Reflections on the historical lexicology of the Iranian languages of the Western Pamirs

The article examines the indigenous vocabulary of the northwestern Pamir languages, the genetic commonality of which has been established on the basis of comparison at all language levels. The paper presents data on the development of vocabulary in these languages, taking into account their history and mutual interaction, as well as the influence of other languages, primarily Tajik. Interesting lexical and semantic facts are revealed, offering a new perspective on the relationship between etymologies of words originating from a single Indo-European root on the one hand, and modern vocabulary items on the other. The article examines word-formation processes and identifies certain words that are formed from the same Proto-Iranian roots common to the Yazghulami language and the Shughnani-Rushani group. These lexical items are constructed with the help of various formants, such as the feminine suffix *-ā and the suffix *-(a)ka, which was productive in the Shughnani-Rushani group. In addition, based on various mental associations demonstrated by speakers of Shughnani and Yazghulami, lexical items are identified that derive from various Proto-Iranian roots denoting movement and state, such as those signifying “to go, to walk” and “to become, to get started, turn out to be”; these evolved through the long-term polarization of the expression of active and passive state by verbs denoting movement. The hypothesis is proposed that word-formation processes in these languages were active up to and throughout the 19th century. The paper emphasizes that in the current era of globalization, with the prevailing influence of mainstream literary languages, the lexical system of minority languages needs to be studied and documented with extra rigor.