Kashmiri

Kashmiri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, with smaller communities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and among diaspora groups worldwide. Estimates of speakers run in the several millions. It is often classified by linguists within the Dardic subgroup of Indo-Aryan languages, though sub-classifications vary and its precise placement is debated. Kashmiri has long served as a vehicle of literary and cultural expression in the region and has influenced neighboring languages through history.

The primary writing system for Kashmiri is the Perso-Arabic script, written in a variant known as Kashmiri Nastaliq. Devanagari is also used for Kashmiri in parts of India, particularly in education and public materials, and historically the Sharada script was used. The language has absorbed loanwords from Persian and Arabic, reflecting centuries of cultural contact, as well as from Urdu and English in modern times.

Linguistically, Kashmiri typically uses a subject–object–verb (SOV) word order and relies on postpositions rather than prepositions. It features gender and number agreement in nouns and adjectives, and verbs agree with the subject in person and number. The phonology includes a rich consonant inventory and a vowel system with distinctions in length and quality, along with loanword adaptations from neighboring languages.

Kashmiri has a substantial literary tradition, including medieval poets such as Lal Ded (Lalleshwari) and Nooruddin Noorani, and it continues to be used in contemporary poetry, journalism, and media. It is one of the scheduled languages of India and remains a core element of Kashmiri identity and culture.