Balochi language is spoken in the Gulf states, Southern Afghanistan, South-western Pakistan, South-eastern Iran, and Turkmenistan. Baloch communities are also found in East Africa, India and in some Western regions, the United States and the United Kingdom. Ethnic identity is typically not given any concern by central governments in reports, due to which it’s hard to estimate total number of Balochi speakers. However, the available data shows that there are at least five to eight million Baloch who speak the language. Kurdish and Persian are familiar to the Balochi language belonging to the western group of the Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. In recent adaptation of Balochi as written language, the Balochi language was considered a dialect of Persian. It holds immense rich oral tradition of prose and poetry. When discussing Balochi language in its written format, it is distinguished in two eras: the British colonial era in India and the post-independence era in Pakistan. Because of British influence, the first period produced most of the written literature that is still in existence today. Compilations of oral poetry and stories, books of grammars brought up an era of Balochi literature.
Here is a brief introduction to the Balochi language.
1- History of the Balochi Language
The three main dialects of Balochi are Makrani, Rakhshani, and Koh-e-Sulemani. While most Baloch linguists make differences between three dialects of the language, the renowned Baloch linguist Sayad Hashimi was against this approach. He thought that each group has its own dialect of Balochi. The categorization of the language into dialects is pointless. Unlike other languages, Balochi is one of the oldest and has vast history. We cannot say with certainty that the origin of the Balochi language is obscure. However, according to some Baloch and Western experts, its origins are still debatable and unknown. Some believe it originated in Persia, while others link it to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. There are five different language families that surrounds Balochi. Pashto in the north and northeast, Persian (Farsi and Dari) in the west and north-west, Indian languages, and other Iranian languages coexist with it on the mainland of Balochistan. The northeast and east are home to Sindhis and Punjabis. These languages are all members of the Indo-European language family’s Indo-Iranian branch. Balochi maintains communication with the Gulf States Arabic and Bantu languages, such as Arabic. The Dravidian language, Brahui has coexisted and been dominated by Balochi for centuries in the core areas of Pakistan’s Baluchistan. Turkmenistan is where the Turkic language Turkmen meets Balochi. In the diaspora in North America and Europe, Balochi encounters new languages, primarily belonging to the Indo-European family. In any case, the language we use today is incredibly varied in terms of vocabulary, idioms, idiomatic expressions, lullabies, folk literature, folk music, and folk legends. There are also a lot of writers, poets, linguists, and academics. The Balochi language had no written form prior to the 19th century. This was due to the fact that the Baloch people did not have any writers or linguists until the middle of the 1800s. But a lot of literature in the Balochi language has been produced since then. According to Sayad Hashmi, the rebirth of the Balochi language arose in the middle of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
2- Alphabets
Balochi is written using two different alphabets: one based on Arabic script and the other on Latin script.
| A / a | ءَ/ـہ | َـ | اَ | اَ / ہَ | /a/ | Aps (horse), Apserk (cold) | اَرس (Tears), گرَنچ (Node) |
| À / à | ـا | آ | آ / ا | /ɑ/ | Àp (water), Àmàd (ready) | آماد (ready), آسمان (Sky)، آسبار (planet) | |
| B / b | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | ب | /b/ | Bàl (wing), Bàsk (arm,member) | بَرۏت (mustachio), رُمب (sheeps group) |
| C / c | ـچ | ـچـ | چـ | چ | /t͡ʃ/ | Coll (channel) | چانٚک (lesion), دو چاپی(Balochi traditional dance) |
| D / d | ـد | د | /d̪/ | Dast (hand) | دیوال (Wall), دراج (tall) | ||
| Ď / ď | ـڈ | ڈ | /ɖ/ | Ďòk (heavy), Ďèl (donkey), Ďæns (dance) | ڈُنگ (robber(Gedrosian word)), ڈَل (sand) | ||
| E / e | ءِ | ـِ | اِ | اِ / ہِ | /e/ | Ezm (art), Ezmkàr (artist),Ensàn (Human) | اِشک (Love) |
| È / è | ـے | ـݔـ | ݔـ | ࢩ/ے | /ɪ/ – /eː/ | Èràn (Iran), Janèn (Woman), Bèr (revenge) | اݔدام (Execution), بݔر (revenge), اِسپݔت (White) |
| G / g | ـگ | ـگـ | گـ | گ | /ɡ/ | Guhàr (sister), Gal (happy), Gall (group) | گَنش (Millipede), گُب (cheek), گوارَگ (raining) |
| H / h | ـہ | ـھـ | ھـ | ھ / ہ | /h/ | Hapt (seven), Hodà (god) | ھئیک (Egge), ھال (news), ھَشت (eight) |
| I/i | ـی | ـیـ | ایـ | ی/ای | /i/ | Pir (old), Sir (wedding) | بیر (Thunderstorm), شیر (milk) |
| J / j | ـج | ـجـ | جـ | ج | /d͡ʒ/ | Jost (question), Jàh (place) | جاک (shriek), جَنِک (daughter) |
| K / k | ـک | ـکـ | کـ | ک | /k/ | Kaur (river), Kam (little) | کِرر (side), کَپپَگی (a balochi traditional game) |
| L / l | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | ل | /l/ | Laiť (lamp) | لَھم (soft), لَشکَر (army) |
| M / m | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | م | /m/ | Mam (beer), Mà (we, us), Man (I) | مادَگ (Female gender), مار (Snake) |
| N / n | ـن | ـنـ | نـ | ن | /n/ | Nàl (Balochi promise), Nend (to Seat) | نَمبیگ (sultry), نِھݔپَگ (pregnancy) |
| O / o | ءُ | ُـ | اُ | اُ/ہُ | /o/ | Poll (flower) | اُستُم (people(Gedrosian word)), اُستاز (professor) |
| Ò / ò | ـۏ | ـۏ | اۏ | ۏ / اۏ | /ʊ/ – /oː/ | Òpàr (hope), Òdà (there), Òlàk (vehicle) | اۏلاک (vehicle), اۏشت (stop) |
| P / p | ـپ | ـپـ | پـ | پ | /p/ | Pàd (foot), Pašk (shirt) | پَتتَر (Apologize seat), پِت (father), پُلل (flower) |
| R / r | ـر | ر | /ɾ/ | Rang (color), Ròp (clean), Ròpag (cleaner) | رُنگ (shortcut), راھشۏن (Leader) | ||
| S / s | ـس | ـسـ | سـ | س | /s/ | Sàng (marriage) | سیاہ (Black), سَنگَت (friend) سُھل (Peace) |
| Š / š | ـش | ـشـ | شـ | ش | /ʃ/ | Šap (night) | شاشک (mosquito), شَش (six), شَھدَربرجاہ (University) |
| T / t | ـت | ـتـ | تـ | ت | /t̪/ | Tors (fear) | تَل (layer), تَلار (rock) |
| Ť / ť | ـٹ | ـٹـ | ٹـ | ٹ | /ʈ/ | Ťulàsk (tower) | ٹاک (Day(Gedrosian wordl)), ٹراشو (category) |
| U / u | ـوُ | اُو | وُ/اُو | /u/ | Nuh (nine) | ھور (nephew) | |
| W / w | ـو | و | /w/ | Wàd (salt) Waď (kind) | وئیل (incident), واھَگ (desire) | ||
| Y / y | ـی | ـیـ | یـ | ی | /j/ | Yak (one) | یَل (brave) |
| Z / z | ـز | ز | /z/ | Zend (live), Zit (soon), Zòr (power) | زَھیر (longing), زِڈڈ (gutty)، زال (Woman(Gedrosian word)) | ||
| Ž / ž | ـژ | ژ | /ʒ/ | Žand (tired) | ژانگ (bell), بوژ (hair(Gedrosian word)) |
3- Vowels and Consonants
There are 25 consonants in Balochi. Only 22 of them are common in the Balo-chi phonological system. Three (f, kh, gh) are very scarcely used. The symbol ń is used to denote nasalization of the preceding vowel.
Ø Consonants
| ﮐﭙﮓ (kapag) ; ﺑﺎﭘﺎری (trader) bápári;clothes’, ‘ ﭘُﭻ (pocch); ّ father’, ‘ ﭘﺖ p as in pet |
| ﭼﯿﭙّﮏ stomach’, chippok‘ ﻻپ evening, night’, láp‘ ﺷﭗ to fall’, shap‘ |
| ‘chick’, gapp ّ ﮔﭗ ‘talk’ |
| ھﺒﺮ revenge’, habar‘ ﺑﺮ group’, bér‘ رُﻣﺐ brother’, romb‘ ﺑﺮات b as in brát |
| ‘word, talk’, gyábán ﮔﯿﺎﺑﺎن ‘desert’, ketáb ﮐﺘﺎب ‘book’, rabb ّ رب ‘Lord’, |
| dhobbah ڈُﺑّﮫ ‘duty’ |
| ھﺎﺗ bitter’, háterá‘ ﺗﮭﻞ voice’, tahl‘ ﺗﺌﻮار t as in ta,’for, for the sakof‘ﺮóshtag اۆﺷﺘﮓ ‘to stand up’, rást راﺳﺖ ‘right, true’, zutter زوتﺗﺮ ‘quicker, |
| faster’, sutt ّ ﺳﻮت ‘profit, gain’ |
| d as in dóst دۆﺳﺖ ‘friend’, bádsháh ﺑﺎدﺷﺎه ‘king’, padá ﭘﺪا ‘later, afterwards’, |
| héd ھﺪ ‘sweat’, pád ﭘﺎد ‘leg, foot’, paddar ﭘﺪّر ‘clear, evident, visible’, |
| hasadd ّھﺴﺪ ‘envy, jealousy’ |
| th as in thál ﭨﺎل ‘branch (of a tree)’, lóthag ﻟﯚﭨﮓ ‘to want’, léthag ﻟﭩﮓ ‘to roll |
| ﭘﭩّﮓ sandal’, patthag‘ ﭼﺌﻮٹ body-hair, fur’, chawath‘ ﭘُﭧ over’, poth |
| ‘to search, to look for’, gatth ّ ﮔﭧ ‘busy’ |
| dh as in dhawl ڈﺋﻮل ‘way, manner’, sardhagár ﺳﺮڈﮔﺎر ‘region, land’, godhsará |
| ﭼُﻨ small’, chondh‘ ﮔﻮ َﻧﮉ at last, finally’, gwandh‘ ﮔُﮉpiece’, goddhag’bone‘ ھَﮉّ to chop off, to cut off’, haddh‘ ﮔُﮉّگ |
| ﯾﮏ maybe’, yak‘ ﺑﻠﮑﻦ everybody’, balkén‘ ھﺮﮐَﺲ work’, harkas‘ ﮐﺎر k as in kár |
| ﭼُﮏّ shout, scream’, chokk‘ ﮐﻮﮐّﺎر leaf, page’, kukkár‘ ﺗﺎک one’, ták‘ |
| ‘child’ |
| g as in gohár ﮔﮭﺎر ‘sister’, agan اﮔﻦ ‘if’, bégáh ﺑﮕﺎه ‘late afternoon/early even- |
| ing’, morg ﻣﺮگ ‘chicken’, lóg ﻟﯚگ ‘house’, laggag ﻟﮕّﮏ ‘to bump into’, |
| saggag ﺳﮕّﮓ ‘to endure’ |
| f as in fawn ﻓﺌﻮن ‘phone’, fotbál ُﺘﺒﺎل ﻓ ‘football’ (these words can also be pro- |
| nounced with a p instead of the f), off ّ اُف ‘alas’ |
| ﮐَﺲ to faint’, kas‘ ﺗُﺴﮓ arm, hand’, tosag‘ دﺳﺖ hour’, dast‘ ﺳﺎھﺖ s as in sáhat |
| ﮐَﺲ ّ enough’, kass‘ ﺑﺲ ّ answer’, bass‘ ﭘﺴّﺌﻮ fire’, passaw‘ آس person’, ás‘ |
| ‘nobody’ |
| ﻟﺸﮑﺮ to say’, lashkar‘ ﮔﻮ َ ﺷﮓ evening, night’, gwashag‘ ﺷﭗ sh as in shap |
| ‘army’, gésh ﮔﺶ ‘more’, gósh ﮔﯚش ‘ear’, kasshag ﮐﺸّﮓ ‘to pull, to |
| draw’, wassh ّ وش ‘happy, well’ |
| z as in zendag زﻧﺪگ ‘alive’, darwázag دروازگ ‘door’, pánzdah ﭘﺎﻧﺰده ‘fifteen’, |
| báz ﺑﺎز ‘very, much’, bazzag ﺑﺰ ّگ ‘destitute, poor’, mozz ّ ﻣﺰ ‘wages’, |
| chizz ّ ﭼﯿﺰ ‘thing’ |
| zh as in zhand ژﻧﺪ ‘tired, worn out’, rozhn رُژن ‘light’, bazhn ﺑَﮋن ‘woe’, hozzhár |
| ’cautious, vigilant‘ ھﮋ ّ ار |
| دﺳﺨﺖ ّ drunk, intoxicated’, daskhatt‘ ﺧﻤﺎر bay’, khomár‘ ﺧﻠﯿﺞ kh as in khalij |
| ‘signature’ (these words can also be pronounced with an h or a k instead |
| of the kh) |
| gh as in ghayrat ﻏﺌﯿﺮت ‘honour, dignity’ |
| , bálegh ﺑﺎﻟﻎ ‘adolescent, mature’ |
| (these words can also be pronounced with a g instead of the gh) |
| h as in hawr ھﺌﻮر ‘rain’, sáhat ﺳﺎھﺖ ‘hour, clock, watch’, tahár ﺗﮭﺎر ‘dark’, béh |
| ’opportunity‘ ﻣﯚه origin, basis’, móh‘ ﺑﮫ |
| ﭘﻨﭻ boy’, panch‘ ﺑﭽﮏ fasting’, bachak‘ رۆﭼﮓ how’, róchag‘ ﭼﯚن ch as in chón |
| ‘five’, róch رۆچ ‘day, sun’, lacchénag ﻟﭽ ّﻨﮓ ‘to attach’, macch ّ ﻣَﭻ ‘date |
| palm’ |
| راج fifty’, ráj‘ ﭘﻨﺠﺎه to untie’, panjáh‘ ﺑﯚﺟﮓ girl’, bójag‘ ﺟﻨﮏ j as in jenek |
| ‘people, nation’, bongéj ﺑﻨﮕﺞ ‘start’, pajjár ﭘﺠ ّ ﺎر ‘recognition, identity’, |
| hojj ّ ھُﺞ ‘force’ |
| ﻣﻨﺪرﯾ m as in mondrik |
| ,’neighbour‘ ھﻤﺴﺎھﮓ life’, hamsáheg‘ اُﻣﺮ ring’, omr‘ ﮏ |
| ﭼﻢّ price, value’, chamm‘ ﮐﯿﻤّﺖ name’, kimmat‘ ﻧﺎم also’, nám‘ ھﻢ ham |
| ‘eye’ |
| n as in nun ﻧﻮن ‘now’, bándá ﺑﺎﻧﺪا ‘tomorrow’, kandag ﮐﻨﺪگ ‘to laugh, laughter’, |
| rógen رۆﮔﻦ ‘oil’, dán دان ‘grain, rice (uncooked)’, tonnig ﺗﻨّﯿﮓ ‘thirsty’, |
| dhann ن ّ ڈ ‘out, outside’ |
| ń (nun ghunna) as in báń ں ﺑﺎ ‘I will be/become’, táń ں ﺗﺎ ‘until’, máń ں ﻣﺎ ‘in’ |
| (nun ghunna is used in poetry for metrical and rhyming purposes) |
| r as in róch رۆچ ‘day, sun’‚ warag ورگ ‘to eat, to drink’, brát ﺑﺮات ‘brother’, |
| dér دﺮ ‘late’, kár ﮐﺎر ‘work’, korrag ﮐﺮ ّگ ‘foal’, zarr ّ زر ‘money, gold’ |
| rh as in márhi ﻣﺎڑی ‘palace’, gorhá ﮔﮍا ‘then’, merh ﻣﮍ ‘fight’, nájórh ﻧﺎﺟﯚڑ ‘ill’ |
| l as in lonth ﻟُﻨﭧ ‘lip’, hálig ھﺎﻟﯿﮓ ‘empty’, halk ھﻠﮏ ‘village, encampment’, |
| gal ﮔﻞ ‘happy’, del دل ‘heart’, ballok ﺑﻠّﮏ ‘grandmother’, lell ّ ﻟِﻞ ‘dumb’ |
| w as in wáb واب ‘sleep’, báwar ﺑﺎور ‘faith, belief’, gwát ﮔﻮات ‘wind’ |
| y as in yát ﯾﺎت ‘memory’, sharyat ﺷﺮﯾﺖ ‘religious law’, nyámá ﻧﯿﺎﻣﺎ ‘between, |
| among’ |
Ø Vowels
Balochi has eight vowels: three short (e, a, o) and five long (i, é, á, u, ó).
| a, á |
| ﮔﻮات work’, gwát‘ ﮐﺎر road, way’, kár‘ راه water’, ráh‘ آپ á (long) as in áp |
| ‘wind’, tahá ﺗﮭﺎ ‘in, inside’, sará ﺳﺮا ‘on’ |
| ﭼﮫ man’, cha‘ ﻣﺮد warm’, mard‘ ﮔﺮم horse’, garm‘ اﺳﭗ a (short) as in asp |
| ‘from’, kára kant ﮐﺎر َ ﮐﻨﺖ ‘he/she works’ |
| ﭨﮑﯽ milk’, théki‘ ﺷﯿﺮ wall’, shir‘ دﯾﻮال faith’, diwál‘ اﯾﻤﺎن i (long) as in imán |
| ‘gift’, pári ﭘﺎری ‘last year’ |
| ھﻤﮯ lion’, hamé‘ ﺷﺮ face’, shér‘ دﻢ autumn’‚ dém‘ اﺮھﺖ é (long) as in éraht |
| ‘this very’, wahdé وھﺪے ‘when’ |
| e (short) as in embari اﻣﺒﺮی ‘this year’, pet ﭘﺖ ‘father’, zer زِر ‘sea’, bale ﺑﻠﮫ ‘but’ |
| u (long) as in dur دور ‘far’, nun ﻧﻮن now’, tambu ﺗﻤﺒﻮ ‘tent’, dáru دارو ‘medicine’ |
| ó (long) as in óshtag اۆﺷﺘﮓ ‘to stand up’, róch رۆچ ‘day, sun’, kóh ﮐﯚه ‘moun- |
| ﮔﻮ َﻧﮉ like, like this, in this way’, gwandhó‘ ﭼﯚ tain’ll childo (short) as in borz ﺑُﺮز ‘high’, sohr ﺳُﮭﺮ ‘red, gold’, o و ‘and’ |
| There are also two combinations of a vowel + a consonant with a special sign, |
| the hamza, inserted in the Balochi-Arabic script: |
| aw as in awali اﺋﻮﻟﯽ ‘first’, rawag رﺋﻮگ ‘to go’, tawár ﺗﺌﻮار ‘voice, sound’, |
| kolaw ﮐﻠﺌﻮ ‘message’, haw ﺌﻮ ھ ‘yes’ |
| ﮐﺌﮯ sightseeing’, kay‘ ﺳﺌﯿﻞ to give’, sayl‘ دﺋﯿﮓ fault’, dayag‘ اﺋﯿﺐ ay as in ayb |
| ‘who’, bay ﺌﮯ ﺑ ‘bet, share’ |
4-Balochi Counting 1-20
1=یک
2=دو
3=سئے
4=چار
5=پنچ
6=شش
7=ہپت
8=ہشت
9=نوہ
10=داہ
11=یازداہ
12=دوزداہ
13=سینزداہ
14=چارداہ
15=پانزداہ
16=شانزداہ
17=ہپداہ
18=ہژداہ
19=نوزداہ
20=بیست
5-Countries in Balochi
Pakistan —پاکستان
Iran — ایران
Afghanistan — اوگانستان
India — ہندوستان
Saudi Arabia — سئودی ارب
United Arab Emirates — ارب امارات
Oman — امان
Turkey — ترکی
China — چین
Russia — روس
United States — امریکہ
United Kingdom — انگلستان
Germany — جرمنی
France — پرانس
Canada — کینیڑا
Australia — آسٹریلیہ
Japan — جاپان
Iraq — اراک
Qatar — کتر
Kuwait —کویت
Balochi is not a difficult language to learn, if you already speak Urdu or Persian or other regional languages. This is because Balochi contains many loanwords from these languages.
