Kholosi language

Kholosi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in two villages in southern Iran that was first described in 2008.^[2] At its current status, the language is considered endangered. In 2008, it was only spoken in the neighboring villages of Kholus and Gotav. As it is located on the Iranian Plateau and surrounded by Iranian languages, it draws heavily from them.^[2]

Kholosi
Native to	Hormozgan Province, Iran
Native speakers	c. 1800 (2014)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Sindhi Kholosi
Writing system	Perso-Arabic
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	khol1241

Classification

Kholosi is definitively known to be an Indo-Aryan language albeit with significant lexical borrowing from Iranian languages given its geographical location. At the lexical level, it seems to share vocabulary largely with the Sindhi languages,^[2] which are the source of other Indo-Aryan migrations to the Middle East such as Luwati in Oman.

Phonology

While no published phonology has been found on Kholosi, the following phonology has been constructed from examples provided in the sources below.^[2][3][1]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	eː		oː
Low		ɑ ɑː

Kholosi also contains the diphthongs /ɑi, ɑw, ow/ and possibly others.

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasals	m	n		ɳ		ŋ*
Stops	p b	t d	t͡ʃ d͡ʒ			k ɡ
Fricatives	f v	s z		ʂ		x	h
Approximants		l			j
Taps				ɽ
Trills		r

Note*: The phonemes marked with an asterisk are assumed based on the structure of the attested phonemes.

Grammar

Anonby and Bahmani (2013)^[2] made some brief notes on Kholosi grammar, but so far no grammatical sketch nor a full grammar of the language has been documented.

Morphology

Nouns and noun phrases

Nouns have inherent grammatical gender, and adjectives agree in gender with the head noun. Attributive adjectives follow the head noun, unlike other Indo-Aryan languages. Numerals precede the head noun.^[3]

Verbs and verb phrases

Kholosi uses several light verbs to form noun-verb compounds. This is a common feature of Indo-Iranian languages.

The adverb precedes the verb it modifies.^[3]

Case and adpositions

Kholosi has noun-suffixed postpositions (e.g. the genitive marker -jo which agrees with the gender of the possessor) as characteristic of Indo-Aryan languages.

Syntax

Kholosi is a verb-final language with SOV word order.^[3]

Vocabulary

Kholosi has roughly twice the number of Indo-Aryan terms in its basic lexicon than Iranian borrowings. The primary source of Iranian borrowings is Persian, but Larestani and Bandari (in the same geographical area) also appear to have contributed vocabulary.^[2]

A high degree of similarity with Indo-Aryan languages

Indo-Aryan vocabulary in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
ear	guš	kān	kanu	kan	kān	kan
stomach	šekam	pēt	pēʈ	pēʈ	pētˤ	per
throat	galu	nāɽi	naɽī	nəɽī	qandī	kerlo
neck	gardan	gēči	ɠičī, ɠātō	kand	gər(ək)	korr
blood	xun	rāt	ratu	rat	rat	rat
urine	edrār, šāš	meter	muʈru	mutar	mutur	muter
maternal uncle	dāi	momo	māmo	māmā	mām	kako
dog	sag	kotoro	kutō	kottrō	snōta	džukel
tail	dom	pēč	pučʰu	pučʰ(ɽi)	panč(ək)	porri
snake	mār	sap	nā̃gu	sap	sap	sap
meat	gušt	māz	gūšt/mas	gōs	māsī	mas
egg	toxme morġ	āɳo	bēdō/ano	īnō	āna	anro
dirt	xāk	māti	miʈī/mati/dhur/dazu/mer	maʈī	dūl	mel
water	āb	puni	pāɳī	pāɳī	pānī	pani
rain	bārān	meh	mīh̃ã	βarsād	wārsīnda	brišind
old (thing)	kohne	peroɳo	purāɳō, pōɽʰō, jhuni	junō, purānō	pnāra	purano
heavy	sangin	gāwro	ɠarō	bʰāɽi	grāna	pharo
dry	xošk	sako	suko	sukō, sukelō	—	sukho
black	syāh	kāro	kārō	kārō	qāla	kalo

Kholosi Indo-Iranian vocabulary aligned with Indo-Aryan sound changes

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
hand	dast	hāt	hatʰu	hatʰ	xašt	vast
tooth	dandān	dānd	ᶑãndu	dəndʰ	dānd	dand
fish	māhi	māči	mačʰī	məčʰī	mačča	mačho
star	setāre	taro	tārō	tārō	yēldəz	čerxaj
three	seh	tereda	ʈī/tre	trē	trən	trin
round	gerd	golāndo	gōl	gōl	čōrm-	—
say	goftan	vetai	čaβaɳ	čōnũ	ft-	phen-
this	in	he	hī	hī	hā	kado/a-

A significant proportion of structures shared with neighbouring Iranian languages

Iranian vocabulary in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
head	sar, kalle	kallo	matʰō	matʰō	sər	šero
nose	bini, damāġ	domāġ	naku	pan	nāk	nakh
bone	ostoxān	assaxān	haɖō	həɖ	xar(ək)	kokalo
leaf	barg	barg	panu	pan	kāġatˤ	patrin
root	riše	rišo	pāɽa	mūɽ	—	drab
dust	gard	gard	dʰuɽ	rajj, dʰuɽ	ġabare	porrik
cloud	abr	awr	jʰuɽ, kakar	βəɖar	ġēm	lučh
summer	tābestān	tābesān	unahāɽo	ūnārō	awasār	nilaj
winter	zemestān	zemesān	siāro	siyārō	slāla	jivend
iron	āhan	āhan	lohu	lō	ḥadīd	sastro
think	fekr kard	feker kai	sōčaɳ	sōčiɳũ	fikr kar-	—

Words illustrating the local character of Iranian vocabulary in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Remarks
scorpion	aġrab	akrab	cf. Lārestani (Evaz), Keshmi akrab
cloud	abr	awr	cf. Bushehri, Keshmi, S. Luri awr
sand	šen, māse	lamer	cf. Lārestani (Lār) lamr
chicken	morġ	čūki	cf. Lārestani (Lār) čikala
whistling	sut	fitak, sūt	cf. Bandari (Bushehr) fike, Keshmi fištak

Lack of contrastive aspiration on stops in Kholosi^{[dubious – discuss]}

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
tall	boland	taɽgo	ɖrigho	lamō, dʰərgō	dərga, drōnga	—
skin	pust	xāl	kʰala, čamɽī	čam, čamɽi	qal	morthi
cold	sard	tāzo	tʰādʰō	tʰādʰō	sīlda	tato
weave	bāft	sībai	uɳaɳu	sibʰīnũ	sīw-	khuv-
hand	dast	hāt	hatʰu	hatʰ	xašt	vast
tail	dom	pēč	pučʰu	pučʰ, pučʰ	ɽipanč(ək)	porri
fish	māhi	māči	mačʰī	məčʰī	mačča	mačho

A full fricative series in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
all	hame	sāf	sabh sabʰai	marē, mərē	sa	sa
grass	alaf(/giyāh)	xāz	gāhu	gā	gās	čar
ant	murče	moxoro	makoɽo	mākuɽō	mōrī, mˤōri	kiri
big	bozorg	vazzo	Vaᶑō	βaᶑō	drōnga	baro
near	nazdik	vāzo	vējʰō	bājūme	čanč-	paš-

Lack of an implosive series in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
heavy	sangin	gāwro	ɠarō	bʰāɽi	grāna	pharo
neck	gardan	gēči	ɠičī, ɠātō	kand	gər(ək)	kerlo
two	do	bāro	ɓa	bə	dī, dədī	duj
buy	xarid	genai	vathanu	ɠəɳnũ	pār-	kin-
swell	motavarrem šod	sojo	suʄaɳ	soʄnũ	—	šuvľ-

Complex predicates in Kholosi

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
walk	ġadam zad	vāt viyo	halaɳ	halnũ	raw-	phir-
stand up	boland šod	bolan to	bīhaɳ	uʈʰinũ, ubʰotʰīnũ	št-	ašt-
lie down	derāz kešid	sɑ̄ to	halaɳ	halnũ	—	pašl-
fly	parvāz kard	pall kerɑmai	uᶑraɳ, ūᶑaɳ	uɖnũ	fər-	urn-
swim	šenā kard	šenow kai	taraɳ	βenjinũ, tar karīnũ	—	nan-

Distinctive structures in Kholosi

Distinctive Kholosi vocabulary

English	Persian	Kholosi	Sindhi	Kutchi	Domari	Romani
hair	mu	lō	βāra	βāɽ	wāl	bal
mouth	dahān, dahan	vāt	muhũ, vat	mō	məh	muj
knee	zānu	āɽak	gōᶑō	gū̃nʈʰō	lūlək	koč
man	mard	kozoro	maɳʰū̃	bʰāi māɽū, marad	mnəs	murš
child	bače	viyow	ɓāru	bačō	qər, putr	čhavo
stone	sang	rōxo	paʈʰar	paʈʰar, paʈʈʰar	wāʈ	barr
fire	āteš	mangal	bāhi	ʈānɖʰō	āg	jag
small	kuček	nōko	nanɖʰō	nənɖʰo	qətˤka	cikno
full	por	dang	bʰaryal	bʰarelō, pūrō, saʄō	bardˤa	pherdo
one	yek	poko	hik	akro	yēka, yōka	jekh
tie	bastan	pālai	ɓadʰaɳ	bandʰinũ	—	phand-

References

1. Anonby, Erik; Bahmani, Hassan Mohebbi (2013). "Shipwrecked and Landlocked: A Description of Kholosi, an Indo-Aryan language of Southwest Iran" (PDF). Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Iranian Linguistics. Further Topics in Iranian Linguistics.^{[dead link‍]}
2. "Shipwrecked and landlocked : Discovery of an Indo-Aryan language in southwest Iran" (PDF). Bamling-research.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
3. Tahereh Rezaei. "First notes on the syntax of Kholosi as a heritage language in the south of Iran" (PDF).

Further reading

• Nourzaei, Maryam. "On orality and the sociolinguistic situation of the Kholosi community." Orientalia Suecana 72 (2023): 47-68.
• Nourzaei, Maryam (2024). "Kholosi". In Charles G. Häberl (ed.). Language Diversity in Iran: New Texts and Perspectives from Non-Iranian Languages. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 119–162. doi:10.1515/9783110641578-005.