Burushaski: An Extraordinary Language in the Karakoram Mountains

Dick Grune

Joseph Biddulph Publisher, 1998; ISBN 1 897999 12 7. U.K.

Description

This compact booklet affords the reader an easy opportunity to get acquainted with Burushaski, an isolated and remarkable language spoken by several tens of thousands of people in the Karakoram mountains. Together with Basque, Ket, Nivkh and perhaps Nehali, Burushaski is one of the last languages on earth to defy classification, and even the most liberal language classifiers allow Burushaski at least 10 000 years of independent development.

The booklet covers the phonetics, the grammar of nouns, adjectives and verbs, the syntax and the numerals of the Yasin dialect of Burushaski, in an easy-going style, yet in as much detail as 40 pages will allow. Occasionally, possible parallels with the Yeniseian language Ket are pointed out. The Hunza dialect of the language is introduced in a short comparison.

Table of Contents

Full Text

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[Dick Grune] [Joseph Biddulph Publisher]

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