Badeshi - an 'extinct' language spoken by only three people
Enlisted as an Indo-Aryan language, which was once spoken widely in northern Pakistan, Badeshi is now considered extinct. Photo: BBC
(Web Desk) – Theen haal khale thi? - How do you do?
There are probably just three men left in the world, who would be able to understand this sentence.
In the deep remote snow-clad valley of northern Pakistan, lie some of the oldest and rarest languages. Badeshi, enlisted as an Indo-Aryan language, which was once spoken widely in northern Pakistan, is now considered extinct.
Ethnologue, that enlists all the world’s languages, states that it has had no known speakers for three or more generations.
According to BBC, there are only three old men left in the world, who can still speak Badeshi.
“A generation ago, Badeshi was spoken in the entire village,” said Rahim Gul speaking to the BBC. He doesn t know how old he is, but looks over 70.
The men believe the language will end when they die. Photo: BBC
"But then we brought women from other villages [for marriage] who spoke Torwali language. Their children spoke in their mother tongue, so our language started dying out."
Torwali, a dominant language in this remote area, which itself is being dominated by Pashtu language, is pushing Badeshi to the brink of extinction.
"Now our children and their children speak Torwali," said Said Gul, Rahim Gul s first cousin. "So who should we speak our own language with?"
Said Gul also doesn t know his own age. When he said he was 40, somebody corrected him. "It s more like 80!" Said Gul quickly shot back, "No, may be 50, but not 80!"
With no job opportunities in their region, these men in search of jobs headed towards the Swat District, where they picked up Pashtu and now mainly communicate in that language.
With no opportunities to use Badeshi, over the decades, even these three men have started forgetting the language. Even while conversing among each other in Badeshi, Rahim Gul and Said Gul forget the words and could only remember after prodding from the others.
None of their children can speak the language; Rahim Gul’s grandchildren speak Torwali.
"My mother was a Torwali speaker, so my parents didn t speak any Badeshi in the house. I didn t get a chance to pick it up in childhood. I know a few words, but don t know the language. All my children speak Torwali.”
Torwali, a dominant language in this remote area, which itself is being dominated by Pashtu language, both has affected the dying language Badeshi. Photo: BBC
"I do regret it, but now that I m 32 there is no chance I can learn Badeshi. I m very sad at the prospect that this language will die out with my father."
According to Sagar Zaman, a linguist who is affiliated with the Forum for Language Initiative, an NGO dedicated to the promotion and preservation of endangered languages of Pakistan, during his travels to this remote area, no one spoke the language in front of him.
"Other linguists and I were able to collect a hundred or so words which suggested that this language belongs to Indo-Aryan sub family of languages," said Zaman.
Zaman says the other reasons why the language is almost extinct is the stigma attached to Badeshi and how people speaking Pashtu and Torwali look down upon those speaking Badeshi.
