Burushaski (IPA: [bʊˈruːɕʌskiː])

a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages. Basque in Europe, Ainu アイヌ and Burushaski in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, Haida and Zuni in North America, Kanoê and Trumai in South America, and Tiwi in Oceania are all examples of such languages.

LINGUISTIC AFFILIATION
Burushaski, a language isolate, is the lingua franca. Burushaski is believed to be a survival of an aboriginal language once spoken in much of northern India before the arrival of Aryan settlers. The dialect of Burushaski spoken in Hunza is thought to be a pure form of its archaic (i.e., pre-Aryan) progenitor, while the dialect spoken in Nagar is believed to have been influenced partially by Shina, the native language of the state of Nagar. A few Arabic and Persian loanwords can be found in Burushaski as a result of the influence of Islam in the region.

This article has been flagged as possibly containing fringe theories without giving appropriate weight to mainstream views.

A narrower connection specifically between North American Na-Dené and Siberian Yeniseian (the Dené–Yeniseian languages hypothesis) was proposed by Edward Vajda in 2008, and has met with some acceptance within the community of professional linguists. The validity of the rest of the family, however, is viewed as doubtful or rejected by nearly all historical linguists.

Les langues dené-caucasiennes sont une hypothétique superfamille de langues, dont l'existence est rejetée par une grande majorité de linguistes.

Indeed, according to ancient legends of the Burushaski (or Burusho) people, they are descendants of Alexander the Great.

HISTORY AND CULTURAL RELATIONS
Legend records that the original inhabitants of the Hunza region were three soldiers in the army of Alexander the Great. These soldiers and their families were left behind because of physical infirmity. The soldiers themselves are said to have been the founders of the first three Hunza villages (Baltit, Ganesh, and Altit). The ruling families in Hunza and Nagar claim, unofficially, direct descent from Alexander the Great. There is also lore ascribing European ancestry to the original inhabitants of the Hunza valley. The physical characteristics of the Burusho seem to verify this….

Burushaski is spoken in the high alpine valleys of Hunza-Nager and Yasin in what today is northern Pakistan by about 80,000 people who call themselves Burúšo and their language Burúšaski. Some 50,000 Burúsho live in Hunza and Nager and some 30,000 live in Yasin. In older literature the language is sometimes called 'Kanjut', 'Kanjuut' and 'Kanjuti', after an old toponym for Hunza and Nager, or 'Khajuna', 'Khaǧuna', 'Boorishki' and 'Burishki'. The Burushaski dialect of Yasin is sometimes called Werchikwār, which is the Khowār name for Burushaski, composed of the root <werch>, evidently taken from Burushaski Burúšo, the Khowār suffix <-ik> 'people' and the root <wār> 'language'.