# Balochi language

Balochi (بلۏچی, romanized: Balòci) 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. The total number of speakers, according to Ethnologue, is 8.8 million. Of these, 6.28 million are in Pakistan.
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). The Koroshi dialect is a dialect of the Balochi language, spoken mainly in the provinces of Fars and Hormozgan.
According to Brian Spooner,
   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.
Balochi belongs to the Western Iranian subgroup, and its original homeland is suggested to be around the central Caspian region.

## Classification

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.
According to Carina Jahani research, ISO 639-3 groups Southern, Eastern, and Western Baloch under the Balochi macrolanguage, keeping Koroshi separate. Balochi, somehow near similarity with the Parthian and on the other hand, it has near kinship to the Avestan.

## Dialects

These dialects are broadly categorized into three main groups:
* 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.
* 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.
Koroshi is also classified as Balochi.
Elfenbein divides the dialects of the Balochi language into six categories: Rakhshani (subdialects: Kalati and Sarhaddi), Panjguri, Saravani, Lashari, Kechi, and Coastal Dialects.
Rakhshani
* 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 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.
Saravani 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.
Kechi Kich region in Balochistan, including Turbat.
Lashari centered on the village of Lashar , south of Iranshahr where Balochi close to Persian and Baskardi.
Coastal dialects 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.
There are two main dialects: the dialect of the Mandwani (northern) tribes and the dialect of the Domki (southern) tribes. The dialectal differences are not very significant. One difference is that grammatical terminations in the northern dialect are less distinct compared with those in the southern tribes. 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.
The Balochi Academy Sarbaz has designed a standard alphabet for Balochi.
Uppsala University offers a course titled Balochi A, which provides basic knowledge of the phonetics and syntax of the Balochi language. 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.

## Phonology
### Vowels

The Balochi vowel system has at least eight vowels: five long and three short. These are /aː/, /eː/, /iː/, /oː/, /uː/, /a/, /i/ and /u/. The short vowels have more centralized phonetic quality than the long vowels. The variety spoken in Karachi also has nasalized vowels, most importantly /ẽː/ and /ãː/. In addition to these eight vowels, Balochi has two vowel glides, that is /aw/ and /aj/.

### Consonants

The following table shows consonants which are common to both Western (Northern) and Southern Balochi. 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.
| | | Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p | t | ʈ | t͡ʃ | k | ʔ |
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiced | b | d | ɖ | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ʔ |
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | | ʃ | | h |
| Fricative | voiced | | z | | ʒ | | h |
| Rhotic | Rhotic | | ɾ | ɽ | | | |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | w | l | | j | | |
* ↑ Word-initial /h/ is dropped in Balochi as spoken in Karachi.
* ↑ Words with /ʒ/ are uncommon.
* ↑ The retroflex tap has a very limited distribution.
In addition, /f/ occurs in a few words in Southern Balochi. /x/ (voiceless velar fricative) in some loanwords in Southern Balochi corresponding to /χ/ (voiceless uvular fricative) in Western Balochi; and /ɣ/ (voiced velar fricative) in some loanwords in Southern Balochi corresponding to /ʁ/ (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 [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].

### Intonation

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. Statements and questions with a question word are characterized by falling intonation at the end of the sentence.
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.
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.
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. |

## Grammar

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. Balochi, like many Western Iranian languages, has lost the Old Iranian gender distinctions.

### Numerals

Much of the Balochi number system is identical to Persian. According to Mansel Longworth Dames, Balochi writes the first twelve numbers as follows:
Cardinal numerals :
| Balochi | Standard Alphabet(Balòrabi) | English |
| Yak | یکّ | One |
| 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 |
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 |

#### Notes

* ↑ The latter ya is with nouns while yak is used by itself.

## Writing system

Balochi was not a written language before the 19th century, and the Persian script was used to write Balochi wherever necessary. However, Balochi was still spoken at the Baloch courts.
British colonial officers first wrote Balochi with the Latin script. 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.
In 2002, a conference was held to help standardize the script that would be used for Balochi.

### Old Balochi Alphabet

The following alphabet was used by Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi in his lexicon of Balochi Sayad Ganj (سید گنج) (lit. Sayad's Treasure). 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.
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

The Balochi Standard Alphabet, standardized by Balochi Academy Sarbaz, consists of 29 letters. 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 alphabet

The following Latin-based alphabet was adopted by the International Workshop on "Balochi Roman Orthography" (University of Uppsala, Sweden, 28–30 May 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 digraphs)
| Letter | IPA | Example words |
| A / a | [a] | asp (horse), garm (warm), mard (man) |
| Á / á | [aː] | áp (water), kár (work) |
| B / b (bé) | [b] | barp (snow, ice), bám (dawn), bágpán (gardener), baktáwar (lucky) |
| Ch / ch (ché) | [tʃ] | chamm (eye), bacch (son), kárch (knife) |
| D / d (de) | [d] | dard (pain), drad (rainshower), pád (foot), wád (salt) |
| Dh / dh | [ɖ] | dhawl (shape), gwandh (short), chondh (piece) |
| E / e | [i] | esh (this), pet (father), bale (but) |
| É / é | [eː] | éraht (harvest), bér (revenge), shér (tiger) dér (late, delay), dém (face, front), |
| F / f (fe) | [f] | Only used for loanwords: fármaysí (pharmacy). |
| G / g (ge) | [ɡ] | gapp (talk), ganók (mad), bág (garden), bagg (herd of camels), pádag (foot), Bagdád (Baghdad) |
| Gh / gh | [ɣ] | Like ĝhaen in Perso-Arabic script. Used for loanwords and in eastern dialects: ghair (others), ghali (carpet), ghaza (noise) |
| H / h (he) | [h] | hár (flood), máh (moon), kóh (mountain), mahár (rein), hón (blood) |
| I / i (i) | [iː] | imán (faith), shir (milk), pakir (beggar), samin (breeze), gáli (carpet) |
| J / j (jé) | [dʒ] | jang (war), janag (to beat), jeng (lark), ganj (treasure), sajji (roasted meat) |
| K / k (ké) | [k] | Kermán (Kirman), kárch (knife), nákó (uncle), gwask (calf), kasán (small) |
| L / l (lé) | [l] | láp (stomach), gal (joy), gal (party, organization), goll (cheek), gol (rose) |
| M / m (mé) | [m] | mát (mother), bám (dawn), chamm (eye), master (leader, bigger) |
| N / n (né) | [n] | nagan (bread), nók (new, new moon), dhann (outside), kwahn (old), nákó (uncle) |
| O / o | [u] | oshter (camel), shomá (you), ostád (teacher), gozhn (hunger), boz (goat) |
| Ó / ó (ó) | [oː] | óshtag (to stop), ózhnág (swim), róch (sun), dór (pain), sochag (to burn) |
| P / p (pé) | [p] | Pád (foot), shap (night), shapád (bare-footed), gapp (talk), haptád (70) |
| R / r (ré) | [ɾ] | rék (sand), barag (to take away), sharr (good), sarag (head) |
| Rh / rh (rhé) | [ɽ] | márhi (building), nájórh (sick) |
| S / s (sé) | [s] | sarag (head), kass (someone), kasán (little), bass (enough), ás (fire) |
| Sh / sh (shé) | [ʃ] | shap (night), shád (happy), mésh (sheep), shwánag (shepherd), wašš (happy, tasty) |
| T / t (té) | [t] | tagerd (mat), tahná (alone) tás (bowl), kelitt (key) |
| Th / th (thé) | [ʈ] | thong (hole), thilló (bell), batth (cooked rice), batthág (eggplant) |
| U / u (u) | [uː] | zurag (to take), bezur (take), dur (distant) |
| W / w (wé) | [w] | warag (food, to eat), warden (provision), dawár (abode), wád (salt), kawwás (learned) |
| X / x | [x] | Like xa in Perso-Arabic script. Used for loanwords and in eastern dialects: |
| Y / y (yé) | [j] | yád (remembrance), yár (friend), yázdah (eleven), beryáni (roasted meat), yakk (one) |
| Z / z (zé) | [z] | zarr (monay), zi (yesterday), mozz (wages), móz (banana), nazzíkk (nearby) |
| Zh / zh (zhé) | [ʒ] | 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 alphabet

In 1933, the Soviet Union adopted a Latin-based alphabet for Balochi as follows:
The Balochi alphabet in Latin :
| a | ə | ʙ | c | ç | d | ᶁ | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | ʟ |
| m | n | o | p | q | ʼ | r | s | t | ƫ | u | v | w | x | z | 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.

### 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:
The Balochi alphabet in Cyrillic :
| а | а̄ | б | в | г | ғ | д | д̨ | е | ё | ж | җ | з | и | ӣ | й | к | қ | л | м | н |
| о | п | р | ꝑ | с | т | т̵ | у | ӯ | ф | х | ц | ч | ш | щ | ъ | ы | ь | э | ю | я |
The project was approved with some minor changes (қ, ꝑ, and ы were removed due to the rarity of those sounds in Balochi, and 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.