Burushaski : Ask Biography

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The Burushaski or Burushko language ( burū́šaskī), is a language isolate (that is, not known to be related to any other language of the world). It is spoken by some 87,000 (as of 2000) Burusho people in the Hunza, Nagar, Yasin, and Ishkoman valleys, and some parts of the Gilgit valley, in Gilgit � Baltistan in Pakistan and by about 300 Burusho people in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Other names for the language are Brugaski, Kanjut (Kunjoot), Verchikwār, Boorishki, Brushas (Brushias), and Miśa:ski.

Today Burushaski contains numerous loanwords from Urdu (including English, Persian and Sanskrit words received via Urdu), and from neighbouring Dardic languages such as Shina and Khowar, as well as a few from Turkic languages, and from the neighboring Sino-Tibetan language Balti, and Wakhi and Pashto. However, the original vocabulary remains largely intact. The Dardic languages also contain large numbers of loanwords from Burushaski.

There are three divergent dialects, named after the main valleys: Hunza, Nagar, and Yasin (also called Werchikwār). The dialect of Yasin is thought to be the least affected by contact with neighboring languages and is generally less similar to the other two than those are to each other; nevertheless all three dialects are mutually intelligible.