Burushaski (Other names are Burushaski, Brushas, Brushias) is a language isolate spoken by some 50,000-60,000 people in the Hunza, Nagir, Yasin, and some parts of Gilgit valleys in northern Pakistan.

It is thought that the language has remained unchanged since the 13th century, and at one time it was spoken in most parts of the area. Today it contains loanwords from Urdu and a few words from neighbouring languages (Khowar and Shina ), but enough original vocabulary remains to distinguish it from these languages. These neighbouring languages also contain loan words from Burushaski. Attempts have been made to establish a relationship between Burushaski and Sumerian, Basque, and the Caucasian and Dravidian language families; however, these efforts have met with little acceptance from linguists.

The linguist Ilija Casule from the Macquarie University claims that Burushaski is either related to or influenced by a non-Indo-Aryan "Southern" subgroup of Indo-European which he takes to include Phrygian and Thracian, and by Balto-Slavic; these claims are by no means yet accepted.

Recently, George van Driem has linked Burushaski with Yeniseian in a family he calls Karasuk, and thinks the connection wasn't noticed earlier only because Yeniseian is itself so obscure. He believes the Burusho were part of the migration out of Central Asia that resulted in the Indo-European conquest of India.

There are three dialects of Burushaski: used in Hunza, Nagar, and Yasin. The dialect of Yasi is thought to be pure, but most popular and written dialect is that of Hunza.

It is often said that Burushaski is an "unwritten language". Perhaps this originates from Burushaski's lack of a rich written literary history (although in this respect it is similar to even most of the world's modern written languages). However, nowadays Burushaski is sometimes written, usually in a modified version of the Arabic script. In fact, Partawi Shah, a famous writer, has written poetry in Burushaski.

Phonology

* Liquids are glides and laterals.

See also

• Partawi Shah

External links

• Burushaski: An Extraordinary Language in the Karakoram Mountains (PDF)
• Thraco-Phrygian and Balto-Slavic connections of Burushaski 1
• Thraco-Phrygian and Balto-Slavic connections of Burushaski 2