Editing Balochi language (section)

== Writing system ==
Balochi was not a written language before the 19th century,<ref name="Dames3">{{harvnb|Dames|1922|p=3}}.</ref> and the Persian script was used to write Balochi wherever necessary.<ref name="Dames3" /> However, Balochi was still spoken at the Baloch courts.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

British colonial officers first wrote Balochi with the Latin script.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hussain |first1=Sajid |title=Faith and politics of Balochi script |url=https://balochistantimes.com/faith-and-politics-of-balochi-script/ |access-date=16 January 2020 |work=Balochistan Times |date=18 March 2016 |language=en}}</ref> Following the creation of Pakistan, Baloch scholars adopted the [[Persian alphabet]]. The first collection of poetry in Balochi, [[Gulbang]] by [[Mir Gul Khan Nasir]] was published in 1951 and incorporated the [[Arabic Script]]. It was much later that Sayad Zahoor Shah Hashemi wrote a comprehensive guidance on the usage of Arabic script and standardized it as the Balochi Orthography in Pakistan and Iran. This earned him the title of the 'Father of Balochi'. His guidelines are widely used in Eastern and Western Balochistan. In Afghanistan, Balochi is still written in a modified Arabic script based on [[Persian language|Persian]].{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

In 2002, a conference was held to help standardize the script that would be used for Balochi.<ref>{{cite news |title=Script for Balochi language discussed |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/63991 |access-date=16 January 2020 |work=Dawn |date=28 October 2002 |location=Quetta |language=en}}</ref>

=== Old Balochi Alphabet ===

{{Further|Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi}}
The following alphabet was used by [[Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi]] in his lexicon of Balochi ''Sayad Ganj'' ({{lang|bal|{{nq|سید گنج}}}}) (lit. ''Sayad's Treasure'').<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shah Hashemi |first1=Sayad Zahoor |title=The First Complete Balochi Dictionary |url=http://sayadganj.albaloch.com/ |website=Sayad Ganj |access-date=16 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Sayad Zahoor Shah Hashmi: A one-man institution |url=https://balochistantimes.com/sayad-zahoor-shah-hashmi-one-man-institution/ |access-date=16 January 2020 |work=Balochistan Times |date=14 November 2016 |language=en}}</ref> Until the creation of the [[Balochi Standard Alphabet]], it was by far the most widely used alphabet for writing Balochi, and is still used very frequently.

{{lang|bal|{{nq|آ، ا، ب، پ، ت، ٹ، ج، چ، د، ڈ، ر، ز، ژ، س، ش، ک، گ، ل، م، ن، و، ھ ہ، ء، ی ے}}}}

=== Standard Perso-Arabic Alphabet ===
{{Arabic-script sidebar|Balochi}}
{{Main|Balochi Standard Alphabet}}
The '''Balochi Standard Alphabet''', standardized by Balochi Academy Sarbaz, consists of 29 letters.<ref>{{cite web |title=Balochi Standarded Alphabet |url=http://balochiacademy.ir/page/alphabets |website=BalochiAcademy.ir |access-date=16 January 2020}}</ref> It is an extension of the [[Perso-Arabic script]] and borrows a few glyphs from [[Urdu alphabet|Urdu]]. It is also sometimes referred to as Balo-Rabi or Balòrabi. Today, it is the preferred script to use in a professional setting and by educated folk.

=== Latin alphabet ===
The following Latin-based alphabet was adopted by the International Workshop on "Balochi Roman Orthography" (University of Uppsala, Sweden, 28–30 May 2000).<ref>{{cite web |title=Baluchi Roman ORTHOGRAPHY |url=http://www.phrasebase.com/archive/baluchi/45-baluchi-roman-orthography.html |work=Phrasebase.com |access-date=23 October 2015 |archive-date=23 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123080603/http://www.phrasebase.com/archive/baluchi/45-baluchi-roman-orthography.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

;Alphabetical order:

{{nowrap|a á b c d ď e f g ĝ h i í j k l m n o p q r ř s š t ť u ú v w x y z ž ay aw}} (33 letters and 2 digraphs)

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Letter
!IPA
!Example words<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jahani |first=Carina |title=A grammar of modern standard Balochi |date=2019 |publisher=Uppsala Universitet |isbn=978-91-513-0820-3 |series=Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Iranica Upsaliensia |location=Uppsala}}</ref>
|-
| A / a
|{{IPAblink|a}}
| style="text-align:left" | asp (horse), garm (warm), mard (man)
|-
| Á / á
|{{IPAblink|aː}}
| style="text-align:left" | áp (water), kár (work)
|-
| B / b (''bé'')
|{{IPAblink|b}}
| style="text-align:left" |barp (snow, ice), bám (dawn), bágpán (gardener), baktáwar (lucky)
|-
| Ch / ch (''ché'')
|{{IPAblink|tʃ}}
| style="text-align:left" |chamm (eye), bacch (son), kárch (knife)
|-
| D / d (''de'')
|{{IPAblink|d}}
| style="text-align:left" |dard (pain), drad (rainshower), pád (foot), wád (salt)
|-
| Dh / dh
|{{IPAblink|ɖ}}
|style="text-align:left"| ''dhawl (''shape''), gwandh (short), chondh (piece)''
|-
| E / e
|{{IPAblink|i}}
|style="text-align:left"|esh (this), pet (father), bale (but)
|-
|É / é 
|{{IPAblink|eː}}
|éraht (harvest), bér (revenge), shér (tiger) dér (late, delay), dém (face, front), 
|-
| F / f (''fe'')
|{{IPAblink|f}}
| style="text-align:left" | ''Only used for loanwords:'' fármaysí (pharmacy).
|-
| G / g (''ge'')
|{{IPAblink|ɡ}}
|style="text-align:left"|gapp (talk), ganók (mad), bág (garden), bagg (herd of camels), pádag (foot), Bagdád (Baghdad)
|-
| Gh / gh
|{{IPAblink|ɣ}}
|style="text-align:left"| ''Like [[Ghain|ĝhaen]] in Perso-Arabic script.''<br />''Used for loanwords and in eastern dialects:'' ghair (others), ghali (carpet), ghaza (noise)
|-
| H / h (''he'')
|{{IPAblink|h}}
|style="text-align:left"|hár (flood), máh (moon), kóh (mountain), mahár (rein), hón (blood)
|-
| I / i (''i'')
|{{IPAblink|iː}}
| style="text-align:left" |imán (faith), shir (milk), pakir (beggar), samin (breeze), gáli (carpet)
|-
| J / j (''jé'')
|{{IPAblink|dʒ}}
| style="text-align:left" |jang (war), janag (to beat), jeng (lark), ganj (treasure), sajji (roasted meat)
|-
| K / k (''ké'')
|{{IPAblink|k}}
| style="text-align:left" |Kermán (Kirman), kárch (knife), nákó (uncle), gwask (calf), kasán (small)
|-
| L / l (''lé'')
|{{IPAblink|l}}
| style="text-align:left" |láp (stomach), gal (joy), gal (party, organization), goll (cheek), gol (rose)
|-
| M / m (''mé'')
|{{IPAblink|m}}
| style="text-align:left" |mát (mother), bám (dawn), chamm (eye), master (leader, bigger)
|-
| N / n (''né'')
|{{IPAblink|n}}
| style="text-align:left" |nagan (bread), nók (new, new moon), dhann (outside), kwahn (old), nákó (uncle)
|-
| O / o
|{{IPAblink|u}}
| style="text-align:left" |oshter (camel), shomá (you), ostád (teacher), gozhn (hunger), boz (goat)
|-
| Ó / ó (''ó'')
|{{IPAblink|oː}}
|style="text-align:left"|óshtag (to stop), ózhnág (swim), róch (sun), dór (pain), sochag (to burn)
|-
| P / p (''pé'')
|{{IPAblink|p}}
|style="text-align:left"|Pád (foot), shap (night), shapád (bare-footed), gapp (talk), haptád (70)
|-
| R / r (''ré'')
|{{IPAblink|ɾ}}
| style="text-align:left" |rék (sand), barag (to take away), sharr (good), sarag (head)
|-
| Rh / rh (''rhé'')
|{{IPAblink|ɽ}}
| style="text-align:left" |márhi (building), nájórh (sick)
|-
| S / s (''sé'')
|{{IPAblink|s}}
| style="text-align:left" |sarag (head), kass (someone), kasán (little), bass (enough), ás (fire)
|-
| Sh / sh (''shé'')
|{{IPAblink|ʃ}}
| style="text-align:left" |shap (night), shád (happy), mésh (sheep), shwánag (shepherd), wašš (happy, tasty)
|-
| T / t (''té'')
|{{IPAblink|t}}
| style="text-align:left" |tagerd (mat), tahná (alone) tás (bowl), kelitt (key)
|-
| Th / th (''thé'')
|{{IPAblink|ʈ}}
| style="text-align:left" |thong (hole), thilló (bell), batth (cooked rice), batthág (eggplant)
|-
| U / u (''u'')
|{{IPAblink|uː}}
| style="text-align:left" | zurag (to take), bezur (take), dur (distant)
|-
| W / w (''wé'')
|{{IPAblink|w}}
| style="text-align:left" | warag (food, to eat), warden (provision), dawár (abode), wád (salt), kawwás (learned)
|-
| X / x
|{{IPAblink|x}}
|style="text-align:left"| ''Like [[Ḫāʾ|xa]] in Perso-Arabic script.''<br />''Used for loanwords and in eastern dialects:''
|-
| Y / y (''yé'')
|{{IPAblink|j}}
| style="text-align:left" | yád (remembrance), yár (friend), yázdah (eleven), beryáni (roasted meat), yakk (one)
|-
| Z / z (''zé'')
|{{IPAblink|z}}
| style="text-align:left" | zarr (monay), zi (yesterday), mozz (wages), móz (banana), nazzíkk (nearby)
|-
| Zh / zh (''zhé'')
|{{IPAblink|ʒ}}
| style="text-align:left" | zhand (tired), zháng (bells), pazhm (wool), gazzhag (to swell), gozhnag (hungry)
|-
| colspan="3" | '''Latin digraphs'''
|-
| Ay / ay
|[aj]
|style="text-align:left"|ayb (fault), say (three), kay (who)
|-
| Aw / aw
|[aw]
|style="text-align:left"|awali (first), hawr (rain), kawl (promise), gawk (neck)
|}

==== Soviet alphabet ====
In 1933, the [[Soviet Union]] adopted a Latin-based alphabet for Balochi as follows:

{| cellpadding=4 style="font-size:large; text-align: center;" summary="Thirty one letters of the Balochi Latin alphabet, lowercase" align=center
|+ style="font-size:smaller;" | '''The Balochi alphabet in Latin'''
|{{lang|bal-Latn|a}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|ə}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|ʙ}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|c}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|ç}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|d}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|ᶁ}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|e}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|f}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|g}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|h}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|i}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|j}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|k}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|ʟ}}
|-
|{{lang|bal-Latn|m}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|n}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|o}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|p}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|q}}
|{{lang|bal|ʼ}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|r}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|s}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|t}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|ƫ}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|u}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|v}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|w}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|x}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|z}}
|{{lang|bal-Latn|ƶ}}
|}

The alphabet was used for several texts, including children's books, newspapers, and ideological works. In 1938, however, the official use of Balochi was discontinued.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Axenov |first=Sergei |title=Language in Society: Eight Sociolinguistic Essays on Balochi |date=2000 |isbn=91-554-4679-5 |series=Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Iranica Upsaliensia |publisher=Uppsala Universitet |pages=71–78 |location=Uppsala}}</ref>

=== Cyrillic alphabet ===
In 1989, Mammad Sherdil, a teacher from the [[Turkmen SSR]], approached Balochi language researcher Sergei Axenov with the idea of creating a [[Cyrillic]]-based alphabet for Balochi. Before this, the Cyrillic script was already used for writing Balochi and was used in several publications but the alphabet was not standardized. In 1990, the alphabet was finished. It included the following letters:

{| cellpadding=4 style="font-size:large; text-align: center;" summary="Forty two letters of the Balochi Cyrillic alphabet, lowercase" align=center
|+ style="font-size:smaller;" | '''The Balochi alphabet in Cyrillic'''
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|а}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|а̄}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|б}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|в}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|г}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ғ}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|д}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|д̨}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|е}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ё}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ж}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|җ}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|з}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|и}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ӣ}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|й}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|к}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|қ}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|л}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|м}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|н}}
|-
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|о}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|п}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|р}}
|{{lang|bal|ꝑ}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|с}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|т}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|т̵}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|у}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ӯ}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ф}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|х}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ц}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ч}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ш}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|щ}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ъ}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ы}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ь}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|э}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|ю}}
|{{lang|bal-Cyrl|я}}
|}

The project was approved with some minor changes ({{lang|bal-Cyrl|қ}}, {{lang|bal|ꝑ}}, and {{lang|bal-Cyrl|ы}} were removed due to the rarity of those sounds in Balochi, and {{lang|bal-Cyrl|о̄}} was added). From 1992 to 1993, several primary school textbooks were printed in this script. In the early 2000s, the script fell out of use.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kokaislova P. |first=Kokaisl P. |title={{lang|ru|Центральная Азия и Кавказ}} |date=2012 |issn=1403-7068 |language=ru}}</ref>