Balochi, Western

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A language of Pakistan

ISO 639-3
bgn
Alternate Names
Baloci, Baluchi, Baluci
Autonym
بلوچی‎ (Balochi)
User Population

1,050,000 in Pakistan (2017 census). Total users in all countries: 2,264,350.

Location

Balochistan province: northwest; Sindh province: Dadu district.

Language Maps
Language Status

5* (Developing).

Classification
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Northwestern, Balochi
Dialects

Lashari, Rakhshani (Raxshani), Sarawani. Strongly influenced by Farsi, but not intelligible with Farsi [prs]. A member of macrolanguage Baluchi [bal].

Language Use

Used as L2 by Brahui [brh].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: 1%–5%. Literacy rate in L2: 5%–15%. Taught as subject in some tertiary schools. Newspapers. Radio. Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. Bible portions: 1984–2005.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Balochi, Western
Writing

Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab]. Arabic script, Nastaliq variant [Aran], primary usage. Cyrillic script [Cyrl], used in Turkmenistan.

Other Comments

Balochi is the official spelling in Pakistan. A small body of literature. Muslim.

Also spoken in:

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