Zemiaki | |
---|---|
J̌amlām-am bašā | |
Native to | Afghanistan |
Region | Nuristan Province |
Native speakers | (500 cited 1999) |
Indo-European
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | (included in [nli]) |
Glottolog |
zemi1238 |
ELP | Zemiaki |
Zemiaki (Zamyaki) is a Nuristani language spoken by some 400–500 people in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan. [1]
It is named after the settlement in which it is spoken, from the Pashto Zemyaki žə́ba "language of Zemyaki", the native equivalent being J̌amlām-am bašā. It is closely related to Waigali, and ancestors of the Zemyakis were, according to local tradition, Waigalis who migrated into the area several centuries ago. [1] The language spoken in the surrounding areas is Pashto, and it has been a source of a large number of lexical borrowings, including several common conjunctions. [2]
There is no grammatical gender, but number and person are marked on the verb, [3] following a split-ergative pattern of agreement. [4]
It was thought that Zemiaki is a dialect of Grangali, an Indo-Aryan language. However, its pronouns are characteristically Nuristani, with a close relationship to Waigali, which is confirmed by local tradition.
Person | Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st | sg. | ake | ũ | ūba, umba |
pl. | ami | amba | ||
2nd | sg. | tu | tuba | |
pl. | me | ame | amemba |