Sindhi language
Sindhi is the language of the
Sindh region of
South Asia, which is now a province of
Pakistan. It is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 18.5 million people in
Pakistan, and 2.8 million in
India; it is also a recognised official language in both of these countries. Although the language is predominantly Indo-Aryan, it also shows up signs of Dravidian influence, making it unique in its importance and identity. Most Sindhi speakers in
Pakistan are concentrated in
Sindh. The remaining speakers are found spread throughout the many areas of the world to which members of an ethnic group migrated when
Sindh became a part of
Pakistan during the
partition of
British India in 1947.
Encyclopedia
Sindhi is the language of the
Sindh region of
South Asia, which is now a province of
Pakistan. It is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 18.5 million people in
Pakistan, and 2.8 million in
India; it is also a recognised official language in both of these countries. Although the language is predominantly Indo-Aryan, it also shows up signs of Dravidian influence, making it unique in its importance and identity. Most Sindhi speakers in
Pakistan are concentrated in
Sindh. The remaining speakers are found spread throughout the many areas of the world to which members of an ethnic group migrated when
Sindh became a part of
Pakistan during the
partition of
British India in 1947. The language is written using the modified
Arabic script. In 1948, the Government of India implemented the
Devanagari script for Sindhi that did not get wide acceptance.
Geographical distribution
Sindhi is taught as a first language in the schools of south-east Pakistan.In India especially in the Maharashtra State many educational institutions managed by Sindhi community and in the schools of such society Sindhi is taught either as the medium of instruction or as a subject.[Details: www.thesindhuworld.com ] Sindhi language has a vast vocabulary; this has made it a favourite of many writers and so a lot of literature and poetry has been written in Sindhi. Dialects of Sindhi are spoken in southern
Punjab, Balochistan, Northwest province of Pakistan , and also
Gujarat as well as
Rajasthan in India.
History
Sindhi was a very popular literary language around the
14th-
18th centuries. This is when
sufis such as Shah Abdul Latif narrated their
theosophical poetry depicting the relationship between humans and God.
The
Qur'an was first translated into Sindhi in rhymatic format. This was the first ever translation of Qur'an in the
12th century or earlier.
Sounds
Sindhi has a large sound inventory. It has 46 distinctive consonant phonemes and a further 16
vowels. All plosives, affricates, nasals, the retroflex flap and the
lateral approximant /l/ have aspirated or breathy voiced counterparts. The language also features four separate implosives.
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Post-
alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|
| Plosives | p
ph | b
b? | | t
th | d
d? | | ?
?h | ?
?? | | k
kh | g
g? | |
| Implosives | | ? | | | | ? | | | ? | | ? | |
| Affricates | | | | | | c
ch | ?
?? | | |
| Nasals | m
m? | | | n
n? | ?
?? | ? | ? | |
| Fricatives | | f | | | s | z | ? | | | x | ? | h | |
| Taps and flaps | | | | r | ?
?? | | | |
| Approximants | | ? | | | | j | | |
Lateral
approximants | | | l
l? | | | | | |
|
The phoneme is usually pronounced as an alveolar tap, , though occasionally reminiscent of a trill with two or more contacts. The affricates are pronounced with a relatively short release and corresponding plosives symbols have therefore been used. can be realized as either or with free variation.
Vowels
Writing system
Arabic
In
Pakistan, Sindhi is written in a variant of the
Arabic script, which was adopted under the encouragement of the British when Sindh fell to them in the 19th century. It has a total of 52 letters, accommodating the additional sounds peculiar to Indo-Aryan languages. Some letters that are distinguished in Arabic are pronounced identically in Sindhi.
| ?? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
|---|
| | | | | | | | | | | | * |
| ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
|---|
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
|---|
| | | | | | | | | | ? | | |
| | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ?? | ? | ? | ? |
|---|
| * | | * | | | | | | | | | |
Devanagari
In
India, the
Devanagari script is also used besides standard Sindhi-Arabic script.
Diacritical bars below the letter are used to mark implosive consonants, and dots called
nukta are used to form other additional consonants.
| ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
|---|
| ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| ? | ? | ?? | ? | ? | ?? | | ? | | ? |
|---|
| | | | | | | | | |
| ? | ? | | ? | ? | ?? | | ? | | ? |
|---|
| | | | | | | | | |
| ? | ? | | ? | ? | ?? | | ? | ?? | ? |
|---|
| | | | | | | | | |
| ? | ? | | ? | | ? | | ? |
|---|
| | | | | | | |
| ? | ? | ?? | ? | ? | | ? | | ? |
|---|
| | | | | | | | |
| ? | ? | ? | ? | |
|---|
| | | |
| ? | ? | ? | ? | |
|---|
| ? | | | | |
See also
Sindhi Education Societies [ http://www.thesindhuworld.com ]
-
- Languages of India
- List of national languages of India
- List of Indian languages by total speakers
-
References
- International Phonetic Association Handbook of the International Phonetic Association ISBN 0-521-63751-1
- with Devanagari equivalents
-
-
