Alternate Names: Khik, Khikwar, Vakhan, Wakhani, Wakhigi
Dialects: Dialect intelligibility reportedly not a serious problem even with those in other countries, although intelligibility may not be complete on initial contact between speakers from different countries. Lexical similarity: 84% with Ishkoman and Gojal dialects, 89% with Yasin and Gojal, 91% with Ishkoman and Yasin.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 17,000 in Afghanistan (2011 S. Beck), increasing. Population total all countries: 58,000. Ethnic population: 17,000.
Language Use: Vigorous. Home, community, work. All ages. Positive attitudes. 5,000 also use Dari [prs]. Men are bilingual in Dari in order to function in every-day situations. Very few women are bilingual.
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%. Literacy rate in L2: 3%–15%. Pilot L1 literacy project ongoing (2012). Poetry. New media. Radio programs. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible portions: 2001.
Typology: SOV.
Writing System: Arabic, Cyrillic, Latin
Nation of Origin: Afghanistan
Other Comments: Muslim (Ismaili).