Wakhi language

Orthography

Traditionally, Wakhi was not a written language. Wakhi people live in 4 countries, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and China, and in contact with speakers of various other languages. Writing systems have been developed for the language using Arabic, Cyrillic and Latin scripts, each with inspirations from neighboring languages and orthographic conventions. However, due to the pluricentric nature of Wakhi dialects, marginalization in favour of a larger national/regional language, remoteness, and political instability, no one orthographic standard has managed to rise to the level of a singular unifying writing system.

Perso-Arabic script

The Perso-Arabic script for Wakhi language has been derived from the Persian alphabet used in Afghanistan. However, there are sounds in Wakhi not found in Persian. Here, two diverging conventions, one in Afghanistan and another in Pakistan (and Pakistani-controlled Gilgit-Baltistan) have emerged. In Afghanistan, Pashto has been the inspiration for letters to represent missing sounds in Wakhi, especially the various retroflex sounds that are missing in Persian. In Pakistan, Urdu and orthographies of other languages of Gilgit-Baltistan have been the inspiration.

Afghan Perso-Arabic Alphabet

Below table is the Afghan version of the Perso-Arabic Alphabet for Wakhi language. The alphabet has been derived from the alphabet of Dari (Persian), one of Afghanistan's national languages. Pashto, the other national language of Afghanistan, has been the source of letters for phonemes that don't exist in Persian. This orthographic standard has similarities to the orthographies of other Pamir languages such as Shughni and Munji.

Wakhi Perso-Arabic Letters (Afghanistan)

Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ا‎1 ‌ - (A a/E e/I i/U u) [∅]([a][u][e][i])	آ / ـا‎2 (A a) [ɔ]	ب‎ (B b) [b]	پ‎ (P p) [p]	ت‎ (T t) [t]	ټ‎ (Ṭ ṭ) [ʈ]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ث‎3 (S s) [s]	ٿ‎3 (Θ ϑ) [θ]	ج‎ (J̌ ǰ) [d͡ʒ]	ڃ‎ (J̣̌ ǰ̣) [ɖ͡ʐ]	چ‎ (Č č) [t͡ʃ]	ڇ‎ (Č̣ č̣) [ʈ͡ʂ]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ح‎ (H h) [h]	خ‎ (X x) [χ]	ځ‎ (Ʒ ʒ) [d͡z]	څ‎ (C c) [t͡s]	د‎ (D d) [d̪]	ډ‎ (Ḍ ḍ) [ɖ]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ذ‎4 (Z z) [z]	ڎ‎4 (Δ δ) [ð]	ر‎ (R r) [r]	ز‎ (Z z) [z]	ژ‎ (Ž ž) [ʒ]	ڙ‎ (Ẓ̌ ẓ̌) [ʐ]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ږ‎ (Ɣ̌ ɣ̌) [ɣ]	س‎ (S s) [s]	ش‎ (Š š) [ʃ]	ڜ‎ (Ṣ̌ ṣ̌) [ʂ]	ښ‎ (X̌ x̌) [x]	ص‎ (S s) [s]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ض‎ (Z z) [z]	ط‎ (T t) [t̪]	ظ‎ (Z z) [z]	ع‎ ( - ) [∅]/[ʔ]	غ‎ (Ɣ γ) [ʁ]	ف‎ (F f) [f]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ڤ‎ (V v) [v]	ق‎ (Q q) [q]	ک‎ (K k) [k]	گ‎ (G g) [g]	ل‎ (L l) [l]	م‎ (M m) [m]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ن‎ (N n) [n]	او / و‎5 (W w) [u][w]	ؤ‎6 (Ы ы) [ɨ]	هـ / ه‎7 (H h/ - a) [h][a]	ایـ / یـ / ی‎8,9 (E e/I i/Y y) [e][i][j]	ي‎9 (- i) [i]

Notes:

1. Letter alef at the beginning of a word can serve two functions. First, it precedes vowel letters "ایـ‎" [e] and [i], or "او‎" [u]. Second, it acts as a vowel carrier for diacritics of the vowel, "اَ‎" [a].
2. Vowel phoneme [ɔ] is represented with "آ‎" when at the beginning of a word, and with "ـا / ا‎" when in the middle or end of a word.
3. While the letter se "ث‎" represents the phoneme [θ] in Arabic, this letter in Arabic loanwords that have entered Dari (Persian) have come to be pronounced as [s]. Due to consistent contact with Dari (Persian), Arabic loanwords have entered Wakhi via Persian, with their modified Persian pronunciation. Unlike Persian, Wakhi does have a separate phoneme [θ]. Some sources use the letter se "ث‎", whereas others use a new letter, te with 4 dots "ٿ‎" that has been introduced so that there can be distinguishment between the native sound [θ] and the sound [s] produced by the letter se "ث‎" in loanwords.
4. While the letter zal "ذ‎" represents the phoneme [ð] in Arabic, this letter in Arabic loanwords that have entered Dari (Persian) have come to be pronounced as [z]. Due to consistent contact with Dari (Persian), Arabic loanwords have entered Wakhi via Persian, with their modified Persian pronunciation. Unlike Persian, Wakhi does have a separate phoneme [ð]. Some sources use the letter zal "ذ‎", whereas others use a new letter, dal with 3 dots "ڎ‎" that has been introduced so that there can be distinguishment between the native sound [ð] and the sound [z] produced by the letter zal "ذ‎" in loanwords.
5. Represents two phonemes based on context, [w] and [u]. If used at the beginning of a word, if representing consonant [w], it will be written standalone "و‎", if representing a vowel [u], it will be preceded by alef "او‎".
6. Represents a vowel phoneme. But even if at a begining of a word, it is written standalone, and without a preceding alef; "ؤ‎".
7. At the end of a word, the letter he "ـه ه‎" can either represent a consonant sound [h] or a vowel sound [a] depending on context.
8. The letter ye represents three phonemes based on context, [e], [i] and [j]. If used at the beginning of a word, if representing consonant [j], it will be written standalone "یـ‎", if representing a vowel [e] or a vowel [i], it will be preceded by alef "ایـ‎".
9. There are two types of final ye. in At the end of a word, if representing the consonant [j], the dotless final ye "ی‎" is ued. If representing the vowel [i], the double dot final ye "ي‎" is used.

Wakhi Perso-Arabic Vowels (Afghanistan)

A a	O o	E e	I i	Ə ə	U u	Ы ы
[a]	[ɔ]	[e]	[i]	[ə]	[u]	[ɨ]
Vowels at the beginning of a word
اَ / ا‎	آ‎	-	ایـ‎	-	او‎	ؤ‎
Vowels at the middle of a word
◌َ‎	ا / ـا‎	◌ِ / یـ / ـیـ‎		-	و / ـو‎	ؤ / ـؤ‎
Vowels at the end of a word
ه / ـه‎	ا / ـا‎	ی / ـی‎	ي / ـي‎	ی / ـی‎	و / ـو‎	ؤ / ـؤ‎

Pakistani Perso-Arabic Alphabet

Below table is the Pakistani version of the Perso-Arabic Alphabet for Wakhi language. This alphabet has been derived from the alphabet of Dari (Persian) as well. However, Urdu, Pakistan's national language has been the source of letters for phonemes that don't exist in Persian. The vowels are shown in a way that reflects Urdu pronunciations and not the Dari/Tajik pronounciation. Meaning that for example, the phoneme [ɔ], which is equivalent to Iranian Persian [ɒː] after having undergone a chain shift, is not written with alef "آ / ا /ا ـا‎", but with the letter waw "او / و / ـو‎".

Stylistically, while in Afghanistan Naskh is the more common script, in Pakistan, similar with Urdu and other orthographies of Northern Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Gilgit-Baltistan, Nastaliq is the more common script.

Wakhi Perso-Arabic Letters (Pakistan)

Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ا1 ‌ - (A a/E e/I i/U u) [∅]([ɨ][ɔ][e][i])	آ / ـا2 (A a) [a]	ب (B b) [b]	پ (P p) [p]	ت (T t) [t]	ٹ (Ṭ ṭ) [ʈ]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ث3 (S s) [s]	ٿ3 (Θ ϑ) [θ]	ج (J̌ ǰ) [d͡ʒ]	ڃ (Ž ž) [ʒ]	چ (Č č) [t͡ʃ]	ڇ (Č̣ č̣) [ʈ͡ʂ]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ح (H h) [h]	خ (X x) [χ]	ݗ (X̌ x̌) [x]	څ (C c) [t͡s]	د (D d) [d̪]	ڈ (Ḍ ḍ) [ɖ]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ذ4 (Z z) [z]	ڌ4 (Δ δ) [ð]	ر (R r) [r]	ز (Z z) [z]	ڗ (Ʒ ʒ) [d͡z]	ژ (Ẓ̌ ẓ̌) [ʐ]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ڙ (J̣̌ ǰ̣) [ɖ͡ʐ]	س (S s) [s]	ش (Š š) [ʃ]	ݜ (Ṣ̌ ṣ̌) [ʂ]	ص (S s) [s]	ض (Z z) [z]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ط (T t) [t̪]	ظ (Z z) [z]	ع ( - ) [∅]/[ʔ]	غ (Ɣ γ) [ʁ]	ݝ (Ɣ̌ ɣ̌) [ɣ]	ف (F f) [f]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ڤ (V v) [v]	ق (Q q) [q]	ک (K k) [k]	گ (G g) [g]	ل (L l) [l]	م (M m) [m]
Perso-Arabic (Latin) [IPA]	ن (N n) [n]	او / ـُو / و5 (O o/U u/W w) [ɔ][u][w]	ہـ / ہ7 (H h/ - a) [h][a]	ایـ / یـ / ی8,9 (E e/I i/Y y) [e][i][j]	ے9 (- e) [e]

Notes:

1. Letter alef at the beginning of a word can serve two functions. First, it precedes vowel letters "ایـ" [e] and [i], or "او" [ɔ]. Second, it acts as a vowel carrier for diacritics of the vowel, "اُ" [ɨ].
2. Vowel phoneme [a] is represented with "آ" when at the beginning of a word, and with "ـا / ا" when in the middle or end of a word.
3. While the letter se "ث" represents the phoneme [θ] in Arabic, this letter in Arabic loanwords that have entered Dari (Persian) have come to be pronounced as [s]. Due to consistent contact with Dari (Persian), Arabic loanwords have entered Wakhi via Persian, with their modified Persian pronunciation. Unlike Persian, Wakhi does have a separate phoneme [θ]. Some sources use the letter se "ث", whereas others use a new letter, te with 4 dots "ٿ" that has been introduced so that there can be distinguishment between the native sound [θ] and the sound [s] produced by the letter se "ث" in loanwords.
4. While the letter zal "ذ" represents the phoneme [ð] in Arabic, this letter in Arabic loanwords that have entered Dari (Persian) and Urdu have come to be pronounced as [z]. Due to consistent contact with Dari (Persian) and Urdu, Arabic loanwords have entered Wakhi via Persian and Urdu, with their modified pronunciation. Unlike Persian and Urdu, Wakhi does have a separate phoneme [ð]. Some sources use the letter zal "ذ", whereas others use a new letter, dal with 2 dots "ڌ" that has been introduced so that there can be distinguishment between the native sound [ð] and the sound [z] produced by the letter zal "ذ" in loanwords.
5. Represents three phonemes based on context, [w], [ɔ], and [u]. If used at the beginning of a word, if representing consonant [w], it will be written standalone "و". If representing a vowel [ɔ], it will be preceded by alef "او". If representing the vowel [u], it will be preceded by a [w] consonant, carrying a zammah diacritic "وُو".
6. At the end of a word, the letter he "ـہ ہ" can either represent a consonant sound [h] or a vowel sound [a] depending on context.
7. The letter ye represents three phonemes based on context, [e], [i] and [j]. If used at the beginning of a word, if representing consonant [j], it will be written standalone "یـ", if representing a vowel [e] or a vowel [i], it will be preceded by alef "ایـ".
8. There are two types of final ye. in At the end of a word, if representing the consonant [j] or the vowel [i], the small ye "ی" is used. If representing the vowel [e], the big ye "ے" is used.

Wakhi Perso-Arabic Vowels (Afghanistan)

A a	E e	I i	Ə ə	Ы ы	O o	U u
[a]	[e]	[i]	[ə]	[ɨ]	[ɔ]	[u]
Vowels at the beginning of a word
آ	ایـ		-	اُ	او	وُو
Vowels at the middle of a word
◌َ / ا / ـا	◌ِ / یـ / ـیـ		-	◌ُ	و / ـو	◌ُو / ـُو
Vowels at the end of a word
ہ / ـہ	ے / ـے	ی / ـی		◌ُ / ـُہ	و / ـو	◌ُو / ـُو

Cyrillic script

When Wakhi is written in Cyrillic, the sounds are usually represented by these letters:

Letter	А а	Б б	В в	В̌ в̌	Г г	Ғ ғ	Г̌ г̌	Д д	Д̣ д̣	Д̌ д̌	Е е	Ё ё	Ж ж	Ж̣ ж̣	З з	Ҙ ҙ	И и	Й й	К к	Қ қ	Л л	М м	Н н	О о	П п
IPA	[a]	[b]	[v]	[w]	[g]	[ʁ]	[ɣ]	[d̪]	[ɖ]	[ð]	[e], [je]	[jo]	[ʒ]	[ʐ]	[z]	[d͡z]	[i]	[j]	[k]	[q]	[l]	[m]	[n]	[ɔ]	[p]
Letter	Р р	С с	Т т	Т̣ т̣	Т̌ т̌	У у	Ф ф	Х х	Х̌ х̌	Ҳ ҳ	Ц ц	Ч ч	Ч̣ ч̣	Ҷ ҷ	Ҷ̣ ҷ̣	Ш ш	Ш̣ ш̣	Щ щ	Ъ ъ	Ы ы	Ә ә	Ь ь	Э э	Ю ю	Я я
IPA	[r]	[s]	[t̪]	[ʈ]	[θ]	[u]	[f]	[χ]	[x]	[h]	[t͡s]	[t͡ʃ]	[ʈ͡ʂ]	[d͡ʒ]	[ɖ͡ʐ]	[ʃ]	[ʂ]	[ʃt͡ʃ]	Ø	[ɨ]	[ə]	Ø	[e]	[ju]	[ja]

Latin script

The new Wakhi Alphabet, which includes some Cyrillic and Greek letters, which was developed in 1984 by Haqiqat Ali:

A Latin alphabet, which in some variants includes Cyrillic and Greek letters, was developed in 1953 by I.I. Zaroubine and V. S. Sokolova, and further developed by A.L Grünberg and I.M Stéblinn-Kamensky in the early 1960s:

Letter	A a	Ā ā	Ā̒ ā̒	B b	C c	Č č	Č̣ č̣	D d	Ḍ ḍ	Δ δ	E e	Ə ə	F f	G g	Ɣ γ	Ɣ̌ ɣ̌	H h	I i	J̌ ǰ	J̣̌ ǰ̣	K k	L l	M m	N n
IPA	[a]			[b]	[t͡s]	[t͡ʃ]	[ʈ͡ʂ]	[d̪]	[ɖ]	[ð]	[e]	[ə]	[f]	[g]	[ʁ]	[ɣ]	[h]	[i]	[d͡ʒ]	[ɖ͡ʐ]	[k]	[l]	[m]	[n]
Letter	O o	Ō ō	Ō̒ ō̒	P p	Q q	R r	S s	Š š	Ṣ̌ ṣ̌	T t	Ṭ ṭ	Θ θ	U u	U̒ u̒	Ū̒ ū̒	V v	W w	X x	X̌ x̌	Y y	Z z	Ž ž	Ẓ̌ ẓ̌	Ʒ ʒ	Ы ы
IPA	[ɔ]			[p]	[q]	[r]	[s]	[ʃ]	[ʂ]	[t̪]	[ʈ]	[θ]	[u]			[v]	[w]	[χ]	[x]	[j]	[z]	[ʒ]	[ʐ]	[d͡z]	[ɨ]

Sample text

Sample text from a Bible translation published in 2001 is shown below:

Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:2–4)

Wakhi in Latin alphabet	Wakhi in Cyrillic alphabet	English (KJV)
2Yiso yavər x̌atəy: «Sayišt ʒi dəo carəv, x̌anəv: „Ey bzыrgwor Tat ki də osmonət cəy! Ti bəzыrg nung bər olam ыmыt! Ləcər dəwroni Ti podšoyi γ̌at-ət, zəmin-ət zəmon də hыkmi taw ыmыt!	2Йисо йавəр х̌атəй: «Сайишт ҙи дəо царəв, х̌анəв: „Ей бзыргв̌ор Тат ки дə осмонəт цəй! Ти бəзырг нунг бəр олам ымыт! Лəцəр дəв̌рони Ти подшойи г̌ат-əт, зəмин-əт зəмон дə ҳыкми тав̌ ымыт!	2And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3Spo rыsq-ət rыzi sakər nəsib car!	3Спо рысқ-əт рызи сакəр нəсиб цар!	3Give us day by day our daily bread.
4Cə spo gənoən šəxs! Sak bə kuy, ki sakər šakiγ̌ cə kərk! kыx̌tər baxṣ̌əṣ̌ carən. Cə bandi nafs-ət awasən, Cə waswasayi Iblisən saki niga δыr!“»	4Цə спо гəноəн шəхс! Сак бə куй, ки сакəр шакиг̌ цə кəрк! Кых̌тəр бахш̣əш̣ царəн. Цə банди нафс-əт ав̌асəн, Цə в̌асв̌асайи Иблисəн саки нига д̌ыр!“»	4And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil."