Dardic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pertaining to a group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken primarily in northern Pakistan and parts of India; relating to the peoples who speak these languages; descriptive of cultural or linguistic traits associated with these populations
2. Concerning the branch of Indo-Aryan languages found in the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent; connected to the ethnic groups using these dialects; characterizing the linguistic or ethnic features of this community
3. Associated with a subset of Indo-Aryan tongues native to mountainous areas of South Asia; referring to the communities identifying with these languages; indicating cultural and linguistic attributes linked to this regional group

Etymology: The Dards were a people of the Hindu Kush and the upper Indus valley, and "Dardic" is the English term for the Indo-Aryan languages spoken among them. The adjective is simply the name "Dard" with the suffix "-ic" attached, the same ending that appears in words like "Celtic" or "Semitic". Here the suffix has a long pedigree: it passed through Latin "-icus" and Old French "-ique" before reaching Middle English as "-ik", and English settled on the "-ic" spelling. The suffix's own story is the real thread here. In Latin "-icus" was an adjective-forming ending, and it reached English in the way many scientific and learned adjectives did. Because the ending was productive, English speakers could attach it to almost any name of a people or place, and "Dardic" follows that pattern directly.

Synonyms: Indo-Aryan