Omkar N.
Wakhlu & Bharat Wakhlu
Preface
The
book is meant for two categories of readers. Firstly it will serve the large
number of Kashmiri speaking people who would like to express themselves in
several ways. Secondly this book will help those who wish to learn Kashmiri and
are familiar with English. It will especially enable visitors to Kashmir to
express themselves in spoken Kashmiri. They could also appreciate better the
cultural life of the people of Kashmir.
The 21st century is the era of
the personal computer and Global Inf.mp3ation Access. The roman script for
Kashmiri is therefore, likely to be the most popular with Kashmiri speaking
people the world over. They can read excellent prose and poetry in the language.
Better still, they can write their own creative thoughts with ease. Personal
correspondence also can be done more effectively in the mother tongue. At
present a lot of excellent, creative oral literature in Kashmiri is being lost
to posterity for ever.
The simplest way to learn a
language is to do it the way a child does. Children hear the words, learn them
by heart and then repeat them as often as they can till they master the words
and sentences as a whole. Adults can do it too in a playful, relaxed and
innocent way without feeling shy. Children can indeed, learn any language faster
then an adult does.
Repetition is necessary until
the most used words and sentences are on the tip of your tongue to be used
whenever you need to do so.
The alphabet of the Kashmiri
language is introduced in Chapter 1 with a corresponding phonetic guide through
use of the English language. Kashmiri is a purely phonetic tongue and each
letter of the alphabet has only one sound in all usages. This renders
pronunciation quite easy. Then words have been given, followed by counting
numbers. Some notes on Kashmiri grammar have been gradually introduced.
Most useful words and sentences,
which you must know, are given in the book. These can be easily memorized. A
classified list of useful words is also given for the benefit of non Kashmiri
speaking people. The words have been grouped together in a logical subject
related, rather than alphabetical order, which is easy for daily use.
Some common Kashmiri proverbs
have been included in the book besides a few specimens of prose and poetry.
Samples of letter writing have been given in order to encourage the use of
Kashmiri for private and official purposes.
- ONW
- BW
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