ABSTRACT
Wakhi (Tajik Persian wakhī, self-designation x̌ik; Khowar xikwar, Burushaski guīski, Shina guitsaá) is an Eastern Iranian Pamir language. In Tajikistan and Afghanistan, Wakhi villages are situated on both banks of the Panj River (? upper Amu Darya, Oxus) below the confluence of the Wakhan River. On the Tajikistan side, Wakhi villages extend from Namadgut to Ratm, interspersed with a few Tajiki settlements. On the Afghanistan side, settlements stretch from Pbltur, near Ishkashem, to Sarhad on the upper reaches of the Wakhan River. In Pakistan, the main settlements are in Gojal, including part of the upper Hunza valley and the Shimshal and Chapursan valleys; in Ishkoman; and the upper Yarkhun valley in Chitral. In China, two separate settlement clusters are in Dafdar (Sarikol) and the towns of Kilian and Sanja (Pishan) (Kreutzmann 1996: 137).
