Shina language

Shina
Shina
Gilgiti
ݜݨیاٗ; Ṣiṇyaá
	'Shina' (Ṣiṇyaá) written in the Arabic script (Nastaliq)
Pronunciation	[ʂiɳjá]
Native to	Pakistan, India
Region	Gilgit-Baltistan, Kohistan, Drass, Gurez
Ethnicity	Shina
Native speakers	1.1 million (2018)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Dardic Eastern Dardic Shinaic Shina; ; ; ; ; ;
Early forms	Proto-Indo-Aryan Vedic Sanskrit ;
Writing system	Arabic script (Nastaʿlīq)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either:; scl – Standard Shina; plk – Kohistani Shina
Glottolog	shin1264 Shina; kohi1248 Kohistani Shina
	Distribution of Shina language in Orange

Shina (ݜݨیاٗ, Ṣiṇyaá, [ʂiɳjá]), also known by its exonym Gilgiti, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic branch in the Indo-European family, primarily spoken by the Shina people native to northern Pakistan, specifically Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan. A small community of Shina speakers is also found in the Gurez valley of Jammu and Kashmir and Dras valley of Ladakh in India. Outliers of Shina language such as Brokskat are found in Ladakh, Kundal Shahi in Azad Kashmir, Palula and Sawi in Chitral and Kunar, Ushojo in the Swat Valley and Kalkoti in Dir.

Until recently, there was no writing system for the language. A number of schemes have been proposed, but presently, there is no single writing system used by speakers of Shina. Shina is mostly a spoken language and not a written language.

Due to the effects of dominant languages in Pakistani media like Urdu and English, in addition to the religious significance of Arabic and Persian, Shina is continuously expanding its vocabulary base with loan words. This process is also ongoing with that of many other languages in Pakistan.