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Not to be confused with Hindi.
Sindhi
  • Sindhī
  • سِنڌِي‎
  • सिन्धी
Sindhi written in Perso-Arabic script and Devanagari
Native to
RegionSindh and near the border in neighbouring regions such as Kutch and Balochistan
EthnicitySindhis
Native speakers
c. 32 million (2011–2017)
Naskh script, Devanagari and others[1]
Official status
Official language in
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 endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
This article contains Sindhi text, written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters or other symbols instead of Sindhi script.

Sindhi (/ˈsɪndi/;[3] Sindhi: سِنڌِي‎ (Perso-Arabic), सिन्धी (Devanagari) [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 is first attested in historical records within the Nātyaśāstra, a text thought to have been composed between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. The earliest written evidence of Sindhi as a language can be found in a translation of the Qur’an into Sindhi dating back to 883 A.D.[4] 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.
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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 (2nd–16th centuries)

Literary attestation of early Sindhi is sparse. Sindhi is first mentioned in historical records within the Nātyaśāstra, a text on dramaturgy thought to have been composed between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. The earliest written evidence of Sindhi as a language can be found in a translation of the Qur’an into Sindhi dating back to 883 A.D.[4] 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.

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.[9]

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.[10]

Modern Sindhi (1843–present)

In 1843, the British conquest of Sindh led the region to become part of the Bombay Presidency. 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.[11] 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.[9]

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.[12]

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.[13]

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,[14] 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)[15][a]
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[16][2] and one of the scheduled languages of India, where it does not have any state-level status.[17]

Prior to the inception of Pakistan, Sindhi was the national language of Sindh.[18][19][20][21] The Pakistan Sindh Assembly has ordered compulsory teaching of the Sindhi language in all private schools in Sindh.[22] 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.[23] 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.[24] Sindhi is taught in all provincial private schools that follow the Matric system and not the ones that follow the Cambridge system.[25]

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[26] and increase the status of Sindhi as a national language[27][28][29] 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.[30]

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

The dialects of Sindhi language shown on map.

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:[31][32][33][34][35]

  • 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 minor differences in Larkana, Shikarpur and in parts of Sukkur and Kandiaro.[36]
  • Lari: The dialect of southern Sindh (Lāṛu) spoken around areas like Karachi, Thatta, Sujawal, Tando Muhammad Khan and Badin districts.
  • Siroli/Siraiki or Ubheji: The dialect of northernmost Sindh (Siro, meaning "head").[37] Spoken in smaller number all over Sindh but mainly in Jacobabad and Kashmore districts, it has little similarity with the Saraiki language of South Punjab[38] and has variously been treated either as a dialect of Saraiki or as a dialect of Sindhi.[39]
  • 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.[40][41]
  • Thareli: also called Tharechi dialect, spoken in north eastern Thar Desert of Sindh, called Nara desert (Achhro thar), but mainly spoken in the western part of Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, India by many Sindhi Muslims.[42][43]
  • Sindhi Bhili: It is a dialect spoken in Sindh by the Sindhi Meghwars and Bheels.[44] Sindhi Bhil is known to have many old Sindhi words, which were lost after Arabic, Persian, and Chaghatai influence.[45][46]

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.

Sindhi dialects Comparison[47]
English Vicholi Lari Uttaradi Lasi Kutchi[48] Dhatki
I Aao(n) Aao(n) Mā(n) Ã Aau(n) Hu(n)
My Muhnjo Mujo Mānjo/Māhjo Mojo/Mājo Mujo Mānjo/Māhyo
You "Sin, plu" (formal) Awha(n)/Awhee(n)

Tawha(n)/Tawhee(n)

Aa(n)/Aei(n) Taha(n)/Taa(n)/

Tahee(n)/Taee(n)

Awa(n)/Ai(n) Aa(n)/Ai(n) Awha/Ahee(n)/ Aween
To me Mukhe Muke Mānkhe Mukh Muke Mina
What Chha/Kahirō Kujjāro/Kujja Chha/Shha Chho Kuro Kee
Why Chho Ko Chho/Shho Chhela Kolāi/Kurelāe Kayla
How Kiya(n) Kei(n) Kiya(n) Kee(n) Kiya(n)
Foot Pair Pair/Pagg/Pagulo Pair Pair Pag Pagg, Pair
Far Pare Ddoor Pare/Parte Ddor Chhete Ddor
Near Vejhō Vejo/Ōdō/Ōdirō/Ore Vejhō/Vejhe/Orte Ōddō Wat, bājūme Nerro
Good/Excellent Sutho Khāso/Sutho/Thhāuko Sutho/Bhalo/Chango Khāsho Khāso, Laat Sutho, Phutro, Thhāuko
High Utāho Ucho Mathe Ucho Ucho Uncho
Silver Rupo Chādi/Rupo Chāndi Rupo Rupo
Father Piu Pay/Abo/Aba/Ada Pee/Babo/Pirhe(n) Pe Pe, Bapa, Ada
Wife Joe/Gharwāri Joe/Wani/Kuwār Zaal/Gharwāri Zaal Vahu/Vau Ddosi, Luggai
Man Mardu Māņu/Mārū/Mard

/Murs/Musālu

Mānhu/Musālo/Bhāi

/Kāko/Hamra

Mānhu Māḍū/Mārū Mārū
Woman Aurat Zāla/ōrat/ōlath Māi/Ran Zāla Bāeḍi/Bāyaḍī
Child/Baby Bbār/Ningar/Bbālak Bbār/Ningar/Gabhur/

Bacho/Kako

Bbār/Bacho/Adro/

Phar (animal)

Gabhar Bār/Gabhar
Daughter Dhiu/Niyāni Dia/Niyāni/Kañā Dhee/Adri Dhia Dhi Dikri
Sun Siju Sij, Sūrij Sijhu Siju Sūraj Sūraj
Sunlight Kārro Oosa Tarko
Cat Billi Bili/Pusani Billi Phushini Minni
Rain Barsāt/Mee(n)h

/Bārish

Varsāt/Mee(n)/Mai(n) Barsāt/Mee(n)hu Varsāt Meh, Maiwla
And Aēi(n) Ãū(n)/Ãē(n)/Nē Aēi(n)/Aū(n)/Aen Ãē/Or Nē/Anē A'e(n)/Ān
Also Pin/Bhi Pin, Bee Bu/Pun Pin/Pan
Is Āhe Āye Aa/Āhe/Hai Āhe/Āye Āye Āhe/Āh/Āye/Hai
Fire Bāhe Bāē/āgg/jjērō Bāhe/Bāh Jjērō Jirō/lagāņō/āg
Water Pāņī Pāņī/Jal Pāņī Pāņī Pāņī/Jal Pāņī
Slap Thaparr/Chammāt Tārr Chamātu/Chapātu/

Lapātu/Thapu

To Wash Dhoain(u) Dhun(u) Dhoain(u)/Dhuan(u)/

Dhowan(u)

Dhuwan(u)/

Dhoon(u)

I Went Aao(n) Vius Aao(n) Vēs Ma(n) Vayus (m)/ Vayas (f) Ã viosī Hu Gios

Grammar

Phonology

Sindhi has a relatively large inventory of both consonants and vowels compared to other Indo-Aryan languages.[49] Sindhi has 46 consonant phonemes and 10 vowels.[50] The consonant to vowel ratio is around average for the world's languages at 2.8.[51] 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[52]
Labial Dental/
alveolar 		Retroflex (Alveolo-)
Palatal 		Velar Glottal
Nasal plain m م‎ n ن‎ ɳ ڻ‎ ɲ ڃ‎ ŋ ڱ‎
breathy mʱ مھ‎ nʱ نھ‎ ɳʱ ڻھ‎
Stop/
Affricate 		plain p پ‎ b ب‎ t̪ ت‎ d̪ د‎ ʈ ٽ‎ ɖ ڊ‎ tɕ چ‎ dʑ ج‎ k ڪ‎ ɡ گ‎
breathy pʰ ڦ‎ bʱ ڀ‎ t̪ʰ ٿ‎ d̪ʱ ڌ‎ ʈʰ ٺ‎ ɖʱ ڍ‎ tɕʰ ڇ‎ dʑʱ جھ‎ kʰ ک‎ ɡʱ گھ‎
Implosive ɓ ٻ‎ ɗ ڏ‎ ʄ ڄ‎ ɠ ڳ‎
Fricative f ف‎ s س‎ z ز‎ ʂ ش‎ x خ‎ ɣ غ‎ h ھ‎
Approximant plain ʋ و‎ l ل‎ j ي‎
breathy lʱ 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,[53] so they could be transcribed [t̠, t̠ʰ, d̠, d̠ʱ n̠ 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.[54] /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 /ɪ 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.[55] 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 		ساٿيئَرو
sāthīaro 		ساٿيَنِ
sāthyani 		companion
رَھاڪُو
rahākū 		رَھاڪُوءَ
rahākūa 		رَھاڪُو
rahākū 		رَھاڪُئو
rahākuo 		رَھاڪُنِ
rahākuni 		inhabitant
IV راجا
rājā 		راجا / راجائتو
rājā / rājāito 		راجائُنِ
rājāuni 		king
سيٺُ
seṭhu 		سيٺَ
seṭha 		سيٺَنِ
seṭhani 		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".[55]

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

Pronouns

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.[56]

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).[56]

Third-person pronouns
Demonstrative Interrogative Relative Correlative
Unmarked Specific Present Indefinite
PROX DIST PROX DIST PROX DIST
SG NOM M هِي
hī 		هُو
hū 		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
kā 		ڪيرَ
kera 		جَا
jā 		سَا
sā
OBL هِنَ
hina 		هُنَ
huna 		اِنهين
inhẽ 		اُنهين
unhẽ 		— ڪَنهِن
kãhĩ 		جَنهِن
jãhĩ 		تَنهِن
tãhĩ
PL NOM هِي
hī 		هُو
hū 		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 ٻُڙِي ɓuṛi
1 هِڪُ hiku
2 ٻَه ɓa
3 ٽِي ṭī
4 چَارِ cāri
5 پَنج pañja
6 ڇَهَه chaha
7 سَتَ sata
8 اَٺَ aṭha
9 نَوَ nava
Num. Cardinal
10 ڏَهَه ɗaha
11 يَارَنهَن yārãhã
12 ٻَارَهَن ɓārahã
13 تيرَهَن terahã
14 چوڏَهَن coɗahã
15 پَندرَهَن pandrahã
16 سورَهَن sorahã
17 سَترَهَن satrahã
18 اَرِڙَهَن / اَٺَارَهَن ariṛahã / aṭhārahã
19 اُڻوِيهَه uṇvīha

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.[57]

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.[57]: 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
Case Marker Example English
Nominative — ڇوڪِرو
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
Sociative سُڌو
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...
Orientative ڏَانهَن
ḍā̃hã		 ڇوڪِري ڏَانهَن
chokire ḍā̃hã		 towards the boy
Terminative تَائيِن
tāī̃		 ڇوڪِري تَائيِن
chokire tāī̃		 up to the boy
Benefactive لاءِ
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".[57]: 400 

Ablative case markers
Marker Example English
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
Case Marker Example English
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.[57]: 405 

Sindhi Transliteration Explanation
جي اَڳيَان je aɠyā̃ "ahead of, before"; apudessive
جي اَندَرِ je andari "inside of"; inessive
جي بَدِرَان je badirā̃ "instead of, in place of"
جي بَرَابَر je barābar "equal to"
جي ٻَاهَرَان je ɓāharā̃ "outside of"
کَان ٻَاهَرِ khā̃ ɓāhari
جي باري ۾ je bāre mẽ "about, concerning"
جي چَوڌَارِي je caudhārī "around"
جي هيٺَان je heṭhā̃ "below, under"
جي ڪَري je kare "for, on account of"
جي لَاءِ je lāi "for"
جي مَٿَان je mathā̃ "above, on top of, upon"
کَان پَري khā̃ pare "far from"
جي پَارِ je pāri "across, on the other side of"
جي پَاسي je pāse "on the side of, near"
کَان پوءِ khā̃ poi "after"
جي پُٺيَان je puṭhyā̃ "behind"
جي سَامهون je sāmhõ "in front of, facing"
کَان سِوَاءِ khā̃ sivāi "besides, apart from"
جي وَاسطي je vāste "for the sake of, on account of"
جي ويجهو je vejho "near"; adessive
جي وِچِ ۾ je vici mẽ "between, among"
جي خَاطِرِ je xātiri "for the sake of"
جي خِلَافِ je xilāfi "against"
جي ذَرِيعي je 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[citation needed], with more borrowed Perso-Arabic elements, while Sindhi in India is influenced by Hindi[citation needed], with more borrowed tatsam Sanskrit elements.[58]

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.[59] Perso-Arabic for Sindhi was also made digitally accessible relatively earlier.[60]

The earliest attested records in Sindhi are from the 15th century.[13] 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.[61][62] During British rule in the late 19th century, the Perso-Arabic script was decreed standard over Devanagari.[63]

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.[64]

ə a ɪ i ʊ uː e ɛ o ɔ
k kʰ ɡ ɠ ɡʱ ŋ
c cʰ ɟ ʄ ɟʱ ɲ
ʈ ʈʰ ɖ ɗ ɽ ṛ ɳ
t tʰ d dʱ n
p pʰ f b ɓ bʱ 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.[65][66]

Gurmukhi

The Gurmukhi script was also used to write Sindhi, mainly in India by Hindus.[64][65]

Perso-Arabic script

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

Devanagari script

In India, the Devanagari script is also used to write Sindhi.[65] 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.[67] Devanagari was seen as the most practical option for Sindhi language in India.[1] Diacritical bars below the letter are used to mark implosive consonants, and dots called nukta are used to form other additional consonants.

अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ए ऐ ओ औ
ə a ɪ i ʊ uː e ɛ o ɔ
क ख ख़ ग ॻ ग़ घ ङ
k kʰ x ɡ ɠ ɣ ɡʱ ŋ
च छ ज ॼ ज़ झ ञ
c cʰ ɟ ʄ z ɟʱ ɲ
ट ठ ड ॾ ड़ ढ ढ़ ण
ʈ ʈʰ ɖ ɗ ɽ ɖʱ ɽʱ ɳ
त थ द ध न
t tʰ d dʱ n
प फ फ़ ब ॿ भ म
p pʰ f b ɓ bʱ m
य र ल व
j r l ʋ
श ष स ह
ʂ ʂ s h

Roman Sindhi

See also: Romanisation of 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.[68][69]

Advocacy

See also: 1972 Sindhi Language Bill

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[failed verification] 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.[70] In 2016, Google introduced the first automated translator for Sindhi language.[71][72] Later on in 2023 an offline support was introduced by Google Translate.[73][74] Which was followed by Microsoft Translator strengthening support in May of same year.[75][76]

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. ^ 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. ^ a b c 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.
  2. ^ a b "Encyclopædia Britannica". Sindhi Language. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  3. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
  4. ^ a b Cole, J. (2006). Brown, Keith (ed.). "Sindhi". Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition). Elsevier: 384–387. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02241-0.
  5. ^ "Sindhi". The Languages Gulper. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  6. ^ Wadhwani, Y. K. (1981). "The Origin of the Sindhi Language" (PDF). Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute. 40: 192–201. JSTOR 42931119. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Christopher Shackle, Sindhi literature at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  8. ^ "Sacred Literature-Ginans". Ismaili.NET. Heritage Society. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  9. ^ a b Schimmel, Annemarie (1971). "Sindhi Literature". Mahfil. 7 (1/2): 71–80. JSTOR 40874414.
  10. ^ "The Holy Qur'an and its Translators – Imam Reza (A.S.) Network". Imamreza.net. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  11. ^ Memon, Naseer (April 13, 2014). "The language link". The News on Sunday. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  12. ^ 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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  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. "C-16: Population by mother tongue, India - 2011". Retrieved 29 October 2022.
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  19. ^ "The Imposition Of Urdu". NAWAIWAQT GROUP OF NEWSPAPERS. September 10, 2015. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
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  22. ^ Samar, Azeem (13 March 2019). "PA resolution calls for teaching Sindhi as compulsory subject in private schools". The News International. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  23. ^ PakistanToday (25 September 2018). "Sindhi to be made compulsory in all private schools across province | Pakistan Today". Pakistan Today. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  24. ^ "Private schools directed to make Sindhi compulsory subject". Dawn. 2018-09-25. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  25. ^ "Sindh private schools told to teach Sindhi as compulsory subject". Samaa TV. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  26. ^ "Call for using local languages at primary level". The Express Tribune. 2023-02-20. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  27. ^ "Members decry delay in declaring Sindhi a national language". The Express Tribune. 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  28. ^ Siddiqui, Tahir (2023-02-22). "Govt, opposition demand national language status for Sindhi". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  29. ^ "Pakistan: Members of Sindh Assembly demand national language status for Sindhi". ANI News. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  30. ^ "National Committee for Linguistic Minorities" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-13. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
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  34. ^ Grierson, George A. (1919). "Sindhi". Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. VIII North-western group. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India.
  35. ^ Gazetteer of the Province of Sind. Government at the "Mercantile" Steam Press. 1907. pp. 188–519.
  36. ^ "Uttaradi". 1919.
  37. ^ Shackle (2007), p. 114.
  38. ^ Masica, Colin P. (1991). The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge University Press. p. 443. ISBN 978-0-521-23420-7.
  39. ^ Rahman, Tariq (1995). "The Siraiki Movement in Pakistan". Language Problems & Language Planning. 19 (1): 3. doi:10.1075/lplp.19.1.01rah.
  40. ^ "Fraki Sindhi". Sindhi spoken at Sibi is known as Fraki.
  41. ^ "Firaqi Sindhi". Indus Asia Online Journal. 2016-11-30.
  42. ^ "Linguistic Survey of India". dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  43. ^ One thousand languages : living, endangered, and lost. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2008. ISBN 978-0-520-25560-9.
  44. ^ "Sindhi bhil language". LotsOfEssays.com.
  45. ^ "Sindhi Bhil". Global Recordings Network.
  46. ^ "Sindhi bhil". Ethnologue.
  47. ^ "Linguistic Survey of India". dsal.uchicago.edu. p. 214. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  48. ^ "The Sweet Language of Kutch". Memeraki Retail and Tech Pvt Ltd. 2022-11-13. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  49. ^ "Sindhi Language - Structure, Writing & Alphabet - MustGo".
  50. ^ Raza, Sarfraz; Zahid, Agha Furrukh; Raza, Usman. "Phonemic Inventory of Sindhi and Acoustic Analysis of Voiced Implosives" (PDF). uogenglish.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  51. ^ Nihalani, Paroo. (1999). Handbook of the International Phonetic Association (Sindhi). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  52. ^ Nihalani, Paroo (December 1, 1995). "Illustration of the IPA – Sindhi". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 25 (2): 95–98. doi:10.1017/S0025100300005235. S2CID 249410954.
  53. ^ Nihalani (1974), p. 207.
  54. ^ 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).
  55. ^ a b 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. hdl:10603/145755.
  56. ^ a b Khubchandani (2003).
  57. ^ a b c d Trumpp, Ernest (1872). Grammar of the Sindhi language. London: Trübner and Co.
  58. ^ Cole (2001), pp. 652–653; Khubchandani (2003), pp. 624–625.
  59. ^ Nair, Manoj R. (2018-07-30). "The dispute over script still endures among Sindhis". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  60. ^ "Sindhi becomes the first language from Pakistan to be selected for digitization". Geo News. Dec 7, 2020.
  61. ^ Khubchandani (2003), p. 633.
  62. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2016-05-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  63. ^ Cole (2001), p. 648.
  64. ^ a b "Sindhi Language: Script". Sindhilanguage.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  65. ^ a b c "Proposal to Encode the Sindhi Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). Std.dkuug.dk. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  66. ^ "Final Proposal to Encode the Khojki Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). Std.dkuug.dk. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  67. ^ "UCLA Language Materials Project: Language Profile". Archived from the original on 2014-10-22. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
  68. ^ "Romanized Sindhi is teaching reading speaking writing sindhi language globally under alliance of sindhi association of Americas Inc". Romanizedsindhi.org. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  69. ^ "CHOICE OF SCRIPT FOR OUR SINDHI LANGUAGE". Chandiramani.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  70. ^ 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.
  71. ^ "Google Translate now speaks Sindhi, Pashto". Official Google India Blog. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
  72. ^ ANI (2016-02-18). "Google adds Sindhi to its translate language options". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
  73. ^ "Google Translate brings offline support for Oriya, Sindhi and 31 other languages". The Times of India. 2023-01-16. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  74. ^ Ghazi, Zain (2023-01-18). "Google Translate Sindhi Offline". Pakistani Journal. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  75. ^ Stories, Microsoft (2023-05-19). "Microsoft Translator adds four new languages – Konkani, Maithili, Sindhi, and Sinhala". Microsoft Stories India. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  76. ^ Team, C. R. N. (2023-05-18). "Microsoft Translator adds 4 new languages – Konkani, Maithili, Sindhi, and Sinhala". CRN - India. Retrieved 2023-05-19.

Sources

Sindhi edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Sindhi phrasebook.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sindhi language.
Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article about Sindhi language.
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