Zemiaki language

Zemiaki (Zamyaki) is a Nuristani language spoken by some 400–500 people in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan.[2]

Zemiaki
Native toAfghanistan
RegionNuristan Province
Native speakers
500 (1999)
Language codes
ISO 639-3(included in [nli])
Glottologzemi1238[1]

It is named after the settlement in which it is spoken, from the Pashto Zemyaki žə́ba "language of Zemyaki", the native equivalent being J̌amlám-am bašá. 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.[2] 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.[3]

There is no grammatical gender, but number and person are marked on the verb,[4] following a split-ergative pattern of agreement.[5]

References
  1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Zemiaki". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. Grünberg 1999, p. 123.
  3. Grünberg 1999, pp. 123, 125.
  4. Grünberg 1999, pp. 124.
  5. Grünberg 1999, pp. 125.

Bibliography
  • Grünberg, A.L. (1999). "Zemiaki jazyk/dialekt". In Edelman, D.I. (ed.). Jazyki mira: Dardskie i nuristanskie jazyki (in Russian). Moscow: Indrik. pp. 123–125. ISBN 585759085X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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