Burushaski: An Extraordinary Language in the Karakoram Mountains
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.
Burushaski: An Extraordinary Language in the Karakoram Mountains / Dick Grune /
dick@dickgrune.com
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