Sindhi language

Sindhi (English pronunciation: /ˈsɪndi/;[4] Sindhi: سِنڌِي (Perso-Arabic); सिन्धी (Devanagari); Sindhi pronunciation: [sɪndʱiː]) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status. It is also spoken by a further 1.7 million people in India, where it is a scheduled language, without any state-level official status. The main writing system is the Perso-Arabic script, which accounts for the majority of the Sindhi literature and is the only one currently used in Pakistan. In India, both the Perso-Arabic script and Devanagari are used.

Sindhi
Sindhī
سِنڌِي • सिन्धी
Sindhi written in Perso-Arabic script (above) and Devanagari (below)
Native toPakistan, India
RegionSindh and near the border in neighbouring regions (e.g. Kutch and Balochistan)
EthnicitySindhis
Native speakers
c.32 million (2011–2017)[1]
Official status
Official language in
 Pakistan  India[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]
Regulated by
Language codes
ISO 639-1sd
ISO 639-2snd
ISO 639-3snd
Glottologsind1272  Sindhi
Linguasphere59-AAF-f
The proportion of people with Sindhi as their mother tongue in each Pakistani District as of the 2017 Pakistan Census
Sindhi is not in the category of endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
Part of a series on
Constitutionally recognised languages of India
Category
22 Official Languages of the Indian Republic
Related

Sindhi has an attested history from the 10th century CE. Sindhi was one of the first Indo-Aryan languages to encounter influence from Persian and Arabic following the Umayyad conquest in 712 CE. A substantial body of Sindhi literature developed during the Medieval period, the most famous of which is the religious and mystic poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai from the 18th century. Modern Sindhi was promoted under British rule beginning in 1843, which led to the current status of the language in independent Pakistan after 1947.

History

Cover of a book containing the epic Dodo Chanesar written in Hatvanki Sindhi or Khudabadi script.

Origins

The name "Sindhi" is derived from the Sanskrit síndhu, the original name of the Indus River, along whose delta Sindhi is spoken.[5]

Like other languages of the Indo-Aryan family, Sindhi is descended from Old Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit) via Middle Indo-Aryan (Pali, secondary Prakrits, and Apabhramsha). 20th century Western scholars such as George Abraham Grierson believed that Sindhi descended specifically from the Vrācaḍa dialect of Apabhramsha (described by Markandeya as being spoken in Sindhu-deśa, corresponding to modern Sindh) but later work has shown this to be unlikely.[6]

Early Sindhi (10th–16th centuries)

Literary attestation of early Sindhi is sparse. Historically, Isma'ili religious literature and poetry in India, as old as the 11th century CE, used a language that was closely related to Sindhi and Gujarati. Much of this work is in the form of ginans (a kind of devotional hymn).[7][8]

Sindhi was the first Indo-Aryan language to be in close contact with Arabic and Persian following the Umayyad conquest of Sindh in 712 CE. According to Sindhi tradition, the first translation of the Quran into Sindhi was initiated in 883 CE in Mansura, Sindh. This is corroborated by the accounts of Al-Ramhormuzi but it is unclear whether the language of translation was actually a predecessor to Sindhi, nor is the text preserved.[9]

Medieval Sindhi (16th–19th centuries)

Medieval Sindhi literature is of a primarily religious genre, comprising a syncretic Sufi and Advaita Vedanta poetry, the latter in the devotional bhakti tradition. The earliest known Sindhi poet of the Sufi tradition is Qazi Qadan (1493–1551). Other early poets were Shah Inat Rizvi (c. 1613–1701) and Shah Abdul Karim Bulri (1538–1623). These poets had a mystical bent that profoundly influenced Sindhi poetry for much of this period.[7]

Another famous part of Medieval Sindhi literature is a wealth of folktales, adapted and readapted into verse by many bards at various times and possibly much older than their earliest literary attestations. These include romantic epics such as Sassui Punnhun, Sohni Mahiwal, Momal Rano, Noori Jam Tamachi, Lilan Chanesar, and others.[10]

The greatest poet of Sindhi was Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689/1690–1752), whose verses were compiled into the Shah Jo Risalo by his followers. While primarily Sufi, his verses also recount traditional Sindhi folktales and aspects of the cultural history of Sindh.[7]

The first attested Sindhi translation of the Quran was done by Akhund Azaz Allah Muttalawi (1747–1824) and published in Gujarat in 1870. The first to appear in print was by Muhammad Siddiq in 1867.[11]

Modern Sindhi (1843–present)

Sindh was occupied by the British army and was annexed with the Bombay Presidency in 1843. Soon after, in 1848, Governor George Clerk established Sindhi as the official language in the province, removing the literary dominance of Persian. Sir Bartle Frere, the then commissioner of Sindh, issued orders on August 29, 1857, advising civil servants in Sindh to pass an examination in Sindhi. He also ordered the use of Sindhi in official documents.[12] In 1868, the Bombay Presidency assigned Narayan Jagannath Vaidya to replace the Abjad used in Sindhi with the Khudabadi script. The script was decreed a standard script by the Bombay Presidency thus inciting anarchy in the Muslim majority region. A powerful unrest followed, after which Twelve Martial Laws were imposed by the British authorities. The granting of official status of Sindhi along with script reforms ushered in the development of modern Sindhi literature.

The first printed works in Sindhi were produced at the Muhammadi Press in Bombay beginning in 1867. These included Islamic stories set in verse by Muhammad Hashim Thattvi, one of the renowned religious scholars of Sindh.[10]

The Partition of India in 1947 resulted in most Sindhi speakers ending up in the new state of Pakistan, commencing a push to establish a strong sub-national linguistic identity for Sindhi. This manifested in resistance to the imposition of Urdu and eventually Sindhi nationalism in the 1980s.[13]

The language and literary style of contemporary Sindhi writings in Pakistan and India were noticeably diverging by the late 20th century; authors from the former country were borrowing extensively from Urdu, while those from the latter were highly influenced by Hindi.[14]

Geographic distribution

In Pakistan, Sindhi is the first language of 30.26 million people, or 14.6% of the country's population as of the 2017 census. 29.5 million of these are found in Sindh, where they account for 62% of the total population of the province. There are 0.56 million speakers in the province of Balochistan,[15] especially in the Kacchi Plain that encompasses the districts of Lasbela, Hub, Kachhi, Sibi, Sohbatpur, Jafarabad, Jhal Magsi, Usta Muhammad and Nasirabad.

In India, Sindhi mother tongue speakers were distributed in the following states:

2011 Census Statistics (India Total: 2,772,264)[16][lower-alpha 4]
State Population
Gujarat 1,184,024
Maharashtra 723,748
Rajashtan 386,569
Madhya Pradesh 245,161
Chattisgarh 93,424
Delhi (NCT) 31,177
Uttar Pradesh 28,952
Assam 19,646
Karnataka 16,954
Andhra Pradesh 11,299
Tamil Nadu 8,448
West Bengal 7,828
Uttarakhand 2,863
Odisha 2,338
Bihar 2,227
Jharkhand 1,701
Haryana 1,658
Kerala 1,251
Punjab 754
Goa 656
Dadra and Nagar

and Daman and Diu

894
Meghalaya 236
Chandigarh 134
Puducherry 94
Nagaland 82
Himachal Pradesh 62
Tripura 30
Jammu and Kashmir 19
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 14
Arunachal Pradesh 12
Lakshadweep 7
Sikkim 2

Official status

Sindhi is the official language of the Pakistani province of Sindh[17][3] and one of the scheduled languages of India, where it does not have any state-level status.[18]

Prior to the inception of Pakistan, Sindhi was the national language of Sindh.[19][20][21][22] The Pakistan Sindh Assembly has ordered compulsory teaching of the Sindhi language in all private schools in Sindh.[23] According to the Sindh Private Educational Institutions Form B (Regulations and Control) 2005 Rules, "All educational institutions are required to teach children the Sindhi language.[24] Sindh Education and Literacy Minister, Syed Sardar Ali Shah, and Secretary of School Education, Qazi Shahid Pervaiz, have ordered the employment of Sindhi teachers in all private schools in Sindh so that this language can be easily and widely taught.[25] Sindhi is taught in all provincial private schools that follow the Matric system and not the ones that follow the Cambridge system.[26]

At the occasion of 'Mother Language Day' in 2023, the Sindh Assembly under Culture minister Sardar Ali Shah, passed a unanimous resolution to extend the use of language to primary level[27] and increase the status of Sindhi as a national language[28][29][30] of Pakistan.

The Indian Government has legislated Sindhi as a scheduled language in India, making it an option for education. Despite lacking any state-level status, Sindhi is still a prominent minority language in the Indian state of Rajasthan.[31]

There are many Sindhi language television channels broadcasting in Pakistan such as Time News, KTN, Sindh TV, Awaz Television Network, Mehran TV, and Dharti TV.

Dialects

Regional dialects of Sindhi language and in neighboring regions.
  Within Sindh province

Sindhi has many dialects, and forms a dialect continuum at some places with neighboring languages such as Saraiki and Gujarati. Some of the documented dialects of Sindhi are:[32][33][34][35][36]

  • Vicholi: The prestige dialect spoken around Hyderabad and central Sindh (the Vicholo region). The literary standard of Sindhi is based on this dialect.
  • Uttaradi: The dialect of northern Sindh (Uttaru, meaning "north"), with small differences in Larkana, Shikarpur and in parts of Sukkur and Kandiaro.[37]
  • Lari: The dialect of southern Sindh (Lāṛu) spoken around areas like Karachi, Thatta, Sujawal and Badin.
  • Siroli/Siraiki or Ubheji: The dialect of northernmost Sindh (Siro, meaning "head").[38] Spoken in all over Sindh but majority is in Jacobabad and Kashmore, it has little similarity with the Saraiki language of South Punjab[39] and has variously been treated either as a dialect of Saraiki or as a dialect of Sindhi.[40]
  • Lasi: The dialect of Lasbela, Hub and Gwadar districts in Balochistan, closely related to Lari and Vicholi, and in contact with Balochi.
  • Firaqi Sindhi: The dialect of the Kachhi plains the north eastern districts of Balochistan, where it is referred to as Firaqi Sindhi or commonly just Sindhi.[41]
  • Sindhi Bhil: It is a dialect spoken in Sindh by the Meghwars and Bheels.[42] Sindhi Bhil is known to have many old Sindhi words, which were lost after Arabic, Persian, and Chaghatai influence.[43][44]

The variety of Sindhi spoken by Sindhi Hindus who emigrated to India is known as Dukslinu Sindhi. Furthermore, Kutchi and Jadgali are sometimes classified as dialects of Sindhi rather than independent languages.

Grammar

Phonology

Sindhi has a relatively large inventory of both consonants and vowels compared to other Indo-Aryan languages.[45] Sindhi has 46 consonant phonemes and 10 vowels.[46] The consonant to vowel ratio is around average for the world's languages at 2.8.[47] All plosives, affricates, nasals, the retroflex flap, and the lateral approximant /l/ have aspirated or breathy voiced counterparts. The language also features four implosives.

Consonants

Sindhi consonants[48]
Labial Dental/
alveolar
Retroflex (Alveolo-)
Palatal
Velar Glottal
Nasal plain m م n ن ɳ ڻ ɲ ڃ ŋ ڱ
breathy مھ نھ ɳʱ ڻھ
Stop/
Affricate
plain p پb ب ت د ʈ ٽɖ ڊ چ ج k ڪɡ گ
breathy ڦ ڀ t̪ʰ ٿd̪ʱ ڌ ʈʰ ٺɖʱ ڍ tɕʰ ڇdʑʱ جھ کɡʱ گھ
Implosive ɓ ٻ ɗ ڏ ʄ ڄ ɠ ڳ
Fricative f ف s سz ز ʂ ش x خɣ غ h ھ
Approximant plain ʋ و l ل j ي
breathy لھ
Rhotic plain r ر ɽ ڙ
breathy ɽʱ ڙھ

The retroflex consonants are apical postalveolar and do not involve curling back of the tip of the tongue,[49] so they could be transcribed [t̠, t̠ʰ, d̠, d̠ʱ n̠ʱ ɾ̠ ɾ̠ʱ] in phonetic transcription. The affricates /tɕ, tɕʰ, dʑ, dʑʱ/ are laminal post-alveolars with a relatively short release. It is not clear if /ɲ/ is similar, or truly palatal.[50] /ʋ/ is realized as labiovelar [w] or labiodental [ʋ] in free variation, but is not common, except before a stop.

The vowel phonemes of Sindhi on a vowel chart

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Near-close ɪ ʊ
Close-mid e o
Mid ə
Open-mid æ ɔ
Open ɑ

The vowels are modal length /i e æ ɑ ɔ o u/ and short ʊ ə/. Consonants following short vowels are lengthened: /pət̪o/ [pət̪ˑoː] 'leaf' vs. /pɑt̪o/ [pɑːt̪oː] 'worn'.

Nouns

Sindhi nouns distinguish two genders (masculine and feminine), two numbers (singular and plural), and five cases (nominative, vocative, oblique, ablative, and locative). This is a similar paradigm to Punjabi. Almost all Sindhi noun stems end in a vowel, except for some recent loanwords. The declension of a noun in Sindhi is largely determined from its grammatical gender and the final vowel (or if there is no final vowel). Generally, -o stems are masculine and -a stems are feminine, but the other final vowels can belong to either gender.

The different paradigms are listed below with examples.[51] The ablative and locative cases are used with only some lexemes in the singular number and hence not listed, but predictably take the suffixes -ā̃ / -aū̃ / -ū̃ (ABL) and -i (LOC).

SG PL Gloss
NOM VOC OBL NOM VOC OBL
M I ڇوڪِرو
chokiro
ڇوڪِرا
chokirā
ڇوڪِري
chokire
ڇوڪِرا
chokirā
ڇوڪِرا / ڇوڪِرَ
chokirā / chokira
ڇوڪِرَنِ
chokirani
boy
II ٻارُ
ɓāru
ٻارَ
ɓāra
ٻارو / ٻارَ
ɓāra / ɓāro
ٻارَنِ
ɓārani
child
III ساٿِي
sāthī
ساٿِيءَ
sāthīa
ساٿِي
sāthī
ساٿيو
sāthyo
ساٿيُنِ
sāthyuni
companion
رَھاکُو
rahākū
رَھاکُوءَ
rahākūa
رَھاکُو
rahākū
رَھاکُئو
rahākuo
رَھاکُنِ
rahākuni
inhabitant
IV راجا
rājā
راجا / راجائُون
rājā / rājāū̃
راجائُنِ
rājāuni
king
سيٺِ
seṭhi
سيٺِ / سيٺيُون
seṭhi / seṭhyū̃
سيٺيُنِ
seṭhyuni
merchant
F I زالَ
zāla
زالُون
zālū̃
زالُنِ
zāluni
woman, wife
سَسُ
sasu
سَسُون
sasū̃
سَسُنِ
sasuni
mother-in-law
II دَوا
davā
دَوائُون
davāū̃
دَوائُنِ
davāuni
medicine
راتِ
rāti
راتيُون
rātyū̃
راتيُنِ
rātyuni
night
هوٽَل
hoṭal
هوٽَلُون
hoṭalū̃
هوٽَلُنِ
hoṭaluni
hotel
III ڳَئُون
ɠaū̃
ڳَئُونَ
ɠaū̃a
ڳَئُون
ɠaū̃
ڳَئُونِ
ɠaūni
cow
IV نَدِي
nadī
نَدِيءَ
nadīa
نَديُون
nadyū̃
نَديُنِ
nadyuni
river

A few nouns representing familial relations take irregular declensions with an extension in -r- in the plural. These are the masculine nouns ڀاءُ bhāu "brother", پِيءُ pīu "father", and the feminine nouns ڌِيءَ dhīa "daughter", نُونھَن nū̃hã "daughter-in-law", ڀيڻَ bheṇa "sister", ماءُ māu "mother", and جوءِ joi "wife".[51]

SG PL Gloss
NOM VOC OBL NOM VOC OBL
M ڀاءُ
bhāu
ڀائُرُ / ڀائُرَ
bhāuru / bhāura
ڀائُرَ / ڀائُرو
bhāura / bhāuro
ڀائُرَنِ / ڀائُنِ
bhāurani / bhāuni
brother
F ڌِيءَ / ڌِيءُ
dhīa / dhīu
ڌِيئَرُ / ڌِيئَرُون / ڌِيئُون
dhīaru / dhīarū̃ / dhīū̃
ڌِيئَرُنِ / ڌِيئُنِ
dhīaruni / dhīuni
daughter

Personal pronouns

Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Sindhi has first and second-person personal pronouns as well as several types of third-person proximal and distal demonstratives. These decline in the nominative and oblique cases. The genitive is a special form for the first and second-person singular, but formed as usual with the oblique and case marker جو jo for the rest. The personal pronouns are listed below.[52]

Personal pronouns
SG PL
1 2 1 2
NOM مَان / آئُون
mā̃ / āū̃
تُون
tū̃
اَسِين
asī̃
تَوِهِين
tavhī̃
OBL مُون
mū̃
تو
to
اَسَان
asā̃
تَوِهَان
tavhā̃
GEN مُنهِنجو
mũhinjo
تُنهِنجو
tũhinjo

The third-person pronouns are listed below. Besides the unmarked demonstratives, there are also "specific" and "present" demonstratives. In the nominative singular, the demonstratives are marked for gender. Some other pronouns which decline identically to ڪو ko "someone" are هَرڪو har-ko "everyone", سَڀڪو sabh-ko "all of them", جيڪو je-ko "whoever" (relative), and تيڪو te-ko "that one" (correlative).[52]

Third-person pronouns
Demonstrative Interrogative Relative Correlative
Unmarked Specific Present Indefinite
PROX DIST PROX DIST PROX DIST
SG NOM M هِي
هُو
اِهو
iho
اُهو
uho
اِجهو
ijho
اوجهو
ojho
ڪو
ko
ڪيرُ
keru
جو
jo
سو
so
F هِيءَ
hīa
هُوءَ
hūa
اِهَا
ihā
اُهَا
uhā
اِجهَا
ijhā
اوجهَا
ojhā
ڪَا
ڪيرَ
kera
جَا
سَا
OBL هِنَ
hina
هُنَ
huna
اِنهين
inhẽ
اُنهين
unhẽ
ڪَنهِن
kãhĩ
جَنهِن
jãhĩ
تَنهِن
tãhĩ
PL NOM هِي
هُو
اِهي
ihe
اُهي
uhe
اِجهي
ijhe
اوجهي
ojhe
ڪي
ke
ڪيرَ
kera
جي
je
سي
se
OBL هِنَنِ
hinani
هُنَنِ
hunani
اِنهَنِ
inhani
اُنهَنِ
unhani
ڪِنِ
kini
جِنِ
jini
تنِ
tini

Numerals

Num. Cardinal
0 صِفَرُ / ٻُڙِيɓuṛi / sifaru
1 هِڪُhiku
2 ٻَهɓa
3 ٽِيṭī
4 چَارِcāri
5 پَنجpañja
6 ڇَهَهchaha
7 سَتَsata
8 اَٺَaṭha
9 نَوَnava
Num. Cardinal
10 ڏَهَهɗaha
11 يَارَنهَنyārãhã
12 ٻَارَهَنɓārahã
13 تيرَهَنterahã
14 چوڏَهَنcoɗahã
15 پَندرَهَنpandrahã
16 سورَهَنsorahã
17 سَترَهَنsatrahã
18 اَرِڙَهَن / اَٺَارَهَنariṛahã / aṭhārahã
19 اُڻوِيهَهuṇvīha

Postpositions

Most nominal relations (e.g. the semantic role of a nominal as an argument to a verb) are indicated using postpositions, which follow a noun in the oblique case. The subject of the verb takes the bare oblique case, while the object may be in nominative case or in oblique case and followed by the accusative case marker کي khe.[53]

The postpositions are divided into case markers, which directly follow the noun, and complex postpositions, which combine with a case marker (usually the genitive جو jo).

Case markers

The case markers are listed below.[53]:399

The postpositions with the suffix -o decline in gender and number to agree with their governor, e.g. ڇوڪِرو جو پِيءُ chokiro j-o pīu "the boy's father" but ڇوڪِر جِي مَاءُ chokiro j-ī māu "the boy's mother".

Case markers
CaseMarkerExampleEnglish
Nominativeڇوڪِرو
chokiro
the boy
Accusative
Dative
کي
khe
ڇوڪِري کي
chokire khe
the boy
to the boy
Genitive جو
j-o
ڇوڪِري جو
chokire jo
of the boy
سَندو
sand-o
ڇوڪِري سَندو
chokire sando
Sociativeسُڌو
sudh-o
ڇوڪِري سُڌو
chokire sudho
along with the boy
Comitative
Instrumental
سَان
sā̃
ڇوڪِري سَان
chokire sā̃
with the boy
سَاڻُ
sāṇu
ڇوڪِري سَاڻُ
chokire sāṇu
Locative ۾
mẽ
ڇوڪِري ۾
chokire mẽ
in the boy
مَنجهِ
manjhi
ڇوڪِري مَنجهِ
chokire manjhi
Adessive تي
te
ڇوڪِري تي
chokire te
on the boy
وَٽِ
vaṭi
ڇوڪِري وَٽِ
chokire vaṭi
near the boy
the boy has...
Orientativeڏَانهَن
ḍā̃hã
ڇوڪِري ڏَانهَن
chokire ḍā̃hã
towards the boy
Terminativeتَائيِن
tāī̃
ڇوڪِري تَائيِن
chokire tāī̃
up to the boy
Benefactiveلاءِ
lāi
ڇوڪِري لاءِ
chokire lāi
for the boy
Semblative وَانگُرُ
vānguru
ڇوڪِري وَانگُرُ
chokire vānguru
like the boy
جَهڙو
jahṛ-o
ڇوڪِري جَهڙو
chokire jahṛo

There are several ablative case markers formed from the spatial postpositions and the ablative ending -ā̃. These indicate complex motion such as "from inside of".[53]:400

Ablative case markers
MarkerExampleEnglish
کَان
khā̃
ڇوڪِري کَان
chokire khā̃
from the boy
مَان
mā̃
ڇوڪِري مَان
chokire mā̃
from inside the boy
تَان
tā̃
ڇوڪِري تَان
chokire tā̃
from upon the boy
ڏَانهَان
ḍā̃hā̃
ڇوڪِري ڏَانهَان
chokire ḍā̃hā̃
from the direction of the boy

Finally, some case markers are found in medieval Sindhi literature and/or modern poetic Sindhi, and otherwise not used in standard speech.

Obsolete/rare case markers
CaseMarkerExampleEnglish
Accusative
Adessive
ڪَني
kane
ڇوڪِري ڪَني
chokire kane
to/near the boy

Complex postpositions

The complex postpositions are formed with a case marker, usually the genitive but sometimes the ablative. Many are listed below.[53]:405

SindhiTransliterationExplanation
جي اَڳيَانje aɠyā̃"ahead of, before"; apudessive
جي اَندَرِje andari"inside of"; inessive
جي بَدِرَانje badirā̃"instead of, in place of"
جي بَرَابَرje barābar"equal to"
جي ٻَاهَرَانje ɓāharā̃ "outside of"
کَان ٻَاهَرِkhā̃ ɓāhari
جي باري ۾je bāre mẽ"about, concerning"
جي چَوڌَارِيje caudhārī"around"
جي هيٺَانje heṭhā̃"below, under"
جي ڪَريje kare"for, on account of"
جي لَاءِje lāi"for"
جي مَٿَانje mathā̃"above, on top of, upon"
کَان پَريkhā̃ pare"far from"
جي پَارِje pāri"across, on the other side of"
جي پَاسيje pāse"on the side of, near"
کَان پوءِkhā̃ poi"after"
جي پُٺيَانje puṭhyā̃"behind"
جي سَامهونje sāmhõ"in front of, facing"
کَان سِوَاءِkhā̃ sivāi"besides, apart from"
جي وَاسطيje vāste"for the sake of, on account of"
جي ويجهوje vejho"near"; adessive
جي وِچِ ۾je vici mẽ"between, among"
جي خَاطِرِje xātiri"for the sake of"
جي خِلَافِje xilāfi"against"
جي ذَرِيعيje zarī'e"via, through"; perlative

Vocabulary

According to historian Nabi Bux Baloch, most Sindhi vocabulary is from ancient Sanskrit. However, owing to the influence of the Persian language over the subcontinent, Sindhi has adapted many words from Persian and Arabic. It has also borrowed from English and Hindustani. Today, Sindhi in Pakistan is slightly influenced by Urdu, with more borrowed Perso-Arabic elements, while Sindhi in India is influenced by Hindi, with more borrowed tatsam Sanskrit elements.[54]

Writing systems

Sindhis in Pakistan use a version of the Perso-Arabic script with new letters adapted to Sindhi phonology, while in India a greater variety of scripts are in use, including Devanagari, Khudabadi, Khojki, and Gurmukhi.[55] Perso-Arabic for Sindhi was also made digitally accessible relatively earlier.[56]

The earliest attested records in Sindhi are from the 15th century.[14] Before the standardisation of Sindhi orthography, numerous forms of Devanagari and Laṇḍā scripts were used for trading. For literary and religious purposes, a Perso-Arabic script developed by Abul-Hasan as-Sindi and Gurmukhi (a subset of Laṇḍā) were used. Another two scripts, Khudabadi and Shikarpuri, were reforms of the Landa script.[57][58] During British rule in the late 19th century, the Perso-Arabic script was decreed standard over Devanagari.[59]

Laṇḍā scripts

Laṇḍā-based scripts, such as Gurmukhi, Khojki, and the Khudabadi script were used historically to write Sindhi.

Khudabadi

Khudabadi
or Sindhi
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Sind (318), Khudawadi, Sindhi
Unicode
Unicode alias
Khudawadi
U+112B0–U+112FF

The Khudabadi alphabet was invented in 1550 CE, and was used alongside other scripts by the Hindu community until the colonial era, where the sole usage of the Arabic script for official purposes was legislated.

The script continued to be used on a smaller scale by the trader community until the Partition of India in 1947.[60]

ə a ɪ i ʊ e ɛ o ɔ
k ɡ ɠ ɡʱ ŋ
c ɟ ʄ ɟʱ ɲ
ʈ ʈʰ ɖ ɗ ɽ ɳ
t d n
p f b ɓ m
j r l ʋ
ʂ s h

Khojki

Khojki was employed primarily to record Muslim Shia Ismaili religious literature, as well as literature for a few secret Shia Muslim sects.[61][62]

Gurmukhi

The Gurmukhi script was also used to write Sindhi, mainly in India by Hindus.[60][61]

Perso-Arabic script

During the British raj, a variant of the Persian alphabet was adopted for Sindhi in the 19th century. The script is used in Pakistan and India today. It has a total of 52 letters, augmenting the Persian with digraphs and eighteen new letters (ڄ ٺ ٽ ٿ ڀ ٻ ڙ ڍ ڊ ڏ ڌ ڇ ڃ ڦ ڻ ڱ ڳ ڪ) for sounds particular to Sindhi and other Indo-Aryan languages. Some letters that are distinguished in Arabic or Persian are homophones in Sindhi.

جهہ ڄ ج پ ث ٺ ٽ ٿ ت ڀ ٻ ب ا
ɟʱ ʄ ɟ p s ʈʰ ʈ t ɓ b ɑː ʔ
ڙ ر ذ ڍ ڊ ڏ ڌ د خ ح ڇ چ ڃ
ɽ r z ɖʱ ɖ ɗ d x h c ɲ
ڪ ق ڦ ف غ ع ظ ط ض ص ش س ز
k q f ɣ ɑː ʔ z t z s ʂ s z
ي ء ه و ڻ ن م ل ڱ گهہ ڳ گ ک
j ʔ h ʋ ʊ ɔː ɳ n m l ŋ ɡʱ ɠ ɡ
Farsi (perso-Arabic) or Shikarpuri Sindhi.

Devanagari script

In India, the Devanagari script is also used to write Sindhi.[61] A modern version was introduced by the government of India in 1948; however, it did not gain full acceptance, so both the Sindhi-Arabic and Devanagari scripts are used. In India, a person may write a Sindhi language paper for a Civil Services Examination in either script.[63] Devanagari was seen as the most practical option for Sindhi language in India.[2] Diacritical bars below the letter are used to mark implosive consonants, and dots called nukta are used to form other additional consonants.

ə a ɪ i ʊ e ɛ o ɔ
ख़ ग़
k x ɡ ɠ ɣ ɡʱ ŋ
ज़
c ɟ ʄ z ɟʱ ɲ
ड़ ढ़
ʈ ʈʰ ɖ ɗ ɽ ɖʱ ɽʱ ɳ
t d n
फ़ ॿ
p f b ɓ m
j r l ʋ
ʂ ʂ s h

Roman Sindhi

The Sindhi-Roman script or Roman-Sindhi script is the contemporary Sindhi script usually used by the Sindhis when texting messages on their mobile phones.[64][65]

Advocacy

In 1972, an bill was passed by the provincial assembly of Sindh which saw Sindhi, given official status thus becoming the first provincial language in Pakistan to have its own official status.

  • Sindhi language was made the official language of Sindh according to Language Bill.
  • All Educational institutes in Sindh are mandated to teach Sindhi as per the bill.

Software

By 2001, Abdul-Majid Bhurgri had coordinated with Microsoft to develop Unicode-based Software in the form of the Perso-Arabic Sindhi script which afterwards became the basis for the communicated use by Sindhi speakers around the world.[66] In 2016, Google introduced the first automated translator for Sindhi language.[67][68] later on in 2023 an offline support was introduced by Google translate.[69][70] Which was followed by Microsoft Translator strengthening support in May of same year.[71][72]

In June 2014, the Khudabadi script of the Sindhi language was added to Unicode, However as of now the script currently has no proper rendering support to view it in unsupported devices.

See also

Notes

  1. It is the provincial language of Sindh, adopted by the Sindh Assembly.
  2. It is one of 22 Eighth Schedule languages for which the Constitution mandates development.
  3. In India, there were a total of 1.68 million speakers according to the 2011 census. The states with the largest numbers were Maharashtra (558,000), Rajasthan (354,000), Gujarat (321,000), and Madhya Pradesh (244,000).
  4. This is the number of people who identified their mother-tongue as "Sindhi"; it does not include speakers of related languages, like Kutchi.

References

  1. 30.26 million in Pakistan (2017 census), 1.68 million in India (2011 census).
  2. Iyengar, Arvind; Parchani, Sundri (2021). "Like Community, Like Language: Seventy-Five Years of Sindhi in Post-Partition India". Journal of Sindhi Studies. 1: 1–32. doi:10.1163/26670925-bja10002. S2CID 246551773. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  3. "Encyclopædia Britannica". Sindhi Language. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  4. Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
  5. "Sindhi". The Languages Gulper. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
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  7. Christopher Shackle, Sindhi literature at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  8. "Sacred Literature-Ginans". Ismaili.NET. Heritage Society. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  9. Schimmel, Annemarie (1963). "Translations and Commentaries of the Qur'ān in Sindhi Language". Oriens. 16: 224–243. doi:10.2307/1580264. JSTOR 1580264. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  10. Schimmel, Annemarie (1971). "Sindhi Literature". Mahfil. 7 (1/2): 71–80. JSTOR 40874414.
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  13. Levesque, Julien (2021). "Beyond Success or Failure: Sindhi Nationalism and the Social Construction of the "Idea of Sindh"". Journal of Sindhi Studies. 1 (1): 1–33. doi:10.1163/26670925-bja10001. S2CID 246560343. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
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  15. "CCI defers approval of census results until elections". Dawn. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2022. The numbers have been calculate based on the percentages and the population totals. For example, the figure of 30.26 million is calculated from the reported 14.57% for the speakers of Sindhi and the 207.685 million total population of Pakistan.
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  49. Nihalani (1974), p. 207.
  50. The IPA Handbook uses the symbols c, cʰ, ɟ, ɟʱ, but makes it clear this is simply tradition and that these are neither palatal nor stops, but "laminal post-alveolars with a relatively short release". Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:83) confirm a transcription of [t̠ɕ, t̠ɕʰ, d̠ʑ, d̠ʑʱ] and further remarks that "/ʄ/ is often a slightly creaky voiced palatal approximant" (caption of table 3.19).
  51. Jetley, Murlidhar Kishinchand (1964). Morphology of Sindhi: A descriptive analysis of Vicholi, the standard Sindhi dialect (Thesis). Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute Pune.
  52. Khubchandani (2003).
  53. Trumpp, Ernest (1872). Grammar of the Sindhi language. London: Trübner and Co.
  54. Cole (2001), pp. 652–653; Khubchandani (2003), pp. 624–625.
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  57. Khubchandani (2003), p. 633.
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  66. Ismaili, Imdad Ali (2011). "Design & Development of the Graphical User Interface for Sindhi Language". Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology. The idea is to provide a software platform to the people of Sindh as well as Sindhi diasporas living across the globe to make use of computing for basic tasks such as editing, composition, formatting, and printing of documents in Sindhi by using GUISL. The implementation of the GUISL has been done in the Java technology to make the system platform independent.
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Sources

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