An Ethnolinguistic Analysis and a Sketch Grammar of Torwali Language: An Approach to Support Mother Tongue Education in Swat Valley, Pakistan

Abstract

The promotion and preservation of the Torwali language, an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Torwali people an ethnolinguistic group residing in Pakistan's Swat district, Pakistan, is crucial to ensuring its sustained use and recognition in educational and community contexts. Torwali is classified as within the Dardic group of Himalayan languages under the broader Indo-Aryan family. The population of Torwali speakers is approximately 140,000 (Torwali & Troy, 2021). The primary town for the Torwali community is Bahrain, located approximately 65 kilometres north of Mingora in Swat District, Pakistan, at an elevation of 4700 ft along the Swat River's western bank. According to Torwali (forthcoming), the majority of the community resides in the valley stretching from Madyan to Kalam, including the Chail Valley near Madyan, while approximately 20–25% of Torwali speakers have gradually relocated to major urban centres in Pakistan, such as Karachi, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, and Quetta (Torwali, 2021). This thesis is about the Torwali people, their language, e, identity and geographical context. It also contains a critical analysis of existing grammatical sketches of the Torwali language, providing commentary and insights from the perspective of a community member, an approach undertaken for the first time. It investigates historical research on Torwali language and assesses strategies for integrating it into the (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) education system. Historically, Pakistan's education system has neglected most Indigenous languages, with formal support given only to a few with larger populations. This research aims to provide a valuable resource for my community, researchers and educators in developing multilingual education programs for Torwali and other minority groups in northern Pakistan.