Yassi: Difference between revisions

|familycolor=Uralic (?)

|fam2= (Para-?)Samoyedic

For a long time, Yassi had been seen as one of the languages that belong to the areal Pamir language group. Nowadays it's usually classified as a [[w:Uralic language|Uralic language]], though its exact relationship to the Uralic languages is a matter of debate.  

There are certain words of the basic vocabulary which show a closer relation to the [[w:Samoyedic languages|Samoyedic]] than to the [[w:Finno-Ugric languages|Finno-Ugric]] subgroup, like nǝk (PS *näk- instead of FU *kolme 'three'), mǝkt (PS *mǝktut instead of FU *kutte 'six') and wam (PS *time instead of FU *piŋe 'tooth'). However, research has shown that it's often not possible to derive these words from mainstream Proto-Samoyed: Rather, both Yassi wam 'tooth' and Proto-Samoyed *time 'tooth' seem to go back to PU *sewimä 'tooth'. Furthermore, Yassi pǝn 'comb' is assumed to be a cognate to FU *piŋe 'tooth'. Therefore, and as the subgrouping of the Uralic languages is still controversial, Yassi must remain classified an independent branch of Proto-Uralic.  

The former dialect has preserved various conservative peculiarities, whereas the latter has been influenced more deeply by neighboring Iranian languages. Today there’s also a cultural barrier between the two dialects, as the Yassi people in the lower valley have adopted Islam in the last two centuries. There are gradually assimilating into the Muslim-majority religiously and linguistically. However, as far as the dichotomy in the vocabulary is concerned, it seems to have existed for a long time, because Iranian loanwords have undergone sound changes specific to Yassi. The isolated Upper-Yassis preserve their traditional society, with both Yassi language and religion.

Nowadays, more speakers use Upper Yassi though its area is less populated than the Lower Yas valley. It’s because Lower Yassis are assimilating into the Muslim-majority society and take over [[w:Wakhi language|Wakhi]].