Kholosi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in two villages in southern Iran that was first described in 2008. At its current status, the language is considered endangered. In 2008, it was only spoken in the neighboring villages of Kholus and Gotav. As it is located on the Iranian Plateau and surrounded by Iranian languages, it draws heavily from them.
Classification Kholosi is definitively known to be an Indo-Aryan language albeit with significant lexical borrowing from Iranian languages given its geographical location. At the lexical level, it seems to share vocabulary largely with the Sindhi languages, which are the source of other Indo-Aryan migrations to the Middle East such as Luwati in Oman.
Phonology While no published phonology has been found on Kholosi, the following phonology has been constructed from examples provided in the sources below. +VowelsFrontCentralBack Highiu Mideːoː Low ɑ ɑː Kholosi also contains the diphthongs /ɑi, ɑw, ow/ and possibly others. +ConsonantsLabialAlveolarPostalveolarRetroflexPalatalVelarGlottalNasalsmnɳŋ*Stopsp bt dt͡ʃ d͡ʒk ɡFricativesf vs zʂxhApproximantsljTapsɽTrillsr Note*: The phonemes marked with an asterisk are assumed based on the structure of the attested phonemes.
Grammar Anonby and Bahmani (2013) made some brief notes on Kholosi grammar, but so far no grammatical sketch nor a full grammar of the language has been documented.
Morphology
Nouns and noun phrases Nouns have inherent grammatical gender, and adjectives agree in gender with the head noun. Attributive adjectives follow the head noun, unlike other Indo-Aryan languages. Numerals precede the head noun.
Verbs and verb phrases Kholosi uses several light verbs to form noun-verb compounds. This is a common feature of Indo-Iranian languages.
The adverb precedes the verb it modifies.
Case and adpositions Kholosi has noun-suffixed postpositions (e.g. the genitive marker -jo which agrees with the gender of the possessor) as characteristic of Indo-Aryan languages.
Syntax Kholosi is a verb-final language with SOV word order.
Vocabulary Kholosi has roughly twice the number of Indo-Aryan terms in its basic lexicon than Iranian borrowings. The primary source of Iranian borrowings is Persian, but Larestani and Bandari (in the same geographical area) also appear to have contributed vocabulary.
A high degree of similarity with Indo-Aryan languages
Indo-Aryan vocabulary in Kholosi English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani ear guš kān kanu kan kān kan stomach šekam pēt pēʈ pēʈ pētˤ per throat galu nāɽi naɽī nəɽī qandī kerlo neck gardan gēči ɠičī, ɠātō kand gər(ək) korr blood xun rāt ratu rat rat rat urine edrār, šāš meter muʈru mutar mutur muter maternal uncle dāi momo māmo māmā mām kako dog sag kotoro kutō kottrō snōta džukel tail dom pēč pučʰu pučʰ(ɽi) panč(ək) porri snake mār sap nā̃gu sap sap sap meat gušt māz gūšt/mas gōs māsī mas egg toxme morġ āɳo bēdō/ano īnō āna anro dirt xāk māti miʈī/mati/dhur/dazu/mer maʈī dūl mel water āb puni pāɳī pāɳī pānī pani rain bārān meh mīh̃ã βarsād wārsīnda brišind old (thing) kohne peroɳo purāɳō, pōɽʰō, jhuni junō, purānō pnāra purano heavy sangin gāwro ɠarō bʰāɽi grāna pharo dry xošk sako suko sukō, sukelō — sukho black syāh kāro kārō kārō qāla kalo
Kholosi Indo-Iranian vocabulary aligned with Indo-Aryan sound changes English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani hand dast hāt hatʰu hatʰ xašt vast tooth dandān dānd ᶑãndu dəndʰ dānd dand fish māhi māči mačʰī məčʰī mačča mačho star setāre taro tārō tārō yēldəz čerxaj three seh tereda ʈī/tre trē trən trin round gerd golāndo gōl gōl čōrm- — say goftan vetai čaβaɳ čōnũ ft- phen- this in he hī hī hā kado/a-
A significant proportion of structures shared with neighbouring Iranian languages
Iranian vocabulary in Kholosi English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani head sar, kalle kallo matʰō matʰō sər šero nose bini, damāġ domāġ naku pan nāk nakh bone ostoxān assaxān haɖō həɖ xar(ək) kokalo leaf barg barg panu pan kāġatˤ patrin root riše rišo pāɽa mūɽ — drab dust gard gard dʰuɽ rajj, dʰuɽ ġabare porrik cloud abr awr jʰuɽ, kakar βəɖar ġēm lučh summer tābestān tābesān unahāɽo ūnārō awasār nilaj winter zemestān zemesān siāro siyārō slāla jivend iron āhan āhan lohu lō ḥadīd sastro think fekr kard feker kai sōčaɳ sōčiɳũ fikr kar- —
Words illustrating the local character of Iranian vocabulary in Kholosi English Persian Kholosi Remarks scorpion aġrab akrab cf. Lārestani (Evaz), Keshmi akrab cloud abr awr cf. Bushehri, Keshmi, S. Luri awr sand šen, māse lamer cf. Lārestani (Lār) lamr chicken morġ čūki cf. Lārestani (Lār) čikala whistling sut fitak, sūt cf. Bandari (Bushehr) fike, Keshmi fištak
Lack of contrastive aspiration on stops in Kholosi
English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani tall boland taɽgo ɖrigho lamō, dʰərgō dərga, drōnga —skin pust xāl kʰala, čamɽī čam, čamɽi qal morthi cold sard tāzo tʰādʰō tʰādʰō sīlda tato weave bāft sībai uɳaɳu sibʰīnũ sīw- khuv-hand dast hāt hatʰu hatʰ xašt vasttail dom pēč pučʰu pučʰ, pučʰ ɽipanč(ək) porrifish māhi māči mačʰī məčʰī mačča mačho
A full fricative series in Kholosi
English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani all hame sāf sabh sabʰai marē, mərē sa sagrass alaf(/giyāh) xāz gāhu gā gās čarant murče moxoro makoɽo mākuɽō mōrī, mˤōri kiri big bozorg vazzo Vaᶑō βaᶑō drōnga baronear nazdik vāzo vējʰō bājūme čanč- paš-
Lack of an implosive series in Kholosi
English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani heavy sangin gāwro ɠarō bʰāɽi grāna pharoneck gardan gēči ɠičī, ɠātō kand gər(ək) kerlotwo do bāro ɓa bə dī, dədī dujbuy xarid genai vathanu ɠəɳnũ pār- kin-swell motavarrem šod sojo suʄaɳ soʄnũ — šuvľ-
Complex predicates in Kholosi
English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani walk ġadam zad vāt viyo halaɳ halnũ raw- phir-stand up boland šod bolan to bīhaɳ uʈʰinũ, ubʰotʰīnũ št- ašt-lie down derāz kešid sɑ̄ to halaɳ halnũ — pašl-fly parvāz kard pall kerɑmai uᶑraɳ, ūᶑaɳ uɖnũ fər- urn-swim šenā kard šenow kai taraɳ βenjinũ, tar karīnũ — nan-
Distinctive structures in Kholosi
Distinctive Kholosi vocabulary English Persian Kholosi Sindhi Kutchi Domari Romani hair mu lō βāra βāɽ wāl bal mouth dahān, dahan vāt muhũ, vat mō məh mujknee zānu āɽak gōᶑō gū̃nʈʰō lūlək kočman mard kozoro maɳʰū̃ bʰāi māɽū, marad mnəs muršchild bače viyow ɓāru bačō qər, putr čhavostone sang rōxo paʈʰar paʈʰar, paʈʈʰar wāʈ barrfire āteš mangal bāhi ʈānɖʰō āg jagsmall kuček nōko nanɖʰō nənɖʰo qətˤka cikno full por dang bʰaryal bʰarelō, pūrō, saʄō bardˤa pherdo one yek poko hik akro yēka, yōka jekhtie bastan pālai ɓadʰaɳ bandʰinũ — phand-
References
Further reading Nourzaei, Maryam. "On orality and the sociolinguistic situation of the Kholosi community." Orientalia Suecana 72 (2023): 47-68.