# Kashmiri phrasebook

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?