Kashmiri (कॉशुर, کٲشُر Koshur) is a northwestern Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley in India and Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. It has about 4,611,000 speakers: 4,391,000 of whom reside in India and 105,000 of whom reside in Pakistan. While Kashmiri belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family of languages it is sometimes placed in a geographical sub-grouping called Dardic. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.
Kashmiri has remained a spoken language up to the present time. Though some manuscripts were written in the past in the Sharada script, and then in Perso-Arabic script, Kashmiri is now written in either the Perso-Arabic script (with some modifications) or the Devanagari script. Among languages written in the Perso-Arabic script, Kashmiri is practically unique, in that it regularly indicates all vowel sounds.
Literacy in Kashmiri is continuously neglected for political reasons and due to lack of formal education in it. It is now mostly relevant in its spoken form, and the speakers of this language are also decreasing in number. Note that the primary official language of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is not Kashmiri, but Urdu. Some Kashmiri speakers use English or Hindi as a second language. In the past few decades, Kashmiri was introduced as a subject at the university and the colleges of the Kashmir Valley. Attempts are being made to include Kashmiri in school curriculum.
There are 17 vowels and 27 consonants in Kashmiri.
; ė: As in Op__e__n ; ë: Extended ė ; å: Same as e in p__e__rturb ; ä: Extended sound of a ; a: same as u in u__p ; ā: As u in u__p ; i: as i in s__i__t ; ī: as ee in s__ee ; u: as u in p__u__t ; ū: as oo in z__oo ; ê: as e in t__e__n ; e: as a in p__a__y ; ō: as o in __o__h! ; ö: as wo in s__wo__t ; o: as o in h__o__me ; ņ: as n in si__n__g ; ~: as i in s__i__p spoken faintly
; k: same as c in __c__at ; kh: same as kh in __kh__an ; g: as g in g__ot ; c: as zz in pi__zz__a ; çh: sounds like ts as in hu__ts ; c: same as ch in __ch__in ; ch: same as ch in __ch__urch ; j: same as j in __j__ug ; th: as in __th__atch ; d: like th in __th__en ; n: as n in __n__o ; ţ: like t in __t__eacher ; ţh: as th in __th__ug ; đ: as d in __d__id ; p: as p in __p__en ; ph: as f in __f__all ; b: like b in __b__oy ; m: like m in __m__an ; y: like y in __y__es ; r: like r in __r__ed ; l: like l in __l__eg ; v: as v in __v__an ; sh: as sh in __sh__e ; s: as s in __s__o ; z: as z in __z__oo ; h: as h in __h__ow
; Hello : Talking to a Muslim (Assalām ‘alaikum), Talking to a Hindu (Namaskār) ; Hello (informal): halo ; How are you?: Toh chiv väri ? ; Fine, thank you: Ähansa, Me-Hur-Ba-e-Ni ; What is your name?: Çê kyāh chuy nāv ? ; My name is ______: _Be chus ______ ; Nice to meet you: Tö-hi Mel-Yiţh Gā-Yi Ma War-Yah Kush-Ti ; Please: Ba-Lai La-Gai ; Thank you: Me-Hur-Ba-e-Ni ; Yes: Ên ; No: Na ; Goodbye: Talking to a Muslim (Assalām ‘alaikum), Talking to a Hindu (Namaskār) ; I can't speak Kashmiri: Mê chunė käshur tagān ; Do you speak English?: Çė chukhė aņgrīz bolān ? ; I don't understand: Mê chunė phikrī tagān
; What is this ? : Yi Kyāh chu ? ; What do you want?: Çê Kyāh gaçhiy ?
;Zero: Siphar ; One: Akh ; Two: Zė ; Three: Trê ; Four: Çor ; Five: Pāņçh ; Six: Shê ; Seven: Sath ; Eight: Äţh ; Nine: Nav ; Ten: Dāh
What is the time?: Vakhėt kyāh āv? or Kāç bajeyi?
The time is five o clock: Vakhėt chu pāņçi baji
; Sunday: Āthvār ; Monday: Çāņdėrvār ; Tuesday: Bomvār ; Wednesday: Bödvār ; Thursday: Brêsvār ; Friday: Jumāh (Talking to a Muslim), Shakurvār (Talking to a Hindu) ; Saturday: Baţėvār
; Black: Krūhun ; Blue: Ņyūl ; Brown: Dālcīn ; Colour: Raņg ; Orange: Saņgtar ; Red: Vözul ; Yellow: Lyōdur ; Dark: Shokh ; Green: Sabėz ; Grey: Sūr ; Light: Halkė ; Purple: Lājėvār ; White: Saphed
Where from does the bus leave?: Bas kati pêţhė chi nerān?
; Left: Kho-vur ; Right: Daçhyan ; How many kilometres?: Kaç kilomitar dūr? ; How far away is the city?: Shāhr kotāh dūr chu?
Where is the taxi?: Taxi kati chu?
Where is the hotel?: Hotel kati chu?
Where is the restaurant?: Restaurant kati chu?
How much is it?: Yi kotāh chu ?
Who is the boss (officer) here?: Yêti kus chu aphsar?