Language & Linguistics
Khah (English: /kha:h/ کھاہ) or Khasha/khashah (English: /kha:ʃah/kha:ʃa / کھاشاہ [ is a language from North Western Pahari subgroup of Indo-Aryan languages, spoken by around 2 lakh , primarily in the Ramban district of Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir. There are also speakers in parts of the neighbouring districts Reasi,Udhampur Jammu ,Doda,rajouri, Anantnag and Baramulah districts of jammu and Kashmir.
Khah کھاہ
The word “Khah” in Perso-Arabic script and Devanagari
Native to
India, Pakistan
Region
Jammu and Kashmir, Azad Kashmir
Ethnicity
Khasha/ Khasa
Native speakers
2 lakh (2011 census)
Language family
Indo-European
Indo-Iranian
Indo-Aryan
North Western Pahari
Khah
Writing system
Perso-Arabic script (contemporary, official status),
Devanagari (contemporary),
Language codes
ISO 639-3 hkh
Glottolog
khah1234
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Although the official language of Jammu and Kashmir is Urdu, Kashmiri and Dogri is recognised as a regional languages in the state and are also among the 22 scheduled languages of India. other languages and dialects of Jammu and Kashmir are Shina,Gojri,Pahari,Bhaderwahi,Kishtwari,Bhalesi,Padri,Bodhi,Poguli,Sazri, Khah,Sirazi,Zundhari, Neeravi, khaash , Sirami etc
Khah has two word orders verb-second and verb-final word order.
Geographic distribution and status
There are about 2 lakh speakers of Khah in Jammu and Kashmir . Most Khah speakers are located in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Khah is also spoken in Chenani,Busht Udhampur, Lar Reasi, Doda,Kishtwar, Jammu,Halsidar Anantnag, Srinagar and Rajouri. The Khah speakers have also settled in Pakistan,America and Sudi Arabia. The Khah language is one of the lesser known and less documented languages of India, and has been wrongly written as Poguli, Khana and khashali . Most Khah speakers use Urdu, Kashmiri, Dogri or English as a second language. The Khah language has not been included as a subject in all government schools in this region .
Phonology
Khah has the following vowel phonemes:
Vowels
Front Central Back
High i iː – – u uː
Mid e eː ə əː o oː
Low – – a aː ɔ ɔː
Consonants
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Alveolo
-palatal Velar Glottal
Stop unaspirated p b t d ʈ ɖ k ɡ
Stop aspirated pʰ bh tʰ dh ʈʰ ɖh kʰ gh
Fricative s z ʃ h zh
Affricates ts tsh ʧ ʧh ʤ ʤh
Trill r
Flap ɽ ɽh
Lateral l
Nasal m n
Archaisms
Khah is an indo Aryan language . As this is the language of khasha tribe who migrated from central Asia and finally settled in khashalya/khashali a place in between Vitasta(jehlam) and Chandra bhaga(Chenab) and even upto Kastavata(Kishtwar).so this language has preserved some of the archaic elements for example, the prefixing form of the number ‘two’, which is found in Sanskrit as dvi-, has developed into ba-/bi- in most other Indo-Aryan languages, but dva- in Khah (preserving the original dental stop d). twenty two ,thirty two, forty two. Fifty two is dva vih,doytrih doytәlih,duvanzah in Khah.
Certain features in khah even appear to stem from Indo-Aryan even predating the Vedic period. For instance, there was an /s/ > /h/ consonant shift in some words that had already occurred with Vedic Sanskrit (this tendency is even stronger in the Iranian branch of Indo-Iranian), is present in khah . The word rahit in Vedic Sanskrit and modern Hindi-Urdu (meaning ‘excluding’ or ‘without’) corresponds to roht in Khah. Similarly, sahit (meaning ‘including’ or ‘with’) corresponds to seet in Khah.
Writing system
Grammar
Khah is an indo Aryan language with verb-second (V2) and verb final word order.Several of Khah grammatical features distinguish it from other languages.
Nouns
Khah nouns are inflected according to gender, number and case. There are no articles, nor is there any grammatical distinction for definiteness, although there is some optional adverbial marking for indefinite or “generic” noun qualities.
Gender
The Kashmiri gender system is divided into masculine , feminine and neuter. Feminine forms are typically generated by the addition of a suffix (or in most cases, a morphophonemic change, or both) to a masculine noun.There is relatively small group of feminine nouns have unique suppletion forms that are totally different from the corresponding masculine forms. The following table illustrates the range of possible gender forms:
Process Masculine Feminine Meaning
Adding of affix /gaguɽگگڑ/ /gagɽiگگڑی / mouse
vowel change /koʈکوٛٹ/ /kәʈکٹۍ / calf
consonant change /mo:rمور/ /mo:rniمورنی/ peacock
vowel/consonant change /totتوٛت / /tətتتۍ / hot
suppletive form /maɽadمڑد/ /kuɽhmәnکڑھمانۍ / man/woman
Neuter /do:stدوست/ friend /yatimیتیم /orphan
Some nouns borrowed from other languages, such as Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, Urdu ,kashmiri or English, follow a slightly different gender system. Notably, many words borrowed from Urdu have different genders in Khah.
Case
There are four cases in Khah: nominative, dative, ergative and vocative. Case is expressed via suffixation of the noun.Other case distinctions, such as genitive, locative, instrumental and ablative, are marked by postpositions rather than suffixation.
Noun morphology
The following table illustrates Khah noun declension according to gender, number and case.
Masc. Sing. Masc. Pl. Fem. Sing. Fem. Pl.
Nom. –/un//us//uth//eh//am/
Erg. -/әn,ni//nay/th//ov//m//n/
Dat. -/nay/ /nan //th//nay//m//nay/
Voc. -/aː/ -/e;/
Verbs
Khah verbs are declined according to tense and person, and to a lesser extent, gender. Tense, along with certain distinctions of aspect, is formed by the addition of suffixes to the verb stem (minus the infinitive ending – /nu//ni/), and in many cases by the addition of various modal auxiliaries.Postpositions fulfill numerous adverbial and semantic roles.
Tense
Present tense in Khah is an auxiliary construction formed by a combination of the copula and the imperfective suffix -/ti/ added to the verb stem. The various copula forms agree with their subject according to gender and number, and are provided below with the verb /likhnu/ (to write);
Present
Masculine Feminine
1 st Person Sing. /t͡ʃʰos likhtiچھوٛس لکھتی / /t͡ʃʰas likhti چھس لکھتی /
2nd Person Sing. /t͡ʃʰos likhtiچھوٛس لکھتی/ /t͡ʃʰas likhtiچھس لکھتی /
3rd Person Sing. /t͡ʃʰu likhtiچھو لکھتی / /t͡ʃʰi/thi likhtiتھی لکھتی /
1st Person Pl. /t͡ʃʰasam چھسم / /t͡ʃʰasam likhti/
2nd Person Pl. /t͡ʃʰath چھتھ/ /t͡ʃʰath /
3rd Person Pl. /t͡ʃʰeh likhtiچھہ لکھتی/ /t͡ʃʰeh likhti/
Simple Past (Transitive)
Masc. Sing. Masc. Pl. Fem. Sing. Fem. Pl.
1st Person /likhtumلکھتم //likhtunلکھتن / /likhtumلکھتم / /likhtunلکھتن /
2nd Person
/likhtutʰلکھتتھ/ /likhtuvلکھتوو/ /likhtutʰلکھتتھ/ /likhtuvلکھتوو/
3rd Person /likhtuәnلکھتۅنۍ//likhtunayلکھتونے/ /likhtuәnyehلکھتونٛیہ / /likhtunayلکھتونے /
A group of irregular intransitive verbs (special intransitives), take a different set of endings in addition to the morphophonemic changes that affect most past tense verbs.
Simple future
Masc. Sing. Masc. Pl. Fem. Sing. Fem. Pl.
1st Person /likhehلکھہ//likhunلکھن/ /likhehلکھہ//likhunلکھن /
2nd person
/Likhusلکھس//likhuthلکھتھ/ /Likhusلکھس//likhuthلکھتھ/
3rd person
/Likh لکھ//likhunلکھن / /likh لکھ//likhunلکھن /
