Balochi alphabets

Arabic script for the Balochi language

Balochi Standard Alphabet

ا ب پ ت ٹ ج چ د ڈ ر ز ژ س ش ک گ ل م ن و ۏ ہ (ھ) ء ی ے (ݔ)

* * *

Extended Perso-Arabic script

* History
* Transliteration
* Diacritics
* Hamza
* Numerals
* Numeration

* v
* t
* e

Balochi alphabets (Balochi: بلۏچی سیاھگ; Balòci Siyàhag) consist of the Balòrabi script, based on the Perso-Arabic script, and the Balòtin script, based on the Latin script. Both scripts are used for the Balochi language spoken in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.

Balochi alphabets

A writing in Balochi Standard alphabet

Script type|

Abjad

Languages|

* Balochi
* Bashkardi
* Garmsiri

Related scripts

Parent systems

Egyptian hieroglyphs

* Proto-Sinaitic
* Phoenician
* Aramaic
* Nabataean
* Arabic
* Perso-Arabic
* Balochi alphabets

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

## Alphabet

[edit]

The Balochi alphabet, standardized by Balochi Academy Sarbaz, consists of 32 letters.[1]

The Romanized version is called Balòtin, and the Arabic version is called Balòrabi.

### Script Correspondence Table

[edit]

Romanization  | Letter  | IPA | Romanized Examples  | Balorabi Examples

|
|
|
|

Final  | Medial  | Initial  | Isolated
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))

### Some digraphs in Balochi writing

[edit]

Balochi also has 3 digraphs set by Balochi Academy Sarbaz in Standard Alphabets:[2]

Romanization  | Letter of Digraphs  | IPA | Romanized Examples

|
|
|

Final  | Medial  | Initial  | Isolated
Æ / æ(Ae /ae) | ـئ  | ـئـ  | ئـ  | ئ  | /ɛ/ | Sæ (three), Æš, Pæl (action), Bænk (Bank)
Ai / ai | ـئی  | ـئیـ  | ائیـ  | ئی  | /ɑiː/ | Taig (yours), Mai (our), Aid (Eid)
Au / au | ـؤ  | ـؤ  | اؤ  | ؤ  | /ɑuː/ | Augàn(afghan), Kaur (river)

### Arabic diacritics in Balochi writing

[edit]

Arabic diacritics are used in Balochi, as with other scripts derived from Arabic:

Marks  | Name  | Example words  | Purpose / effect  | Pronouncing

|
|
|
|

َ◌  | zabar | ڈَک، مَ‍‍چ، گ‍‍رَنچ، دَنز  | Adding vowel  | /a/
ِ◌  | zèr | کِ‍‍رّ، سِ‍‍لّ، ھِ‍‍نگ، تِ‍‍چک  | /e/
ُ◌  | pèš | پُ‍‍لّ، کُ‍‍رت، کُ‍‍مب  | /o/
ّ◌  | šadd | گُ‍‍ٹّ، پُ‍‍لّ، گَ‍‍لّ | Consonant gemination |
ٚ◌  | gowanďi  | دَنٚ‍‍ز، کَ‍‍مٚ‍‍ب، اَمٚ‍‍ب، سیاھݔ‍‍نٚ | Nasal vowel | /◌̃/

### Use of Hamza

[edit]

One of the aspects that distinguishes Balochi orthography from other orthographies derived from Perso-Arabic Script is the use of stand-alone Hamza (ء‎), which, depending on its function within a sentence, is always written with one of three vowel diacritics. Stand-alone Hamza without diacritic is also used similar to other Perso-Arabic Scripts, to indicated glottal stop at end of words

The use of Hamza in such a way was first used in Balochi by poet Husayn Anqa, and officially adopted into Balochi as a result of decisions made in a convention in Karachi, Pakistan on 22 July 1959, attended by prominent Balochi poets and literaturists.[3][4]

Below are the forms that stand-alone Hamza is used:

Form  | Diacritic  | Example words  | Purpose / effect  | Pronouncing

|
|
|
|

ء‎  | None  |  | Adding glottal stop to end of word  | /ʔ/
ءَ‎  | zabar | منءَ اۏشتون‎ (I will stand [obj.])
کلمءَ گُش ایت‎ (the pen will say[obj.]) | Accusative, Dative, Oblique | /a/
ءِ‎  | zèr | شپءِ نݔم‎ (Midnight) | Genitive (Possession)  | /e/
ءُ‎  | pèš | من ءُ تؤ‎ (I and you) | and | /o/

## Balochi Numbers

[edit]

Number  | Balochi  | Number Name

|
|

0  | ۰  | ھِچ
1  | ۱  | یَک
2  | ۲  | دوٚ
3  | ۳  | سئ
4  | ۴  | چار
5  | ۵  | پَنچ
6  | ۶  | شَش
7  | ۷  | ھَپت
8  | ۸  | ھَشت
9  | ۹  | نُھ

### Notes

[edit]

Some dialects of Balochi very infrequently use the voiced retroflex flap, meaning ڑ. Due to its immense rarity in Balochi, most orthographies of the language leave out glyphs for the phoneme. When written however, it is usually represented with ر.

This alphabet uses two completely separate and new glyphs to represent the long close front unrounded vowel (/iː/). For the initial and medial forms, ݔ is used. This glyph is based on the initial/medial form of the Perso-Arabic "Ye":
(یـ/ـیـ), the difference being the dot above it. Meanwhile, for the final form, ے is used, which is also based on ی and is called "Bari ye"; it is from Urdu. Sometimes there is خ, meaning /x/.

## Vowels

[edit]

in standard alphabets have 11 vowels,

Balòrabi  | Balòtin  | IPA

|
|

◌َ ـَ اَ  | Aa  | /a/
آ ـا ئا  | Àà  | /ɑ/
◌ِ اِ ـِ  | Ee  | /e/
ݔ‍ ـݔ‍ ـے ے ࢩ  | Èè  | /ɪ/
ای‍ ـی  | Ii  | /i/
◌ُ ـُ اُ  | Oo  | /o/
ۏ ـۏ  | Òò  | /ʊ/
او ـو  | Uu  | /u/
ائ ـئ ئ  | Ææ - Ae  | /ɛ/
ائی ـئی‍ ـئی  | AI ai  | /ɑiː/
اؤ ـؤ ؤ  | AU au  | /ɑuː/

## The difference in writing between old Balochi and standard Balochi

[edit]

In standardized Balochi, letters from old Balochi have been removed and some new letters have been added, The added letters are:

* ݔ‍ Cappi Yà or Arabic yā letter with a dot on it, which is the same at the beginning and middle of the word, and at the end of the word, the letter ے is used only, which existed in old Balochi.
* ۏ Cappi Wà or Wāw letter with a dot added on it

And also in standard Balochi, the letter ڑ is merged with the letter ڈ

In the table below, you can see the difference between old and standard writing:

English  | Balòrabi  | Ballàtin  | Old style

|
|
|

Baloch  | بلۏچ  | Balòc  | بلوچ
Revenge  | بݔر  | Bèr  | بیر
Thunder  | بیر  | Bir
Balochistan  | بلۏچستان  | Balòcestàn  | بلوچستان
You  | تؤ  | Tau  | تو
Rain  | ھؤر  | Haur  | ھور
With together  | ھۏر  | Hòr
nymph  | ھور  | Hur
Attack  | بیڈ  | Biď  | بیڑ

### "ݔ‍" Letter using

[edit]

Cappi Yà (ݔ‍ ے ࢩ) is one of the standard letters of the Balochi language, which was added to the standard Balochi alphabets by the Balochi Academy Sarbaz. In the old Balochi alphabet, this letter is given as ی‍ْ, but in some others, it is also given as ڃ and یٚ.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Balochi Standarded Alphabet". BalochiAcademy.ir. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
"Balochi for beginners". www.thelanguagebarracks.org. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
2. ^ "[Aesà] Special characters in Balochi Standard Alphabets". BalochiAcademy.ir. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
3. ^ "الفبای زبان بلوچی".
4. ^ Spooner, Brian (1999). " Standardization and Orthography in the Balochi Language , Carina Jahani, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 1, Uppsala, 1989, 286 pp., ISBN 91-554-2487-2, ISSN 1100-326X". Iranian Studies. 32: 158–160\. doi:10.1017/S0021086200005879.
5. ^ "Balochi Alphabets by Ayoub Ayoubi". ayoob673.blogfa.com. Retrieved 12 July 2021.

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