Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
PhD student in Ancient Iranian Culture and Languages Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran.
2
Assistant Professor in Ancient Iranian Culture and Languages Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman
3
professor/Bahonar university
Abstract
Brahui dialect is a widely spoken dialect in "Tom-Meyri" village which is located in Rudbar-e jonub county in Kerman province. This dialect is considered as one of the non-Iranian dialects existing in Iran. Most Brahui speakers live in Sistan and Baluchistan province, however a minority group with fewer than 1,000 people live in Rudbar-e Jonub and Faryab counties in south of Kerman province. The above-mentioned dialect is one of the varieties of Brahui language which belongs to the Dravidian family. The present survey is a descriptive study of the phonemic system of Brahui dialect. The geographic focus of the research is Tom-meyri village and the data is gathered through direct interviews with a sample of Brahui male and female speakers of different educational attainments and various age groups. Extracting the phonemes in Brahui and using the process of substitution, the phonological examination, along with relevant examples, is discussed carefully. In this regard, we also attempted to distinguish phonemes with the same place and manner of articulation.
Extended Abstrac
1- Introduction
Brahui dialect of Rudbar-e Jonub is the main dialect of Brahui tribe who emigrated to the south of Kerman province two centuries ego. The tribe members inhabited in Tom-Meyri village as well as Faryab county. In addition to Brahui, they can speak both Persian and Rudbari dialect. The present research is an attempt to identify the phonemic system of Brahui dialect through analyzing the minimal pairs and also to find out the origin of the dialect. Furthermore, the Brahui phonemic system of Rudbar-e Jonub will be compared with phonemes of the Rudbari dialect, Brahui of Sistan and Baluchistan, and Brahui of Pakistan.
2- Theoretical framework
The present research has mainly used a descriptive framework. In this regard, the dialectal data of the research have been carefully investigated, described, and compared with their equivalents in the previous linguistic periods using a historical-comparative method.
3- Methodology
This study exploited a mixed method of fieldwork and library based methodology. The linguistic corpus of Brahui of Rudbar-e Jonub was mainly collected through direct interviews with native speakers of Brahui dialect of Tom-Meyri county, and the data related to the Brahui of Sistan and Balochestan, Brahui of Pakistan and Dravidian languages were provided through different library resources.
4- Results & Discussion
A-1- Phonological value of /b/-/p/ consonant pairs:
1) /b/: this consonant shows the phonological contrast with the consonants /p/ and /m/.
2) /p/: this consonant shows the phonological contrast with the consonants /b/ and /m/.
A-2- Phonological value of /d/-/t/ consonantpairs:
1) /d/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /t/, /s/, /z/ and /Ɂ/.
2) /t/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /d/, /k/, /n/ and /s/.
A-3- Phonological value of /ḍ/-/ṭ/ consonant pairs:
1) /ḍ/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /d/, /t/ and /x/.
2) /ṭ/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /t/ and /n/.
A-4- Phonological value of /g/-/k/ consonant pairs:
1) /g/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonant /k/.
2) /k/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /g/, /G/ and /č/.
A-5- Phonological value of /ǰ/-/č/ consonant-pairs:
1) /ǰ/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonant /č/.
2) /č/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /ǰ/, /k/, /l/ and /š/.
A-6- Phonological value of /v/-/f/ consonant-pairs:
1) /v/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /f/ and /m/.
2) /f/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /v/, /k/ and /n/.
A-7- Phonological value of /z/-/s/ consonant-pairs:
1) /z/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /s/ and /d/.
2) /s/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /š/, /z/ and /d/.
A-8- Phonological value of /ž/-/š/ consonant-pairs:
1) /ž/: This phoneme is only found in loanwords from Rudbari dialect.
2) /š/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /s/ and /č/.
A-9- Phonological value of /g/-/x/ consonant-pairs:
1) /g/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonant /k/.
2) /x/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /xw/, /h/ and /n/.
A-10- Phonological value of /gw/-/xw/consonant-pairs:
1) /gw/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonant /xw/.
2) /xw/: this consonant shows phonological contrast with the consonants /gw/ and /x/.
Phonological value of / / consonant
Phonological contrast with the consonant//
A-11- /h/:
/x/
A-12- /Ɂ/:
/d/, /t/ and /x/
A-13- /m/:
/p/, /b/, /n/ and /v/
A-14- /n/:
/l/, /m/, /t/, /k/, /n/ and /f/.
A-15- /l/:
/r/, /k/, /n/ and /č/
A-16- /ɬ/:
/t/, /ṛ/, /d/, /f/, /l/ and /x/
A-16- /r/:
/l/, /ṛ/, /r/
A-17- /ṛ/:
/r/
A-18- /r/:
/r/
A-19- /y/:
/p/
B-1- Phonological value of /ie/-/ue/ vowel pairs:
1) /ie/: this vowel shows phonological contrast with the vowel /â/.
2) /ue/: this vowel shows phonological contrast with the vowels /u/, /o/, and /â/.
Phonological value of / / vowel
phonological contrast with the vowels / /
B-2- /a/:
/e/, /â/, /o/, /u/ and /i/
B-3- /e/:
/a/, /â/, /i/ and /u/.
B-4- /i/:
/a/, /e/, /u/ and /ie/.
B-5- /u/:
/a/, /â/, /i/, /e/ and /ue/.
B-6- /o/:
/u/ and /a/.
B-7- /â/:
/i/, /u/ and /a/.
5- Conclusion & Suggestions
This research illustrated that Brahui of Pakistan and Brahui of Sistan and Baluchestan have the phoneme /ṇ/ while it doesn't exist in Rudbari dialect. Rudbari, in addition to trilled /r/ has flap /ɾ/, while neither in Pakistani nor in Sistani it was found. We also illustrated that together with /g/ and /x/ phonemes, there are also labialized consonant pairs namely /gw/ and /xw/ in Brahui of Rudbar. Regarding vowel system of Rudbari, there were observed differences with the vowel systems of Pakistani and Sistani. The vowel system in Brahui of Rudbar matched completely to Rudbari vowels; Brahui of Rudbar has accepted the specific vowels of Rudbari dialect. /ie/ and /ue/ are compound vowels which respectively succeeded to the simple vowels /ē/ and /ō/ in Middle-Persian.
Keywords
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