Wakhi

Facts

  • Language: Wakhi
  • Alternate names: Guhjali, Wakhani, Wakhigi, Vakhan, Khik
  • Language code: wbl
  • Language family: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Eastern, Southeastern, Pamir (SIL classification)
  • Number of speakers: 37,570
  • Vulnerability: Vulnerable
  • Script: Arabic script, used in Afghanistan. Cyrillic script, used in Tajikistan. Latin script, used in Tajikistan, preferred script, not firmly established.

More information:

    Muslim (Ismaili).

    The Wakhi language belongs to the southern group of the Pamir languages, in the Iranian group of the Indo-European family of languages, where the different Ishkashmi and Wakhi languages are included. The Wakhi language, rich in archaisms, differs considerably from the Pamir languages, and generally from the southeastern group of Iranian languages, having certain common characteristics with the Indian languages. Although divided by borders, the Wakhi language is still very much the same, and dialectal differences are not great. (The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire)