Memoni Language

Memoni is a unwritten language which is spoken by (in its different versions) by at least 2 to 5 million people. Technically the Memoni  is a language of Memons  who are a minor linguistics  group, in subcontinent that are  identified as mainstream Sunni Muslims, predominately follow Hanfi school of jurisprudence and their ancestry can be traced back to 15th century Sindh,  Indus valley region in a province of present day Pakistan.   There are many other group such as some  Ismaili (Aga Kahni) and Khoja,  branch of Shi'a Islam,  who also speak the similar language which is identify as  kutchi  language. There is quite possible familiar version of Memoni may be spoken by some non-Muslim such as Hindu and Jains.  

There is no doubt that the  Memoni is originated from Sindhi language.   As Memons began to  migrated to the neighbouring regions Kutch, Khatiwar and Gujrat around 15th Century A.D., their language evolved into a mixture of Sindhi and Khojki, a dialect of Gujarati spoken in Kutch.    Memoni in sound (such as stress and intonation) is  very much like that of Sindhi, but the present day's vocabulary is closer to that of Gujarati and Urdu.   Meantime the Sindhi language also went through changes and most likely influenced by the Punjabi and Hindi (Rajasthani) languages.  This is why there are significant difference in Memoni and Sindhi.  The 17th century A.D. and onward, the Memons become very successful Muslim business community in Indian subcontinent and beyond.  They used excessively the Guajarati language in their written and oral communication. 

Until 1970’s Memons businesses in Pakistan kept their books, records and business documents in Guajarati.  Toward the end of 20th century Memoni further underwent some changes in Pakistan and elsewhere due to Urdu and English influences.   Towards the end of 20th century, the Urdu has been widely accepted and used as a Islamic language by the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent and eventually the English will be replaced by either Gujarati or Urdu.  

Memoni is falling into disuse and the younger generation is unlikely to learn it as their mother tongue for various reasons:

1.  Non-existence of language learning tools especially disappearance of Gujarati in Pakistan
2. Many second generation parents do not know their mother tongue themselves
3. Development of inferiority complex about their heritage by many Memons
4.  Fear of being discriminated or being ridiculed by some Urdu speaking

It is generally recognized that the Memoni language is originate from an ancient Sindhi which is belongs to an Indo-Iranian (North-Western Zone) family of languages.  Like vast majority of the languages spoken in subcontinent  their grammar, sentence structure and  syntax  are very identical.  

Some of the language characteristics  as follow.   

Like many Indian languages, Memoni nouns are either masculine or feminine and they could have singular and plural forms.  The Memons borrow vast majorities of the nouns from Hindustani (mixture of Urdu & Hindi) languages.  Like English, the nouns often come after a determiner ( a, this, my etc.)  and the  must agree to direct object (noun).   

The  pronouns are small words which substitute nouns, he, you, ours, themselves, some, each.  In Memoni the pronouns are divided into fewer categories than English.  Unlike in English, the 2nd person singular "You" is segregated a polite form use for a respect generally for a stranger, elderly and well respected persons including parent and relatives and the second  is informal form use among the friends, parent and elderly relatives addressing to younger family members etc.   Furthermore,  the third person singular (he, she, it)  and plural (they)  including demonstrative pronouns (this these, those) are divided into two category one for near object and person and second for far object and person.  Furthermore  there are no significant difference between the object ,possessive and reflexive pronouns.  In addition these pronouns are further conjugated for masculine and feminine .

Unlike English,  the Memoni  the proposition is generally comes after a noun or a verb.  The  Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in a sentence, like English, the position of Memoni adjectives nearly always appear immediately before the noun that they modify. but in noun phrase they usually after the noun that they modify.  Articles, determiners, and quantifiers are those little words that precede and modify nouns,  Determiners are used in front of nouns to indicate whether you are referring to something specific or something of a particular type.  When referring to a quantity of something without being precise, use a quantifier. Quantifiers are normally followed by of..  ''a" is the only article in Memoni akro (one or "a" masculine) and akri (one or "a" feminine) there is no equlent for "The" or "an"

Verbs carry the idea of being or action in the sentence, In a Memoni sentence, a verb generally appears at the end of the sentence.  Memoni verb may vary (inflected) in form, (there are very few form) according to many factors,  including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. It also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its arguments (subject, object, etc.). 
for further reading
Memoni Language Project Memon language wikipedia