Linguistic Studies in Kashmiri

Omkar N. Koul
Indian Institute of Language Studies

1.Introduction

Linguistic studies of Kashmiri, comprising of grammars, grammatical studies,

lexicography, phonology etc., began in the middle of the 19th century. The grammatical
literature includes a variety of materials written in the form of brief notes, articles,
monographs, dissertations, and independent grammatical sketches and grammars. The
lexicographical works include different types of vocabularies, glossaries and dictionaries.
The linguistic studies available can be classified in the areas of genealogical classification
and dialect surveys, grammars and grammatical studies, phonetics and phonology,
lexicography, sociolinguistics and instructional materials. Here an attempt will be made
to present a brief survey of certain significant materials prepared in and on this language.

2. Classification

The genealogical classification of Kashmiri began with Grierson (1906), placing it in the
Dardic group of Aryan languages. Morgenstierne (1961) classifies it among Indo-Aryan
languages and is followed by all others in this regard. The classification is reviewed in
Kachru (1969) and Koul and Schmidt (1984). In more recent work, Afaq Aziz (1994)
presents a comparative study of various languages of the Dardic group, with special
reference to Kashmiri, Shina, and Kohistani. Koul (1994, 2000) repeats previous stands
on the subject. Masica (1991) refers to linguistic characteristics of Kashmiri as compared
to other Indo-Aryan languages.

3. Phonetics and Phonology

Kashmiri has peculiar phonetic and phonological characteristics, such as the high central
and mid vowels, dental affricates, palatalisation, vowel harmony rules, etc., which it does
not share with other Indo-Aryan languages. The description of Kashmiri phonetics and
phonology, or of issues related to some of its special characteristics is available in
Grierson (1904, 1911, 1919), Bailey (1937), Firth (1939), Morgenstierne (1941),
Sidheswar Verma (1964), Kelkar and Trisal (1964), Sar (1970, 1977), Handoo (1973),
Zakharyin (1974), Koul (1977, 1985, 1987), Bhat (1987), Wali and Koul (1997) and Koul
and Wali (2006). These works present briefly the principal phonological characteristics of
Kashmiri.

4. Grammar

There has been very significant research in the area of Kashmiri grammar. Kashmiri is
Verb 2 language. This is the feature, which it shares with German, Dutch and Icelandic.
Grammatical works on Kashmiri began as early as mid-19th century, with Edgworth
(1841) and Leech (1944) followed by a complete grammatical description of the language
in Ishvar Koul’s monumental work Kashmirshabdamritam, written in Sanskrit in 1879,
edited by George A Grierson, and published by Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1889.
Grierson calls it ‘‘an excellent grammar of Kashmiri’’ and based quite a few of his works
on it. Grierson published his Standard Manual of Kashmiri Language in 1911, and also
provided a sketch of Kashmiri grammar in his Linguistic Survey of India (1919: Vol. 8,
part 2). He also published papers by Burkhard (1887–1889) in his Essays on Kashmiri
Language (1899). Some other grammatical descriptions by European scholars continued
till the middle of the 20th century.
Though the tradition of presenting grammatical sketches and descriptions
continued till midway through the 20th century, serious works on the subject commenced
from the early sixties following the models of grammars prepared in other Indian
languages. Trisal’s doctoral dissertation (1964) is the first descriptive grammar of
Kashmiri written in Hindi. Kachru provides the first detailed grammatical description of
Kashmiri in his A Reference Grammar of Kashmiri (1969). His other work, An
Introduction to Spoken Kashmiri (1973), prepared for teaching and learning of Kashmiri
as a second/foreign language provides notes on Kashmiri grammar and culture. He has
also dealt with certain grammatical aspects of the Kashmiri language in his other papers.
Kachru’s work stimulated a great interest in the study of various aspects of Kashmiri
grammar, including both morphology and syntax.
Koul (1977) deals with various syntactic aspects following new theoretical
developments. A few doctoral dissertations have dealt with morphology and syntax in
detail. Bhat (1980) provides a detailed description of phonology and morphology; Sar
(1981) describes verbal morphology; Andrabi (1984) discusses syntactic aspects of
reference and co-reference in Kashmiri; Vijay Kaul (1988, published in 2006) deals with
compound verbs in Kashmiri. Peter Hook and Koul jointly worked on various syntactic
aspects like word order, pronominal suffixes, ergativity, transitivity, causatives, modal
verbs, etc. Koul and Hook (1984) present certain important grammatical aspects of
Kashmiri contributed by various scholars.
The period after 1990 is very significant for the study of various grammatical
aspects and for the preparation of grammars dealing in detail with morphology, syntax
and semantics. Scholars in India and abroad and also in collaboration have prepared some
significant research works, available in the form of dissertations, papers and books. Most
of the dissertations deal with different syntactic aspects of Kashmiri. Asha Tickoo (1990)
deals with word order in Kashmiri; Rakesh Bhatt (1994, published in 2000) deals with
word order and case in Kashmiri; Achla Raina (1993) deals with certain syntactic aspects
of Kashmiri using an S-Selectional approach to grammar; Estella Del Bon (2001) deals
with clitics in Kashmiri.
Wali and Koul (1997), in their Kashmiri: A Descriptive-Cognitive Grammar,
provide a detailed description of Kashmiri grammar covering morphology and syntax.
This book, widely referred to, has stimulated a number of linguists to take up further
research in Kashmiri. Topics in Kashmiri Linguistics, edited by Koul and Wali (2002) is a
collection of research papers devoted to syntax contributed by Peter Hook, Ashok Koul,
Omkar N. Koul, Achla M. Raina, Estella del Bon and Kashi Wali. Koul (2005) in his
Studies in Kashmiri Linguistics provides a description of various linguistic and
sociolinguistic aspects of Kashmiri. Kashmiri: A Study in Comparative Indo-Aryan by
Hook and Koul (forthcoming) has 20 chapters devoted to various aspects of grammar.
The Modern Kashmiri Grammar of Koul and Wali (2006) is pedagogically oriented for
teaching/learning Kashmiri as a second language. Hook and Koul (2006) discuss valency
sets in Kashmiri.
There are very few grammars and grammatical studies written in Kashmiri. Naji
Munawar and Shafi Shauq (1976), and Nishant Ansari (1976) provide a very brief
description of traditional grammatical terms in Kashmiri. Their main contribution has
been in introducing Kashmiri terms for traditional grammatical terms used in Urdu. Adil
Kak and Talashi (2002) present the first description of the grammatical aspects of
Kashmiri, and Afaq Aziz’s (2005) grammar is the first pedagogically oriented grammar
written in Kashmiri. Shauq (2008) provides a Grammatical description of Kashmiri in
Kashmiri.

5. Sociolinguistic research

Very limited sociolinguistic work has been conducted in Kashmiri thus far. To begin
with, Grierson (1911) and Kachru (1969) have listed certain linguistic characteristics of
the speech of Hindus and Muslims. Whereas Grierson uses Hindu and Muslim Kashmiri
to distinguish these two varieties, Kachru prefers to use Sanskritised and Perisianised
Kashmiri for these varieties, respectively. The so-called varieties are not exclusively
Hindu and Muslim, but are important from the point of view of registers and diglossia.
The first ever sociolinguistic survey, conducted by Koul and Schmidt (1983),
studies the language use and language preferences of native speakers of Kashmiri. It
reveals the use of Kashmiri in social domains and preferences for its use in education and
administration at lower levels.
M. K. Koul (1986) has studied sociolinguistic variables of Kashmiri spoken in
the Anatnag district of the state and that of Srinagar. Dhar (1985) has pointed out
sociolinguistic variations of Kashmiri spoken in Sopore. Kantroo (1985) has studied
variations of Kashmiri by certain minority communities and occupational groups.
Mahfooza Jan (1993) has studied dialects spoken by certain professional groups. Koul
(1994, 1995) in his two papers has analysed personal names, surnames and nicknames in
Kashmiri.
Kak (1995), and Kak and Agnihotri (1997) have worked on Kashmiri–English
code mixing. Apart from dealing with the acceptability at different levels, they also
discuss the validity of of certain constraints in Kashmiri-English code mixing. Kak and
Wani (2005) further study the notion and validity of base language in Kashmiri-English
code mixing.
Koul (1998) has studied language maintenance and language loss of Kashmiri
migrant children in Jammu and Delhi. The study reveals loss of Kashmiri in formal
domains and its maintenance in certain restricted social domains. There is comparatively
more loss of the language in Delhi than in Jammu. His survey on language preferences in
education in India (2001) shows preference for the use of Kashmiri as a subject and as
medium of education at the elementary level in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Kashmiri is primarily used in restricted social domains and about 70% of parents prefer
to talk to their children in Kashmiri at home. Adil Kak (2002) has also conducted a
survey for the language maintenance and shift of Kashmiri in Srinagar. There is a wide
scope for serious sociolinguistic research in Kashmiri and for its planning in education,
administration and mass media.

6. Lexicography

Lexicographical works in Kashmiri fall under different categories: vocabularies,

glossaries and dictionaries. It is believed that Sonti Pandit (1859) prepared a Kashmiri-
Persian dictionary in 1859, which is not available now. Ishar Kaul (d. 1883) made a first
serious attempt to prepare a Kashmiri-Sanskrit dictionary but could not complete it before
his death. Grierson (1916–1932) compiled A Dictionary of Kashmiri Language in four
volumes partly from materials left by Ishar Kaul. This is the first comprehensive
Kashmiri-English dictionary available. The Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art,
Culture and Languages has prepared a monolingual dictionary entitled Kashir Dictionary
(1972–79) in eight volumes, and a bilingual Urdu-Kashmiri Farhang (1967–80) in nine
volumes. Rattan Lal Shant et al. have prepared a Hindi-Kashmiri dictionary published by
Central Hindi Directorate (CHD) in 1980.
Several vocabularies have been prepared as a part of grammars and instructional
materials. Handoo and Handoo (1975) have prepared a Hindi- Kashmiri common
vocabulary. A Kashmiri-English Glossary prepared by Koul et al. in 1976 was published
as Kashmiri-English Dictionary for Second Language Learners in its revised version in
2000 by the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL). Koul and Talashi have
prepared a Punjabi-Kashmiri Dictionary (1999). Jawahir Lal Tickoo (2006) has recently
published a Kashmiri-English Dictionary. It has about 15,000 entries Perso-Arabic and
Devanagari scripts.
Knowles prepared A Dictionary of Kashmiri Proverbs and Sayings as early as in
1885. Koul (1992, 2006) has prepared A Dictionary of Kashmiri Proverbs, which
provides Kashmiri proverbs with their literal translations, and idiomatic equivalents or
explanations in English.

7. Instructional Materials

Kachru (1973) prepared a course in spoken Kashmiri for the learning of Kashmiri as a
second/foreign language. Koul (1987, 2006) has prepared Spoken Kashmiri: A Language
Course as a self-instructional course. Teaching of Kashmiri as a second language to in-
service teachers commenced at the Northern Regional Language Centre of the CIIL in
1971. The CIIL has published quite a few instructional materials, which include a
Kashmiri Phonetic Reader by Jawahar Lal Handoo (1973), An Intensive Course in
Kashmiri by Omkar N Koul (1985), Kashir Kitab: Level I by R K Bhat, Kashir Kitab:
Level II, and Kashmiri Pictorial Glossary, by S. N. Raina, Intermediate Course Reader
in Kashmiri by Koul (1995), Tests of Language Proficiency: Kashmiri by Koul, Raina,
Bhat and M K Koul (2000), and A Handbook of Audio-Cassette Course in Kashmiri (with
three audio-cassettes) by R K Bhat (2002). R K Bhat has also edited a Kashmiri Primer
and a Kashmiri Reader using Devanagari script published by Sampreti (2003). Bhat
(2007) has prepared A Course in Kashmiri Language in Devanagari script. Koul (2008)
has prepared a Kashmiri Newspaper Reader with grammatical notes and translation to be
used in a second/foreign language learning situation at the advanced level.
The above survey brings out clearly that though linguistic research in Kashmiri
began about hundred fifty years ago in different fields, there has been significant interest
in the areas of grammars and grammatical studies, preparation of dictionaries and other
pedagogical materials in Kashmiri in recent years. There are still a few important areas in
which no adequate work has been done so far. This includes work in the area of
computational linguistics and application of information technology.

References

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Language Studies.
Bhatt, Rakesh M 1999. Verb Movement and the Syntax of Kashmiri. Dordrecht: Kluwar
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Grierson, G. A. 1911. A Standard Manual of the Kashmiri Language 2 Vols. Oxford:
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