Report:"Language Vitality and Development among the Wakhi People of Tajikistan"
The Wakhi people are perhaps best known by their proximity to the Wakhan Corridor, which played a major role in eighteenth century politics between Russia and Great Britain. Today the Wakhi live in four countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and Tajikistan. Between 7,500 and 10,000 Wakhi live in the Goyal, Ishkoman, Chitral, and Yasin regions of Northern Pakistan, while approximately 7,000 Wakhi live along the Wakhandaryo, or Wakhan River, in Afghanistan.
Language Vitality and
Development among the Wakhi
People of Tajikistan
Language Vitality and Development among the Wakhi
People of Tajikistan
Katja Müller, Elisabeth Abbess, Calvin Tiessen, and Gabriela Tiessen
SIL International
2008
SIL Electronic Survey Report 2008-011, June 2008
Copyright © 2008 Katja Müller, Elisabeth Abbess, Calvin Tiessen, Gabriela Tiessen, and SIL
International. All rights reserved
2
Abstract
The Wakhi homeland spans four countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and Tajikistan. The
research presented in this paper deals with the results of sociolinguistic research conducted in
2003 and 2004. This research was carried out in two stages. Our goal in the first stage was to
assess language vitality of different Wakhi communities. In the second stage of research, we
concentrated on levels of proficiency in Tajik and access to Tajik. We tried to identify
different levels of Tajik proficiency throughout the community and factors that influence
levels of proficiency in Tajik.
Wakhi is found to be a highly vital and strong language in most of the communities in
which it is spoken. The only communities in which the use of Wakhi is declining are those in
which ethnic Wakhi are a minority. Currently, this is the case in only three out of twenty-
three communities. In the other twenty communities, Wakhi is the language of the community
and those who come to live in these communities learn it.
Tajik is respected as the national language but in Wakhi-dominant or homogenous Wakhi
communities Tajik plays only a minor role in the daily life of the people. Though most
speakers of Wakhi between the ages of 31 and 55 have attained professional or full
proficiency in Tajik, these levels have not been passed on to the younger ones.
3
Contents
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
2.1 Communities
2.2 Questionnaires
2.3 Sampling
2.3.1 Lyangar
2.3.2 Darshai
2.3.3 Ishkoshim
3. Results
3.1 Lyangar: A Homogenous Wakhi Community
3.1.1 The Older Generation: Over 55
3.1.2 The Middle Generation: 31–55
3.1.3 The Young Generation: 16–30
3.1.4 Other Factors: Contributions to the Larger Picture
3.2 Darshai: A Wakhi-Dominant Community
3.3 Ishkoshim Centre: A Tajik-Dominant Community
4. Discussion
4.1 A Comparison of Communities
4.2 Factors Affecting Levels of Tajik Language Proficiency
4.2.1 Living in a Tajik-Speaking Community
4.2.2 Education and Occupation
4.2.3 Travel and Guests
4.2.4 Present Use of Tajik
4.2.5 Proficiency in Tajik Contributing to Access
4.2.6 Summary
5. Conclusion and Prospects of Development
Appendix A
Appendix B
References
4
1. Introduction
The Wakhi people are perhaps best known by their proximity to the Wakhan Corridor, which
played a major role in eighteenth century politics between Russia and Great Britain. Today the Wakhi
live in four countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and Tajikistan. Between 7,500 and 10,000 Wakhi
live in the Goyal, Ishkoman, Chitral, and Yasin regions of Northern Pakistan, while approximately
7,000 Wakhi live along the Wakhandaryo, or Wakhan River, in Afghanistan. An unknown number of
the approximately 26,000 ‘Tajiks’ in China, are actually Wakhi (Backstrom 1992). Finally, between
17,000 and 18,000 Wakhi live in the Ishkoshim administrative region1 of the Gorno-Badakhshan
Autonomous Province (GBAP) of Tajikistan (Dodykhudoeva 1997).
Wakhi is a non-written language used mainly in the home. As such, Wakhi is highly influenced by the
languages of wider communication (LWC) and the national languages of the countries in which Wakhi speakers
live. Thus, Wakhi is influenced by Dari in Afghanistan, by Urdu and English in Pakistan, and by Russian and
Tajik in Tajikistan. In this paper we examine the present language situation among the Wakhi of Tajikistan.
Twenty-seven mostly Wakhi-speaking villages are situated east of Ishkoshim Centre on the right
bank of the Panj River. This region is shown in .
Figure 1: Map of the Wakhi Area of Tajikistan
Ishkoshim Centre, at the north bend of the Panj River, marks the division of the district into the Wakhi-
speaking east valley and the Tajik-speaking north bend of the Panj River. Life is hard in the Wakhan
valley; the main source of income is farming in a hostile environment. For this reason the Wakhi and
Tajiks have moved into each other’s homelands. Wakhi are now found in Ishkoshim Centre, while
Tajiks are found in mixed villages in the Middle Wakhan Valley, in two homogenous Tajik villages in
the Lower Valley, and in one homogenous village in the Upper Valley. The Wakhi belong to the
Ismaili branch of Shi’a Islam but have incorporated some much older traditions into their faith.
The Wakhi people are very proud of their own language, as well as of their ability to master several
other languages. They are reported to be bilingual in Tajik and have a good knowledge of Russian
(Dodykhudoeva 1997), although Russian has become less important as an LWC since the break-up of
the Soviet Union. Tajik, the national language, was the language of inter-ethnic communication and the
language of education even during the Soviet period.
The oldest source mentioning the Wakhi as a separate people is from Buddhist monks in the seventh century
(Pakhalina 1987). Shaw and Tomashek researched the language in the late nineteenth century. Researchers of the
twentieth century include Morgenstierne, Lorimer, Sokolova, Pakhalina, and Steblin-Karminski.
1
The political unit to which we refer as an administrative region is a nohia in Tajik, or rajon in Russian.
5
Both Gordon (2005) and Pakhalina (1987) categorize Wakhi as a member of the Pamiri group of
Eastern Iranian languages, while Grjunberg and Steblin-Kaminskij (1976) state that the relationship to the
other Pamiri languages has yet to be proved. Gordon (2005) lists three dialects in Tajikistan: Western,
Central, and Eastern Wakhi, and indicates that the Wakhi in China use the Eastern dialect. Backstrom
(1992) presents an analysis of the dialects spoken in five different locations in Northern Pakistan.
Most previous research into Wakhi as spoken in Tajikistan deals with linguistic data such as
wordlists from various dialects, texts, and grammatical analysis. The research presented in this paper
deals with the results of sociolinguistic research conducted in 2003 and 2004. This research was carried
out in two stages. Our goal in the first stage was to assess language vitality of different Wakhi
communities using the eight factors presented by Landweer (2000). These factors are as follows.
1) Relative position on the urban-rural continuum
2) Domains in which the language is used
3) Frequency and types of code switching
4) Distribution of speakers within their own social networks
5) Population and group dynamics
6) Social outlook regarding and within the speech community
7) Language prestige
8) Access to a stable and acceptable economic base
In the second stage of research, we concentrated on levels of proficiency in Tajik and access to Tajik.
Our goal in this stage was to identify different levels of Tajik proficiency throughout the community
and factors that influence levels of proficiency in Tajik.
In section 2 of this paper we outline our methodology. Then in section 3 we present the results of
our research. In section 4 we discuss the results in light of the goals of the research. In section 5, we
conclude with prospects for the development of Wakhi.
2. Methodology
We were not able to visit all twenty-seven Wakhi-speaking communities. Therefore, in section 2.1
we will present the rationale behind the choice of communities we visited. Then, in section 2.2 we will
discuss the questionnaires we used to gather data. Finally, in section 2.3 we outline the sampling
procedures we followed in each community.
2.1 Communities
The history of Ishkoshim administrative region shows that different waves of migration changed the
composition of the valley as whole and of some communities in particular. At the end of the nineteenth
century, Wakhi, Tajik and Ishkashimi people, fleeing from war and unrest in Afghanistan, moved into
communities on the right side of the Panj River. Tajiks moved mainly into the Goron area north of
Ishkoshim Centre and villages around Ishkoshim Centre. They also founded the villages of Yamg and Udid
in the upper Panj Valley. A generation later a few Tajik families moved from Yamg into the villages of
Darshai and Shitkharv. More recently, there has been a constant flow of Wakhi speakers from the upper
valley into Ishkoshim Centre since it became the regional centre in the late 1940s. A comparison of various
sources indicates that up to 30 percemt of the population of Ishkoshim Centre today are ethnically Wakhi.
As a result of this movement, we expected four types of communities to exist in the Wakhan area of
the Ishkoshim administrative region: homogeneous Tajik, Tajik-dominant, Wakhi-dominant, and
homogeneous Wakhi. Statistics obtained in Ishkoshim Centre confirmed this. The list of communities
with indication of ethnic composition is provided in Appendix A.
Since we were interested in the Wakhi language, we did not visit a homogeneous Tajik community.
We were interested in including communities of different sizes and communities with different levels
of importance to the Wakhi language group as a whole. Finally, we tried to include the different parts
of the valley. Based on these considerations, we chose Lyangar to represent homogeneous Wakhi
communities, Darshai to represent Wakhi-dominant communities, and Ishkoshim Centre to represent
Tajik-dominant communities. Table 1 summarizes some features of these three communities.
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Table 1: Wakhi Locations Visited
Ishkoshim
Lyangar Darshai
Centre
Location Type Homogenous Wakhi Dominant Wakhi Dominant Tajik
Geographic
Upper valley Middle valley Lower valley
position
Population/
1670/224 454/56 3072/480
Homes
Cultural centre; belongs Belongs to Shitkharv
Comment Regional centre
to Zong District District
# / % Wakhi 1670 / 100% ~400 / 88.4% ~1000 / 32.5%
In the first stage of our research we visited all three communities, while in the second stage we revisited
Darshai and Lyangar in order to gain more specific information. Of the three communities, we spent the
greatest amount of time in Lyangar since the majority of Wakhi live in homogenous Wakhi communities.
2.2 Questionnaires
We used a number of different questionnaires in our research: community questionnaires, language
use and language attitude questionnaires, language access questionnaires, and language proficiency
questionnaires. We will discuss each of these in turn.
Some of the community questionnaires were specifically designed to use with community
administrators. Others were used with directors of schools, kindergartens, and hospitals. In some cases
these forms were used with people who worked at these institutions. The main focus of these
questionnaires was to gather both basic demographic data on the community or institution and
information about language use in the various institutions.
Other community questionnaires were used with individuals and groups to broaden our picture of
the community. These questionnaires included questions about services such as libraries, cultural
centres, transportation connections, and postal services. In addition, they included questions about
marriage patterns of the community.
Language use questionnaires included specific questions about language use in various social and
functional domains of life. Social domains included the home, friendships, neighbourhoods, and the
workplace. Functional domains included counting, singing and arguing, TV, radio and other media.
Language attitude questionnaires included questions about the perceived benefits of Wakhi, Tajik
and Russian in three areas: earning money, gaining respect, and getting news. The benefits of Wakhi
and Tajik were also considered in an additional three areas: the community, family communication,
and religion. It also included questions about the language of children.
The language access questionnaire was designed to elicit places and times of access to or contact
with different languages. It included questions about places the respondent had lived, education, army
service, travel (past, present, and desired), Tajik-speaking guests, and frequency of Tajik use.
We used two types of language proficiency questionnaires. The questionnaires used in the first
stage of research included questions asking individuals to compare their own level of proficiency or
that of their family with that of other individuals or families. Respondents were asked to think of their
own level of proficiency and then to compare someone else’s to it. Five levels of comparison were
given: a lot better, a little better, equal, a little worse, and a lot worse. Finally, respondents were asked
to estimate the percentage of the community fitting into each of these categories.
In the second stage of research we used the Proficiency Storying Interview Form. This form
consists of two parts. The first part contains questions dealing with childhood language use. The second
part posed questions related to specific language skills. The questions began with basic skills and
moved to higher-level skills. Examples of questions about basic skills are, “Have you ever had to argue
with somebody in Tajik? Was it difficult to use Tajik for this? What was difficult?” Questions about
medium-level skills included, “Have you ever told a joke in Tajik? Was it hard in Tajik?” Finally,
questions about higher-level skills included “Do you sometimes feel more at home in Tajik than in
Wakhi?” These questions were tied to the six Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) levels.2 These six
levels range from 0 (no knowledge) to 5 (native speaker proficiency). The answers to these questions
2
This is a further development of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) scale.
7
were used to obtain a picture of the respondent’s language abilities. A limitation of the questionnaire
was that it did not clearly distinguish between some levels or sublevels. For this reason we decided to
reduce the levels to three levels: limited proficiency (levels 0 to 2+), working professional proficiency
(levels 3 and 3+) and full professional proficiency (levels 4 and above).3
2.3 Sampling
All three communities displayed a unique social composition, so different sampling methods were
used in each. We will look at all three communities in turn.
2.3.1 Lyangar
As indicated above, we visited the homogenous Wakhi community of Lyangar in 2003 and again in
2004. In 2003 we interviewed school and kindergarten administrators, groups, and individuals. Table 2
shows individuals and groups interviewed in Lyangar in 2003.
Table 2: Individuals and Groups Interviewed in Lyangar, 2003
ID Number Gender Ethnicity Interview*
Ly-Gr-01 5 F W LU, LA, LP, Ma
Ly-01 1 F W LU, LA, LP, Ma
Ly-Hos-01 1 F W LU, LA, LP, Ma
Ly-Kiga-01 1 F W LU, LA, LP, Ma
Ly-School-01† 1 M W LU, Ma
*
LU: language use, LA: language attitudes, LP: language proficiency, Ma: marriage patterns
†
data part of official interview on regional or professional matters
In 2003 data from nine individuals were obtained, mainly on language use and attitudes but also on
language proficiency and marriage patterns. Data and observations on language proficiency led us to
further research in 2004.
For our research in 2004 we chose individuals to interview using quota sampling. The sample
incorporated three variables: gender, age and proficiency in Tajik. Table 3 shows eighteen types of
individuals we were interested in.
Table 3: Categories for Quota Sampling in Lyangar, 2004
Gender Age Proficiency level*
Full professional
16–30 Professional
Limited
Full professional
Male 30–55 Professional
Limited
Full professional
Over 55 Professional
Limited
Full professional
16–30 Professional
Limited
Full professional
Female 30–55 Professional
Limited
Full professional
Over 55 Professional
Limited
*
As indicated in section 2.2, limited corresponds to ILR levels 0 to 2+,
working professional corresponds to ILR levels 3 and 3+ and full
professional corresponds to ILR levels 4 and above.
Our goal was to interview five to ten respondents in each category. Many of the individuals were
chosen through referrals, some from individuals we had met in 2003. For example, we asked a young
woman to compare her classmates’ level of Tajik with her own and asked her then to invite various
3
For more details on the Proficiency Storying Interview Form see Tiessen, Abbess, Müller and Tiessen (2005).
8
individuals for interviews on this basis. We also asked respondents to estimate what percentage of the
overall population was represented by each of the eighteen categories.
There were limitations to our sampling. For example, it was difficult to find young and middle-aged
men since most were at the summer pastures, and old women since most were bound to their houses.
This had an influence on the sample size. As shown in table 4, the number of individuals in the various
categories varies greatly.
Table 4: Numbers of Individuals Interviewed in Each Category in Lyangar
Limited Proficiency Professional Proficiency Full Professional
Proficiency
Age 16–30 31–50 55+ 16–30 31–50 55+ 16–30 31–50 55+
Males 8 0 3 4 8 5 4 6 3
Females 10 0 10 9 7 3 5 7 0
Total 18 0 13 13 15 8 9 13 3
As can be seen, we did not reach our goal of five individuals in a number of categories. We could not
find any individuals ages 31–55 with limited proficiency or women over 55 with full professional
proficiency. According to local people we talked to, people who fit these categories are rare or
nonexistent. It was also difficult to find women over 55 with professional proficiency. A number of
individuals we were told fit this category actually turned out to have limited proficiency. This explains
the high number of respondents in the category women over 55 with limited proficiency. Finally, as
indicated above, men were less available for interviews since most were at the summer pastures.
2.3.2 Darshai
In the Wakhi-dominant community of Darshai we focused first on the ethnic Wakhi population and
later on the ethic Tajik population. The school director and her deputy proved to be of great help as
they not only invited different people to the school but also helped us to visit various homes. On our
second visit in 2004 we were introduced to the home of one of the ethnic Tajik families who then in
turn invited their relatives to meet with us.
Table 5 summarizes the interviews conducted in Darshai in 2003 and 2004. We interviewed people
in groups (indicated by ‘Gr’ in the ID; ‘number’ indicates number of individuals in the group) and
individually. The ethnic Tajik respondents are indicated by ‘T’ in the ID. Respondents above the
double line were interviewed in 2003; respondents below the double line were interviewed in 2004.
The ID for respondents in 2004 include two numbers: the first refers to the family unit, the second to
the interview number.
Table 5: Individuals and Groups Interviewed in Darshai
ID Number Gender Ethnicity Questionnaires*
Da-Gr-01 5 M W LU, LA, LP, Ma
Da-Gr-02 4 F W LU, LA, Ma
Da-Hos-01† 1 F T LU, Ma
Da-M-01 1 M W LU
Da-Rel-01 1 M W LU, LA, LP, Ma
Da-School-01 1 M W LU, LA, LP, Ma
Da-T-01-Gr-01 2 M T LU
Da-T-01-Gr-02 3 F T LU, Ma
Da-T-01-01 1 F W, T LU, Ma
Da-T-01-02 1 M W LU, Ma
Da-T-01-03 1 F W LU, Ma
Da-01-04 1 M W LU, Ma
Da-01-05 1 F T LU, Ma
*
LU: language use, LA: language attitudes, LP: language proficiency, Ma: marriage patterns
†
data part of official interview on regional or professional matters
Though we concentrated on the ethnic Tajik homes in 2004, we found that some ethnic Tajik,
especially the younger generation, see themselves as Wakhi. We will have a closer look at this in
section 3.
9
2.3.3 Ishkoshim
Ishkoshim Centre was the most urban location we visited. In addition, Wakhi are a minority in this
Tajik-dominant community. Because of this, it was difficult to contact a broad cross-section of Wakhi
individuals in Ishkoshim Centre. This led us to work primarily with the Wakhi family with whom we
stayed. This family, composed of three generations living together, saw themselves as a typical Wakhi
family in Ishkoshim Centre. Interviews with local administrators who are ethnic Wakhi agreed with
this assessment. Table 6 gives information on the people interviewed in Ishkoshim Centre.
Table 6: Individuals Interviewed in Ishkoshim Centre
ID Gender Ethnicity Questionnaires*
I-01-01 M W LU, LA, Ma
I-01-02 F W LU, LA, Ma
I-01-03 F W LU, LA, Ma
I-Hos-01† M W LU, LA, Ma
I-School-01† M T‡ LU, Ma
I-DA-01† M W LU, LA, Ma
*
LU: language use, LA: language attitudes, Ma: marriage patterns
†
data part of official interviews on regional or professional matters
‡
spouse is Wakhi
We were able to spend time both in formal interviews and informal conversations with the members of
the Wakhi family with whom we stayed (1-01-01, 02, 03). We used appropriate community
questionnaires with the administrators at the hospital (I-Hos-01), school (I-School-01) and district
administration (I-DA-01) to collect information about the overall situation in Ishkoshim Centre and the
region. In addition, these three respondents answered questions about their own family and language.
Even though we interviewed a limited number of individuals in Ishkoshim Centre, this should not
unduly affect our research since our primary purpose was to study the Wakhi living in homogenous and
Wakhi-dominant communities. The information we gathered in Ishkoshim Centre was meant primarily
to round out the picture of the Wakhi people.
3. Results
In this section we present the results of our research by community.
3.1 Lyangar: A Homogenous Wakhi Community
Lyangar, together with Ratm, is the last village in the upper valley. It is primarily a farming
community with only a few individuals working in education, administration and medical care.
Resettlement to other parts of Tajikistan has been and still is offered to families who are not able
support themselves from the land. Recently the community was offered the opportunity to take part in a
tourist development program.
Our research in Lyangar in 2003 concentrated on patterns of language use and attitudes. As shown
in table 7, Wakhi is used in many domains outside the traditional domains of family and community. In
table 7, ‘W’ indicates Wakhi is used, ‘T’ indicates Tajik is used, and ‘R’ indicates Russian is used. A
comma indicates that languages are used nearly equally, though the first language is slightly dominant.
Brackets indicate rare use of a language in a certain domain.
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Table 7: Language Use in Lyangar
Domain Language
Used
Home: family,
Social/ W
children, guests
Interpersonal
Communication:
domains W
friends, neighbours
Unofficial situations W
Most fluent language W
Arguing W
Counting W
Functional Work within the
W (T)
domains community
Religion W, T
Information/ Media R, T
Education, literacy T (W)
Official situations T (W)
Wakhi dominates almost all social and most functional domains in Lyangar. Wakhi is the only
language of the home. A man married to a Tajik from Yamg stated that the last time he used Tajik was
two years ago when he visited his wife’s relatives in Yamg. He said his wife used Wakhi, not Tajik,
with him or the children. Respondents who have grown up in Lyangar stated that in all domains other
than school nearly all children and adults would use Wakhi with each other. There are a few
exceptions, like an ethnic Tajik teacher who teaches Tajik in the local school and so uses Tajik outside
school with her students. But even this teacher uses Wakhi most of the time with her neighbours.
We also asked respondents to indicate how important they felt both Wakhi and Tajik were for
various functions. Possible responses included very important, important, somewhat important, and
unimportant. These responses were assigned numerical values from 3 for ‘very important’ to 0 for
‘unimportant,’ and were then averaged. The average importance of each language for each function is
given in Table 8.
Table 8: Importance of Wakhi and Tajik in Lyangar
Domain Wakhi Tajik
Social/ Family Important (2.3) Somewhat important (1.1)
Interperson- Communication Very important (3.0) Unimportant (0.3)
al domains Gaining respect Somewhat important (0.9) Somewhat important (1.4)
Earning money Important (1.7) Important (2.3)
Functional
Religion Somewhat important (0.7) Somewhat important (1.0)
domains
News* Unimportant (0.3) Important (2.3)
*
Russian: Very important (3.0)
Given the patterns of language use reported in Table 7, it is not surprising that Wakhi is considered to
be important within the family and very important for general communication. Though Wakhi is
actually used more than Tajik for work within the community, Tajik is perceived as more important for
earning money than Wakhi. Similarly, while both Wakhi and Tajik are perceived as somewhat
important for gaining respect, Tajik has a higher average score. The perception that Tajik is important
for news is likely correlated with the fact that Tajik is used for official situations and in education and
literacy, is heard on radio and, since 2004, is received on television. Russian is seen as very important
for receiving information about the world, but is not seen as important in any other domain.
The widespread use of Wakhi in homogeneous Wakhi communities such as Lyangar is reported to be
typical of such communities. In the rest of this section we will present the results of the more detailed
research we carried out in 2004. The purpose of this research was to determine the factors that correlate
with high levels of proficiency in Tajik. The four major factors we examined are living in a Tajik
community, education and occupation, travel and guests, and current use of Tajik. In section 3.1.1 we
present the results for respondents over 55, followed in section 3.1.2 with the results for respondents
31–55 years of age, and in section 3.1.3 with the results for respondents 16–30 years of age. Finally, in
section 3.1.4 we present other factors noted in our research.
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3.1.1 The Older Generation: Over 55
In this section we present results from respondents over the age of 55. We interviewed twelve men
and twelve women in this age group. Their proficiency levels in Tajik are summarized in table 9.
Table 9: Proficiency Levels of Men and Women: Older Generation
Gender Limited Professional Full Total
Male 3 6 3 12
Female 10 2 0 12
As noted in section 2.3, there are no women in this age group with full proficiency, and ten out of
twelve women reported having only limited proficiency. Half of the men in this age group reported
having professional proficiency, while a quarter reported having either limited or full proficiency.
Living among Tajik speakers is one of the most effective ways to improve the level of proficiency.
More than one respondent mentioned Ishkoshim Centre or Dushanbe as Tajik communities where they
spent parts of their life. Table 10 summarizes the time spent living in Tajik communities as reported by
the respondents. The columns labelled TC (Tajik communities) indicate time spent living in a Tajik
community; Army indicates time spent in the Soviet Army outside Tajikistan.
Table 10: Living in a Tajik Community: Older Generation
TC TC & Army Army None
Male 0 0 2 1
Limited
Female 4 N/A N/A 6
Male 1* 3 2 0
Professional
Female 0 N/A N/A 2
Full Male 1 2 0 0
Total 6 5 4 9
*
No data regarding army service for this individual
Thirteen of the respondents never lived in a Tajik community; they had left the village only for short
visits to relatives or to serve in the Soviet Army outside Tajikistan. Nine of these thirteen have
limited proficiency in Tajik; none has full proficiency. Four women with low proficiency did spent
time living in Ishkoshim Centre. One would think this should have given them a boost in speaking
and using Tajik, but it is likely that at the time when they lived in Ishkoshim Centre women stayed
inside the home. In this case, it is easily possible that they had little contact with Tajik speakers. Five
of the men who served in the army in other parts of the Soviet Union said that the language used in
the army was Russian. Time in the army, then, had little impact on their proficiency in Tajik. Six of
the eight men with professional or full level of Tajik said they had actually lived among Tajik
speakers.
The number of years spent living among Tajik speakers played a role as well. Table 11 gives this
information for the eleven individuals who lived in Tajik communities.
Table 11: Time spent Living in Tajik Community: Older Generation
< 1 year 1–4 years ≥ 5 years
Male 0 0 0
Limited
Female 0 2 2
Male 2 2 0
Professional
Female 0 0 0
Full Male 0 0 3
Total 2 4 5
It is notable that two of the women with limited proficiency lived for five or more years in a Tajik-
speaking environment. All the three men with full proficiency spend more than five years in Tajik-
speaking environment.
The second factor we examine is education and occupation. Education definitely correlates with levels of
proficiency in Tajik. Table 12 shows the educational levels completed by the respondents of this age group.
12
Table 12: Educational Levels: Older Generation
Grade 4 Grade 7 Middle Technical
Male 0 3 0 0
Limited
Female 1 8 1 0
Male 0 0 3 2
Professional
Female 0 2 1 0
Full Male 0 0 3 0
The older generation had a much more limited access to education than we will see for younger
generations. One woman completed only grade 4, while another thirteen respondents completed grade
7. Men with professional or full proficiency in Tajik completed at least middle school (grades 9, 10 or
11), while two of the women with a professional level had completed only grade 7.
For this age group occupation does not seem to correlate with proficiency. Sixteen respondents
worked or still work as local farmers. Technical or pedagogical professions seem rare among this
generation. Table 13 summarizes occupations of the respondents.
Table 13: Occupations: Older Generation
Farming Technical Teacher Total
Male 2 1 0 3
Limited
Female 7 1 2 10
Male 4 0 2 6
Professional
Female 1 1 0 2
Full Male 2 1 0 3
Total 16 4 4 24
It is notable that two of the women with limited proficiency worked as teachers while two of the three
men with full proficiency work or worked as local farmers.
The third factor is travel and guests. Most of the guests speak Wakhi and so make no contribution
to the Tajik proficiency levels of this generation. Fifteen of the respondents stated that they do not
travel anymore. Two respondents travel to Wakhi-speaking relatives in the Murgab administrative
region, and five travel to Ishkoshim Centre. Those five reported they use mainly Wakhi in the homes of
their relatives and only a little bit of Tajik. This generation has no expectation or desire to travel
anymore.
The fourth factor in maintaining language proficiency is the current use of it. Table 14 shows the
responses to the question of when Tajik was last used. The responses ranged from within the last six
months to within the last ten years. A number of respondents could not remember the last time they
used Tajik.
Table 14: Last Use of Tajik: Older Generation
≤6 ≤ 1 year ≤ 10 No No data Total
month year memory
Limited Male 1 0 1 0 1 3
Female 1 4 0 4 1 10
Professional Male 4 0 0 0 2 6
Female 0 1 0 0 1 2
Full Male 1 0 0 0 2 3
Total 7 5 1 4 7 24
Five of the women with limited proficiency used Tajik within the last year, one even within the last six
months. But four of the women couldn’t remember when the last time they used Tajik. We do not have
sufficient data for respondents with higher levels of proficiency to determine the influence of using
Tajik for this group. But one of the women with limited proficiency said, “I forgot a lot over the years
not using Tajik.”
3.1.2 The Middle Generation: 31–55
We interviewed fourteen men and fourteen women between the ages of 31 and 50. Table 15
summarizes how many individuals were interviewed in each proficiency category.
13
Table 15: Proficiency Levels of Men and Women: Middle Generation
Gender Limited Professional Full Total
Male 0 8 6 14
Female 0 7 7 14
None of these had limited proficiency. The consensus of all the individuals we asked was that there are
no men or women between 31 and 55 with limited proficiency.
Once again, a major factor correlating with Tajik proficiency was living in a Tajik community.
Table 16 shows how many individuals lived in Tajik communities (TC) and/or served in the army (for
men) and how many did not leave the community.
Table 16: Living in a Tajik Community: Middle Generation
TC TC & Army None
Army
Male 1 5 1 1
Professional
Female 2 N/A N/A 5
Male 2 4 0 0
Full
Female 4 N/A N/A 3
Total 9 9 1 9
Eighteen respondents in our sample had lived in Tajik-speaking communities of Gorno-Badakhshan
or other parts of Tajikistan. Fifteen spent time in Tajik communities such as Dushanbe while receiving
education; all technical or higher education was done in cities in central Tajikistan. Time in the army
again had only a limited influence; the one man who spent time in the army but not in Tajik-speaking
communities had only professional proficiency in Tajik. It is also notable that eight of the nine
respondents who had never left the community were women. Table 17 shows the educational levels of
middle-aged adults in our sample.
Table 17: Educational Levels: Middle Generation
Middle Technical Higher Total
Male 5 3 0 8
Professional
Female 7 0 0 7
Male 0 1 5 6
Full
Female 3 2 2 7
Twelve individuals (five men and seven women) with a professional level of Tajik finished middle
school, three men at this level finished a technical college education. Six respondents with full
proficiency finished middle school or technical school while seven finished higher education, that is
university. It is notable that all respondents who finished higher education had full proficiency in Tajik.
There is a definite correlation between educational level completed and proficiency levels, on one
hand, and occupation, on the other hand, among respondents in this generation. The relationship
between the three main work domains (farming, education, and other) and educational levels is shown
in table 18.
Table 18: Occupation Correlated with Education and Proficiency Levels: Middle Generation
Education Farming Education Other
Middle 12 0 0
Professional
Technical 3 0 0
Middle 3 0 0
Full Technical 1 2 0
Higher 1 4 2
All fifteen respondents with a professional level of Tajik now work in farming on family land,
regardless of whether they finished middle or technical school. Only five of thirteen respondents with
full proficiency work in farming, including all three respondents with middle school education. All six
respondents who work in education have full proficiency and have finished technical school or higher
education. The two other respondents with full proficiency and higher education work with the police
or in business.
14
Examining the factors of travel and guests, most respondents in this group had travelled at least
once in the past to Dushanbe, in addition to having lived in various areas of Tajikistan. This travel
occurred mainly before 1992 or after 2001. As reflected in patterns of present and desired future travel,
travel is currently limited by finances. The most common destination is now Ishkoshim Centre. Only
two respondents travel to Ishkoshim Centre on a weekly basis, but seven go at least once a month and
ten go at least once a year. Only three travel to Ishkoshim Centre less than once a year.
Two individuals, both with full proficiency, travel to Dushanbe three to four times a year, while
nine others would like to go but lack the means to do so. Eight people have Tajik-speaking relatives
who visit about once in one to three years, and one has a Tajik-speaking friend from university who
visits once a year. The primary purposes for travel are for business or to visit relatives.
Looking at the final factor of current use of Tajik, respondents in this age group try to use or do use
Tajik regularly. Not forgetting the language seems to be a major issue. One respondent said he would
speak Tajik with a friend in order not to forget it. Another stated that he is about to forget Tajik since
he has not used it for a long time while working as farmer. Fourteen respondents had used Tajik at least
in the past three months, five more during the past year, and one two years ago.
3.1.3 The Young Generation: 16–30
The largest group we interviewed were individuals between the ages of 16 and 30, though the
majority (27 out of 40) was under the age of 24. Table 19 summarizes the distribution of the sample
among the proficiency categories.
Table 19: Proficiency Levels of Men and Women: Young Generation
Gender Limited Professional Full Total
Men 8 4 4 16
Women 10 9 5 24
The number of respondents with limited proficiency, 18 of 40, seems high, especially in light of the
fact that none of the respondents in the middle generation reported having limited proficiency. Half of
the young men and nearly half the women interviewed reported having limited proficiency in Tajik.
One of our goals, then, is to try to account for the relatively high number of respondents with limited
proficiency.
Respondents in this age group had lived in Tajik-speaking areas for one of two reasons: as children
with their families or for study and/or army service on their own. Table 20 shows the number of
respondents aged 16 to 30 who have lived in Tajik-speaking communities. ‘TC’ stands again for Tajik-
speaking community.
Table 20: Living in a Tajik Community: Young Generation*
Proficiency Gender TC None
Male 2 6
Limited
Female 1 9
Male 1 3
Professional
Female 3 5
Male 2 0
Full
Female 3 1
Total* 12 24
*
No data for 4 respondents
It is significant that only a third of this age group had lived in a Tajik-speaking community. Only three
of eighteen respondents with limited proficiency reported having lived in such a community, while five
of nine respondents with full proficiency reported having lived among Tajik speakers. The group with
professional proficiency falls between these other two groups. Having lived in a Tajik-speaking
community, then, correlates highly with high levels of proficiency for this group.
Further data were obtained for eight of the twelve respondents who had lived in Tajik communities.
There were two primary reasons for living in a Tajik-speaking community: living with family during
school years and living there after school for higher education or while serving in the army. This data is
presented in table 21.
15
Table 21: Reasons for Living in a Tajik Community*
Higher
Proficiency Gender During School Education/Army
Male 1 1
Limited
Female 1 0
Male 0 1
Professional
Female 2 1
Male 2 2
Full
Female 3 1
Total 9 6
*
Three of the respondents reported both
The two respondents with limited proficiency who lived in a Tajik community during school did so
only in a very limited way, one in a predominantly Uzbek-speaking community, the other with relatives
for medical treatment. Neither of those two used Tajik outside school during these stays. Three of the
young men acquired professional or full proficiency while serving in the army for two years.
Next we examine the correlation between proficiency and education or occupation. Table 22
summarizes the educational levels of those between 16 and 30.
Table 22: Educational Levels: Young Generation
Proficiency Gender Middle Technical Higher
Male 8 0 0
Limited
Female 10 0 0
Male 4 0 0
Professional
Female 7* 2 0
Male 3† 0 1
Full
Female 2* 2 1
Total 34 4 2
*
Includes two respondents presently attending university
†
Includes one respondent presently attending university
All of the respondents had finished or were about to finish at least middle school. None of the
respondents with limited proficiency had gone further than middle school education, although nine of
the thirteen reporting professional proficiency had also not gone further than middle school. Two
women with professional proficiency had already completed technical school, while two others were
currently attending university. Two respondents with full proficiency had finished university education,
two had completed technical school, and three were currently attending university.
Occupation was still in a state of transition for respondents in this group; many had just finished
school, were between various stages of education or were currently still involved in studies. From the
data collected we can still extract some tendencies as shown in table 23.
Table 23: Occupations: Young Generation
Proficiency Gender Farming Teacher Student Technical
Male 7 1*
Limited
Female 8 2*
Male 4
Professional
Female 5 1 2† 1
Male 3 1†
Full
Female 3 2†
Total 30 1 8 1
*
high school
†
university
Thirty, or 75 percemt, of the respondents work as farmers. As noted above, five of the respondents are
currently attending university. The teacher attended college in Murgab, living with Wakhi-speaking
relatives though receiving training in Tajik. The respondent with a technical profession is currently
working in the cultural centre in the village.
In examining the role of travel and guests for this generation, present or future travel plays a much
more important role than does past travel. Eighteen of the forty respondents reported travelling to Tajik
16
communities. The majority of those who have travelled indicated that they left the village for the first
time after finishing middle school.
All of those who had travelled had been to Ishkoshim Centre; only two individuals had been to
Dushanbe. As opposed to the middle generation, no regular travel patterns had yet been set. While all
eighteen respondents who traveled did so to visit relatives, nine of them also traveled for work or
education. Travelling for work or education was much less common for those respondents aged 16 to
24 than for those over the age of 24.
Six of the respondents who were still school-aged hoped to travel either after finishing middle
school or when the next opportunity presented itself. With only one exception, those who had finished
school in the past two years had been to Ishkoshim Centre, and two had started studying in Dushanbe.
The final factor to consider is the current use of Tajik. This is summarized in table 24.
Table 24: Situations in which Tajik is Used: Young Generation
Classroom 10
Guests/soldiers/merchants 7
Visiting a Tajik community 20
No data 5
Within the community of Lyangar, the use of Tajik is limited to the domains of school and contact
with outsiders such as government officials, merchants, guests or soldiers. Nine of the respondents ages
16–24 said they use Tajik in the classroom; five said they used it with guests, merchants, or soldiers,
and thirteen said they used it while visiting in Tajik community. One over the age of 24 uses Tajik in
the classroom, two with outsiders and seven when visiting a Tajik community.
Only six of the respondents said they use Tajik daily, even though eight are either working or
studying in school or university, and three of these are conversing on a daily basis with soldiers or
merchants. Ten individuals had used Tajik within the last month, six more within the last year. Nearly
half of the respondents had not used Tajik within the last year.
As Tajik is most commonly used in Tajik communities it is useful to look at the languages used by
these respondents while visiting such communities. Three of the respondents use only Wakhi even in
Tajik-speaking communities, while thirteen primarily use Wakhi although they do also use some Tajik.
Only seven respondents reported using exclusively Tajik. It is worthwhile noting that all sixteen
individuals who reported using Wakhi stayed with Wakhi-speaking relatives in the Tajik communities,
while the other seven go mainly for professional or medical reasons.
3.1.4 Other Factors: Contributions to the Larger Picture
In this section we will present a few other factors that did not fit into the previous sections divided
by age. These include the use of Tajik within the community of Lyangar, the role of Khorogh in Tajik
exposure, and the use of Tajik with relatives.
The use of Tajik in Lyangar is very limited. Only four respondents reported having used Tajik
outside school while growing up. Two of these were over 55; the other two were middle-aged. None of
the young generation reported using Tajik outside school. Five individuals received schooling outside
the community and so used Tajik outside school.
In principle, time spent in Khorogh, the capital of the GBAP, could act as a source of exposure to
Tajik. As shown in table 25, people of all age groups reported having lived and studied in Khorogh.
Table 25: Time individuals lived in Khorogh
Age Proficiency ≤ 2 years 3 years ≥ 5 years
Professional 3* 1 0
16–30
Full 0 0 1
31–55 Professional 0 0 1
Professional 3 0 0
55+
Full 0 0 2†
*
two studied in Russian/English
†
both also lived in TC
17
While living in Khorogh has some potential for exposure to the Tajik language, in actuality this
exposure is mostly limited to classroom experiences. Those who study there do so in Tajik, but the
community language in Khorogh is Shughni (Müller, Abbess, Paul, Tiessen and Tiessen 2005).
Turning our attention to the use of Tajik with relatives, we see that most visiting occurs within the
network of family and relatives. All families in Lyangar have relatives either in Ishkoshim Centre or in
cities outside the GBAP. Relatives living outside the GBAP generally visit every two to three years;
individuals from Lyangar seldom leave the GBAP to visit these relatives. Relatives in Ishkoshim Centre
tend to visit more frequently, between once a month and once a year. Ten respondents reported that
their relatives speak a mixture of Wakhi and Tajik and children of these relatives would grow up
speaking Tajik, but in spite of this all visitors to Lyangar speak mainly Wakhi. Eight people reported to
have relatives by blood and by marriage living in Ishkoshim Centre who are Tajik-speaking.
3.2 Darshai: A Wakhi-Dominant Community
Darshai, situated in the middle of the Wakhan valley, is the smallest of the communities we visited.
The only facilities within the village are a middle school and a medical centre. Most people are farmers.
Because of the fertile land around the village, two Tajik families from Yamg (two brothers with their
families) moved to Darshai three generations ago. In this section we will first present information about
patterns of language use and attitudes among the Wakhi speakers, then about the Tajik speakers.
The Wakhi-speaking community in Darshai has very clear language use patterns. Table 26
summarizes language use in different social and functional domains. ‘W’ indicates Wakhi is used, ‘T’
indicates Tajik is used, and ‘R’ indicates Russian is used. A comma indicates that languages are used
nearly equally, though the first language is slightly dominant. A lower case letter indicates secondary
importance for the particular function.
Table 26: Language Use by Wakhi Speakers in Darshai
Domain Language
Social/ Interpersonal Home: family, children, guests W
domains Communication: friends, neighbours Wt
Unofficial situations W
Arguing W
Counting W
Work within the community Wt
Functional domains
Religion Tw
Information / Media R, T
Education, literacy T
Official situations T
Wakhi is dominant in social or interpersonal domains. Within the community Wakhi is the dominant
language of work. Tajik has traditionally been used in religious events and for religious books,
although Wakhi is sometimes used for explanations. Tajik is also the language of education and
literacy and is seen as very important to learn. At the same time, 90% of the people we spoke to
indicated a desire for their children to learn read and write in Wakhi, as well as in Tajik. In official
situations Tajik is the only language used.
As in Lyangar, we also asked respondents to indicate how important they felt both Wakhi and Tajik
were for various functions. Possible responses included very important, important, somewhat
important, and unimportant. These responses were assigned numerical values from 3 for ‘very
important’ to 0 for ‘unimportant,’ and were then averaged. The average importance of each language
for each function is given in table 27.
Table 27: Importance of Wakhi and Tajik for Wakhi Speakers in Darshai
Domain Wakhi Tajik
Social/ Family Very important (3.0) Unimportant (0.5)
Interpersonal Communication Very important (2.75) Somewhat important (0.7)
domains Gaining respect Important (1.5) Somewhat important (1.0)
Earning money Important (1.75) Important (1.5)
Functional
Religion Somewhat important (1.0) Very important (3.0)
domains
News* Unimportant (0.5) Very Important (2.5)
*
Russian: Very important (3.0)
18
Not only is Wakhi dominant in most social or interpersonal domains, it is seen as very important in
most of these domains. The only exception is for gaining respect, in which Wakhi is seen as important
and Tajik as somewhat important. This is likely tied to the fact that the Wakhi live with Tajik-speaking
neighbours, resulting in a situation where respect is less dependent on knowing any particular
language. Within the community, Wakhi is the language of work and so is somewhat more important
than Tajik. If we had asked about the importance of Wakhi and Tajik outside the community of Darshai
a different picture would have emerged; Tajik would likely have been very important. Tajik and
Russian are very important in the sphere of information and media since newspapers and books are in
those languages.
As indicated above, the Tajik-speaking community in Darshai traces its roots to two Tajik families
who settled in the community about a century ago. Within those two families an obvious shift towards
Wakhi is visible. For example, one ethnic Tajik community member reported speaking Tajik with
grandparents but Wakhi with parents. This was a common pattern of language use among all three
families we interviewed.
The evolution of language use begins with the migration of the original Tajik families from Yamg
to this Wakhi-speaking village. Living in this environment, the Tajiks soon started to understand their
Wakhi neighbours though they would initiate conversations in Tajik. Though they continued to take
some brides from Yamg, intermarriage with the Wakhi also became common in the second generation;
this increased in the third generation. The introduction of Wakhi wives resulted in the language of the
home changing to Wakhi. Children would grow up with Wakhi as first language, although they would
use Tajik with their Tajik grandparents. Once Wakhi became established as the language of the home,
it remained so even when a later generation again took a bride from Yamg.
3.3 Ishkoshim Centre: A Tajik-Dominant Community
Ishkoshim Centre represents a Tajik-dominant community to which the Wakhi have immigrated
over the past three generations. Ishkoshim Centre, located where the Panj River turns east, is a growing
town with more than 3000 inhabitants. The town lies between the two main parts of the Ishkoshim
administrative region: the Tajik-speaking Goron and the Wakhan. As administrative centre of the
region, Ishkoshim Centre has administrative offices, various medical facilities including a hospital, and
a bazaar. The nearby border patrol post, operated by the Russian Federation until the end of 2004 and
now manned by the Tajik Army, also provides much-needed jobs, as well as customers for the local
shops.
The big challenge for Wakhi families lies in the fact that Tajik is spoken not only in official
situations, at work, and in kindergarten and school, but also on the street with neighbours and friends.
Thus, the domains in which Wakhi is used are limited. The responses of several members of the family
we interviewed in Ishkoshim Centre concerning normal patterns of use of Wakhi and Tajik are
summarised in table 28. Once again, ‘W’ indicates Wakhi is used, ‘T’ indicates Tajik is used, and ‘R’
indicates Russian is used, and a comma indicates that languages are used nearly equally, though the
first language is slightly dominant.
Table 28: Language Use by Wakhi Speakers in Ishkoshim Centre
Domain Language
Social/ Home: family, children, guests W, T
Interpersonal
Communication: friends, neighbours T, W
domains
Unofficial situations W, T
Most fluent language W, T
Arguing W, T
Counting W, T
Functional
Work within the community T
domains
Religion T
Information/ Media R, T
Education, literacy T
Official situations T
This family viewed themselves as a typical Wakhi family living in the town. There is no domain where
this family uses only Wakhi; Tajik is present even in the home, brought from school and work by the
younger generation and from work by the older. Though Wakhi is the first language choice in several
19
domains, Tajik is used nearly as much. Tajik is the sole language used in four domains, and is used
with Russian in a fifth domain.
We also asked the family members to indicate how important they felt both Wakhi and Tajik were
for various functions. As before, possible responses included very important, important, somewhat
important, and unimportant. These responses were assigned numerical values from 3 for ‘very
important’ to 0 for ‘unimportant,’ and were then averaged. The average importance of each language
for each function is given in table 29.
Table 29: Importance of Wakhi and Tajik for Wakhi Speakers in Ishkoshim Centre
Domain Wakhi Tajik
Social/ Family Important Unimportant
Interpersonal Communication Somewhat important Important
domains Gaining respect Important Very important
Earning money Important Very important
Functional
Religion Unimportant Very important
domains
News* Unimportant Very important
*
Perceived benefit of Russian- 3.0
Wakhi is seen as important for the home, for gaining respect and, surprisingly, for work within the
community. The importance for work is due to the fact that Wakhi is used with ethnically Wakhi
colleagues and friends even at work. Wakhi is seen as somewhat important for communication with
neighbours and other people in the community and as unimportant for religion and gaining information.
As indicated above, Wakhi is not the only language used in the home. One of the factors
determining patterns of language use in the home of the family we interviewed was the generation of
the speakers. Three generations live together in this family. The first generation, now in their mid-
fifties, emigrated from the upper valley to Ishkoshim Centre about 20 years ago to find work. The
second generation, now in their late twenties, has grown up in a Tajik-speaking environment. The third
generation entered kindergarten last year. The patterns of language use by each generation in the home
is summarised in table 30. ‘W’ indicates Wakhi and ‘T’ indicates Tajik; capital letters indicate primary
use, and lower case letters indicate secondary use.
Table 30: Generational language use in the home
First generation Second Third generation
generation
First generation W W, t W, t
Second generation W, t T, w T, w
Third generation W, t T, w —
The first generation uses only Wakhi with each other and primarily Wakhi with the younger
generations. The middle generation uses primarily Wakhi with the older generation, but more Tajik
then Wakhi with each other and their children. Before beginning kindergarten, the young grandson
used only Wakhi with his grandparents. His use of Tajik was for the most part limited to interactions
with his mother, who is ethnic Tajik. After a year of kindergarten, he uses both Wakhi and Tajik with
his grandparents and parents. His younger siblings have not established patterns of language use.
4. Discussion
In this section we discuss the results of our research in light of the goals outlined in section 1. In
section 4.1 we assess language vitality of the different Wakhi communities using the eight factors
presented by Landweer (2000). Then, in section 4.2 we examine factors that influence levels of
proficiency in Tajik.
4.1 A Comparison of Communities
Landweer (2000) presents eight indicators of ethnolinguistic vitality of a community and suggests
that the indicators do not carry the same weight in all situations. In this study, we will concentrate on
differences between the three different types of Wakhi communities.
In the first community, Lyangar, Wakhi exhibits high vitality and little evidence of language shift.
Therefore, we would hope that the indicators of language vitality should predict high language vitality.
This is, in fact, the case. Lyangar is a homogenous language community. It is a relatively isolated
community in the upper Wakhan Valley that has experienced no major immigration. Wakhi is the sole
