Kashmiri (कॉशुर, کٲشُر Koshur) is a northwestern Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley in India and Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. It has about 4,611,000 speakers: 4,391,000 of whom reside in India and 105,000 of whom reside in Pakistan. While Kashmiri belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family of languages it is sometimes placed in a geographical sub-grouping called Dardic. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.

Just after Hindi, Kashmiri is the second fastest growing language of India, followed by Meitei (Manipuri) along with Gujarati in third place, and Bengali in fourth place.

Writing

Kashmiri has remained a spoken language up to the present time. Though some manuscripts were written in the past in the Sharada script, and then in Perso-Arabic script, Kashmiri is now written in either the Perso-Arabic script (with some modifications) or the Devanagari script. Among languages written in the Perso-Arabic script, Kashmiri is practically unique, in that it regularly indicates all vowel sounds.

Literacy in Kashmiri is continuously neglected for political reasons and due to lack of formal education in it. It is now mostly relevant in its spoken form, and the speakers of this language are also decreasing in number. Note that the primary official language of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is not Kashmiri, but Urdu. Some Kashmiri speakers use English or Hindi as a second language. In the past few decades, Kashmiri was introduced as a subject at the university and the colleges of the Kashmir Valley. Attempts are being made to include Kashmiri in school curriculum.

Pronunciation guide

There are 17 vowels and 27 consonants in Kashmiri.

Vowels

ė

As in Open

ë

Extended ė

å

Same as e in perturb

ä

Extended sound of a

a

same as u in up

ā

As u in up

i

as i in sit

ī

as ee in see

u

as u in put

ū

as oo in zoo

ê

as e in ten

e

as a in pay

ō

as o in oh!

ö

as wo in swot

o

as o in home

ņ

as n in sing

~

as i in sip spoken faintly

Consonants

k

same as c in cat

kh

same as kh in khan

g

as g in got

c

as zz in pizza

çh

sounds like ts as in huts

c

same as ch in chin

ch

same as ch in church

j

same as j in jug

th

as in thatch

d

like th in then

n

as n in no

ţ

like t in teacher

ţh

as th in thug

đ

as d in did

p

as p in pen

ph

as f in fall

b

like b in boy

m

like m in man

y

like y in yes

r

like r in red

l

like l in leg

v

as v in van

sh

as sh in she

s

as s in so

z

as z in zoo

h

as h in how

Phrase list

Basics

Hello

Talking to a Muslim (Assalām ‘alaikum), Talking to a Hindu (Namaskār)

Hello (informal)

halo

How are you?

Toh chiv väri ?

Fine, thank you

Ähansa, Me-Hur-Ba-e-Ni

What is your name?

Çê kyāh chuy nāv ?

My name is ______

Be chus _____

Nice to meet you

Tö-hi Mel-Yiţh Gā-Yi Ma War-Yah Kush-Ti

Please

Ba-Lai La-Gai

Thank you

Me-Hur-Ba-e-Ni

Yes

Ên

No

Na

Goodbye

Talking to a Muslim (Assalām ‘alaikum), Talking to a Hindu (Namaskār)

I can't speak Kashmiri

Mê chunė käshur tagān

Do you speak English?

Çė chukhė aņgrīz bolān ?

I don't understand

Mê chunė phikrī tagān

Problems

What is this ?

Yi Kyāh chu ?

What do you want?

Çê Kyāh gaçhiy ?

Numbers

Zero

Siphar

One

Akh

Two

Zė

Three

Trê

Four

Çor

Five

Pāņçh

Six

Shê

Seven

Sath

Eight

Äţh

Nine

Nav

Ten

Dāh

Time

What is the time?: Vakhėt kyāh āv? or Kāç bajeyi?

Clock time

The time is five o clock: Vakhėt chu pāņçi baji

Days

Sunday

Āthvār

Monday

Çāņdėrvār

Tuesday

Bomvār

Wednesday

Bödvār

Thursday

Brêsvār

Friday

Jumāh (Talking to a Muslim), Shakurvār (Talking to a Hindu)

Saturday

Baţėvār

Colors

Black

Krūhun

Blue

Ņyūl

Brown

Dālcīn

Colour

Raņg

Orange

Saņgtar

Red

Vözul

Yellow

Lyōdur

Dark

Shokh

Green

Sabėz

Grey

Sūr

Light

Halkė

Purple

Lājėvār

White

Saphed

Bus and train

Where from does the bus leave?: Bas kati pêţhė chi nerān?

Directions

Left

Kho-vur

Right

Daçhyan

How many kilometres?

Kaç kilomitar dūr?

How far away is the city?

Shāhr kotāh dūr chu?

Taxi

Where is the taxi?: Taxi kati chu?

Lodging

Where is the hotel?: Hotel kati chu?

Eating

Where is the restaurant?: Restaurant kati chu?

Money

How much is it?: Yi kotāh chu ?

Authority

Who is the boss (officer) here?: Yêti kus chu aphsar?