Short song in Rushani dialect.
Also Known As:
Rushani, Rushan, Oroshani, Roshni, Roashani
Dialects & Varieties
Literacy and the Vernacular in Tajik Badakhshan: Research in Rushani, Khufi, Bartangi, and Roshorvi
Elisabeth Abbess, Katja Müller, Daniel Paul, Calvin Tiessen and Gabriela Tiessen. 2010. "Literacy and the Vernacular in Tajik Badakhshan: Research in Rushani, Khufi, Bartangi, and Roshorvi." Online: http://gamma.sil.org/silesr/2010/silesr2010-015.pdf.
Vulnerable
100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
18,000
Native Speakers Worldwide
Speaker Number Trends
Speaker Number Trend 0
Almost all members of the community or ethnic group speak the language, and the number of speakers is stable or increasing.
0
Domains of Use
Domain Of Use 1
Used in most domains except for official ones such as government, mass media, education etc.
1
Transmission
Transmission -1
All members of the community, including children, speak the language.
-1
Speakers
Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
No results found.
Semi-speakers or rememberers
No results found.
Children:
No results found.
Young adults
No results found.
Older adults
No results found.
Elders
No results found.
Ethnic or community population
No results found.
Year information was gathered
No results found.
Location and Context
Countries
Tajikistan; Afghanistan
Location Description
"Spoken along the Panj River from the village of Shipad in the north, through the Shidz and Barushon administrative districts, with their villages, as far as the regional centre Vomar (also called Kalai-Vomar or Rūshon); then further on to Pastkhuf in the south; also along the lower reaches of the Bartang River as far as the village of Jizev."
Government Support
No results found.
Institutional Support
No results found.
Speakers' Attitude
Mixed
Other Languages Used By The Community
Tajik, Russian
Number of Other Language Speakers:
Many have at least limited proficiency in Tajik; fewer have any proficiency in Russian
Domains of Other Languages:
Tajik for official situations, workplace, religious services
Writing Systems
Standard orthography:
No results found.
Writing system:
Tajik-based
Other writing systems used:
No results text.
Comments on writing systems:
"Our research indicates that almost all existing vernacular written materials for the Rushani group dialects can be categorized as technical or popular. Not everyone we spoke to was aware of the existence of any vernacular materials. Some respondents claimed that no books exist in the vernacular, or even that the languages have no alphabet and are impossible to read or write... The above-mentioned materials in the vernacular, by and large, use orthographies developed by linguists, which differ in some respects from the Tajik and Russian alphabets in that they contain additional characters that are unfamiliar to non-linguists. Several of our respondents reported difficulties in reading these orthographies... Despite unfamiliarity with the official alphabet, it appears that the vernacular is being written, using spontaneous orthographies based on the Tajik alphabet."
Recent Resources
Short song in Rushani dialect.
Slideshow of individuals from the area, many of which speak the Rushani dialect.
Several respondents expressed negative attitudes when asked directly about their attitudes to the vernacular... One respondent told us, ‘Rushani gets us nowhere.’... Every respondent considered the vernacular to be important or very important for communication and all but one respondent considered the vernacular important or very important for being a good member of one’s family... Thus, while answers to direct questions on the value of the vernacular resulted in negative opinions, questions using the perceived benefit model or other questions revealed that at an underlying level, respondents consider their language to be important and value its maintenance among the younger generation."