The Diversification of Indo-Iranian and the Position of the Nuristani Languages

This book offers a new approach to the long-standing problem of the genealogical affiliation of the Nuristani languages, a small group of closely related languages spoken in the Eastern Hindu Kush, within the Indo-Iranian subgroup of Indo-European. This topic is approached via a step-by-step examination of the crucial isoglosses, while taking into account more sample data than was available to previous researchers. The author concludes that the Nuristani languages were likely historically more closely affiliated with the Iranian than the Indo-Aryan subgroup, though they must have been isolated from the Iranian continuum early on and subsequently have come under intense contact influence from Indo-Aryan languages.

This book addresses an unresolved but important issue within Indo-European and Indo-Iranian historical linguistics: the genealogical classification of the Nuristani languages. This small group of closely related languages ​​is spoken in the eastern Hindu Kush on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan and forms a third lineage of uncertain classification within the Indo-Iranian language family, alongside Iranian and Indo-Aryan. Based on a reflection on theoretical models of linguistic diversification, a systematic, comparative analysis of the features that characterize the established subgroups of Indo-Iranian is presented. Subsequently, the historical characteristics of the Nuristani group are thoroughly examined, with a focus on the isoglosses most relevant to classification. A central feature of the work is the inclusion of previously rarely used lexical resources: In addition to classic reference works from the 20th century, more recent fieldwork data and publications by native-speaker authors from Afghanistan and Pakistan are included in the analysis. The study thus uses the most complete and reliable set of data available to date to reassess the genealogical affiliation of the Nuristan languages. The analysis suggests that the Nuristani languages ​​are historically more closely related to Iranian than to Indo-Aryan, but that they separated from the Iranian continuum early on and were subsequently subject to strong Indo-Aryan contact influences, which particularly shaped their lexicon and typological characteristics. This publication is relevant for Indo-European and Indo-Iranian historical linguistics, as well as for anyone interested in language change, language contact, and genealogical classification in complex sociolinguistic spaces. It contributes to a more nuanced understanding of a previously little-understood language group.

• By (author) Jakob Martin Halfmann