Light Verbs and Noun Verb Agreement in Hunza Burushaski

The paper introduces the concept of Light Verbs and Noun Verb Agreement in Hunza Burushaski from a native speaker’s perspective and as a student of linguist in preparation for a future detailed study on the complex verb predicates and the general interaction of various types of verbs with six noun classes which produces a very complex notion of verbs in Burushaski. Burushaski is linguist isolate spoken in Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. This fascinating language has three distinct dialect groups in Hunza, Nagar and Yasin. This paper introduces two new concepts: light verbs and six noun classes in Burushaski which has not been discussed in the previous researches

Middle Voice Construction in Burushaski: From the Perspective of a Native Speaker of the Hunza Dialect

This study is about voice system in Burushaski, focusing especially on the middle voice (MV) construction. It claims that the [dd-] verbal prefix is an overt morphological middle marker for MV constructions, while the [n-] verbal prefix is a morphological marker for passive voice. The data primarily come from the Hunza dialect of Burushaski, but analogous phenomena can be observed in other dialects. This research is based on a corpus of 120 dd-prefix verbs. This research has showed that position {-2} on the verb template is occupied by voice-marker in Burushaski. The author argues that the middle marker is a semantic category of its own and that it is clearly distinguished from the reflexive marker in this language. The analysis of the phenomenon in this study only comes from the dialect of Hunza Burushaski, so a lot of research remains to be done on the other three dialects of Burushaski: Yasin dialect, Nagar dialect and Srinagar dialect

Poems and Songs

Recording of Bulbul-e-Yasin reciting a poem on the importance of language. This poem is recited in the Yasin dialect of Burushaski

Transcription: Retelling of Flying Horse and Giant Monster

Transcription and translation of the recording of Mahida Murad, a speaker of Hunza Burushaski, narrating the story of a flying horse and a giant monster

Photograph of Nasima Ali, Sadaf Munshi and Ahmed Ali Shah

Photograph of Nasima Ali (left), Sadaf Munshi (center) and Ahmed Ali Shah, a Nagar Burushaski speaker (right)

Baqti Jamaal ke Alqash

Transcription and translation of the recording of Bano, a speaker of Hunza Burushaski, narrating the story of Baqti Jamaal and Alqash

Translations

Recording of Piar Karim translating Surung Thuko from Burushaski into Urdu

Baadshah ke Jattkus

Transcription of the recording of Ramzan (also "Ramazan") Ali reciting "Badshah ke Jattkus," a popular story about a king and an old woman, with translations in English

Personal Account of Raja Abdul Hameed

Transcription of the recording of Raja Abdul Hameed, a speaker of Nagar Burushaski, narrating a personal account

Stories

Recording of Muneeb Dawar narrating the story "Barashale Qaan Zrakun" ('mythical donkey of Barashal') in the Hunza dialect of Burushaski