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Brokskat
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| Brokskat | |
|---|---|
| Dardiarya | |
| དརྡ་དི་ཨརྱ། / بروکسکت | |
| Native to | India, Pakistan |
| Region | Ladakh, Baltistan |
| Ethnicity | Brokpa (Dards) |
Native speakers | (about 3,000 cited 1996)[1] |
Indo-European
| |
| Tibetan script, Nastaliq script[2] | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bkk |
| Glottolog | brok1247 |
| ELP | Brokskat |
Brokskat (Tibetan: འབྲོག་སྐད་, Wylie: ’brog skad)[3] or Minaro[4] is an endangered Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Brokpa people in the lower Indus Valley of Ladakh and its surrounding areas.[1][5] It is the oldest surviving member of the ancient Dardic language.[6] It is considered a divergent variety of Shina,[7] but it is not mutually intelligible with the other dialects of Shina.[8] It is only spoken by 2,858 people in Ladakh and 400 people in the adjoining Baltistan, part of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.[9]
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Labial | Dental/ alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labialized | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | kʷ | ||
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | ɡʷ | |||
| Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | |||||
| voiced | d͡z | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | |||
| voiced | v | z | |||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||
| Trill | r | ||||||
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unrounded | Rounded | ||
| Close | /i/ | /y/ | /u/ |
| Mid | /e/ | /ø/ | /o/ |
| Open | /ɒ/ | ||
Etymology
[edit]Exonym
The term Brokskat translates to "the language of the Brokpa" in the Tibetic language. The name "Brokpa" is used by Ladakhi and Balti Tibetic origin people to refer to this ethnic group. Brokpa means "hill-dweller" or "hillbilly," reflecting their historical lifestyle as hunters in the upper mountainous regions.
Endonym
The Brokpa themselves refer to their language as "Minaro" and identify their ethnic group by the Minaro as well. Interestingly, their ancient religion is known as "Minaro". Recent articles also refer to the Brokpa community as "Dard Aryans," recognizing it as their cultural identity.[10]
Vocabulary
[edit]| English | Brokskat in Roman script | Brokskat in Bodyig script | Nastaliq Script |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | wa | ཝུའ་ | وا |
| Fire | ghur | གཱུར | غُور |
| Sun | Suri | སུརིའ་ | سُوری |
| Moon | gyun | གྱུན | گیون |
| Mountain | chur | ཆུར | چُھور |
| Human | mush | མུཤ | مُوش |
| Land | bun | བུན | بُون |
| Boy | byo | བྱོ | بیو |
| Girl | molay | མོལེའ་ | مولیہ |
| Baby | bubu | བུའབུའ | بُوبُو |
| Knife | cutter | ཀཊའར | قَٹر |
Verb tenses
[edit]| English | Brokskat-present tense | Brokskat-past tense | Broskat-future tense | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To go | byas | go | byungs | boyai |
| To stand | autheis | authait | authiyungs | authi |
| To break | phitais | phitaiat | phitiaungs | phitai |
| To open | aunis | auniat | auniungs | auni |
| To laugh | hazis | hazit | haziungs | hazi |
| To sit | bazhais | bazhit | bazhiungs | bazhi |
| To walk | zazis | zazit | zaziungs | zazi |
| To throw | faitis | faitiat | fatiungs | fati |
| To look | skis | skait | skiungs | ski |
| To cut | chhinis | chinait | chhiniungs | chhini |
| To count | gyanis | gyaniat | gyaniungs | gyani |
References
[edit]- ^ a b Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George (26 July 2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 889. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
- ^ "Brokskat-Urdu-Hindi-English Dictionary". 27 May 1989 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Bray, John (2008). "Corvée transport labour in 19th and early 20th century Ladakh: a study in continuity and change". In Martijn van Beek; Fernanda Pirie (eds.). Modern Ladakh: Anthropological Perspectives on Continuity and Change. BRILL. p. 46. ISBN 978-90-474-4334-6.
- ^ Bhagabati, Dikshit Sarma (3 August 2018). "Onstage and Offstage". Economic and Political Weekly. 53 (31) – via academia.edu.
The mother tongue of the Brokpa is Dardiarya, an Indo–Aryan language, though their vocabulary heavily borrows from Ladakhi.
- ^ Ethnologue, 15th Edition, SIL International, 2005, p. 357 – via archive.org,
Minaro is an alternate ethnic name. "Brokpa" is the name given by the Ladakhi for the people. "Brokskat" is the language.
- ^ Ethnologue, 15th Edition, SIL International, 2005, p. 357 – via archive.org,
Brokskat' is the language. This is the oldest surviving member of the ancient Dardic language.
- ^ Ethnologue : languages of the world. Internet Archive. Dallas, Tex. : SIL International. 2005. ISBN 978-1-55671-159-6.
A very divergent variety of Shina
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George (26 July 2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
And is not mutually intelligible with the other shina language
- ^ "بروسکت: پاکستان میں ایک نئی زبان دریافت". Independent Urdu (in Urdu). 16 March 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
- ^ "The Dard Aryans of Ladakh: who are this tribe, what are their concerns?". 8 February 2019.
 Languages of Jammu and Kashmir | |
|---|---|
 | This article about Indo-Aryan languages is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Brokskat
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Brokskat is an endangered Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic subgroup, spoken primarily by the Brokpa people in the lower Indus Valley regions of Ladakh district (Leh and Kargil), Union Territory of Ladakh, India, as well as in adjacent areas of Baltistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.[1] Classified within the Indo-European family as a highly divergent variety of Shina, it represents one of the easternmost Dardic languages and is noted for its unique phonological and morphological features.[2] With an estimated 2,000 speakers as of the 2010s, the language is threatened due to intergenerational shift, particularly among younger generations who increasingly adopt dominant regional languages like Ladakhi, Hindi, or Urdu.[1][2][3]
The Brokpa (also called Minaro or Broq-pa), a Scheduled Tribe in India, are an ethnic group traditionally engaged in agriculture and herding in high-altitude villages such as Dah and Hanu along the Indus River.[4] Speakers include both Buddhist and Muslim communities, reflecting historical migrations and cultural interactions in the region.[4] Although Brokskat received official recognition as a language of Ladakh under the Ladakh Official Languages Regulation in 2025, it has limited educational use and is not widely taught in schools, contributing to its vitality concerns; it is assessed as "shifting" with a threat level indicating potential loss without intervention.[5][2][6] Alternate names for the language include Brokpa, Dokskat, and Kyango, and it is written in a modified Balti script in some contexts, though oral use predominates.[4]
Examples: /pʰ/ as in pʰâ 'Gho pocket'; /b/ as in ba 'tree burl'; /tsʰ/ as in tsʰe 'life'; /ʈ/ as in ʈʰok 'stone'; /ɖ/ as in ɖoŋ 'valley'.[15]
Allophonic variations include the realization of /pʰ/ as [ɸ] or [pf] in intervocalic or onset positions after certain vowels, and /k/ as in coda or intervocalic contexts. Fricatives like /s/ and /ɕ/ vary freely with voiced and [ʑ], while /ʂ/ may surface as voiceless retroflex tap [ɾ̥]. In some descriptions, alveolar stops /t, d/ alternate with retroflex [ʈ, ɖ] following retroflex consonants, as in /gultan/ [guʈn] 'grape'. These variations contribute to dialectal diversity but do not alter the core phonemic distinctions.[15][16]
(Marginal: /y/ close front rounded)
Vowel length is phonemically contrastive, distinguishing lexical items. For instance, /e/ vs. /eː/: ɕe ‘penis’ vs. ɕeː ‘mouth’; /ə/ vs. /ɐː/: pa ‘cow’ vs. paː ‘wool’; /o/ vs. /oː/: do ‘stone’ vs. doː ‘friend’; /u/ vs. /uː/: ru ‘horn’ vs. ruː ‘snake’. Long vowels are generally held for approximately twice the duration of their short counterparts, though exact measurements vary by speaker and context (e.g., falling tone lengthens vowels to ~146 ms without length contrast). This length distinction is crucial in Brokskat's Indo-Aryan heritage, where it preserves etymological roots from ancestral languages.[15]
In addition to monophthongs, Brokskat employs diphthongs such as /ai/ and /au/, which arise in specific phonetic environments, often at syllable boundaries or in loanwords. These diphthongs contribute to the language's melodic quality without forming independent phonemes. Nasalization occurs as a suprasegmental feature, primarily affecting long vowels in certain grammatical forms, such as in verbal conjugations or nominal derivations, where it may indicate plurality or emphasis; however, it is not contrastive across all vowels.[17]
Suprasegmental features include a three-way lexical tone contrast: unmarked low level (~120 Hz), high level (marked with acute accent, ~150 Hz), and falling contour (marked with circumflex, starting ~148 Hz and dropping to ~115 Hz). Word-initial stress predictably falls on the first syllable of content words, promoting clarity in polysyllabic forms. In interrogative sentences, a rising pitch on the stressed vowel imparts question intonation. Tone interacts with vowel quality and length, with falling tone lengthening vowels. This system functions as lexically contrastive tone.[15]
For ski- ("see"), a similar pattern applies: non-past ma-sa teRa ski-u:-s ("I see/am seeing him"), past mo-ya teRa ske-t ("I saw him"). These paradigms illustrate the stem-suffix alternation and lack of past inflection, with auxiliaries like -s or -e for agreement.[24][28][29]
These terms appear in basic sentences, such as describing location or possession, e.g., "the ball hit my finger" as olom prox bolo ball mjo my gulir finger tʰiʒid, where gulir denotes finger.[7]
These numerals integrate into counting routines, with higher numbers built additively or multiplicatively.
Overview
Classification
Brokskat is an Indo-Aryan language of the Northwestern branch, specifically within the Dardic subgroup, where it forms a distinct lect under the Shina cluster.[2] This classification positions it among the languages spoken in the Hindu Kush region, sharing areal typological features with other Indo-Aryan varieties in northern Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan.[2] Brokskat is regarded as a divergent variety descended from Gilgiti Shina, yet it exhibits no mutual intelligibility with other Shina dialects, primarily due to extensive contact-induced changes from neighboring Tibeto-Burman languages such as Ladakhi.[7] These influences have led to unique phonological and morphological adaptations while retaining core Dardic characteristics. Prominent linguistic features that align Brokskat with the Dardic group include a robust inventory of retroflex consonants, such as plosives and fricatives, which are widespread in the subgroup, and a split-ergative alignment system, with ergative marking on transitive subjects in past tense constructions.[7][8] This ergativity manifests in case marking where transitive subjects receive an ergative marker (e.g., -ya in past tense), distinguishing it from more accusative patterns in other Indo-Aryan branches.| Language | Dardic Subgroup Affiliation | Ergative Alignment in Past Tenses | Key Retroflex Traits | Morphological Distinctions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brokskat | Shina cluster | Split-ergative (ergative in past tense) | Plosives (/ʈ, ʈʰ/) and fricatives (/ʂ, ʐ/) | Sex-based gender with partial simplification from inherited system; heavy Tibeto-Burman substrate effects |
| Shina | Core Dardic | Split-ergative (ergative in past tense) | Plosives, affricates, and fricatives | Full masculine-feminine gender; complex verb agreement |
| Kashmiri | Eastern Dardic | Split-ergative (limited, in past tense) | Primarily plosives; fewer fricatives | Masculine-feminine-neuter gender system; aspirate loss in some contexts |
Speakers and Status
Brokskat is primarily spoken by the Brokpa (also known as Minaro) people, an ethnic group inhabiting the lower Indus Valley region spanning Ladakh in India and Baltistan in Pakistan. Approximately 10,000 speakers were estimated as of 2019.[7] The Brokpa maintain a distinct ethnic identity tied to their Dardic linguistic heritage.[9] Communities of speakers are concentrated in several villages along the Indus River, including Garkon (the primary location), Dah, Darchik, Chulichan, Gurgurdo, and Batalik, all within a roughly 15 km radius in central Ladakh at elevations around 9,000 feet (2,743 m). Smaller numbers reside in adjacent areas of Pakistani Baltistan. These villages feature fertile terrain supporting agriculture, such as apples, apricots, mulberries, cereals, and grapevines, contrasting with the arid surroundings of Ladakh.[9] Brokskat holds endangered status, characterized by declining use as a first language among younger generations and absence from formal education systems. Key factors include limited intergenerational transmission, as children increasingly adopt dominant regional languages, and insufficient institutional support for preservation and promotion until recent policy changes. As of June 2025, the Government of India officially recognized Brokskat as a language of Ladakh, with initiatives at the University of Ladakh to support its preservation.[10][5] In India, this contributes to a shift toward Hindi, while in Pakistan, Urdu exerts similar pressure on minority languages like Brokskat. The speaker population encompasses subgroups of the Brokpa, predominantly Vajrayana Buddhists who follow traditional practices, alongside a smaller Muslim community resulting from historical conversions. This religious diversity reflects the Brokpa's adaptation within the multicultural Indus Valley.[9]History
Origins
Brokskat, a Dardic language of the Indo-Aryan branch, traces its origins to the early diversification of Indo-Aryan speech forms during the migration of Proto-Indo-Iranian peoples into the northwestern Indian subcontinent, interacting with the late phases of the Indus Valley Civilization around 1500 BCE.[11] As part of the Dardic group, it emerged from post-Vedic Indo-Aryan dialects, retaining archaic features such as voiced aspirates that link it to Old Indic substrates.[12] These roots reflect the broader Indo-Aryan expansion from Central Asian steppes, where Proto-Dardic is identified with Proto-Rigvedic culture, preserving elements of early Vedic linguistic and ritual traditions.[11] The language's development was shaped by influences from ancient Indo-Aryan substrates in the Hindu Kush and Karakoram regions.[12] Brokskat stands out among Dardic languages for its archaic retention of nom-accusative case systems and verbal augments, positioning it as a conservative representative of the group's early evolution.[12] Its endonym, Minaro, underscores this historical depth within the Brokpa ethnic context. In Brokpa cultural history, Brokskat served as a vehicle for preserving ties to ancient polytheistic religions, including cremation rites and ritual practices akin to those in proto-Rigvedic society, prior to the overlay of Tibetan Buddhist and later Islamic influences in the region.[11] The Brokpa people, speakers of Brokskat, migrated from the Gilgit area in Dardistan to the Ladakh valleys several centuries after the initial Proto-Shina-Brokskat divergence in the early first millennium CE, maintaining linguistic isolation.[13] This seclusion in remote Himalayan valleys enabled Brokskat's survival, shielding it from full assimilation into dominant neighboring languages like Balti and Ladakhi through geographic barriers and cultural endogamy.[13]Documentation
The earliest scholarly documentation of Brokskat dates to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, primarily through British colonial linguistic surveys conducted in the Kashmir region. George A. Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India (Volume VIII, Part II, 1919) provided one of the first systematic mentions of Brokskat as a dialect of the Shina language group within the Dardic branch of Indo-Aryan languages, noting its speakers in the Dah-Hanu region and surrounding areas based on ethnographic reports from colonial administrators. These early records, drawn from limited traveler accounts and administrative notes, highlighted Brokskat's phonological and lexical distinctiveness but lacked in-depth grammatical analysis due to the challenges of accessing remote high-altitude communities. A significant advancement in Brokskat documentation came in the post-independence era with N. Ramaswami's comprehensive Brokskat Grammar (1982), published by the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore. This work offered the first detailed descriptive grammar of the language, covering noun and verb morphology, phonology, and syntax, based on fieldwork among Brokpa speakers in Ladakh. Ramaswami's analysis positioned Brokskat as an archaic form of Shina, emphasizing its retention of ancient Indo-Aryan features, and included vocabulary lists and example sentences to aid further Dardic linguistics research. Subsequent studies built on this foundation, such as Elena Bashir's overview of Dardic languages in The Indo-Aryan Languages (2003), which referenced Brokskat's structural parallels with neighboring Shina dialects.[14] In the 2000s, Brokskat gained attention through global endangered language initiatives, with its inclusion in the Endangered Languages Project (ELP) catalog, which documents its vitality as shifting with approximately 3,000 speakers as of recent estimates (e.g., 2,858 in India per 2011 census data). The ELP entry compiles bibliographic resources, including audio samples from community recordings and ethnographic notes on the endonym "Minaro," supporting revitalization efforts like community workshops in Ladakh. These modern projects, often collaborative with local organizations, have produced digital archives of oral narratives and songs, though comprehensive audio corpora remain limited. Documentation challenges persist due to Brokskat's remote Himalayan locations, spanning the politically sensitive India-Pakistan border regions, which restrict fieldwork access and speaker mobility. Harsh weather, small speaker populations, and assimilation pressures from dominant languages like Hindi and Ladakhi further complicate sustained research, with most recent contributions relying on short-term expeditions rather than longitudinal studies.Phonology
Consonants
Brokskat features a large consonant inventory of 35 phonemes, characterized by five series of stops and affricates exhibiting a three-way laryngeal contrast (voiceless aspirated, voiceless unaspirated, and voiced), alongside fricatives, nasals, rhotics, laterals, and glides.[15] This system reflects influences from its Dardic and Indo-Aryan roots, with additional complexity from areal features in the Ladakh region. Some dialects incorporate the uvular stop /q/, borrowed from Perso-Arabic sources via regional languages like Urdu or Balti.[9] The consonants are distributed across bilabial, alveolar, retroflex, palatal, velar, and glottal places of articulation. Stops occur at bilabial, alveolar, retroflex, palatal, and velar places, with aspiration distinguishing voiceless pairs (e.g., /p/ vs. /pʰ/). Affricates are present at alveolar (/ts, tsʰ/) and palatal (/tɕ, tɕʰ/) sites, while fricatives include sibilants (/s, ɕ, ʂ/) and others (/x, h, ɦ/). Nasals appear at bilabial (/m/), alveolar (/n/), palatal (/ɲ/), and velar (/ŋ/) positions, and approximants include /j, w, l, ɾ/. Marginal phonemes /ʔ/ and /x/ appear primarily in non-initial positions or loans. The language lacks voiced fricatives and affricates as phonemes.[15]| Place → Manner ↓ | Bilabial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stops (voiceless unaspirated) | p | t | ʈ | c | k | |
| Stops (voiceless aspirated) | pʰ | tʰ | ʈʰ | cʰ | kʰ | |
| Stops (voiced) | b | d | ɖ | ɟ | ɡ | |
| Affricates (voiceless unaspirated) | ts | tɕ | ||||
| Affricates (voiceless aspirated) | tsʰ | tɕʰ | ||||
| Fricatives (voiceless) | s | ʂ | ɕ | x | h | |
| Fricatives (voiced) | ɦ | |||||
| Nasals | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Tap/Flap | ɾ | |||||
| Laterals | l, l̥ | |||||
| Glides | j | w | ||||
| Glottal stop | ʔ |
Vowels
Brokskat has a vowel inventory of 11 phonemes, consisting of /i, iː, e, eː, ə, ɐː, u, uː, o, oː/, with marginal /y/. These include close front unrounded /i iː/, close-mid front unrounded /e eː/, mid central unrounded /ə/, near-open central unrounded /ɐː/, close back rounded /u uː/, and close-mid back rounded /o oː/. The marginal /y/ is close front rounded and occurs rarely. /ə/ typically appears in unstressed syllables.[15]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i, iː | u, uː | |
| Close-mid | e, eː | ə | o, oː |
| Near-open | ɐː |
Grammar
Nouns
Brokskat nouns are inflected for gender, number, and case, reflecting the language's Dardic heritage within the Indo-Aryan family. Gender is primarily natural rather than morphologically marked on all nouns, though certain suffixes distinguish masculine and feminine forms in specific contexts. Masculine nouns often end in -o, as in bo ('father'), while feminine nouns may lack a consistent marker but can appear in forms like a:ye ('mother') or end in -i in derived or adjectival contexts, such as noR-i mole ('good girl').[18] Agentive derivations further highlight gender distinctions, with masculine suffixes -pa or -po (e.g., gulus dus-pa 'washerman') and feminine -ma or -mo (e.g., lumkhan-ma 'singer').[18] Number is marked through suffixes on the noun stem, distinguishing singular, dual, and plural forms. The singular is typically unmarked for basic nouns but can take -k (derived from the numeral 'one') with common nouns or adjectives, as in go:li-k ('a cow').[18] The dual employs the suffix -hoyo, used in constructions like cihoyosa vya pye ('you both drink water').[19] Plural forms vary by phonological conditioning: -da with kinship terms (e.g., ba:yo-da 'brothers'), -i with consonant-ending nouns (e.g., kankan-i 'legs'), and -yo with vowel-ending nouns (e.g., go:li-yo 'cows').[19] Masculine plurals may additionally use -e in some derivations, such as bo:n-e ba:yoda ('elder brothers'), while feminine plurals consistently apply -i or -yo, as in noR-i moleyo ('good girls').[19] The case system comprises ten cases, realized through a mix of suffixes and postpositions, with the nominative generally unmarked for subjects in non-past tenses.[20] The accusative and dative both use -Ra, marking direct objects (animate only for accusative) and indirect objects or goals, respectively; for example, masa sina-Ra skiyu:s ('I see the child') for accusative and mole-Ra oRjan de ('give milk to the child') for dative.[21][22] The genitive indicates possession with singular -s (e.g., tiga-s khaRoti 'woman’s basket') and plural -n (e.g., sina-n gulusa 'children’s clothes').[23] Other cases include benefactive (-phya:i, e.g., sina:s phya:i oRan de 'give milk for the child'), locative (-Ra for interior, -a for exterior, e.g., gota-Ra khaRa ha 'sweet is in the house'), instrumental (-sa or -i, e.g., basa ati-sa skiyenes 'we see with eyes'), sociative (-cisuma, e.g., so mo-cisuma ut 'he came with me'), ablative (-ono, e.g., mo bunu-ono yu:s 'I am coming from the village'), and vocative (prefixes va- for masculine, li- for feminine).[22][23] Brokskat exhibits split ergativity, where the agentive case—marked by -sa in non-past tenses, -ya for common nouns/pronouns in past/perfect, and -i for proper nouns (e.g., ma-sa sinaRa skiyu:s 'I see the child'; Ra:m-i qataR-i khazas init 'Ram cut the fruit with a knife' in past)—obliques the agent in past tenses, aligning the subject with the object in non-past nominative alignment.[20][23] This system underscores the language's ergative-absolutive patterning in transitive past constructions.[20]Verbs
The verbal system of Brokskat distinguishes two main tenses: past and non-past, with the latter encompassing present and future meanings depending on context. Finite verbs are inflected for person, number, and gender in the non-past tense through suffixes added to the verbal stem, while past tense forms are not inflected for these categories and rely on stem changes or fixed suffixes. Complex tenses and aspects often involve auxiliary verbs such as paRi ("be") or ha ("be"), combined with the main verb stem.[24] The past tense is formed by adding the allomorphs -t (to vowel-ending stems) or -et (to consonant-ending stems) to the root, resulting in uninflected forms that agree with the subject only through case marking. For example, the verb bo ("go") becomes go ("went"), pi ("drink") becomes pi-t ("drank"), and ski ("see") becomes ske-t ("saw"). Irregular verbs show stem suppletion, such as maRi ("die") to mu ("died") or ha ("be") to hua ("was"). In past transitive constructions, Brokskat displays ergative alignment, with the subject marked in the agentive case (e.g., sa or ya), differing from the nominative alignment in non-past tenses.[24][25] The non-past tense uses suffixes like -u: for first-person singular masculine, -en for first-person plural, and -a:l for other persons, often with auxiliaries for progressive or habitual senses. For instance, mo za:zi-u:-s means "I am/walk," where za:zi is the stem for "walk," and so paRi bi-a:l-e means "he goes/is going," with bi- derived from the "go" stem and paRi as auxiliary. Future intent is expressed through non-past forms in purposive constructions with the infinitive, such as byas ("go") in mo ticisuma kRum kRumis-ta byas ("I will go with you to work").[24][26] Aspects include perfective, progressive (imperfective), and habitual distinctions. Perfective aspect marks completed actions: non-past with -a (e.g., miya di-a-ha "I have given"), and past with -a:v (e.g., soya badi-a:v "he had run"). Progressive aspect uses -a:ha or -a:l in non-past (e.g., so paRi bi-a:l-e "he is going") and -a:hua in past. Habitual actions employ repeated non-past forms or auxiliaries like la ("be"). These aspects are constructed via stem + aspect marker + auxiliary, emphasizing event completion or ongoing nature over exhaustive listings.[24] Moods include imperative, desiderative, and obligative. The imperative adds -e to the stem for singular/plural commands, such as va aR-e ("bring water!") or mesua u th-e ("stand on the table!"); negative imperatives prefix na- (e.g., uRku na de "do not tell a lie"). Desiderative mood, indicating wish or permission, appends -de to the stem in non-past contexts (e.g., subject-nominative for intransitives). Obligative mood expresses necessity but lacks distinct morphological markers in basic forms, relying on auxiliaries.[27] Conjugation patterns follow stem + suffix structures, with gender-number agreement primarily in non-past via auxiliaries. Below is a partial paradigm for the verb us- ("eat"), based on transitive patterns:| Person/Number | Non-Past (Progressive) | Past |
|---|---|---|
| 1sg | ma-sa mani:li us-u:-s ("I eat/am eating bread") | mo-ya mani:li us-et ("I ate bread") |
| 1pl | ba-sa mani:li us-en-es ("we eat/are eating bread") | ba-ya mani:li us-et ("we ate bread") |
| 3sg | so-sa mani:li us-a:l-e ("he eats/is eating bread") | so-ya mani:li us-et ("he ate bread") |
Syntax
Brokskat exhibits a basic subject-object-verb (SOV) word order in declarative sentences, characteristic of many Indo-Aryan languages in the region. This canonical structure is evident in simple transitive constructions, such as masa teRa skiyu:s ("I see him"), where the subject (masa, "I") precedes the object (teRa, "him") and the verb (skiyu:s, "see") follows. Intransitive sentences follow an NP + VP pattern, as in mo biyu:s ("I go").[28] Due to its rich case marking system, word order in Brokskat is relatively flexible, allowing variations for emphasis or topicalization without loss of grammaticality. For instance, object-subject-verb (OSV) order can be used to highlight the object, as in pho kita:p miya aRet ("that book I brought"). Case markers, particularly the agentive case on transitive subjects, disambiguate roles; the agentive suffix -sa appears with non-past transitives (e.g., sina-sa teRa skiya:le, "the child sees him"), while -ya or -i marks agents in past/perfective transitive clauses (e.g., so-ya ki ta:p sili the t, "he read the book"; Ra:m-i mani:li a t, "Ram ate bread"). This pattern reflects an ergative-absolutive alignment, where the agent of transitive verbs takes an oblique (agentive) case in past tenses, distinguishing it from the absolutive marking on intransitive subjects and transitive objects.[20][28][30] Brokskat sentences are classified into simple, compound, and complex types. Simple sentences consist of a single surface phrase structure, potentially as brief as a single imperative verb. Compound sentences involve multiple clauses in a sister relationship, coordinated by additive particles such as ga (for nouns, e.g., Ra:m ga go:pa:l u t, "Ram and Gopal came") or u:na (for verbs or clauses, e.g., mo byu:s u:na ki ta:pik aRiy:s, "I shall go and bring a book"). Alternative coordination uses ya ("or"), as in sina du ya tRa gotindi biyalen ("two or three boys are going home"). Complex sentences feature subordination, where subordinate clauses bear a daughter relationship to the main clause, though specific subordinators are not exhaustively detailed beyond general connective functions.[28][31][32] Noun phrases within sentences follow a head-final order: (Article) + (Number) + (Possessive) + (Descriptive) + Noun, supporting the overall SOV framework. Demonstratives and quantifiers serve as articles, with indefinite forms like e:k ("one") for singulars.[28]Vocabulary
Basic Lexicon
The basic lexicon of Brokskat illustrates the language's core vocabulary for everyday concepts, drawn from semantic fields such as body parts, natural elements, numerals, and simple expressions. These terms reflect the practical needs of the Brokpa community in their high-altitude environment along the Indus Valley.[33]Body Parts
Brokskat distinguishes various body parts with specific terms, often used in daily descriptions of health or activities. Representative examples include:| English | Brokskat |
|---|---|
| Head | ʃiʃ |
| Hand | hat |
| Foot | kuti |
| Eye | aʔhii |
| Ear | ka ni |
| Tooth | da niːpl ʔ |
| Nose | nuto |
| Mouth | uzi |
| Blood | lyːl |
| Bone | jaːti |
Nature
Vocabulary for natural elements is essential for a pastoral and agricultural lifestyle, covering water sources, weather, and terrain. Key examples are: Such words form the basis for phrases related to daily survival, like referring to sunlight or water flow.Numbers
Brokskat employs a decimal numeral system for counting livestock, goods, and time. The cardinal numbers from 1 to 10 are:| Number | Brokskat |
|---|---|
| 1 | ek |
| 2 | du |
| 3 | traː |
| 4 | co or |
| 5 | poos |
| 6 | ʃaa |
| 7 | sat |
| 8 | aʔt |
| 9 | nmm |
| 10 | daaʃ |