The Pamirian Languages: Between Past and Future (the case of the Shughni language)

The Pamirian Tajiks live in the high mountainous valleys of Pamir in the Republic of Tajikistan. They preserved ancient East Iranian languages and their indigenous culture. It is estimated that more than 150,000 native speakers live in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous region (GBAO) of the Republic of Tajikistan. The paper examines the state of the Pamirian languages (based on the example of the Shughni language) during the Soviet times, as well as during the independence period of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The article consists of two parts, which present the history and the formation of peculiarities in the Pamirian languages during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. Despite the significant progress achieved in this area, still much work needs to be done to preserve the Pamirian languages. One of the priorities is to state the presence of these languages during the upcoming population census in the Republic of Tajikistan in 2020.