Linguistic Repertoire and Sociolinguistic Contexts for Acquisition of Burushaski and Other Languages by Burushos of Kashmir

Burushaski, Pashto, Dardi and Gojri are regarded as minority languages as their speakers are demographically lower in number in Jammu and Kashmir and the natives of these languages use Kashmiri or Urdu in formal domains. Burushaski, also known by the names of Boorishki, Brugaski, Kanjut, Werchikwar and Mishaski is a language isolate spoken by some 87, 000 Burusho people in Hunza, Nagar and Yasin area of Northern Pakistan. Linguistically, Burushaski has been termed as a language isolate because it does not characterize the genetic relationship with the surrounding language families like Indic, Sino-Tibetan, Dardic etc. Ethnologue (2005) mentions Burushaski speakers in India but does not provide about the specific information about the number of speakers and their exact location. According to the members of this speech community 300-350 Burushos live in Srinagar. Burushaski speakers of Jammu and Kashmir are settled in and around a small locality by the foothills of Hariparbat in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The locality is known as Mohalla Azur Khan, named after Raja Azur Khan. Jammu and Kashmir Burushos are also reported to live in Tral (Pulwama), Batamaloo, and Dandusa in Bemina area of Srinagar. The present paper aims to study the sociolinguistic context for acquisition of Burushaski and other languages known to Burushos of Kashmir.