cha, sub-family of Aryan languages is spoken almost
entirely beyond the boundaries of British India proper, on the North- Western
Frontier. It includes the following languages:- 08-02-002
2
THE DARDIC LANGUAGES.
This Dardic, or Picha, sub-family of Aryan languages is spoken almost
entirely beyond the boundaries of British India proper, on the North- Western
Frontier. It includes the following languages:-
| A.-Kfir Group,- |
(1) Ba  gal .
|
| (2) Wai-al.
|
(3) Was -veri or Veron. |
| (4) Akund. |
| (5) Kal-Paai
Sub-group, viz.:- |
| (a) Kal. |
| (b) Gawar-bati or Narst. |
(c) Paai,
La mn,
or D hgn. |
| (d) Dr. |
| (e) Trh |
B.-Kh -wr, Chitrl, or Arniy. |
| C.-Dard Group, i. e. the Dard languages, proper,- |
(1)  i .
|
| (2) Kshmr. |
| (3) Khistn. |
Specimens of most of these will be found below. No specimens could be obtained
of Akund, a Kfir language which is said to resemble Bagal;
of Dr, the language of Dr; or of Trh, of the former
inhabitants of Tr in the Afrd country, who are now settled in
Nigrahr. No- thing whatever is known about Akund. Short vocabularies
of Dr and Trh have been given by Leech on pp. 783 and 784
of Vol. vii (1838) of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. These two
languages are provisionally placed in the Kal-Paai Sub-Group.
The first four languages of the Kfir
Group are all spoken in Kafiristan. Bagal
and Wai-al are closely connected,
while Was-veri shows important
points of difference from these two. In some particulars (e. g. the frequent
change of d to l) it shows striking points of agreement with East Eranian languages.
As for the languages of the Kal-Paai
sub-group, they have certain points of agreement amongst themselves, and with
the other known Kfir languages, but
they have all fallen under the influence of their respective neighbours. Paai
is spoken on the north side of the Kabul river, immediately to the south of
Kafiristan, and is affected by Pa
t.
Kal
is spoken in the country between the Bashgal valley and Chitral and is affected
by the Kh-wr
immediately to its east. Gawar-bati, spoken further south, on the left bank
of the Chitral river, is not only affected by Kh-wr,
but also by the neighbouring Khistn.
Kh-wr is the language of the Chitral country and of the neighbourhood.
While in all respects a most typical Dardic language, it occupies a somewhat
independent position in regard to the others,
Dr. Hoernle has suggested
to me that we have a relic of the name 'Picha,'
in the word 'Paai.'
Phonetically, this s
quite possible.