Shughni

Traditional territory and way of life. Muslim (Ismaili).

Ethnologue has Rushani (Rushan, Roshani, Oroshani) as a dialect of Shughni, along with Bartangi (Bartang), Oroshor (Roshorvi), Khufi (Khuf, Chuf), Shughni (Shugan, Shugnan, Shighni, Khugni). It says Khufi and Bartangi dialects may be separate languages, and Oroshani may be separate from Rushani.Speakers of Bartangī, Orōšōrī, Rōšānī, and Šuḡnī can understand each other; one may say that they speak “regional dialects.” On the other hand, “dialect” also seems justified from a historical point of view (Lentz, 1933, p. 14).Synchronically, the question “dialect of which language?” poses ethnic problems, as no generally recognized standard form exists. Even speakers of the most closely related Orōšōrī would never accept that they speak a “dialect” of Bartangī, and the reverse also holds true. (For the native classification see Sköld, 1936, p. 14.) It is accordingly preferable to call Bartangī, Orōšōrī, Rōšānī, and Šuḡnī “languages” and members of a genetically closely related “language group” (for this term cf., e.g., Heger, 1976) corresponding to the Russian expression “yazykovaya gruppa.” (Buddruss, G. 1988: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bartangi-a-member-of-the-sugni-q)