Balochi language
| Balochi | |
|---|---|
| بلۏچی Balòci | |
| Pronunciation | [bəˈloːt͡ʃiː] |
| Native to | Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan |
| Region | Balochistan |
| Ethnicity | Baloch |
Native speakers | 8.8 million (2017–2020) |
| Perso-Arabic script (Balochi alphabet) | |
| Official status | |
| Regulated by | Balochi Academy, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan Balochi Academy Sarbaz, Sarbaz, Iran |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | bal |
| ISO 639-3 | bal – inclusive codeIndividual codes: bgp – Eastern Balochibgn – Western Balochibcc – Southern Balochi |
| Glottolog | balo1260 |
| Linguasphere | 58-AAB-a |
The position of Balochi language among Iranian languages | |
Balochi (بلۏچی, romanized: Balòci) is a Northwestern Iranian language, spoken by the Baloch in the Balochistan region in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In addition, there are speakers in Oman, and the rest of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Turkmenistan, East Africa and in diaspora communities in other parts of the world. The total number of speakers, according to Ethnologue, is 8.8 million. Of these, 6.28 million are in Iran.
Balochi varieties constitute a dialect continuum and collectively at least have around 10 million native speakers. The main varieties of Balochi are Eastern (Soleimani), Southern (Makrani) and Western (Rakhshani). The Koroshi dialect is a dialect of the Balochi language, spoken mainly in the provinces of Fars and Hormozgan.
According to Brian Spooner,
Literacy for most Baloch-speakers is not in Balochi, but in Urdu in Pakistan and Farsi in Afghanistan and Iran. Even now, very few Baloch read Balochi in any of the countries, regardless of the alphabet in which it is printed.
Balochi belongs to the Western Iranian subgroup.