Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Torwālī, Turvali, Dardu
CLASSIFICATION		Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Northwestern Zone
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		trw
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Bahrain Chail
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “An Overview of Linguistic Structures in Torwali, A Language of Northern Pakistan” . Wayne A. Lunsford (2001)

Vulnerable

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
80,000
Native speakers worldwide

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

The Torwali always use Torwali to communicate with other Torwali speakers in their daily life. A group of male Torwali have established a group called "the Kohistan Cultural Promotion Society (KCPS)" for the Torwali language and culture.

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

Torwali speakers are very proud of their language and culture. (p. 4)

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Urdu; Pashto

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

Urdu is the national language and medium for instruction whereas Pashto is the lingua franca of the province. The frequency of incorporating Urdu terms for produce and numbers is increasing. Arabic words are borrowed for religion. English words such as hotel, taxi, etc. are also borrowed into Torwali.

PLACES: Pakistan

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: The Torwali people live in the Swat Valley of the North West Frontier Province in norther Pakistan. The speakers of the Bahrain dialect live along the Swat River, from Madyan northward 20-25 miles to the village of Asret, south of Peshmal while the speakers of the Chail dialect is spoken in two villages about 3-5 miles east east of Madyan (p.2-3).

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
60,000
Native speakers worldwide

DATE OF INFO: 1987

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

PLACES: Pakistan

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Swat Kohistan, both sides of Swat River, beyond Madyan north to Asrit (between Mankjal and Peshmal); Chail Valley east of Madyan

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: The eastern subgroup includes Kashmiri in the Kashmir valley; Shina in the districts of Gilgit and Tangir, north of Kashmir; Phalura (or Palola) and the closely related Sawi; and a number of languages and dialects sometimes referred to generally as Kōhestānī (lit., “of the mountains”) in the Indus, Swat, and Panjkora basins: Maiyan (so called by native speakers but Kōhestānī by others) with the Kanywali dialect, Torwali, and Bashkarik (or Diri, known in another dialect variant as Garwi).

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: part of Nūrestān and adjacent areas along the Kabul river and its tributaries in the mountain region that encompasses northeastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and northwestern India

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
60,000
Native speakers worldwide

DATE OF INFO: 1992

PLACES: Pakistan

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: the Swat valley north of Madyan and in the Chail side valley

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
60,000
Native speakers worldwide

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: Since Urdu became the national language of Pakistan in 1947 and increasingly functions as the country’s lingua franca, it has replaced Persian as a compulsory language in the curriculum. From the 1980s the presence of Persian in the educational system became negligible. Despite this, a significant influx of additional Perso-Arabic words has entered the lexicons of all the languages of Pakistan through Urdu.

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
60,000
Native speakers worldwide

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
60,000
Native speakers worldwide

			1994	Dardestān ii. Language					Encyclopedia Iranica			http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dardestan-#i	Edel'man, D.I.	D.I. Edel'man. 1994. "Dardestān Ii. Language." In Encyclopedia Iranica, Online: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dardestan-#i.								The eastern subgroup includes Kashmiri in the Kashmir valley; Shina in the districts of Gilgit and Tangir, north of Kashmir; Phalura (or Palola) and the closely related Sawi; and a number of languages and dialects sometimes referred to generally as Kōhestānī (lit., “of the mountains”) in the Indus, Swat, and Panjkora basins: Maiyan (so called by native speakers but Kōhestānī by others) with the Kanywali dialect, Torwali, and Bashkarik (or Diri, known in another dialect variant as Garwi).									part of Nūrestān and adjacent areas along the Kabul river and its tributaries in the mountain region that encompasses northeastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and northwestern India
	Routledge Language Family Series		2003	Dardic	The Indo-Aryan Languages	818-894	George Cardona and Dhanesh Jain	London & New York: Routledge					Elena Bashir	Bashir, Elena. 2003. "Dardic." In The Indo-Aryan Languages, edited by George Cardona and Dhanesh Jain. 818-894. London & New York: Routledge.	HHOLD	60,000	1992	10000-99999							Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Pakistan	the Swat valley north of Madyan and in the Chail side valley
0199255911			2005	The World Atlas of Language Structures			Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer	Oxford University Press		New York				2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.																		34.25,72.0
		16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International		Dallas, TX		http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	60,000	1987	10000-99999	Pashto; Urdu						Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Pakistan	Swat Kohistan, both sides of Swat River, beyond Madyan north to Asrit (between Mankjal and Peshmal); Chail Valley east of Madyan
			2006	Indo-iranian Frontier Languages					Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition			http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/indo-iranian-frontier-languages-and-the-influence-of-persian	Bashir, Elena	Elena Bashir. 2006. "Indo-iranian Frontier Languages." In Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, Online: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/indo-iranian-frontier-languages-and-the-influence-of-persian.								Since Urdu became the national language of Pakistan in 1947 and increasingly functions as the country’s lingua franca, it has replaced Persian as a compulsory language in the curriculum. From the 1980s the presence of Persian in the educational system became negligible. Despite this, a significant influx of additional Perso-Arabic words has entered the lexicons of all the languages of Pakistan through Urdu.
			2006	Language policy, multilingualism and language vitality in Pakistan	Lesser-known languages of South Asia: status and policies, case studies and applications of information technology	73-106	Anju Saxena and Lars Borin	Mouton de Gruyter		Berlin			Tariq Rahman	Tariq Rahman. 2006. "Language Policy, Multilingualism and Language Vitality in Pakistan." In Lesser-known languages of South Asia: status and policies, case studies and applications of information technology, edited by Anju Saxena and Lars Borin. 73-106. Mouton de Gruyter.		60,000		10000-99999							Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
		3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing		Paris		http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub	60,000		10000-99999							Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)							35.5833,72.5
				Glottolog								http://www.glottolog.org/glottolog/		"Glottolog." Online: http://www.glottolog.org/glottolog/.																		35.302906, 72.539572
			2001	An Overview of Linguistic Structures in Torwali, A Language of Northern Pakistan							University of Texas at Arlington	www.fli-online.org/documents/.../torwali/wayne_lunsford_thesis.pdf	Wayne A. Lunsford	Lunsford, Wayne A. An Overview of Linguistic Structures in Torwali, A Language of Northern Pakistan. Master thesis, University of Texas at Arlington, 2001.	HHOLD	80,000		10000-99999	Urdu; Pashto	no	Torwali speakers are very proud of their language and culture. (p. 4)	Urdu is the national language and medium for instruction whereas Pashto is the lingua franca of the province. The frequency of incorporating Urdu terms for produce and numbers is increasing. Arabic words are borrowed for religion. English words such as hotel, taxi, etc. are also borrowed into Torwali.	no	many	Vulnerable (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	10	The Torwali always use Torwali to communicate with other Torwali speakers in their daily life. A group of male Torwali have established a group called "the Kohistan Cultural Promotion Society (KCPS)" for the Torwali language and culture.	11	10	Pakistan	The Torwali people live in the Swat Valley of the North West Frontier Province in norther Pakistan. The speakers of the Bahrain dialect live along the Swat River, from Madyan northward 20-25 miles to the village of Asret, south of Peshmal while the speakers of the Chail dialect is spoken in two villages about 3-5 miles east east of Madyan (p.2-3).
				World Oral Literature Project								http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.		60,000		10000-99999							Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

The Endangered Languages Project

Torwali

Language metadata

Language information by source

Vulnerable

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

80,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

60,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

60,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

60,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

60,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

60,000

Discussion

Torwali

Language metadata

Language information by source

Vulnerable

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

80,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

60,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

60,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

60,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

60,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

60,000

Discussion

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