Eastern Balochi (dialect)

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Eastern Balochi
سلئیمانی بلۏچی
Native to Pakistan, Iran [1] Afghanistan, Turkmenistan
Region Balochistan
Dialects
Balochi Alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-2 bgp
ISO 639-3 bgp – inclusive code
Individual code:
bgp  – Eastern Balochi
Glottolog east2304
Linguasphere (East Balochi) 58-AAB-aa (East Balochi)
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Eastern Balochi [a] is a dialect of the Balochi language [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] spoken in border areas to Indian languages in Punjab, Sindh, and the north-eastern parts of Balochistan province. [8] [9]

Relatively few studies have been devoted to Eastern Balochi compared to other dialects of the Balochi language. There is too little material available. [10]

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, Buzdar etc.) [5]

Sulaimani found mainly in eastern Balochistan, covering parts of Pakistan, particularly in areas like Quetta, Kalat, Khuzdar, [11] Sindh and Punjab.

Eastern Hill Balochi dialects are spoken in the areas of the Marri, Bugti, Leghari, Buzdar and Mazari tribes. [8] Mansel Longworth Dames, Portuguese language scholar was the first to study this dialect and called it Northern Balochi. [12] 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. [6] It is spoken east of Quetta, Dera Ghazi Khan, Taunsa and from Sibi in the west nearly to the Indus river in the east. [11]

Phonology

The sound system of Eastern Balochi is different from Southern and Western Balochi. [13] In Eastern Balochi, the sounds /f/, /kh/, and /gh/ are pronounced as /p/, /k/, /g/. [10]

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. [14] 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. [15]

Vowel systems in Eastern Balochi
ScholarsVowel 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, [16] A fronting of ū > ī has taken place and n seems to have acquired phonemic status in Southern Balochi. [8]

Consonants

The following table shows consonants which are common Southern Balochi. [17] [18] [19]

Eastern Balochi Consonant Shift
word-initial and postconsonantal position postvocalic position
p, t, kaspiration: pʰ tʰ kʰfricatives: f, ɕ, x
b, d, g(no change: b, d, g)fricatives: β, ʝ, ǧ
č, ǰaspiration: cʰ(no change: ǰ)fricatives: š, ž
waspiration: 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
voiced b d d̥ J̌ ɡ
Fricative voiceless f s Š x h
voiced β z ž ǧ
Nasal m n (n)
Taps r r̥
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]. [20] The complete set off, ʃ, β, x, ɣ, ǧ, it is present as regular phonemes in eastern balochi. [16] In Eastern Hill Baluchi, θ and ’ from postvocalic t and d; and intervocalic b tends to become v. [11]

Syllable

In Eastern Balochi, the last heavy syllable of a word is stressed. [21] Complex verbs and preposition + noun are treated as a unit as far as stress is concerned. [10]

Grammar

The grammar of Eastern Balochi is similar to the grammar of other dialects of the Balochi language. [13] The Balochi ending for the Oblique plural of nouns is -ān, characteristic of Western Iranian languages. [11] 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". [13]

Vocabulary

Example sentences

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

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Balochi: سلئیمانی بلۏچی [2] or رۏدرآتکی بلۏچی[ citation needed ]

References

  1. ↑ "BALUCHISTAN iii. Baluchi Language and Literature". Encyclopædia Iranica .
  2. ↑ Balòc, Bràh (29 August 2023). "A Review on Balochi language dialects and speakings". Balochi Academy of Sarbaz. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  3. ↑ Ahmady, Kameel (2013). From Border to Border Research Study on Identity and Ethnicity in Iran. Avaye Buf. p. 68. ISBN   9788794295314.
  4. ↑ Korn, Agnes; Jahani, Carina (2003). The Baloch and Their Neighbours Ethnic and Linguistic Contact in Balochistan in Historical and Modern Times. Reichert. ISBN   9783895003660.
  5. 1 2 "The Balochi Language Project". Uppsala University . 25 November 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  6. 1 2 "Balochi language". Encyclopædia Britannica .
  7. ↑ "Balochi". University of Arizona . Retrieved 28 January 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 Windfuhr, Gernot (2013). The Iranian Languages. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9781135797041.
  9. ↑ Jahani, Carina (2000). Language in Society Eight Sociolinguistic Essays on Balochi. Uppsala University Library. ISBN   9789155446796.
  10. 1 2 3 Jahani, Carina (2019). A Grammar of Modern Standard Balochi. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Elfenbein, J. (1988). "Baluchistan iii. Baluchi Language and Literature". Encyclopedia Iranica . Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  12. ↑ Bailey, Harold Walter (2024). Papers in Honour of Professor Mary Boyce I. Brill. ISBN   9789004671454.
  13. 1 2 3 Korn, Agnes (2005). Towards a Historical Grammar of Balochi Studies in Balochi Historical Phonology and Vocabulary. Reichert. ISBN   9783895003677.
  14. ↑ Soohani, Bahareh (2017). "The phonology of Iranian-Balochi dialects : description and analysis". Leiden University . Leiden University.
  15. ↑ Okati, Farideh (2012). The vowel systems of five Iranian Balochi dialects. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet. ISBN   978-91-554-8536-8 . Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  16. 1 2 Joseph, Brian; Klein, Jared; Wenthe, Mark; Fritz, Matthias (2017). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. De Gruyter. ISBN   9783110393248.
  17. ↑ Jahani, Carina; Korn, Agnes (2022). The Baloch and their Neighbours, Ethnic and Linguistic Contact in Balochistan in Historical and Modern Time. Cambridge University. ISBN   978-3-89500-366-0.
  18. ↑ Serge, Axenov (2006). The Balochi language of Turkmenistan: a corpus based grammatical description. Stockholm: Uppsala Universitet. ISBN   978-91-554-6766-1. OCLC   82163314.
  19. ↑ Farrell, Tim (1990). Basic Balochi: an introductory course. Naples: Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale". OCLC   40953807.
  20. ↑ Jahani, Carina; Korn, Agnes (2009). "Balochi". In Windfuhr, Gernot (ed.). The Iranian languages. Routledge Language Family Series (1st ed.). London: Routledge. pp. 634–692. ISBN   978-0-7007-1131-4.
  21. ↑ Korn, Agnes; Jahani, Carina; Titus, Paul Brian (2008). The Baloch and Others Linguistic, Historical and Socio-political Perspectives on Pluralism in Balochistan. Reichert Verlag. p. 290. ISBN   9783895005916.
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