Ebook: Kalasha Dictionary

National Institute of Pakistan Studies, 1999. — 512 p. — (Studies in Languages of Northern Pakistan 7). — ISBN: 978-9698023096.The Kalasha language is spoken in a number of mountain valleys of Chitral. It is part of the greater Indo-Aryan group of languages and, as such, is related to many languages all over Pakistan. On a more specific level, it is a member of the Dardic subgroup of Indo-Aryan, and thus more closely related to other languages of the North-West Frontier Province and the Northern Areas, such as Khowar, Kalam Kohistani, Indus Kohistani, Shina, and others.
It is with some pride that we present this first comprehensive dictionary of the Kalasha language. Georg Morgenstierne listed about 1,000 words in his volume The Kalasha Language (1973). The present work incorporates those, plus approximately 5,000 more, included in entries and subentries. The full inventory of Kalasha words is many times more, of course, but this present work contains the basic vocabulary items, along with their English and Urdu equivalents. In addition, notes on Kalasha grammar are given as a guide for students, scholars, and tourists.
This dictionary of Kalasha is the seventh volume in the joint NIPS-SIL series Studies in Languages of Northern Pakistan. Our desire is that it will contribute to an understanding of the Kalasha language and culture by outsiders, both Pakistani and foreign. For the Kalasha themselves it should be a valuable aid in learning Urdu, the national language, and English, the international language. Thus they will find a bridge into the wider culture around them.