Editing Saraiki language (section)

===Dialects===
The following dialects have been tentatively proposed for Saraiki:<ref>This is the grouping in {{harvtxt|Wagha|1997|pp=229–31}}, which largely coincides with that in {{harvtxt|Shackle|1976|pp=5–8}}.</ref>
*Central Saraiki, including Multani: spoken in the districts of [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargarh]], [[Layyah District|Leiah]], [[Multan District|Multan]] and [[Bahawalpur District|Bahawalpur]].
*Southern Saraiki: prevalent in the districts of [[Rajanpur District|Rajanpur]] and [[Rahim Yar Khan District|Rahimyar Khan]].
*Sindhi Siraiki: dispersed throughout the province of [[Sindh]] and in [[Kacchi Plain|Kachhi Plain]] region in [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] province.
*Northern Saraiki, or [[Thali dialect|Thali]]:{{sfn|Shackle|1976|p=8}} spoken in the district of [[Dera Ismail Khan District|Dera Ismail Khan]] and the northern parts of the [[Thal Desert|Thal region]], including [[Mianwali District]] and [[Bhakkar District]]

The historical inventory of names for the dialects now called Saraiki is a confusion of overlapping or conflicting ethnic, local, and regional designations. One historical name for Saraiki, Jaṭki, means "of the [[Jat people|Jaṭṭs]]", a northern [[South Asia]]n ethnic group. Only a small minority of Saraiki speakers are Jaṭṭs, and not all Saraiki speaking Jaṭṭs necessarily speak the same dialect of Saraiki. However, these people usually call their traditions as well as language as ''Jataki''. Conversely, several Saraiki dialects have multiple names corresponding to different locales or demographic groups. The name "[[Derawali dialect|Derawali]]" is used to refer to the local dialects of both [[Dera Ghazi Khan]] and [[Dera Ismail Khan]], but "Ḍerawali" in the former is the Multani dialect and "Derawali" in the latter is the Thaḷi dialect.{{sfn|Masica|1991|p = 426}}{{sfn|Grierson|1919|pp=239ff}}

When consulting sources before 2000, it is important to know that Pakistani administrative boundaries have been altered frequently. Provinces in Pakistan are divided into [[Districts of Pakistan|districts]], and sources on "Saraiki" often describe the territory of a dialect or dialect group according to the districts. Since the founding of Pakistan in 1947, several of these districts have been subdivided, some multiple times.<!--see for example Nasirabad District-->