The Yidgha language is a Pamir language spoken in the Upper Lutkuh Valley (Tehsil Lotkuh) of Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa west of Garam Chashma in Pakistan. Yidgha is similar to the Munji language spoken on the Afghan side of the border.
The Garam Chashma area became important during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan because the Soviets were unable to stop the flow of arms and men back and forth across the Dorah Pass that separates Chitral from Badakshan in Afghanistan. Almost the entire Munji-speaking population of Afghanistan fled across the border to Chitral during the War in Afghanistan.
The Pamir is a high plateau sometimes called "the roof of the world" that joins Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, China and Kashmir. Marco Polo is believed to have crossed the Pamir Mountains on his way to China.
The Yidgha language has not been given serious study by linguists, except that it is mentioned by Georg Morgenstierne (1926), Kendall Decker (1992), Rehmat Aziz Chitrali and Badshah Munir Bukhari (2005). A 280-page joint description of Yidgha and Munji (descriptive and historical phonetics and grammar, glossary with etymologies where possible) is given by Morgenstierne (1938).
View MoreYears ago, we used to play "the telephone game" where a person would convey a whispered message to the player next to them, which that participant would immediately convey to another and so on down the line until the last individual would be asked to repeat the information out loud. What led to laughs was the distorted nature of...
Fires were lit outside the north’s ‘parliament’ for a fourth day in a row on Thursday in protest against the ruling coalition’s decision to legalise the wearing of hijabs by children at public schools, with figures from across the north’s political spectrum in attendance. Musical performances made up most of the evening’s events...
Will Mark Zuckerberg be forced to sell Instagram after FTC trial? In a high-stakes trial between Meta and the FTC, Mark Zuckerberg could have to break up the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. I send an Instagram Reel to my best friend or adult daughter — who is also my best friend — almost every day. It’s how...
CCS tables discussion on transgender bathroom policy The Columbus City Schools heard from general counsel James Barnes about the ramifications of keeping their current bathroom policy during a meeting on Feb. 4. Columbus School Superintendent Angela Chapman called the district letter to families regarding transgender student...