Najib speaking Kalasha

Video license

CC BY-NC 4.0

Video file downloads

Dropbox (.mp4)

This video was recorded by Rizwan Hussain in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Kalasha, or Kalasha-mun, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Kalash people of Pakistan. There are approximately 5,000 native speakers of Kalasha. Many of the Kalash people live in the mountainous Chitral District, the northernmost district in the country. Kalasha is related to Khowar, which is also spoken in Chitral by the Kho people. Kalasha is unique in that, whereas in most Dardic languages voiced aspirated consonants have disappeared, in Kalasha they have been retained. Kalasha also retains a verbal preterite tense. In its phonological system, Kalasha-mun distinguishes between plain, long, nasal, and retroflex vowels, as well as their combinations. Both the Arabic and Latin scripts are used for writing.

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