About

Questions and answers

Which languages and dialects are shown on the map?

The database has data on the following languages and dialects of the Shughni-Rushani group (see list below). These languages are often regarded as one language in the Western tradition, but are treated here as inidividual lects (without any particular claims about their sociolinguistic status).

  • Roshorvi [oros1238]
  • Bartangi [bart1238]
    • Lower Bartangi dialect
  • Rushani [rush1239]
  • Khufi [khuf1238]
  • Shughni [shug1254]
    • Bajuwi dialect [baju1247]
    • Shokhdara dialect [shah1262]

Shughni has several dialects, most notably Bajuwi (intermediate between Shughni and Rushani), spoken in the Bajuwi valley, and Shokhdara, spoken in the Shokhdara valley. The exact border between the “Shughni proper” and the Shokhdara dialect is unclear (see a different division in [Parker 2023: 46]). Scholars mention a subvariety of Shokhdara called Barwoz, which is supposedly spoken in the higher part of the valley, but almost nothing is known about it, including its exact geographic distribution, and it is said to be highly endangered or extinct [Parker 2023: 47].

Rushani, Bartangi and Roshorvi languages, spoken along the Bartang valley, have further dialectal subdivisions and probably form a dialect continuum. On the map, the traditional “borders” between them are reflected, with the exception of “Lower Bartangi” lect, which is attributed to Bartangi in some sources and to Rushani in others. Khufi is sometimes treated as a subdialect of Rushani.

Why are these languages and dialects / settlements chosen?

I have chosen settlements which are spoken in the traditional area of the distribution of Shughni-Roshorvi languages, in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast of Tajikistan. Shughni and Rushani are also spoken in several villages in Afghanistan; those villages were not included. Other Pamiri languages (Yazghulami, Wakhi, Ishkashimi) and other languages of GBAO (Tajiki, Kyrgyz) were not included. Settlements in the Murghab district of GBAO, where the sociolinguistic situation is unclear, were not included.

What are these settlements? Are they all of the same status?

Many settlements on the map are individual villages. At the same time, in continuous village chains the borders between villages are often blurred, and a group of villages is sometimes perceived by locals as one large settlement, especially inside compact jamoats (e.g. villages of the Porx̌nev jamoat are often cited as one settlement called Porx̌nev, same goes for Tisyůn and Roštqalā jamoats). In the same spirit, villages adjacent to Xaraɣ are often perceived as its neighborhoods. Ethnographic work is necessary to understand these details further. The aim of the project was simply to collect and map as many place names as possible. In some cases, the mapped place names clearly correspond to parts of a continuous village area, but the choice was made to include these place names nevertheless. In other cases (e.g. Bār-de), when the location of smaller settlements / settlement districts is unknown, they are simply listed in the notes for the larger settlements.

How was the data collected?

The list of settlements, their location and their names were collected from a large range of sources. For each language, the initial list was created primarily from linguistic sources and maps (see Sources below). This list was then complemented by data from geographic maps such as the Soviet J-42 map and the Pamirs’ 2013 map, as well as modern online mapping services, including OpenStreetMap, Yandex Maps and Google Maps.

Where are the place names taken from?

Due to lack of standardization of Shughni-Roshorvi languages and lack of open data on village names in Tajikistan, naming and spelling of individual settlements may differ greatly among sources. Place names are largely taken from linguistic and ethnographic sources. In some cases, I was able to verify and/or obtain place names from consultants who live in the area (I am indebted to Mehravzo Tolibshoeva and Daria Chistiakova for carrying out this work). Additionally, alternate spellings of place names were obtained from geographic maps and online mapping services. Many of these are incorrect but may be useful for finding a particular settlement.

What transcription and spelling is used in place names?

TBD

What are jamoats? Why are they shown only for Shughni settlements?

Jamoats (Tajiki ҷамоатҳо) are administrative units in Tajikistan. I was unable to find an official list of settlements for each jamoat, so I could not map the jamoats. However, jamoats with Shughni-speaking settlements are listed in [Каландаров 2004: 11]. Some Shughni villages are absent in this list; they were not assigned any jamoat on the map. Therefore, the borders of jamoats on the map are not exact and only include settlements which definitely belong to a particular jamoat.

Why are there villages without a language area?

Some villages are placed outside of any language areas. These are settlements where the sociolinguistic situation is unknown (e.g. Bādčor), or settlements which are definitely (or most likely) disappeared (e.g. Sarīz, which was flooded).

How was the map implemented technically?

The map was created in R using leaflet. The website was created with quarto. Data preparation was carried out in Python. The data on altitude was collected from Open Topo Data (ASTER DEM v3 30m Global Dataset). I am grateful to George Moroz for technical help.

Will the project be updated?

I would be happy to update the data if any corrections become available to me. Potential plans for future developments include (a) mapping Shughni and Rushani villages in Afghanistan, (b) mapping Yazghulami villages (north of Rushani and Bartangi), (c) mapping Ishkashimi and Wakhi villages of Tajikistan (south of Shughni). However, these plans will not be realized in the near future (and, possibly, ever).

Sources

  • J-42 — Карта J-42 Генштаба СССР.
  • The Pamirs’ Map 2013 — The Pamirs’ Map. GBAO, Tajikistan and Cross-border Areas. 1:500 000.
  • Андреев 1958 — Андреев, Михаил. 1958. Таджики долины Хуф (Верховья Аму-Дарьи). Выпуск II. Сталинабад: Издательство АН Таджикской ССР.
  • Булбулшоев 2005a — Булбулшоев, Умед. 2005. Категория рода микротопонимов (на основе материала Шахдаринской микротопонимии). Иван Стеблин-Каменский, Додхудо Карамшоев & Сарфароз Ниёзов (ред.), Языки и этнография «Крыши мира», 21–29. Санкт-Петербург: Петербургское востоковедение.
  • Булбулшоев 2005b — Булбулшоев, Умед. 2005. Антропотопонимия Западного Памира. Иван Стеблин-Каменский, Додхудо Карамшоев & Сарфароз Ниёзов (ред.), Языки и этнография «Крыши мира», 15–20. Санкт-Петербург: Петербургское востоковедение.
  • Додыхудоев 1976 — Додыхудоев, Рахим. Памирские этимологии // Иранское языкознание: история, этимология, типология (К 75-летию проф. В.И. Абаева). Москва: Наука. 1976. С. 136–145.
  • Зарубин 1930 — Зарубин, Иван. 1930. Орошорские тексты и словарь.
  • Зарубин 1937 — Зарубин, Иван. 1937. Бартангские и рушанские тексты и словарь.
  • Каландаров 2004 — Каландаров, Тохир. 2004. Шугнанцы (историко-этнографическое исследование). Москва: Институт этнографии и антропологии РАН.
  • Карамшоев 1963 — Карамшоев, Додхудо. 1963. Баджувский диалект шугнанского языка. Душанбе: Академия наук Таджикской ССР.
  • Карамшоев 1988 — Карамшоев, Додхудо. 1988. Шугнанско-русский словарь в трёх томах. А–З. Том I. Москва: Наука.
  • Курбанов 1976 — Курбанов, Х. Рошорвский язык. Душанбе: Дониш. 1976.
  • Оранский 1960 — Оранский, Иосиф. Введение в иранскую филологию. М.: Издательство восточной литературы. 1960.
  • Файзов 1966 — Файзов, Махрам. 1966. Язык рушанцев Советского Памира. Душанбе: Академия наук Таджикской ССР.
  • Эдельман 1975 — Эдельман, Джой. 1975. Географические названия Памира. Дмитрий Ольдерогге (ред.), Страны и народы Востока. Памир (Страны и Народы Востока 16), 41–62. Москва: Наука.
  • Эдельман, Юсуфбеков 1999a — Эдельман, Джой & Шодихон Юсуфбеков. 1999. Рушанский язык. Наталья Рогова (ред.), Иранские языки. III. Восточноиранские языки (Языки Мира), 242—253. Москва: Индрик.
  • Эдельман, Юсуфбеков 1999b — Эдельман, Джой & Шодихон Юсуфбеков. 1999. Хуфский язык. Наталья Рогова (ред.), Иранские языки. III. Восточноиранские языки (Языки Мира), 254—258. Москва: Индрик.
  • Эдельман, Юсуфбеков 1999c — Эдельман, Джой & Шодихон Юсуфбеков. 1999. Рошорвский язык. Наталья Рогова (ред.), Иранские языки. III. Восточноиранские языки (Языки Мира), 264—268. Москва: Индрик.