Baluchi (بلوچى)

Baluchi is a Northwestern Iranian language spoken by about seven million people. Most Baluchi speakers live in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, but there as also speakers in India, the Arab Gulf States, Turkmenistan and East Africa.

Baluchi first started to be written during the 19th century. At first it was written with the Latin alphabet using a spelling system devised by British linguists. After Pakistan gained independence in 1947, Baloch scholars adopted the Perso-Arabic script to write their language. Baluchi is written with a version of the Arabic script based on Pashto in Afghanistan.

Baluchi, which is also known as Balochi Baloci or Baluci, has two main dialects: Eastern and Western, the main dialect used in Baluchi literature.

Baluchi alphabet and pronunciation

Sample text

Sample text in Baluchi

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Links

Information about Baluchi
http://www.eurobaluchi.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Balochi_language
http://baask.com/wp/
http://users.tpg.com.au/users/goshti/
http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/february/balochi.html

Related languages

Avestan, Baluchi, Dari, Kurdish, Ossetian, Pashto, Persian, Tajik

Other languages written with the Arabic alphabet