho people |
| Native speakers | 87,000 in Pakistan (2000) |
| Language family | |
| Dialects |
Hunza–Nagar
Yasin (Werchikwar)
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Area of Burushaski speakers
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Burushaski (Urdu: بروشسکی - burū́šaskī) is a language isolate spoken by some 87,000 (as of 2000) Burusho people in the Hunza, Nagar, Yasin, and parts of the Gilgit valleys in the Northern Areas, Pakistan. It is also spoken by some 300 speakers in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir. Other names for the language are Kanjut (Kunjoot), Werchikwār, Boorishki, Brushas (Brushias).
Today Burushaski contains many loanwords from Urdu (including English words received via Urdu) and from neighbouring Dardic languages such as Khowar and Shina, as well as a few from Turkic languages and from the neighboring Sino-Tibetan language Balti, but the original vocabulary remains largely intact. The Dardic languages also contain large numbers of loanwords from Burushaski.
There are three dialects, named after the main valleys: Hunza, Nagar, and Yasin (also called Werchikwār). The dialect of Yasin is thought to be the least affected by contact with neighboring languages and is generally less similar to the other two than those are to each other; nevertheless all three dialects are mutually intelligible.
See also
In Spanish: Idioma buruchasquio para niños
