Sindhi language
Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Protection padlock {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other Template:Contains special characters
Sindhi (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell;<ref>Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh</ref> Template:Langx Template:Small or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Small, {{#invoke:IPA|main}})Template:Efn is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status, as well as by 1.7 million people in India, where it is a scheduled language without state-level official status. Sindhi is primarily written in the Perso-Arabic script in Pakistan, while in India, both the Perso-Arabic script and Devanagari are used.
The earliest written evidence of modern Sindhi as a language can be found in a translation of the Qur’an into Sindhi dating back to 883 AD.<ref name="ELL" /> Sindhi was one of the first Indo-Aryan languages to encounter influence from Persian and Arabic following the Umayyad conquest in 712 AD. A substantial body of Sindhi literature developed during the Medieval period, the most famous of which is the religious and mystic poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai from the 18th century. Modern Sindhi was promoted under British rule beginning in 1843, which led to the current status of the language in independent Pakistan after 1947.
HistoryEdit
OriginsEdit
The name "Sindhi" is derived from the Sanskrit síndhu, the original name of the Indus River, along whose delta Sindhi is spoken.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Like other languages of the Indo-Aryan family, Sindhi is descended from Old Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit) via Middle Indo-Aryan (Pali, secondary Prakrits, and Apabhramsha). 20th century Western scholars such as George Abraham Grierson believed that Sindhi descended specifically from the Vrācaḍa dialect of Apabhramsha (described by Markandeya as being spoken in Sindhu-deśa, corresponding to modern Sindh) but later work has shown this to be unlikely.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Early Sindhi (2nd–16th centuries)Edit
Literary attestation of early Sindhi is sparse. The earliest written evidence of Sindhi as a language can be found in a translation of the Qur’an into Sindhi dating back to 883 A.D.<ref name="ELL">Template:Cite journal</ref> Historically, Isma'ili religious literature and poetry in India, as old as the 11th century CE, used a language that was closely related to Sindhi and Gujarati. Much of this work is in the form of ginans (a kind of devotional hymn).<ref name="shackle">Template:Britannica</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sindhi was the first Indo-Aryan language to be in close contact with Arabic and Persian following the Umayyad conquest of Sindh in 712 CE.
Medieval Sindhi (16th–19th centuries)Edit
Medieval Sindhi literature is of a primarily religious genre, comprising a syncretic Sufi and Advaita Vedanta poetry, the latter in the devotional bhakti tradition. The earliest known Sindhi poet of the Sufi tradition is Qazi Qadan (1493–1551). Other early poets were Shah Inat Rizvi (Template:Circa 1613–1701) and Shah Abdul Karim Bulri (1538–1623). These poets had a mystical bent that profoundly influenced Sindhi poetry for much of this period.<ref name="shackle"/>
Another famous part of Medieval Sindhi literature is a wealth of folktales, adapted and readapted into verse by many bards at various times and possibly much older than their earliest literary attestations. These include romantic epics such as Sassui Punnhun, Sohni Mahiwal, Momal Rano, Noori Jam Tamachi, Lilan Chanesar, and others.<ref name="mahfil">Template:Cite journal</ref>
The greatest poet of Sindhi was Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689/1690–1752), whose verses were compiled into the Shah Jo Risalo by his followers. While primarily Sufi, his verses also recount traditional Sindhi folktales and aspects of the cultural history of Sindh.<ref name="shackle"/>
The first attested Sindhi translation of the Quran was done by Akhund Azaz Allah Muttalawi (1747–1824) and published in Gujarat in 1870. The first to appear in print was by Muhammad Siddiq in 1867.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Modern Sindhi (1843–present)Edit
In 1843, the British conquest of Sindh led the region to become part of the Bombay Presidency. Soon after, in 1848, Governor George Clerk established Sindhi as the official language in the province, removing the literary dominance of Persian. Sir Bartle Frere, the then commissioner of Sindh, issued orders on August 29, 1857, advising civil servants in Sindh to pass an examination in Sindhi. He also ordered the use of Sindhi in official documents.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1868, the Bombay Presidency assigned Narayan Jagannath Vaidya to replace the Abjad used in Sindhi with the Khudabadi script. The script was decreed a standard script by the Bombay Presidency thus inciting anarchy in the Muslim majority region. A powerful unrest followed, after which Twelve Martial Laws were imposed by the British authorities. The granting of official status of Sindhi along with script reforms ushered in the development of modern Sindhi literature.
The first printed works in Sindhi were produced at the Muhammadi Press in Bombay beginning in 1867. These included Islamic stories set in verse by Muhammad Hashim Thattvi, one of the renowned religious scholars of Sindh.<ref name="mahfil"/>
The Partition of India in 1947 resulted in most Sindhi speakers ending up in the new state of Pakistan, commencing a push to establish a strong sub-national linguistic identity for Sindhi. This manifested in resistance to the imposition of Urdu and eventually Sindhi nationalism in the 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The language and literary style of contemporary Sindhi writings in Pakistan and India were noticeably diverging by the late 20th century; authors from the former country were borrowing extensively from Urdu, while those from the latter were highly influenced by Hindi.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Geographical distributionEdit
Sindhi is the official language of the Pakistani province of Sindh<ref name="auto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="auto2"/> and one of the scheduled languages of India, where it does not have any state-level status.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Prior to the inception of Pakistan, Sindhi was the national language of Sindh.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
There are many Sindhi language television channels broadcasting in Pakistan such as Time News, KTN, Sindh TV, Awaz Television Network, Mehran TV, and Dharti TV.
PakistanEdit
In Pakistan, Sindhi is the first language of 30.26 million people, or Template:Sigfig% of the country's population as of the 2017 census. 29.5 million of these are found in Sindh, where they account for Template:Sigfig% of the total population of the province. There are 0.56 million speakers in the province of Balochistan,<ref>Template:Cite news The numbers have been calculate based on the percentages and the population totals. For example, the figure of 30.26 million is calculated from the reported 14.57% for the speakers of Sindhi and the 207.685 million total population of Pakistan.</ref> especially in the Kacchi Plain that encompasses the districts of Lasbela, Hub, Kachhi, Sibi, Sohbatpur, Jafarabad, Jhal Magsi, Usta Muhammad and Nasirabad.
The Pakistan Sindh Assembly has ordered compulsory teaching of the Sindhi language in all private schools in Sindh.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> According to the Sindh Private Educational Institutions Form B (Regulations and Control) 2005 Rules, "All educational institutions are required to teach children the Sindhi language.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sindh Education and Literacy Minister, Syed Sardar Ali Shah, and Secretary of School Education, Qazi Shahid Pervaiz, have ordered the employment of Sindhi teachers in all private schools in Sindh so that this language can be easily and widely taught.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sindhi is taught in all provincial private schools that follow the Matric system and not the ones that follow the Cambridge system.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
At the occasion of 'Mother Language Day' in 2023, the Sindh Assembly under Culture minister Sardar Ali Shah, passed a unanimous resolution to extend the use of language to primary level<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and increase the status of Sindhi as a national language<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> of Pakistan.
IndiaEdit
The Indian Government has legislated Sindhi as a scheduled language in India, making it an option for education. Despite lacking any state-level status, Sindhi is still a prominent minority language in the Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In India, Sindhi mother tongue speakers were distributed in the following states:
| CitationClass=web
}}</ref>Template:Efn |
State | Population | Regions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gujarat | 1,184,024 | Kutch district | |
| Maharashtra | 723,748 | Ulhasnagar city | |
| Rajashtan | 386,569 | Barmer district (Chohtan and Ramsar tehsils) | |
| Madhya Pradesh | 245,161 | None | |
| Chhattisgarh | 93,424 | ||
| Delhi (NCT) | 31,177 | ||
| Uttar Pradesh | 28,952 | ||
| Assam | 19,646 | ||
| Karnataka | 16,954 | ||
| Andhra Pradesh | 11,299 | ||
| Tamil Nadu | 8,448 | ||
| West Bengal | 7,828 | ||
| Uttarakhand | 2,863 | ||
| Odisha | 2,338 | ||
| Bihar | 2,227 | ||
| Jharkhand | 1,701 | ||
| Haryana | 1,658 | ||
| Kerala | 1,251 | ||
| Punjab | 754 | ||
| Goa | 656 | ||
| Dadra and Nagar | 894 | ||
| Meghalaya | 236 | ||
| Chandigarh | 134 | ||
| Puducherry | 94 | ||
| Nagaland | 82 | ||
| Himachal Pradesh | 62 | ||
| Tripura | 30 | ||
| Jammu and Kashmir | 19 | ||
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 14 | ||
| Arunachal Pradesh | 12 | ||
| Lakshadweep | 7 | ||
| Sikkim | 2 |
DialectsEdit
Sindhi has many dialects, and forms a dialect continuum at some places with neighboring languages such as Saraiki and Gujarati. Some of the documented dialects of Sindhi are:<ref>Template:E19</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="lsi">Template:Linguistic Survey of India</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Vicholi: The prestige dialect spoken around Hyderabad and central Sindh (the Vicholo region). The literary standard of Sindhi is based on this dialect.
- Uttaradi: The dialect of northern Sindh (Uttaru, meaning "north"), with minor differences in Larkana, Shikarpur and in parts of Sukkur and Kandiaro.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Lari: The dialect of southern Sindh (Lāṛu) spoken around areas like Karachi, Thatta, Sujawal, Tando Muhammad Khan and Badin districts.
- Siroli/Siraiki or Ubheji: The dialect of northernmost Sindh (Siro, meaning "head").Template:Sfnp Spoken in smaller number all over Sindh but mainly in Jacobabad and Kashmore districts, it has little similarity with the Saraiki language of South Punjab<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and has variously been treated either as a dialect of Saraiki or as a dialect of Sindhi.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Lasi: The dialect of Lasbela, Hub and Gwadar districts in Balochistan, closely related to Lari and Vicholi, and in contact with Balochi.
- Firaqi Sindhi: The dialect of the Kachhi plains the north eastern districts of Balochistan, where it is referred to as Firaqi Sindhi or commonly just Sindhi.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Thareli: also called Tharechi dialect, spoken in north eastern Thar Desert of Sindh, called Nara desert (Achhro thar), but mainly spoken in the western part of Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, India by many Sindhi Muslims.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Sindhi Bhili: It is a dialect spoken in Sindh by the Sindhi Meghwars and Bheels.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sindhi Bhil is known to have many old Sindhi words, which were lost after Arabic, Persian, and Chaghatai influence.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The variety of Sindhi spoken by Sindhi Hindus who emigrated to India is known as Dukslinu Sindhi. Furthermore, Kutchi and Jadgali are sometimes classified as dialects of Sindhi rather than independent languages.
| CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
English | Vicholi | Lari | Uttaradi | Lasi | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Dhatki |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Aao(n) | Aao(n) | Mā(n) | Ã | Aau(n) | Hu(n) | ||
| My | Muhnjo | Mujo | Mānjo/Māhjo | Mojo/Mājo | Mujo | Mānjo/Māhyo | ||
| You "Sin, plu" (formal) | Awha(n)/Awhee(n)
Tawha(n)/Tawhee(n) |
Aa(n)/Aei(n) | Taha(n)/Taa(n)/
Tahee(n)/Taee(n) |
Awa(n)/Ai(n) | Aa(n)/Ai(n) | Awha/Ahee(n)/ Aween | ||
| To me | Mukhe | Muke | Mānkhe | Mukh | Muke | Mina | ||
| We | Asee(n) | Asee(n), Pān | Asā(n) | Asee(n) | Asee(n), Pān | Asee(n), Asā(n) | ||
| What | Chha/Kahirō | Kujjāro/Kujja | Chha/Shha | Chho | Kuro | Kee | ||
| Why | Chho | Ko | Chho/Shho | Chhela | Kolāi/Kurelāe | Kayla | ||
| How | Kiya(n) | Kei(n) | Kiya(n) | Kee(n) | Kiya(n) | |||
| No | Na, Kōna, Kōn | Nā(n), Kīna | Na, Kōna, Kāna, Kon, Kān | Nā(n), Ma | Nā | Nā, Ni, Ko, Kon, Ma | ||
| Legs (plural, fem) | Tangu(n), Jjanghu(n) | Tangu(n), Jjangu(n) | Tangā(n), Jjanghā(n) | |||||
| Foot | Pair | Pair/Pagg/Pagulo | Pair | Pair | Pag | Pagg, Pair | ||
| Far | Pare | Ddoor | Pare/Parte | Ddor | Chhete | Ddor | ||
| Near | Vejhō | Vejo/Ōdō/Ōdirō/Ore | Vejhō/Vejhe/Orte | Ōddō | Wat, bājūme | Nerro | ||
| Good/Excellent | Sutho, Chaṅō | Khāso/Sutho/Thhāuko | Sutho, Bhalo, Chango | Khāsho | Khāso, Laat | Sutho, Phutro, Thhāuko | ||
| High | Utāho | Ucho | Mathe | Ucho | Ucho | Uncho | ||
| Silver | Rupo | Chādi/Rupo | Chāndi | Rupo | Rupo | |||
| Father | Piu | Pay/Abo/Aba/Ada | Pee/Babo/Pirhe(n) | Pe | Pe, Bapa, Ada | |||
| Wife | Joe/Gharwāri | Joe/Wani/Kuwār | Zaal/Gharwāri | Zaal | Vahu/Vau | Ddosi, Luggai | ||
| Man | Mardu | Māņu/Mārū/Mard
/Murs/Musālu |
Mānhu/Musālo/Bhāi
/Kāko/Hamra |
Mānhu | Māḍū/Mārū | Mārū | ||
| Woman | Aurat | Zāla/ōrat/ōlath | Māi/Ran | Zāla | Bāeḍi/Bāyaḍī | |||
| Child/Baby | Bbār/Ningar/Bbālak | Bbār/Ningar/Gabhur/
Bacho/Kako |
Bbār/Bacho/Adro/
Phar (animal) |
Gabhar | Bār/Gabhar | |||
| Daughter | Dhiu/Niyāni | Dia/Niyāni/Kañā | Dhee/Adri | Dhia | Dhi | Dikri | ||
| Sun | Siju | Sij, Sūrij | Sijhu | Siju | Sūraj | Sūraj | ||
| Sunlight | Kārro | Oosa | Tarko | |||||
| Cat | Billi | Bili/Pusani | Billi | Phushini | Minni | |||
| Rain | Barsāt/Mee(n)h
/Bārish |
Varsāt/Mee(n)/Mai(n) | Barsāt/Mee(n)hu | Varsāt | Meh, Maiwla | |||
| And | Aēi(n) | Ãū(n)/Ãē(n)/Nē | Aēi(n)/Aū(n)/Aen | Ãē/Or | Nē/Anē | A'e(n)/Ān | ||
| Also | Pin/Bhi | Pin, Bee | Bu/Pun | Pin/Pan | ||||
| Is | Āhe | Āye | Aa/Āhe/Hai | Āhe/Āye | Āye | Āhe/Āh/Āye/Hai | ||
| Fire | Bāhe | Bāē/āgg/jjērō | Bāhe/Bāh | Jjērō | Jirō/lagāņō/āg | |||
| Water | Pāņī | Pāņī/Jal | Pāņī | Pāņī | Pāņī/Jal | Pāņī | ||
| Where | Kithē | Kithē | Kithē, Kāthe, Kehda, Kāday, Kādah, Kidah, Kithrē | Kith | Kithē | Kith | ||
| Sleep | Nindr(a) | Nind(a) | Nindr(a) | Nind | Ninder | Oongh | ||
| Slap | Thaparr/Chammāt | Tārr | Chamātu/Chapātu/
Lapātu/Thapu |
|||||
| To Wash | Dhoain(u) | Dhun(u) | Dhoain(u)/Dhuan(u)/
Dhowan(u) |
Dhuwan(u)/
Dhoon(u) | ||||
| Will write (Masc) | Likhandum, Likhandus | Likhados | Likhdum, Likhdus | Likhdosī | Likhsā(n) | |||
| I Went | Aao(n) Vius | Aao(n) Vēs | Ma(n) Vayus (m)/ Vayas (f) | Ã viosī | Hu Gios |
PhonologyEdit
Sindhi has a relatively large inventory of both consonants and vowels compared to other Indo-Aryan languages.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sindhi has 46 consonant phonemes and 10 vowels.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The consonant to vowel ratio is around average for the world's languages at 2.8.<ref>Nihalani, Paroo. (1999). Handbook of the International Phonetic Association (Sindhi). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref> All plosives, affricates, nasals, the retroflex flap, and the lateral approximant /l/ have aspirated or breathy voiced counterparts. The language also features four implosives.
ConsonantsEdit
The retroflex consonants are apical postalveolar and do not involve curling back of the tip of the tongue,Template:Sfnp so they could be transcribed {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in phonetic transcription. The affricates {{#invoke:IPA|main}} are laminal post-alveolars with a relatively short release. It is not clear if {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is similar, or truly palatal.<ref>The IPA Handbook uses the symbols {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, but makes it clear this is simply tradition and that these are neither palatal nor stops, but "laminal post-alveolars with a relatively short release". Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:83) confirm a transcription of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and further remarks that "{{#invoke:IPA|main}} is often a slightly creaky voiced palatal approximant" (caption of table 3.19).</ref> {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is realized as labiovelar {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or labiodental {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in free variation, but is not common, except before a stop.
VowelsEdit
The vowels are modal length {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and short {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Consonants following short vowels are lengthened: {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'leaf' vs. {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'worn'.
GrammarEdit
NounsEdit
Sindhi nouns distinguish two genders (masculine and feminine), two numbers (singular and plural), and five cases (nominative, vocative, oblique, ablative, and locative). This is a similar paradigm to Punjabi. Almost all Sindhi noun stems end in a vowel, except for some recent loanwords. The declension of a noun in Sindhi is largely determined from its grammatical gender and the final vowel (or if there is no final vowel). Generally, -o stems are masculine and -a stems are feminine, but the other final vowels can belong to either gender.
The different paradigms are listed below with examples.<ref name="jetley">Template:Cite thesis</ref> The ablative and locative cases are used with only some lexemes in the singular number and hence not listed, but predictably take the suffixes -ā̃ / -aū̃ / -ū̃ (Template:Gcl) and -i (Template:Gcl).
A few nouns representing familial relations take irregular declensions with an extension in -r- in the plural. These are the masculine nouns Template:Naskh bhāu "brother", Template:Naskh pīu "father", and the feminine nouns Template:Naskh dhīa "daughter", Template:Naskh nū̃hã "daughter-in-law", Template:Naskh bheṇa "sister", Template:Naskh māu "mother", and Template:Naskh joi "wife".<ref name="jetley"/>
| Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl | Gloss | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl | ||
| Template:Gcl | Template:Naskh bhāu |
Template:Naskh bhāuru / bhāura |
Template:Naskh bhāura / bhāuro |
Template:Naskh bhāurani / bhāuni |
brother | ||
| Template:Gcl | Template:Naskh dhīa / dhīu |
Template:Naskh dhīaru / dhīarū̃ / dhīū̃ |
Template:Naskh dhīaruni / dhīuni |
daughter | |||
PronounsEdit
Personal pronounsEdit
| Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl | |
| Template:Gcl | Template:Script/Arabic / Template:Script/Arabic mā̃ / āū̃ |
Template:Script/Arabic tū̃ |
Template:Script/Arabic asī̃ |
Template:Script/Arabic tavhī̃ |
| Template:Gcl | Template:Script/Arabic mū̃ |
Template:Script/Arabic to |
Template:Script/Arabic asā̃ |
Template:Script/Arabic tavhā̃ |
| Template:Gcl | Template:Script/Arabic mũhinjo |
Template:Script/Arabic tũhinjo |
colspan=4 Template:N/a | |
Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Sindhi has first and second-person personal pronouns as well as several types of third-person proximal and distal demonstratives. These decline in the nominative and oblique cases. The genitive is a special form for the first and second-person singular, but formed as usual with the oblique and case marker جو jo for the rest. The personal pronouns are listed to the right.Template:Sfnp<ref name="sindhi1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The third-person pronouns are listed below. Besides the unmarked demonstratives, there are also "specific" and "present" demonstratives. In the nominative singular, the demonstratives are marked for gender. Some other pronouns which decline identically to Template:Script/Arabic ko "someone" are Template:Script/Arabic har-ko "everyone", Template:Script/Arabic sabh-ko "all of them", Template:Script/Arabic je-ko "whoever" (relative), and Template:Script/Arabic te-ko "that one" (correlative).Template:Sfnp
NumeralsEdit
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PostpositionsEdit
Most nominal relations (e.g. the semantic role of a nominal as an argument to a verb) are indicated using postpositions, which follow a noun in the oblique case. The subject of the verb takes the bare oblique case, while the object may be in nominative case or in oblique case and followed by the accusative case marker کي khe.<ref name="trumpp">Template:Cite book</ref>
The postpositions are divided into case markers, which directly follow the noun, and complex postpositions, which combine with a case marker (usually the genitive جو jo).
Case markersEdit
The case markers are listed below.Template:R
The postpositions with the suffix -o decline in gender and number to agree with their governor, e.g. Template:Script/Arabic chokiro j-o pīu "the boy's father" but Template:Script/Arabic chokiro j-ī māu "the boy's mother".
There are several ablative case markers formed from the spatial postpositions and the ablative ending -ā̃. These indicate complex motion such as "from inside of".Template:R
| Marker | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Script/Arabic khā̃ |
Template:Script/Arabic chokire khā̃ |
from the boy |
| Template:Script/Arabic mā̃ |
Template:Script/Arabic chokire mā̃ |
from inside the boy |
| Template:Script/Arabic tā̃ |
Template:Script/Arabic chokire tā̃ |
from upon the boy |
| Template:Script/Arabic ḍā̃hā̃ |
Template:Script/Arabic chokire ḍā̃hā̃ |
from the direction of the boy |
Finally, some case markers are found in medieval Sindhi literature and/or modern poetic Sindhi, and otherwise not used in standard speech.
| Case | Marker | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accusative Adessive |
Template:Script/Arabic kane |
Template:Script/Arabic chokire kane |
to/near the boy |
Complex postpositionsEdit
The complex postpositions are formed with a case marker, usually the genitive but sometimes the ablative. Many are listed below.Template:R
| Sindhi | Transliteration | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Script/Arabic | je aɠyā̃ | "ahead of, before"; apudessive |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je andari | "inside of"; inessive |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je badirā̃ | "instead of, in place of" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je barābar | "equal to" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je ɓāharā̃ | "outside of" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | khā̃ ɓāhari | |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je bāre mẽ | "about, concerning" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je caudhārī | "around" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je heṭhā̃ | "below, under" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je kare | "for, on account of" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je lāi | "for" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je mathā̃ | "above, on top of, upon" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | khā̃ pare | "far from" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je pāri | "across, on the other side of" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je pāse | "on the side of, near" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | khā̃ poi | "after" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je puṭhyā̃ | "behind" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je sāmhõ | "in front of, facing" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | khā̃ sivāi | "besides, apart from" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je vāste | "for the sake of, on account of" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je vejho | "near"; adessive |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je vici mẽ | "between, among" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je xātiri | "for the sake of" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je xilāfi | "against" |
| Template:Script/Arabic | je zarī'e | "via, through"; perlative |
VocabularyEdit
According to historian Nabi Bux Baloch, most Sindhi vocabulary is from ancient Sanskrit. However, owing to the influence of the Persian language over the subcontinent, Sindhi has adapted many words from Persian and Arabic. It has also borrowed from English and Hindustani. Today, Sindhi in Pakistan is slightly influenced by UrduTemplate:Citation needed, with more borrowed Perso-Arabic elements, while Sindhi in India is influenced by HindiTemplate:Citation needed, with more borrowed tatsam Sanskrit elements.Template:Sfnmp
Writing systemsEdit
Sindhis in Pakistan use a version of the Perso-Arabic script with new letters adapted to Sindhi phonology, while in India a greater variety of scripts are in use, including Devanagari, Khudabadi, Khojki, and Gurmukhi.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Perso-Arabic for Sindhi was also made digitally accessible relatively earlier.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The earliest attested records in Sindhi are from the 15th century.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica"/> Before the standardisation of Sindhi orthography, numerous forms of Devanagari and Laṇḍā scripts were used for trading. For literary and religious purposes, a Perso-Arabic script developed by Abul-Hasan as-Sindi and Gurmukhi (a subset of Laṇḍā) were used. Another two scripts, Khudabadi and Shikarpuri, were reforms of the Landa script.Template:Sfnp<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During British rule in the late 19th century, the Perso-Arabic script was decreed standard over Devanagari.Template:Sfnp
Perso-Arabic scriptEdit
Template:Arabic-script sidebar During the British Raj, a variant of the Persian alphabet was adopted for Sindhi in the 19th century. The script is used in Pakistan and India today. It has a total of 52 letters, augmenting the Persian with digraphs and eighteen new letters ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) for sounds particular to Sindhi and other Indo-Aryan languages. Some letters that are distinguished in Arabic or Persian are homophones in Sindhi.
Below table presents Sindhi Perso-Arabic alphabet. Letters shaded in yellow are solely used in writing of loanwords, and the phoneme they represent are also represented by other letters in the alphabet. Letters and digraphs shaded in green aren't usually considered as part of the base alphabet. They are either commonly used digraphs representing aspirated consonants, or are ligatures serving a grammatical function. These ligatures include the Template:Script/Arabic, which is pronounced as [ãĩ̯] and represents and, and the Template:Script/Arabic, which is pronounced as [mẽ] and it creates a locative relationship between words.
The orthography of the letter hāʾ in Sindhi, especially as it comes to typing as opposed to handwriting, has been a source of confusion for many. Especially because whereas in Arabic and Persian, there exists one single letter for hāʾ, in Urdu, the letter has diverged into two distinct variants: gol he ("round he") and do-cašmi he ("two-eyed he"). The former is written is written round and zigzagged as "Template:Nastaliq", and can impart the "h" ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) sound anywhere in a word, or the long "a" or the "e" vowels ({{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) at the end of a word. The latter is written in Arabic Naskh style (as a loop) (Template:Nastaliq) , in order to be used in digraphs and to create the aspirate consonants.
For most aspirated consonants, Sindhi relies on unique letters as opposed to the Urdu practice of digraphs. However, this doesn't apply to all aspirated consonants. Some are still written as digraphs. The letter hāʾ is also used in Sindhi to represent the sound [h] in native Sindhi words, in Arabic and Persian loanwords, and to represent vowels ({{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) at the end of the word. The notations and conventions in Sindhi are different from either Persian or Arabic and from Urdu. Given the variety of the types of hāʾ across these languages for which Unicode characters have been designed, in order for the letters to be displayed correctly when typing, a correct and consistent convention needs to be followed. The following table will present these in detail.<ref>Kamal Mansour (2023), Handling of the Heh in Sindhi Text, L2-23/17 https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2023/23117-sindhi-heh.pdf (Archive)</ref><ref>Lorna Priest Evans (2021), Regarding the Sindhi Heh, L2-22/052 https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2022/22052-regarding-sindhi-heh.pdf (Archive)</ref>
The punctuation of Sindhi Perso-Arabic script differs slightly from that of Urdu, Persian, and Arabic. Namely, instead of using the typical inverted comma (Template:Script/Arabic [U+060C]) common in these mentioned alphabet, a reversed comma (Template:Script/Arabic [U+2E41]) is used. Although many documents do indeed incorrectly use Urdu punctuations.<ref>https://r12a.github.io/scripts/arab/sd.html</ref>
| Full Stop | Comma | Semicolon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sindhi | Template:Script/Arabic | Template:Script/Arabic | Template:Script/Arabic |
| Urdu | Template:Script/Arabic | Template:Script/Arabic | Template:Script/Arabic |
| Persian/Arabic | Template:Script/Arabic | Template:Script/Arabic | Template:Script/Arabic |
Devanagari scriptEdit
In India, the Devanagari script is also used to write Sindhi.<ref name="auto3"/> A modern version was introduced by the government of India in 1948; however, it did not gain full acceptance, so both the Sindhi-Arabic and Devanagari scripts are used. In India, a person may write a Sindhi language paper for a Civil Services Examination in either script.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Devanagari was seen as the most practical option for Sindhi language in India.<ref name="in"/> Diacritical bars below the letter are used to mark implosive consonants, and dots called nukta are used to form other additional consonants.
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Laṇḍā scriptsEdit
Laṇḍā-based scripts, such as Gurmukhi, Khojki, and the Khudabadi script were used historically to write Sindhi.
KhudabadiEdit
Template:Infobox writing system
The Khudabadi alphabet was invented in 1550 CE, and was used alongside other scripts by the Hindu community until the colonial era, where the sole usage of the Arabic script for official purposes was legislated.
The script continued to be used on a smaller scale by the trader community until the Partition of India in 1947.<ref name=sindhiscript>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
KhojkiEdit
Khojki was employed primarily to record Muslim Shia Ismaili religious literature, as well as literature for a few secret Shia Muslim sects.<ref name="auto3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
GurmukhiEdit
The Gurmukhi script was also used to write Sindhi, mainly in India by Hindus.<ref name="sindhiscript"/><ref name="auto3"/>
Roman SindhiEdit
Template:See also The Sindhi-Roman script or Roman-Sindhi script is the contemporary Sindhi script usually used by the Sindhis when texting messages on their mobile phones.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
AdvocacyEdit
Template:See alsoIn 1972, an bill was passed by the provincial assembly of Sindh which saw Sindhi, given official status thus becoming the first provincial language in Pakistan to have its own official status.
- Sindhi language was made the official language of Sindh according to Language Bill.
- All Educational institutes in Sindh are mandated to teach Sindhi as per the bill.
SoftwareEdit
By 2001, Abdul-Majid BhurgriTemplate:Failed verification had coordinated with Microsoft to develop Unicode-based Software in the form of the Perso-Arabic Sindhi script which afterwards became the basis for the communicated use by Sindhi speakers around the world.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2016, Google introduced the first automated translator for Sindhi language.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Later on in 2023 an offline support was introduced by Google Translate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Which was followed by Microsoft Translator strengthening support in May of same year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In June 2014, the Khudabadi script of the Sindhi language was added to Unicode, However as of now the script currently has no proper rendering support to view it in unsupported devices.
See alsoEdit
- 1972 Sindhi Language Bill
- Institute of Sindhology
- Sindhi Transliteration
- Languages of India
- Languages of Pakistan
- Languages with official status in India
- List of Sindhi-language films
- Provincial languages of Pakistan
- Sindhi literature
- Sindhi poetry
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
SourcesEdit
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Cite book
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- Template:Cite book
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- Template:SOWL
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External linksEdit
Template:Sister project Template:Wikivoyage Template:Sister project Template:EB1911 poster
- Sindhi Language Authority
- Sindhi Dictionary
- Template:Webarchive
- Mewaram's 1910 Sindhi-English dictionary