Balochi language

Balochi
Balochi
بلۏچی Balòci
	Balòci (Balochi) written Balo-Rabi in Nastaliq style.
Pronunciation	[bəˈloːt͡ʃiː]
Native to	Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan
Region	Balochistan
Ethnicity	Baloch
Native speakers	8.8 million (2017–2020)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Iranian Northwestern Balochi; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Balochi Standard Alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Pakistan Balochistan;
Regulated by	Balochi Academy, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan ; Balochi Academy Sarbaz, Sarbaz, Iran
Language codes
ISO 639-2	bal
ISO 639-3	bal – inclusive code; Individual codes:; bgp – Eastern Balochi; bgn – Western Balochi; bcc – Southern Balochi
Glottolog	balo1260
Linguasphere	58-AAB-a > 58-AAB-aa (East Balochi) + 58-AAB-ab (West Balochi) + 58-AAB-ac (South Balochi) + 58-AAB-ad (Bashkardi)
	Approximate geographic distribution of Balochi
	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 Balochi text, written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined Balochi letters or other symbols instead of Balochi script.

A speaker of Eastern Balochi

Balochi (بلۏچی, romanized: Balòci) is a Northwestern Iranian language. spoken primarily in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. In addition, there are speakers in Oman, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Turkmenistan, East Africa and in diaspora communities in other parts of the world.^[2] The total number of speakers, according to Ethnologue, is 8.8 million.^[1] Of these, 6.28 million are in Pakistan.^[3]

According to Brian Spooner,^[4]

Literacy for most Baloch-speakers is not in Balochi, but in Urdu in Pakistan and Persian in Afghanistan and Iran. Even now very few Baloch read Balochi, in any of the countries, even though the alphabet in which it is printed is essentially identical to Persian and Urdu.

Balochi belongs to the Western Iranian subgroup, and its original homeland is suggested to be around the central Caspian region.^[5]

^ ^a ^b Balochi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Eastern Balochi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Western Balochi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Southern Balochi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
^ Spooner, Brian (2011). "10. Balochi: Towards a Biography of the Language". In Schiffman, Harold F. (ed.). Language Policy and Language Conflict in Afghanistan and Its Neighbors. Brill. p. 319. ISBN 978-9004201453. It [Balochi] is spoken by three to five million people in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Oman and the Persian Gulf states, Turkmenistan, East Africa, and diaspora communities in other parts of the world.
^ "Table 11 – Population by Mother Tongue, Sex and Rural/Urban" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^ Spooner, Brian (2011). "10. Balochi: Towards a Biography of the Language". In Schiffman, Harold F. (ed.). Language Policy and Language Conflict in Afghanistan and Its Neighbors. Brill. p. 320. ISBN 978-9004201453.
^ Elfenbein, J. (1988). "Baluchistan iii. Baluchi Language and Literature". Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved 30 December 2014.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[e26-1] Balochi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Eastern Balochi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Western Balochi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Southern Balochi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)

[Spooner2011-3] Spooner, Brian (2011). "10. Balochi: Towards a Biography of the Language". In Schiffman, Harold F. (ed.). Language Policy and Language Conflict in Afghanistan and Its Neighbors. Brill. p. 319. ISBN 978-9004201453. It [Balochi] is spoken by three to five million people in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Oman and the Persian Gulf states, Turkmenistan, East Africa, and diaspora communities in other parts of the world.

[4] "Table 11 – Population by Mother Tongue, Sex and Rural/Urban" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2023.

[5] Spooner, Brian (2011). "10. Balochi: Towards a Biography of the Language". In Schiffman, Harold F. (ed.). Language Policy and Language Conflict in Afghanistan and Its Neighbors. Brill. p. 320. ISBN 978-9004201453.

[Elfenbein_1988-6] Elfenbein, J. (1988). "Baluchistan iii. Baluchi Language and Literature". Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved 30 December 2014.

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Balochi
بلۏچی Balòci
Balòci (Balochi) written Balo-Rabi in Nastaliq style.
Pronunciation	[bəˈloːt͡ʃiː]
Native to	Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan
Region	Balochistan
Ethnicity	Baloch
Native speakers	8.8 million (2017–2020)^[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Iranian Northwestern Balochi
Writing system	Balochi Standard Alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Pakistan Balochistan ^[a]
Regulated by	Balochi Academy, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan Balochi Academy Sarbaz, Sarbaz, Iran
Language codes
ISO 639-2	`bal`
ISO 639-3	`bal` – inclusive code Individual codes: `bgp` – Eastern Balochi `bgn` – Western Balochi `bcc` – Southern Balochi
Glottolog	`balo1260`
Linguasphere	`58-AAB-a > 58-AAB-aa (East Balochi) + 58-AAB-ab (West Balochi) + 58-AAB-ac (South Balochi) + 58-AAB-ad (Bashkardi)`
Approximate geographic distribution of Balochi
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.