Kholosi language

Kholosi
Native to	Hormozgan Province, Iran
Native speakers	c. 1800 (2014)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Sindhi languages Kholosi; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Perso-Arabic
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	khol1241

Kholosi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in two villages in southern Iran that was first described in 2008.[2] At its current status, the language is considered endangered. In 2008, it was only spoken in the neighboring villages of Kholus and Gotav. As it is located on the Iranian Plateau and surrounded by Iranian languages, it draws heavily from them.[2]

Classification

Kholosi is definitively known to be an Indo-Aryan language albeit with significant lexical borrowing from Iranian languages given its geographical location. At the lexical level, it seems to share vocabulary largely with the Sindhi languages,[2] which are the source of other Indo-Aryan migrations to the Middle East such as Luwati in Oman.

Phonology

While no published phonology has been found on Kholosi, the following phonology has been constructed from examples provided in the sources below.[2][3][1]

Vowels
	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	eː		oː
Low		ɑ ɑː

Kholosi also contains the diphthongs /ɑi, ɑw, ow/ and possibly others.

Consonants
	Labial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasals	m	n		ɳ		ŋ*
Stops	p b	t d	t͡ʃ d͡ʒ	ʃ		k g
Fricatives	f v	s z				x	h
Approximants		l		ɽ	j
Trills		r

Note*: The phonemes marked with an asterisk are assumed based on the structure of the attested phonemes.

Grammar

Anonby and Bahmani (2013)[2] made some brief notes on Kholosi grammar, but so far no grammatical sketch nor a full grammar of the language has been documented.

Nouns and noun phrases

Nouns have inherent grammatical gender, and adjectives agree in gender with the head noun. Attributive adjectives follow the head noun, unlike other Indo-Aryan languages. Numerals precede the head noun.[3]

Verbs and verb phrases

Kholosi uses several light verbs to form noun-verb compounds. This is a common feature of Indo-Iranian languages.

The adverb precedes the verb it modifies.[3]

Case and adpositions

Kholosi has noun-suffixed postpositions (e.g. the genitive marker -jo which agrees with the gender of the possessor) as characteristic of Indo-Aryan languages.

Syntax

Kholosi is a verb-final language with SOV word order.[3]

Vocabulary

Kholosi has roughly twice the number of Indo-Aryan terms in its basic lexicon than Iranian borrowings. The primary source of Iranian borrowings is Persian, but Larestani and Bandari (in the same geographical area) also appear to have contributed vocabulary.[2]

A high degree of similarity with Indo-Aryan languages

Indo-Aryan vocabulary in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
ear	guš	kān	kanu	kan	kān	kān
stomach	šekam	pēt	pēʈ	pēʈ	pētˤ	per
throat	galu	nāɽi	naɽī	nəɽī	qandī	—
neck	gardan	gēči	ɠičī, ɠātō	kand	gər(ək)	—
blood	xun	rāt	ratu	rat	rat	—
urine	edrār, šāš	meter	muʈru	mutar	mutur	miter
maternal uncle	dāi	momo	māmo	māmā	mām	—
dog	sag	kotoro	kutō	kottrō	snōta	jukle
tail	dom	pēč	pučʰu	pučʰ(ɽi)	panč(ək)	kuyruka
snake	mār	sap	nā̃gu	sap	sap	—
meat	gušt	māz	gūšt	gōs	māsī	mās
egg	toxme morġ	āɳo	bēdō	īnō	āna	vānvro
dirt	xāk	māti	miʈī	maʈī	dūl	—
water	āb	puni	pāɳī	pāɳī	pānī	pāni
rain	bārān	meh	mīh̃ã	βarsād	wārsīnda	beršundo
old (thing)	kohne	peroɳo	purāɳō, pōɽʰō	junō, purānō	pnāra	pʰuro
heavy	sangin	gāwro	ɠarō	bʰāɽi	grāna	—
dry	xošk	sako	sukal	sukō, sukelō	—	sukʰo
black	syāh	kāro	kārō	kārō	qāla	kālo, qālo

Kholosi Indo-Iranian vocabulary aligned with Indo-Aryan sound changes

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
hand	dast	hāt	hatʰu	hatʰ	xašt	vāst
tooth	dandān	dānd	ᶑãdu	dəndʰ	dānd	dānd
fish	māhi	māči	mačʰī	məčʰī	mačča	maččʰo
star	setāre	taro	tārō	tārō	yēldəz	—
three	seh	tereda	ʈī	trē	trən	terin
round	gerd	golāndo	gōl	gōl	čōrm-	—
say	goftan	vetai	čaβaɳ	čōnũ	ft-	pʰen-
this	in	he	hī	hī	hā	ā-

A significant proportion of structures shared with neighbouring Iranian languages

Iranian vocabulary in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
head	sar, kalle	kallo	matʰō	matʰō	sər	šoru
nose	bini, damāġ	domāġ	panu	pan	nāk	nāk
bone	ostoxān	assaxān	haɖō	həɖ	xar(ək)	qoqālā
leaf	barg	barg	panu	pan	kāġatˤ	yārpaki
root	riše	rišo	pāɽa	mūɽ	—	—
dust	gard	gard	dʰuɽ	rajj, dʰuɽ	ġabare	—
cloud	abr	awr	jʰuɽ, kakar	βəɖar	ġēm	boluti
summer	tābestān	tābesān	hāɽu	ūnārō	awasār	—
winter	zemestān	zemesān	siāro	siyārō	slāla	—
iron	āhan	āhan	lohu	lō	ḥadīd	—
think	fekr kard	feker kai	sōčaɳ	sōčiɳũ	fikr kar-	—

Words illustrating the local character of Iranian vocabulary in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Remarks
scorpion	aġrab	akrab	cf. Lārestani (Evaz), Keshmi akrab
cloud	abr	awr	cf. Bushehri, Keshmi, S. Luri awr
sand	šen, māse	lamer	cf. Lārestani (Lār) lamr
chicken	morġ	čūki	cf. Lārestani (Lār) čikala
whistling	sut	fitak, sūt	cf. Bandari (Bushehr) fike, Keshmi fištak

Lack of contrastive aspiration on stops in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
tall	boland	taɽgo	ɖrigho	lamō, dʰərgō	dərga, drōnga	—
skin	pust	xāl	kʰala, čamɽī	čam, čamɽi	qal	—
cold	sard	tāzo	tʰādʰō	tʰādʰō	sīlda	tatto, tatʰo
weave	bāft	sībai	uɳaɳu	sibʰīnũ	sīw-	kʰuv-
hand	dast	hāt	hatʰu	hatʰ	xašt	vāst
tail	dom	pēč	pučʰu	pučʰ, pučʰ	ɽipanč(ək)	kuyruka
fish	māhi	māči	mačʰī	məčʰī	mačča	maččʰo

A full fricative series in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
all	hame	sāf	sabʰai	marē, mərē	sa	hāmi, sir
grass	alaf(/giyāh)	xāz	gāhu	gā	gās	kʰās
ant	murče	moxoro	makoɽo	mākuɽō	mōrī, mˤōri	kʰiri, giri
big	bozorg	vazzo	βaᶑō	βaᶑō	drōnga	tʰevro
near	nazdik	vāzo	βējʰō	bājūme	čanč-	bāšu

Lack of an implosive series in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
heavy	sangin	gāwro	ɠarō	bʰāɽi	grāna	—
neck	gardan	gēči	ɠičī, ɠātō	kand	gər(ək)	—
two	do	bāro	ɓa	bə	dī, dədī	duy
buy	xarid	genai	ɠinhaɳu	ɠəɳnũ	pār-	l-
swell	motavarrem šod	sojo	suʄaɳ	soʄnũ	—	—

Complex predicates in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
walk	ġadam zad	vāt viyo	halaɳ	halnũ	raw-	—
stand up	boland šod	bolan to	bīhaɳ	uʈʰinũ, ubʰotʰīnũ	št-	—
lie down	derāz kešid	sɑ̄ to	halaɳ	halnũ	—	—
fly	parvāz kard	pall kerɑmai	uᶑraɳ, ūᶑaɳ	uɖnũ	fər-	—
swim	šenā kard	šenow kai	taraɳ	βenjinũ, tar karīnũ	—	nan-

Distinctive structures in Kholosi

Distinctive Kholosi vocabulary

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
hair	mu	lō	βāra	βāɽ	wāl	—
mouth	dahān, dahan	vāt	muhũ	mō	məh	muy
knee	zānu	āɽak	gōᶑō	gū̃nʈʰō	lūlək	døbiki
man	mard	kozoro	maɳʰū̃	bʰāi māɽū, marad	mnəs	murš
child	bače	viyow	ɓāru	bačō	qər, putr	tinčʰā, čʰā
stone	sang	rōxo	paʈʰar	paʈʰar, paʈʈʰar	wāʈ	bār
fire	āteš	mangal	bāhi	ʈānɖʰō	āg	yag
small	kuček	nōko	nanɖʰō	nənɖʰo	qətˤka	čʰā
full	por	dang	bʰaryal	bʰarelō, pūrō, saʄō	bardˤa	—
one	yek	poko	hik	akro	yēka, yōka	yekʰ, yek
tie	bastan	pālai	ɓadʰaɳ	bandʰinũ	—	—

References

Anonby, Erik; Bahmani, Hassan Mohebbi (2013). "Shipwrecked and Landlocked: A Description of Kholosi, an Indo-Aryan language of Southwest Iran" (PDF). Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Iranian Linguistics. Further Topics in Iranian Linguistics.
"Shipwrecked and landlocked : Discovery of an Indo-Aryan language in southwest Iran" (PDF). Bamling-research.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
Tahereh Rezaei. "First notes on the syntax of Kholosi as a heritage language in the south of Iran" (PDF).

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[Anonby2-1] Anonby, Erik; Bahmani, Hassan Mohebbi (2013). "Shipwrecked and Landlocked: A Description of Kholosi, an Indo-Aryan language of Southwest Iran" (PDF). Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Iranian Linguistics. Further Topics in Iranian Linguistics.

[anonby-2] "Shipwrecked and landlocked : Discovery of an Indo-Aryan language in southwest Iran" (PDF). Bamling-research.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-20.

[Rezaei-3] Tahereh Rezaei. "First notes on the syntax of Kholosi as a heritage language in the south of Iran" (PDF).