"All respondents reported that Gawar-bati is the language of the home, used with wives, children, and extended family members.... Available evidence indicates that it is a viable and relatively vital minority language at present. Within the areas where it is spoken, Gawar-bati is the undisputed choice in all in-group domains, other languages being chosen only when there is a need to communicate with non-Gawar."

"Urdu is the national language and the language prescribed for use in the schools in Pakistan [while] Pashto is the dominant second language in the Gawar area... Respondents indicated that their language is important for use with Gawar-bati speakers from other villages and is important for maintaining a sense of ethnic unity and identity."

The central subgroup is further subdivided into northern and southern groupings. The northern grouping includes Khowar (or Chitrali, Chitrari, Chatrori, Arniya) and Kalasha in the Chitral region. The southern grouping includes Tirahi, Gawar (or Gawar-bati, lit., “language of the Gawar people”), Katarkalai (or Wotapuri, referring to another dialect), Shumashti, Glangali (closely related Ningalami, reported in the literature but apparently no longer extant), and Pashai, a large group of extremely divergent dialects or closely related languages, in the southern part of Nūrestān and adjacent areas.

"Other small languages, Yidgha, Phalura and Gawar-bati, are also losing their vitality"