Balochi language

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File:WIKITONGUES- Malek speaking Eastern Balochi.webm

A speaker of Eastern Balochi

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Balochi ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, romanized: Template:Transliteration) is a Northwestern Iranian language, spoken primarily in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. In addition, there are speakers in Oman, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Turkmenistan, East Africa and in diaspora communities in other parts of the world.<ref name="Spooner2011">Template:Cite book</ref> The total number of speakers, according to Ethnologue, is Template:Sigfig million.<ref name=e26/> Of these, 6.28 million are in Pakistan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Balochi varieties constitute a dialect continuum and collectively at least have 10 million native speakers. The main varieties of Balochi are Eastern (Soleimani), Southern (Makrani) and Western (Rakhshani).<ref name=":zone">Template:Cite book</ref> The Koroshi dialect is a dialect of the Balochi language, spoken mainly in the provinces of Fars and Hormozgan.<ref name=":Anousha">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":zone" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

According to Brian Spooner,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

Literacy for most Baloch-speakers is not in Balochi, but in Urdu in Pakistan and Persian in Afghanistan and Iran. Even now very few Baloch read Balochi, in any of the countries, even though the alphabet in which it is printed is essentially identical to Persian and Urdu.{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
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Balochi belongs to the Western Iranian subgroup, and its original homeland is suggested to be around the central Caspian region.<ref name="Elfenbein 1988">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

ClassificationEdit

Balochi is an Indo-European language, spoken by the Baloch and belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the family. As an Iranian language, it is classified in the Northwestern group.

Glottolog classifies four different varieties, namely Koroshi, Southern Balochi and Western Balochi (grouped under a "Southern-Western Balochi" branch), and Eastern Balochi, all under the "Balochic" group.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

According to Carina Jahani research,<ref name=":The Baloch and Their Neighbours">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> ISO 639-3 groups Southern, Eastern, and Western Baloch under the Balochi macrolanguage, keeping Koroshi separate.

DialectsEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} These dialects are broadly categorized into three main groups:<ref name=":Uppsala">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Eastern group (the Soleimani dialect group): Found mainly in eastern Balochistan, covering parts of Pakistan, particularly in areas like Quetta, Kalat, and Khuzdar.
Southern group or Makrani dialect (part of the Makrani dialect group): Spoken in the southern parts of Balochistan, including coastal areas like Gwadar, Chabahar, and southern Pakistan.<ref name=":Uppsala"/>
Western group (part of the Rakhshani dialect group) : Predominantly spoken in western Balochistan, including parts of Iran and Afghanistan. Commonly spoken in Sistan and Balochestan province and Khorasan in Iran.<ref name=":Anousha"/><ref name=":Uppsala"/>

Koroshi is also classified as Balochi.<ref>Ethnologue report for Southwestern Iranian languages</ref>

Elfenbein divides the dialects of the Balochi language into six categories: Rakhshani (subdialects: Kalati and Sarhaddi), Panjguri, Saravani, Lashari, Kechi, and Coastal Dialects.<ref name="Elfenbein 1988" />

Rakhshani <ref name="Elfenbein 1988" />

Kalati (areas between Las Bela in the north of Karachi to Mastung in the south of Quetta Chaghi and Kharan (northern areas of Balochistan, Pakistan, including Noshki, Dalbandin, Kharan, and Kalat).
Panjguri(southern and southwestern areas of Afghanistan, mainly the areas around the Helmand River).
Sarhadhi (an area that extends from the east to Dalbandin in Pakistan and from the northeast to Chahar Burjak in Afghanistan, and includes Merv in the Republic of Turkmenistan and Sistan in Iran, with Nosratabad in Balochistan, Iran, forming its southernmost part).

Panjguri<ref name=":The Iranian Languages">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":The Baloch and Their Neighbours" /> It includes most of the Kharan region, with the kech River forming its southern border and the Rakhshan River its northern border, and Kolwa located to its east.<ref name="Elfenbein 1988" />

Saravani<ref name=":The Iranian Languages" /> Saravan and its surrounding areas, with Khash as its northern border and Espidan as its western border. In later works, Elfenbein, Iranshahr, and Bampur are also considered to be within the Saravani dialect area.<ref name="Elfenbein 1988" /><ref name=":The Baloch and Their Neighbours" />

Kechi<ref name=":The Iranian Languages" /> Kich region in Balochistan, including Turbat.<ref name="Elfenbein 1988" /><ref name=":The Baloch and Their Neighbours" />

Lashari<ref name="Elfenbein 1988" /> centered on the village of Lashar, south of Iranshahr where Balochi close to Persian and Baskardi.<ref name=":The Baloch and Their Neighbours" />

Coastal dialects<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":Agnes">Template:Cite book</ref> Including Qasr-e Qand, Nikshahr, Rask and the southern coastal areas of Balochistan from near Bandar Abbas to Karachi Port, including the ports of Chahbahar, Gwadar, Pasni.<ref name="Elfenbein 1988" />

There are two main dialects: the dialect of the Mandwani (northern) tribes and the dialect of the Domki (southern) tribes.<ref name="Dames1">Template:Harvnb.</ref> The dialectal differences are not very significant.<ref name="Dames1" /> One difference is that grammatical terminations in the northern dialect are less distinct compared with those in the southern tribes.<ref name="Dames1" /> An isolated dialect is Koroshi, which is spoken in the Qashqai tribal confederation in the Fars province. Koroshi distinguishes itself in grammar and lexicon among Balochi varieties.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The Balochi Academy Sarbaz has designed a standard alphabet for Balochi.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Better source needed

Uppsala University offers a course titled Balochi A, which provides basic knowledge of the phonetics and syntax of the Balochi language.<ref name=":Uppsala"/> Carina Jahani is a prominent Swedish Iranologist and professor of Iranian languages at Uppsala University, deeply researching in the study and preservation of the Balochi language.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

PhonologyEdit

VowelsEdit

The Balochi vowel system has at least eight vowels: five long and three short.<ref>Template:Harvnb. Template:Harvnb.</ref>Template:Page needed These are {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. The short vowels have more centralized phonetic quality than the long vowels. The variety spoken in Karachi also has nasalized vowels, most importantly {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref>Template:Page needed In addition to these eight vowels, Balochi has two vowel glides, that is /aw/ and /aj/.<ref name=":0" />

ConsonantsEdit

The following table shows consonants which are common to both Western (Northern) and Southern Balochi.<ref>Template:Harvnb. Template:Harvnb.</ref>Template:Page needed The consonants /s/, /z/, /n/, /ɾ/ and /l/ are articulated as alveolar in Western Balochi. The plosives /t/ and /d/ are dental in both dialects. The symbol ń is used to denote nasalization of the preceding vowel.<ref name=":0" />

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	Template:Small	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Plosive/ Affricate	Template:Small	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Fricative	Template:Small	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link Template:Efn
Fricative	Template:Small		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link Template:Efn		Template:IPA link Template:Efn
Rhotic			Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link Template:Efn
Nasal		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Approximant		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link

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In addition, {{#invoke:IPA|main}} occurs in a few words in Southern Balochi. {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (voiceless velar fricative) in some loanwords in Southern Balochi corresponding to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (voiceless uvular fricative) in Western Balochi; and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (voiced velar fricative) in some loanwords in Southern Balochi corresponding to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (voiced uvular fricative) in Western Balochi.

In Eastern Balochi, it is noted that the stop and glide consonants may also occur as aspirated allophones in word initial position as {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Allophones of stops in postvocalic position include for voiceless stops, {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and for voiced stops {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. {{#invoke:IPA|main}} are also dentalized as {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref>

IntonationEdit

Difference between a question and a statement is marked with the tone, when there is no question word. Rising tone marks the question and falling tone the statement.<ref name=":0" /> Statements and questions with a question word are characterized by falling intonation at the end of the sentence.<ref name=":0" />

Falling Intonation – Statement
Language	Example
Latin	(Á) wassh ent.
Perso-Arabic with Urdu alphabet	.آ) وشّ اِنت)
English	He is well.

Falling Intonation – Question
Language	Example
Latin	(Taw) kojá raway?
Perso-Arabic with Urdu alphabet	تئو) کجا رئوئے؟)
English	Where are you going?

Questions without a question word are characterized by rising intonation at the end of the sentence.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

Rising Intonation – Question
Language	Example
Latin	(Á) wassh ent?
Perso-Arabic with Urdu alphabet	آ) وشّ اِنت؟)
English	Is he well?

Both coordinate and subordinate clauses that precede the final clause in the sentence have rising intonation. The final clause in the sentence has falling intonation.<ref name=":0" />

Rising Intonation – In clauses that precede the final clause
Language	Example
Latin	Shahray kuchah o damkán hechkas gendaga nabut o bázár angat band at.
Perso-Arabic with Urdu alphabet	شهرئے کوچه ءُ دمکان هچکَس گندگَ نبوت ءُ بازار انگت بند اَت.
English	Nobody was seen in the streets of the town, and the marketplace was still closed.

GrammarEdit

The normal word order is subject–object–verb. Like many other Indo-Iranian languages, Balochi also features split ergativity. The subject is marked as nominative except for the past tense constructions where the subject of a transitive verb is marked as oblique and the verb agrees with the object.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Balochi, like many Western Iranian languages, has lost the Old Iranian gender distinctions.<ref name="Elfenbein 1988"/>

NumeralsEdit

Much of the Balochi number system is identical to Persian.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to Mansel Longworth Dames, Balochi writes the first twelve numbers as follows:<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref>

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Cardinal numerals
Balochi	Standard Alphabet(Balòrabi)	English
Yak	یکّ	OneTemplate:Efn
Do	دو	Two
Sae	سئ	Three
Chàr	چار	Four
Panch	پنچ	Five
Shash	شش	Six
Hapt	ھپت	Seven
Hasht	ھشت	Eight
Noh	نُھ	Nine
Dah	دَہ	Ten
Yàzhdah	یازدہ	Eleven
Dwàzhdah	دوازدھ	Twelve

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Ordinal numerals
Balochi	Standard Alphabet(Balòrabi)	English
Awali / Pèsari	اولی / پݔسَری	First
Domi	دومی	Second
Sayomi	سئیُمی	Third
Cháromi	چارمی	Fourth
Panchomi	پنچُمی	Fifth
Shashomi	شَشُمی	Sixth
Haptomi	ھپتُمی	Seventh
Hashtomi	ھشتمی	Eighth
Nohmi	نُھمی	Ninth
Dahomi	دھمی	Tenth
Yázdahomi	یازدھمی	Eleventh
Dwázdahomi	دوازدھمی	Twelfth
Goďďi	گُڈڈی	Last

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Notes

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Writing systemEdit

Balochi was not a written language before the 19th century,<ref name="Dames3">Template:Harvnb.</ref> and the Persian script was used to write Balochi wherever necessary.<ref name="Dames3" /> However, Balochi was still spoken at the Baloch courts.Template:Citation needed

British colonial officers first wrote Balochi with the Latin script.<ref>Template:Cite news</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.Template:Citation needed

In 2002, a conference was held to help standardize the script that would be used for Balochi.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Old Balochi AlphabetEdit

Template:Further The following alphabet was used by Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi in his lexicon of Balochi Sayad Ganj ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) (lit. Sayad's Treasure).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</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.

Standard Perso-Arabic AlphabetEdit

Template:Arabic-script sidebar {{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Balochi Standard Alphabet, standardized by Balochi Academy Sarbaz, consists of 29 letters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is an extension of the Perso-Arabic script and borrows a few glyphs from 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 alphabetEdit

The following Latin-based alphabet was adopted by the International Workshop on "Balochi Roman Orthography" (University of Uppsala, Sweden, 28–30 May 2000).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Alphabetical order

Template:Nowrap (33 letters and 2 digraphs)

Letter	IPA	Example words<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
A / a	Template:IPAblink	asp (horse), garm (warm), mard (man)
Á / á	Template:IPAblink	áp (water), kár (work)
B / b (bé)	Template:IPAblink	barp (snow, ice), bám (dawn), bágpán (gardener), baktáwar (lucky)
Ch / ch (ché)	Template:IPAblink	chamm (eye), bacch (son), kárch (knife)
D / d (de)	Template:IPAblink	dard (pain), drad (rainshower), pád (foot), wád (salt)
Dh / dh	Template:IPAblink	dhawl (shape), gwandh (short), chondh (piece)
E / e	Template:IPAblink	esh (this), pet (father), bale (but)
É / é	Template:IPAblink	éraht (harvest), bér (revenge), shér (tiger) dér (late, delay), dém (face, front),
F / f (fe)	Template:IPAblink	Only used for loanwords: fármaysí (pharmacy).
G / g (ge)	Template:IPAblink	gapp (talk), ganók (mad), bág (garden), bagg (herd of camels), pádag (foot), Bagdád (Baghdad)
Gh / gh	Template:IPAblink	Like ĝhaen in Perso-Arabic script. Used for loanwords and in eastern dialects: ghair (others), ghali (carpet), ghaza (noise)
H / h (he)	Template:IPAblink	hár (flood), máh (moon), kóh (mountain), mahár (rein), hón (blood)
I / i (i)	Template:IPAblink	imán (faith), shir (milk), pakir (beggar), samin (breeze), gáli (carpet)
J / j (jé)	Template:IPAblink	jang (war), janag (to beat), jeng (lark), ganj (treasure), sajji (roasted meat)
K / k (ké)	Template:IPAblink	Kermán (Kirman), kárch (knife), nákó (uncle), gwask (calf), kasán (small)
L / l (lé)	Template:IPAblink	láp (stomach), gal (joy), gal (party, organization), goll (cheek), gol (rose)
M / m (mé)	Template:IPAblink	mát (mother), bám (dawn), chamm (eye), master (leader, bigger)
N / n (né)	Template:IPAblink	nagan (bread), nók (new, new moon), dhann (outside), kwahn (old), nákó (uncle)
O / o	Template:IPAblink	oshter (camel), shomá (you), ostád (teacher), gozhn (hunger), boz (goat)
Ó / ó (ó)	Template:IPAblink	óshtag (to stop), ózhnág (swim), róch (sun), dór (pain), sochag (to burn)
P / p (pé)	Template:IPAblink	Pád (foot), shap (night), shapád (bare-footed), gapp (talk), haptád (70)
R / r (ré)	Template:IPAblink	rék (sand), barag (to take away), sharr (good), sarag (head)
Rh / rh (rhé)	Template:IPAblink	márhi (building), nájórh (sick)
S / s (sé)	Template:IPAblink	sarag (head), kass (someone), kasán (little), bass (enough), ás (fire)
Sh / sh (shé)	Template:IPAblink	shap (night), shád (happy), mésh (sheep), shwánag (shepherd), wašš (happy, tasty)
T / t (té)	Template:IPAblink	tagerd (mat), tahná (alone) tás (bowl), kelitt (key)
Th / th (thé)	Template:IPAblink	thong (hole), thilló (bell), batth (cooked rice), batthág (eggplant)
U / u (u)	Template:IPAblink	zurag (to take), bezur (take), dur (distant)
W / w (wé)	Template:IPAblink	warag (food, to eat), warden (provision), dawár (abode), wád (salt), kawwás (learned)
X / x	Template:IPAblink	Like xa in Perso-Arabic script. Used for loanwords and in eastern dialects:
Y / y (yé)	Template:IPAblink	yád (remembrance), yár (friend), yázdah (eleven), beryáni (roasted meat), yakk (one)
Z / z (zé)	Template:IPAblink	zarr (monay), zi (yesterday), mozz (wages), móz (banana), nazzíkk (nearby)
Zh / zh (zhé)	Template:IPAblink	zhand (tired), zháng (bells), pazhm (wool), gazzhag (to swell), gozhnag (hungry)
Latin digraphs
Ay / ay	[aj]	ayb (fault), say (three), kay (who)
Aw / aw	[aw]	awali (first), hawr (rain), kawl (promise), gawk (neck)

Soviet alphabetEdit

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

**The Balochi alphabet in Latin**
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lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}

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>Template:Cite book</ref>

Cyrillic alphabetEdit

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:

**The Balochi alphabet in Cyrillic**
lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}

The project was approved with some minor changes ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} were removed due to the rarity of those sounds in Balochi, and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 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>Template:Cite book</ref>