Endangered languages of Pakistan

“Domaki”

Madiha Shams

 Also Known As:  Dumaki, Dumākī, Doma, Dardu

Classification:    Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Northwestern Zone    

       

 Code Authority:    ISO 639-3

Language Code

: Dmk

Speaking  Attitude : Negative

Number of Speakers: 350 speakers worldwide

Government and Institutional Support: No

Other Languages used by the Community:   Burushaski, Shina, Urdu

Location Description: Mainly Mominabad in the Hunza valleys and Domyaal in  the Negar valley of Nothern Pakistan.

Occupation of the Native Speakers:  The traditional occupations of the Domaaki speakers are blacksmiths and musicians.

Cause of Endangerment: Though a lot of literature has been written in the language but

it’s speakers have abandoned it because of the negative connotations associated with it.

Some Information about the Language:

Due to their ethnicity, the Domaaki have a lower social status and are generally discriminated by their surrounding society. In order to purse a better opportunity for education or occupation, the Domaaki tend to hide or give up their own group identity. "[I]t is even officially approved by Dooma community leaders in Hunza, who already in the 1990s actively encouraged young and old to use the local majority tongue while talking to each other." (Weinreich 2010)

Amin Hamza (2014) in “Voice of the North Hunza Pakistan” writes, the small community in Mominabad is willingly and knowingly switching over to Burushaski, because of a ‘cultural-shame’ about their language. The ruling elite in Hunza along with local communities, intellectuals, scholars and writers who have studied this socially and linguistically distinct group must all share the blame for causing humiliation to the language of Mominabad by naming it Domaaki, which literally means ‘the language of the Doms’.

 Hence, when we say Domaaki for the vanishing language of Mominabad, we characterise it as ‘the language of low-castes’. Imagine the feeling of insult if someone in Pakistan is addressed as a low-caste or his/her mother tongue is labelled as the language of low-level people.

It also means the disappearance of whatever little knowledge of humanity the language community might have in store. The death of a language is the loss of oral literature, sayings, proverbs, riddles and beautiful songs, which add colour to our rich cultural heritage.

Let’s hear Mominabad’s call to end the characterisation of their language. Let’s embrace the community and its language. One possible way to show our love to the Mominabad language is to stop calling it Domaaki and give it a decent name: Mominaaki!