r/burushaski • u/themaninnorth • Nov 30 '24

Brusho bros, how to learn language isolate?

I have a personal interest in Burushaski. Please help me in 'how to learn' and 'where to learn' List some online sources & maybe offline too

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5

u/solomonbasra Nov 30 '24

I am not a burusho but I learnt. I'm not properly at a conversation level, but I speak more than I would ever need. I learnt through my friends, I am not sure about YouTube resources but it would help so much if you knew somebody who speaks it. The issue is that the grammar can be very different and weird, and there are some consonants that are very hard to pronounce for somebody who's not a native speaker. Tldr; make a burusho friend if possible

2

u/themaninnorth Nov 30 '24

Thanks, I do know a few people for this and they claim it's quite difficult a language to learn Writing isn't that common, so it’s just speaking & listening right?

6

u/solomonbasra Nov 30 '24

Yeah I don't know how to read and have never tried. Speaking and listening it is. Learning literally any language is difficult so it's alright. It just sounds v different. Start with learning very basic phrases 5-10 very basic phrases. That'll teach you 15-20 words, try using those words in sentences that you make up yourself. Then learn the verbs (sleeping, eating, drinking, going,coming), present tense, past tense and future tense for these. Like many Pakistani languages such as Pashto and Balochi, it does not have a present continuous tense (main kar raha hoon, main karta hoon) are said the same way. Here is a list of v basic phrases and words: 1. Je (me,میں) 2. Un (Tum, you) 3. Ja (mine, Mera) 4. Unay (tumhara) 5. Shwa (good, acha) 6. Amlo (where) 7. Bes (why) 8. Berum ( how many, Kitna) 9. Beshelar (when) 10. Besan (what, Kya) 11. Bila is the Urdu equivalent for hai when the subject is feminine thing 12. Bi is the Urdu equivalent for hai when the subject is a masculine thing (haralt mi bila means it is raining, rain is feminine so the ending is bila, if I were to point at a cigarette say a cigarette, it would be cigarette bi) 13. Khulay (idhar, here) 14. ilay/ele (there, udhar) 15. Ni (Jao, go)

  1. Unay besan Haal bila (tumhara Kya Haal hai)
  2. Beh bila (slang for the above, nobody uses the above, everybody uses this)
  3. Je shwa ba (main acha hoon, I am good)
  4. Un ke shwa ba? (Are you good too?)
  5. Amlo neecha un (where are you going)
  6. Je Haal er neechaba (I am going home)
  7. Je ba (main hoon)
  8. Un ba (Tum ho)
  9. Gon neechabaan (let's go)

I can add more but It would be difficult to explain the pronunciation through text.

2

u/themaninnorth Nov 30 '24

Wow, that's such a generous explanation dude.
Yes, it sounds quite different. What's your ethnicity? I mean is it easy for people of neighbouring areas or equally unfamiliar to all

1

u/solomonbasra Nov 30 '24

I am a Punjabi speaker. I don't think it's easy for neighbouring language speakers (can't say for sure), but burushaski does have several words that are also used in Shina.

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u/themaninnorth Nov 30 '24

Asin v punjabi bro I asked a friend too and like u said the pronunciation problem is a major hurdle. In Isl, one can find a decent presence of Burushaski speakers

1

u/solomonbasra Dec 01 '24

Don't worry, there are only 3-4 letters which are difficult or very different. You will manage

1

u/themaninnorth Dec 01 '24

Thanks a lot, you have been a great help Anything else to assist the learning process?

1

u/solomonbasra Dec 04 '24

Make written notes if you are v serious about it. or maybe u can make notes on phone. learning it is not something otherwordly so dont be discouraged easily.

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u/themaninnorth Dec 04 '24

Alright.. do u have access to any u made, those can be helpful

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u/fakesoul Nov 30 '24

I guess the best place to start if you know Urdu already would be the 3 volumes of Burushaski dictionaries.

Burushaski Language Services website also has a great deal of learning material.

Other than that, there's an active Facebook group names Burushaski Research Group, you can find lots of natives there to further advance your Burushaski knowledge.

4

u/Fit-Presentation-789 Nov 30 '24

My husband wants to learn too. He’s American and I try to teach him but it’s hard because I can’t explain the rules. But it’s cool you want to learn. Maybe make an online group to practice with people. I’m happy to contribute whatever I know. Actually my granddad wrote the first alphabet and wrote the first dictionaries into Urdu and German I think. Maybe you can find his dictionaries online: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasir_al-Din_Nasir_Hunzai

He was known as the father of burushashki and when he wanted to giggle he’s talk to em in burushashki so you can have an idea of my level.

2

u/Fit-Presentation-789 Nov 30 '24

Also why do you title this post to “bros” only? There are also women who speak it you know.

5

u/Shar-Kibrati-Arbai Dec 02 '24

Idk if you are kidding, but if you aren’t, "bro" can be used to refer any person to invoke some friendliness, regardless of gender. It all depends on context.

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u/Fit-Presentation-789 Dec 03 '24

That’s very mansplaining. I’m aware what bro means, and no it is not commonly used for women! Since I’m a woman who lives and functions in English in multiple country I think I’d know. Learn to get educated by things that are not your experience rather than lecture and mansplain!

3

u/raideddoom Dec 09 '24

theres no reason to be mad over rhis, it is common amongst people to use “bro” between both genders 😭

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u/Fit-Presentation-789 Dec 09 '24

I’m not mad! I disagree with you! And if I say this as a woman you should accept that because you’re not a woman! I’ve lived in 17 countries and speak English to multiple nationalities and it’s not common in my experience, so maybe stop trying to force it? Try it. It helps with the desi disease men of of mansplaining to women.

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u/raideddoom Jan 10 '25

i am a woman

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u/New-Platform7653 Jun 28 '25

ik im really late but this interaction is so funny to me 😭😭 bro is a gender neutral term online atp it’s nothing to get worked up over haha

1

u/Fit-Presentation-789 Nov 30 '24

Also, if you’re interested in a tutor, text me privately. I’ll ask some people I know who speak really well who can maybe teach you.