# Eastern Balochi (dialect)

Eastern Balochi (Balochi:رۏدرآتکی بلۏچی), is a dialect of the Balochi language spoken in border areas to Indian languages in Punjab, Sindh, and the north-eastern parts of Balochistan province.
Relatively few studies have been devoted to Eastern Balochi compared to other dialects of the Balochi language. There is too little material available.

## Dialects

Researchers believe that Eastern Balochi (which is not a unified dialect, but rather a conglomerate of dialects often referred to by the tribal names of the speakers as the Marrī, Bugṭī, Leghārī, Mazārī, etc.)
Sulaimani found mainly in eastern Balochistan, covering parts of Pakistan, particularly in areas like Quetta, Kalat, Khuzdar, Sindh and Punjab.
Eastern Hill Balochi dialects are spoken in the areas of the Marri, Bugti, Leghari, and Mazari tribes. Mansel Longworth Dames, Portuguese language scholar was the first to study this dialect and called it Northern Balochi. The dialect is now been influenced by Sindhi. The Baloch Talpurs ruled Sindh for a long time, which led to Baloch interaction with the inhabitants of Sindh, and over time, Balochi (Eastern Hill Balochi) became influenced by Sindhi. It's spoken east of Quetta, Dera Ghazi Khan, and from Sibi in the west nearly to the Indus river in the east.

## Phonology

The sound system of Eastern Balochi is different from Southern and Western Balochi. In Eastern Balochi, the sounds /f/, /kh/, and /gh/ are pronounced as /p/, /k/, /g/.

### Vowles

Based on what Dames mentions, the Eastern Balochi has the long vowels a2, i2, u2, the short vowels a, i, u, and the vowels e, ai, o, au under the name of diphthongs. It is mentioned that with the passage of time and contact with neighboring Indo-Aryan languages, the phenomenon of nasalization in Eastern Balochi has emerged.
Vowel systems in Eastern Balochi :
| Scholars | Vowel systems |
| Dames (1891) | ī, i, e, a, ā, o, u, ū |
| Grierson (1921) | ī, i, e, ē, a, ā, o, ō, u, ū |
| Bashir (2008) | ī, i, e, ē, a, ā, o, ō, u, ū, ã, ā̃, ẽ, ĩ, ī, õ |
Eastern Balochi has its fricatives and acquired retroflex consonants, A fronting of ū > ī has taken place and n seems to have acquired phonemic status in Southern Balochi.

### Consonants

The following table shows consonants which are common Southern Balochi.
Eastern Balochi Consonant Shift :
| | word-initial and postconsonantal position | postvocalic position |
| p, t, k | aspiration: pʰ tʰ kʰ | fricatives: f, ɕ, x |
| b, d, g | (no change: b, d, g) | fricatives: β, ʝ, ǧ |
| č, ǰ | aspiration: cʰ(no change: ǰ) | fricatives: š, ž |
| w | aspiration: wʰ | (no change: w) |
Nasalization is phonemic in the eastern balochi and that caused by the effect of Indo-Aryan languages, like Sulaimani dialect that has borrowed a few sounds from them.
Consonants in Eastern Balochi Dialects of Sindh :
| | | Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | pʰ | tʰ | tʰ | cʰ | kʰ | |
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiced | b | d | d̥ | J̌ | ɡ | |
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | | Š | x | h |
| Fricative | voiced | β | z | | ž | ǧ |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | (n) | | | |
| Taps | Taps | | r | r̥ | | | |
| Glides | Glides | w | | | y | |
In Eastern Balochi, it is noted that the stop and glide consonants may also occur as aspirated allophones in word initial position as [pʰ tʰ ʈʰ t͡ʃʰ kʰ] and [wʱ]. Allophones of stops in postvocalic position include for voiceless stops, [f θ x] and for voiced stops [β ð ɣ]. /n l/ are also dentalized as [n̪ l̪]. The complete set off, ʃ, β, x, ɣ, ǧ, it is present as regular phonemes in eastern balochi. In Eastern Hill Baluchi, θ and ’ from postvocalic t and d; and intervocalic b tends to become v.

### Syllable

In Eastern Balochi, the last heavy syllable of a word is stressed. Complex verbs and preposition + noun are treated as a unit as far as stress is concerned.

## Grammar

The grammar of Eastern Balochi is similar to the grammar of other dialects of the Balochi language. The Balochi ending for the Oblique plural of nouns is -ān, characteristic of Western Iranian languages. It collectives suffix -gal, and used as a plural suffix. Verbs with infinitives in -a ˙g, words in -¯a¯o (i.e. /-¯ab/, corresponding to non Eastern -¯ab, e.g. xar¯a¯o < xar¯ab "bad".

## Vocabulary

| English | Eastern Balochi | Southern Balochi | Western Balochi |
| Soil | Hākh | Hāk | Hak |
| Word | Lawz | Labz | lawz |
| Water | Āf | Āp | Ap |
| Bread | Naghan | Nagan | Nan |
| Mother | Māth | Māt | Mâs |
| Change | Bazal | Badal | Avaz |
| Sun | Rowsh/Rowž | Rowch | Rowch |

## Example sentences

| English | Estern Balochi |
| I have a job. | Manā kār ē asten. |