Introduction

The Burushaski language is spoken by estimated 150-180,000 people living mostly in the mountains of North Pakistan. There are three dialects spoken in Pakistan: Hunza, Nagar and Yasin Burushaski. This dictionary for the Hunza dialect is compiled from self-collected data only, and it is a work in progress that will be updated continually.

The writing system is based on Roman letters and largely in line with the one used by the Burushaski Research Academy, except for giving preference to internationally practiced ways of representing sounds rather than English ways of writing, e.g.

[i] is written /i/ and not /e/, similarly [ii] is /ii/ and not /ee/

[uu] is written /u/ and not /oo/

Diphthongs are written as a sequence of two vowels, e.g. /ai/ or /ei/, and not /ay/ and /ey/. /y/ is interpreted as a consonant glide.

Please make us aware of any mistakes on the contact page, and about anything that does not work on this website, as it is in its trial stage.

Astrid Bechtholdt for Burushaski LS