Balochi language

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Balochi
بلوچی baločî
Native toBalochistan,Sindh,Punjab,Turkmenistan, UAE, Oman
Native speakers
7–8 million (1998, Ethnologue) not include Northern Balochi
Official status
Official language in
Balochistan
Language codes
ISO 639-2bal
ISO 639-3Variously:
bal – Baluchi (generic)
bgp – Eastern Balochi
bgn – Western Balochi
bcc – Southern Balochi

Balochi (also Baluchi, Baloci or Baluci) is a Northwestern Iranian language. It is the principal language of the Baloch of Balochistan, a region in western Pakistan, eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan. It is also spoken as a second language by some Brahui. It is designated as one of nine official languages of Pakistan in the near coming future for government officials and Balochi politcians.

Dialects

Balochi has several dialects. The Ethnologue lists three major dialects: Eastern Balochi, Western Balochi and Southern Balochi while the Encyclopedia Iranica (from Elfenbein) lists six major dialects: Rakhshani (subdialects: Kalati, Panjguri and Sarhaddi), Saravani, Lashari, Kechi, Coastal Dialects, and Eastern Hill Balochi.



Sound System

Geographic distribution of Iranian languages.

Vowels

a, i, u, aː, iː, eː, uː, oː

Diphthongs

ai, au, aːi

Plosives

p, b, t, d, ʈ, ɖ, k, ɡ

Affricates

ʧ, ʤ

Fricatives

s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h

  • Allophones for syllable final -b, -t, -d -> -v, -θ, -ð (Eastern Hill Balochi only)
  • Fricatives in unassimilated loanwords: f, x, ɣ

Nasals

m, n, ŋ

Trills

r, ɽ

Lateral Approximants

l

Approximants

w, j

History

Balochi is closely related to other Northwestern Iranian languages such as Kurdish.

Writing system

Before the 19th century, Balochi was an unwritten language. The official written language was Persian although Balochi was still spoken at the Baloch courts. British linguists and political historians wrote form with the Roman script, but following independence of Pakistan, Baloch scholars adopted Nasta'liq Arabic script. In Afghanistan, Balochi is written in a modified Arabic script based on what is used for Pashto.


Baluchi Roman ORTHOGRAPHY

FINAL PROPOSALS FOR ROMAN ALPHABETS FOR BALOCHI, ADOPTED BY THE COMMITTEE NOMINATED ON THE SECOND DAY OF THE INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON "BALOCHI ROMAN ORTHOGRAPHY" HELD AT UNIVERSITY OF UPPSALA, SWEDEN, MAY 28-30, 2000.


Alphabetical Order:


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 diphthongs) abdullah leghari


Samples:

A/a amb (mango), angúr (grape), bagg (camel-caravan), sardar (naked-head), namb (mist),

Á/á dár (wood), árt (flour), bahá (price), pád (foot), áhag (to come), áhán (them)

B/b (be) barp (snow, ice), bám (dawn), bágpán (gardner), baktáwar (lucky)

C/c (che) cattr (umbrella), bacc (son), kárc (knife), Karácí, Kulánc, Cákar, Bálác

D/d (de) dard (pain), drad (rainshower), dárú (medicine), wád (salt)

Ď/ď is same as Ř/ř (ře) so this latter is preferably used to simplify the orthography.

E/e eš (this), cer (below), eraht (end of date harvest), pešraw (leader, forerunner), kamer (ploughshare)

F/f (fe) To be used only in loan words where its use is inevitable, like Fráns (France), fármaysí (pharmacy)

G/g (ge) gapp (talk), ganok (mad), bág (garden), bagg (herd of camels), pádag (foot), Bagdád (Baghdad)

Ĝ/ĝ (like ĝhaen in Perso-Arabic script) Only in loan words and in eastern dialects

H/h (he) hár (flood), máh (moon), koh (mountain), mahár (rein), hon (blood)

I/i (i) istál (star), idá (here), pit/piss (father), bigir (take), kirr (near)

Í/í (í) ímmán (faith), šír (milk), pakír (beggar), samín (breeze), gálí (carpet)

J/j (je) jang (war), janag (to beat), jing (lark), ganj (treasure), sajjí (roasted meat)

K/k (ke) Kirmán (Kirman), kárc (knife), náko (uncle), gwask (calf), kasán (small)

L/l (le) láp (stomach), gal (joy), gall (party, organization), gull (cheek), gul (rose)

M/m (me) mát/más (mother), bám (dawn), camm (eye), mastir (leader, bigger).

N/n (ne) nán/nagan/nagan (bread), nok (new, new moon), dann (outside), kwahn (old), náko (uncle)

O/o (o) oštag (to stop), ožnág (swim), roc (sun), dor (pain), socag (to burn)

P/p (pe) Pád (foot), šap (night), šapád (bare-footed), gapp (talk), aptád (70)

Q/q (qú) Used in loan words, like Qábús

R/r (re) Rustum (a name), rek (sand), barag (to take away), girag (to get), garrag (to bray), gurrag (to roar), šarr (good), sarag (head), sarrag (a kind of donkey's braying)

Ř/ř (ře) řák (post), řukkál (famine), gařř (urial), guřř (last), guřřag (to chop).

S/s (se) sarag (head), kass (someone), kasán (little), bass (enough), ás (fire)

Š/š (še) šap (night), šád (happy), meš (sheep), šuwánag (shepherd), wašš (happy, tasty).

T/t (te) tagird (mat), tahná (alone) tás (bowl), kilítt (kay), masítt (mosque), battí (lantern)

Ť/ť (ťe) ťung (hole), ťíllo (bell), baťť (cooked rice), baťťág (eggplant).

U/u uštir (camel), šumá (you), ustád (teacher), gužn (hunger), buz (goat)

Ú/ú (ú, sounds like the "oo" in English word "root") úrt (thin), zúrag (to take), bizú (take), dúr (distant)

V/v (ve) used in loanwords only, like in the English word service, very.

W/w (we) warag (food, to eat), wardin (provision), dawár (abode), wád (salt), kawwás (learned)

X/x (khe) Xudá (God),

Y/y (ye) yád (remembrance), yár (friend), yázdah (eleven), biryání (roasted meat), raydyo (radio), yakk (one)

Z/z (ze) zarr (monay), zí (yesterday), muzz (wages), moz (banana), nazzíkk (nearby), bazgar (tenant)

Ž/ž (že) žand (tired), žáng (bells), pažm (wool), gažžag (to swell), gužnag (hungry).


ay (h)ayrán (surprise), ayrát (distribution), say (3), may (our), kay (who), šumay (your)

Aw/aw kawr (river), hawr (rain), kissaw (story), dawl (sort), dawr (jump), awlád (off-spring), kawl (promise), gawk (neck).

Dictionaries

See also

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