Qardashi Language
| Qardashi | |
|---|---|
| قارداشى | |
 Qardashi written in Nastaliq | |
| Native to | Islamic Sultanate of Qardasha |
| Ethnicity | Qardashi |
Early forms | Proto-Qardashi
|
Standard forms |
|
| Perso-Arabic Script | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Qardasha  Exrio  Raviva  Islamic Emirate of Dairajistan  Islamic Emirate of Shamalistan  Emirate of Ropia  Islamic Emirate of Urdistan Checynia  Islamic Sultanate of Qarsherskiy |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Regulated by | Al-Mu'minoon Islamic Institute |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
The Qardaishan Language, also known as Ponaling (Qardashi: پآنا لينگ lit. Eloquent Speech) or more commonly known by its endonym, the Qardashi Language (Qardashi:طآكيے قارداشى, Tokiye Qardashi), is an Indo Iranian Language which started out as a Constructed Language but was classified as a natural language after natural progression and shift into the Indo-European Language Family. Qardashi is the official language of the Islamic Sultanate of Qardasha, the name being derived from Qardasha.
The language is a continuation of Middle Qardashi which is a continuation of Proto-Qardashi, both constructed languages. Proto-Qardashi was based on older Qardaishan languages as well as on Toki Pona. Middle Qardashi experienced heavy influence under Farsi and Arabic before being standardized into Modern Standard Qardashi, the current stage of the language.
Etymology
Qardashi is derived from Qardasha, which comes from the Azerbaijani word Qardaş meaning 'brother'.
History
Qardashi in it's earliest form was a dialect of Bengali known as "Qardashi Bengali", or Proto-Qardashi. This was spoken starting from early 2021 until late 2021, when the Sultan mixed Qardashi Bengali and Toki Pona to make a new form of the language, this was known as Middle Qardashi. Middle Qardashi was spoken from late 2021 to Late 2022. From October-December 2022, Qardashi went through a period of natural evolution, and became modern Qardashi, with the spelling, phonology, grammar, and vocabulary changing. The language became less like Toki Pona and more like Farsi during this time. Modern Qardashi was standardized in January 2023, with a new book being written with the expanded vocabulary, and new grammar.
Phonology
Standard Qardashi spoken in Islambol has these consonants and vowels:
/q/ is only used in proper names, and in practice, the letter Q, and its Perso-Arabic equivalent ق is pronounced like /g/ in most words.
Even though it is not in the chart, /f/ does occur in Qardashi as a distinct phoneme from /v/.
Orthography
Qardashi is written in the Perso-Arabic script and rarely the Latin Alphabet. In the Latin alphabet, Ş is /ʃ/, R is /ɾ/, Y is /j/, KH is /x/, CH is /tʃ/, (although it can be represented by Ç according to the Islamic Institute, this has never been attested in any writings, and CH is always used), and ZH is /ʒ/. Other than those letters, Qardashi is written according to the IPA in the Latin alphabet.
Qardashi spelling is mostly regular, however, there are many irregularities, such as 4 ways to say the letter ع, with no consistent way to tell when to write it. There are also some sounds with more than one letter for them, with no way to tell when to write them.
Purpose
Qardashi was created by Orzan bin Muhammad as a language for the Islamic Sultanate of Qardasha. With the language being derived from Toki Pona, it was intended to be easy to learn and speak. However, the language has a different grammar system than Toki Pona, with the language being heavily influenced by Farsi for vocabulary.
Use in the nation
Qardashi is the majority language in the country, with around 80% of the population living in Qardasha being able to speak it to some degree. It is the language of government, and most business in the government is conducted in Qardashi, but English is also used. TV and Radio broadcasts are all in Qardashi, except for foreign shows, as they are neither dubbed nor subtitled.
Grammar
Qardashi's word order is mainly Subject-Object-Verb but is sometimes Subject-Verb-Object The language makes use of particles and suffixes/prefixes to form sentences. In Qardashi, you can stack suffixes.
Verbs
Qardashi verbs are very simple, and the only exception is for the verb Hazhtam meaning "to be"
The verb root is both the infinitive and the present tense
The suffix -yazh is used to form past tense verbs
The suffix -zya is used to from future tense verbs
The present tense of the verb Hazhtam is ast and the other tenses are the verb suffixes themselves.
When the subject is Haz or Huz, meaning "This" and "That" respectively, -a is put at the end of the word to say "is", so "This is" would be Haza.
Negation
To negate something, usually the word La is used before the verb and Nist after. The word Ne can be used too, but this is unattested
The only exception is with the present tense of the verb Hazhtam, in which the negated form of the verb is Nist.
Such as sentences like "Pona Nist" which means "Not Good"
Affixes
Many words in Qardashi are made through affixes (prefixes and suffixes), and are used often
-iye is the suffix for making new words related to the root ex. Tokiye meaning "Language" from the word Toki meaning "talk"
-na is the suffix used for plurals. The only exception to this rule is for the word Lukin Ilow, in which the plural is not marked.
The words Al and Ul, meaning "The" and "Of" respectively, act as prefixes, but the other word for "Of", pi, does not act in the same way.
Sentence Structure
Qardashi uses the word order SOV most of the time. The only exception to this rule is when the particle e meaning "to" is used, then the object comes after the verb, like in SVO.
The adjective comes after the nouns or verbs they modify
Possession
Possession in Qardashi is marked with the particle ke after the subject. The only exception to this rule is if something is yours, ex. "My" or "Mine", then possession is marked with the suffix -am or -em, with am being a bit more common, but both are used often.
Literature and Culture
- See also: Islamic Sultanate of Qardasha
Also see: Islamic Culture
Qardashi Literature (Qardashi: كيتابنا پى قارداشى Kitabna pi Qardashi, lit. Books of Qardashi is one of the main fruits of the Qardashi language, with Qardashi literature greatly affecting the culture of Qardasha. Influenced by Farsi Literature and Urdu Literature, it is mainly dominated by poetry. Qardashi literature, or mainly Qardashi poetry, has a strong Islamic theme from topics of love to the oneness of God.
Dialects
The standard dialect of Qardashi is the dialect of Islambol, the capitol city, however, there are different dialects. These include:
Carolinian Dialect, spoken in the Carolinian province of Qardasha
Northern Dialect, spoken in the Northern provinces of Qardasha
Sample Texts
Poem
حذا الما آلقارداشينا
Haza al-ma ul-qardashina
This is the land of the Qardaishans
السلام اى تو يا عليدستكر بگ، يا بابا
Al-salam ey to ya Alidastkar beh, ya baba
A saulte to you O Alidastkar Bey, O father
تو كے زينديگى ى پآنا و ظآليگينا تو ى مآلى
To ke zindigi e pona va zolegeena to e moli
May your life be good and may your enemies perish
اى تو كهت نام ى قارداشى، طآكى ڤيكتورى آو مآلى
Ey to keht nam e Qardashi, toki viktorii ou moli
Oh you whose name is Qardaishan, say 'Victory or death'