Language contact on the Indo-Iranian frontier: a study on the historical phonology of Prasun and Yidgha-Munji

The project investigates the phonological prehistory of Prasun, an aberrant Nuristani language spoken in the Hindu Kush, and its Iranian contact languages Munji and Yidgha. The aim is to determine whether Prasun’s unusual features are due to recent restructuring and Iranian contact or reflect its position as the earliest branch of Nuristani. Another aim is to reconstruct Proto-Yidgha-Munji from its two living, highly endangered descendants and their dialect continua, and investigate the relationship of Munji and Yidgha to Ancient Bactrian and their position within the contested East Iranian family tree.