Professional Documents
Culture Documents
BALOCHI READER
Balochi Reader
Copyright 2011 by AECOM.
All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior
written permission from the copyright owner.
First Edition: November 2010
Second Impression: January 2011
All inquiries should be directed to:
Dunwoody Press
6525 Belcrest Rd., Suite 460
Hyattsville, MD 20782
U.S.A.
ISBN: 978-1-931546-79-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010938135
Printed and bound in the United States of America
DEDICATION
Table of Contents
Preface ............................................................................................... i
The Balochi Language ..................................................................... ii
Balochi Grammar ........................................................................... iv
Morphology ...................................................................................... v
Abbreviations Used in the Reader ................................................. x
The Balochi Alphabet ..................................................................... xi
Sources of Reading ....................................................................... xiii
Bibliography................................................................................... xv
Selections
.......................................................................... 1
..................................................................... 7
................................................................. 13
............................................................................. 18
............................................................................... 23
.............................................................................. 27
......................................................................... 31
............................................................. 35
.......................................................................... 39
..................................................................... 43
...................................................................... 48
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Translations
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Selection 2:
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Selection 13:
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Preface
This book provides an advanced beginner or intermediate student
of Balochi with a variety of mostly Western dialect selections published in
different magazines and newspapers in Balochistan. A few selections have
been obtained from radio and television broadcasts at Television Centre
Quetta and Radio Pakistan Quetta. The selected material was published and
broadcast between 1996-2006.
The work presented in this book is divided into three parts. The
first part is a very brief sketch of Balochi grammar. Its purpose is to serve
as a brief reference for the readers. The second part consists of 46 sample
selections. The selections collected from different magazines, newspapers,
and audio/video voices represent a broad range of subjects including social
life, history, politics, economy, agriculture, nature, education, language and
literature, archaeology, industry, fisheries, and many other areas that reflect
Balochistan and Baloch society and life. The articles are reproduced mostly
as they were with the exception that obvious typical mistakes and some
structural errors have been corrected. A few lengthy articles were shortened
to better fit the need and demands of the readers. The audio and video
selections have been transcribed in the common Balochi script. An English
translation accompanies the transcriptions. A glossary follows each
selection with new words and phrases that occurred for the first time in the
selection. There are also some notes that provide information about
linguistic and cultural features related to each selection that may be unclear
to the readers. The third part of the Balochi Reader is a general glossary of
items. It is a list of words and phrases that occur in the selections. The
glossary follows Balochi alphabetical order.
I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the support provided
by Tom Creamer Director Language Research Center AECOM, for
providing me with the opportunity to work on this project. Mel Deatherage
is the person from Dunwoody Press with who, besides professional
collaboration, I always worked as a personal colleague and friend.
Acknowledgements to all those at AECOM, Inc for their assistance,
especially their patience in putting up with my tardiness. This book
benefited greatly from a critical reading and editing of its English and
Balochi versions by Ms. Erin Gyomber and Dr Timothy Farrell. I would
like further to thank my team members, particularly Dr. Munir Ahmed
Baloch, Dr. R.B Raisani, Mr. Abdul Saboor Baloch, Naseebullah Baloch,
M. Tahir Baloch, Mr. Yousaf Mengal, A. Razziq, Waheed Razzaq, and Mr.
Naveed Sarparra, for their valuable devotion during the project work.
Dr. Abdul Razzaq Abdul Samad Sabir
University of Balochistan
Quetta-Pakistan
October 2010
i
from Lahore. Hathu Ram, an important historian and author of many books
on Balochistan and Baloch history and an Indian official, wrote his book
Balochi Nama in Persian and Urdu at the end of the nineteenth century.
The British army officers in India learned Balochi in order to project their
power and authority over the native people.
The first institution where Balochi and Brahui were introduced as
mediums of instruction at the end of nineteenth century was the Madrasae-Durkhan, or Durkhani Religious Institution, established in 1880 near the
village of Durkhan near Dhadar (Balochistan). The efforts made by the
Madrasa-e-Durkhani can be mentioned as a literary and religious
movement for spreading religious awareness among the Baloch people
through their native languages. According to an estimate, 91 books,
including a translation of the Holy Quran in Balochi, were published here.
When we look at the status of Balochi in Iran, we can see that the
constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran 1980 clearly mentions that the
official language and script of Iran, the lingua franca of its people, is
Persian. The use of regional and national languages in the press and mass
media, however, as well as for teaching in schools the literatures written in
them, is permitted in addition to Persian. But on the ground the reality is
quietly different. At present there are no publications in the Balochi
language. A few magazines emerged after the Islamic revolution in 1979,
but, due to pressure from the authorities, these were closed down soon.
There is no provision to teach Balochi in the schools of Iranian
Balochistan. Radio Zahedan broadcasts a daily Balochi language program
from the capital of the Sistan-o-Balochistan province, Zahedan. Many
Baloch in Iran are concerned about the strong Persian influence on Balochi,
as all education takes place in Persian and Balochi are rapidly adopting the
Persian language.
There are countries, including Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan,
Turkmenistan, and the Arab Gulf states, in which Balochi is spoken, but it
is considered neither an official language nor a medium of instruction for
Balochi-speaking areas. In Pakistan in 1989, the government of Nawab
Akbar Khan Bugti in Balochistan adopted the use of Balochi as the medium
of primary education in the province until the desolation of his government
in 1992. At present, courses in Balochi language and literature are offered
at colleges in Balochistan and at the University of Balochistan in Quetta at
the degree and masters levels. There are also several Balochi newspapers
and magazines published in Balochi in Pakistan. The Balochi Academy
Quetta, however, receives limited government funding and is working on
various profile-raising projects on Balochi including a Standard Balochi
Dictionary. The radio stations at Quetta, Turbat, and Khuzdar broadcast in
Balochi. Besides Pakistan, Radio Iran Zahedan, Radio Kabul and New
Delhi also broadcast Balochi programs. Balochi programs are telecast from
Television Centre, Quetta, and Kabul, but a separate private Balochi
television channel is the need of the hour.
iii
Balochi Grammar
Phonology
The phonetic system of Balochi is characterized by a phoneme
inventory consisting of eight vowels, (five long A, I, U, E, O, and three
short a, i, u), two diphthongs ( ai and au ) and twenty-five native
consonants. A reasonable number of loan sounds are also present. Among
the vowels, a long/short distinction exists and is contrastive in the
language. The use of retroflex articulations is a characteristic property of
the Balochi sound system influenced by the Indio Aryan languages of
India.
Vowels
Front
Central
Closed
ee i, ()
Half closed
Back
oo ) (u
o
Half open
Open
aa
Affricates
Nasals
Lateral
approximants
Trill
Retroflex trill
Approximants
(semi-vowels)
iv
Glottal
Fricatives
Uvular
Velar
Palatal
Alveolar
Postalveolar
Labio-dental
Stops
Bilabial
Consonants
Morphology
Noun
The formation of Balochi nouns corresponds closely with Persian.
Balochi has two numbers singular, and plural, and four cases. There is no
grammatical gender or historical stem in Balochi. Noun inflection is given
below for mard man.
Singular
Plural
Nominative
mard ( man)
Mard
( men)
Genitive
marde ( mans)
mardaanee
( mens)
Accusative/dative
mardaa ( to man)
mardaan
( to men)
Oblique
mardaa ( to man)
mardaan
( to men)
Adjectives
All adjectives in the attributive position must take the suffix /en/. The attributive adjectives take / en/ and precede the noun they
qualify.
peeren mard
washen naa
My pen is the best of all
manee
kalam
sha
drustaan
shartir
int
my
pen
from
(nom.sg.)
(obl.pl)
all
best
is
(positive)
(pres.ind.3p.sg)
bachak
sha
jinik
mastir
int
boy
from
girl
elder
is
Pronouns
The personal pronouns have the following forms.
lst person
2nd person
3rd person
Nominative
man
tau (ta)
aa
Genitive
manee(maee,minee)
tahee(tee)
aahee
taraa
aa, aairaa
tau,ta,to
aahee
Singular
Accusative/dative
Oblique
manaa
man
Plural
Nominative
maa
shumaa
aa
Genitive
maee
maaraa
shumae,shumee
shumaaraa
aawaanee
Accusative/dative
Oblique
maa
shumaa
aawaan
aawaanaa
vi
Singular
Plural
Nominative
e or esh
eshaan
Genitive
eshee
eshaanee
Oblique
eshee
eshaan
aa
aahee
aaheearaa
aayaa
aayaan
aayaanee
aawaanaaraa
aayaan
Interrogative pronouns
che (what)
kay (who)
kujaam (which)
Personal endings
The personal endings in Balochi for present tense are:
1
2
3
Singular
een
ay
t
Plural
an
it
ant
( I do)
( You do)
( He/She do)
( We do)
( You do)
( They do)
Singular
un
ay
Zero
( I did)
( You did)
( He/She did)
vii
Plural
an
it
ant
( We did)
( You did)
( They did)
(He does)
(I eat food)
(We go)
Imperative
The imperative in Balochi is used only in the second person
singular and plural. The modal imperative prefix is /bi / or /pi /, but
this prefix is dropped in the compound verbs.
pikan
buzoor
(do)
(take)
Compound verbs
Compound verbs in Balochi are formed from nouns, adjectives, or
adverbs plus the colorless verbs like knang (to do) or boohag (to
become), for example.
hisab kanag
tawaar kanag
bahaa kanag
(to count)
(to call)
(to sell)
Syntax
Word order in Balochi, like in many other Indo-Iranian languages, is
Sub + Obj + Verb (SOV). The order between direct and indirect object is also
quite free, the more emphasized object preceding the other one for example.
The verbal system of the language is comprised of two voices (active and
passive), four moods (indicative, interrogative, imperative, and subjunctive),
and two tenses (past and present/future. Morphologically, there is no formal
distinction between present and future forms in all verb forms with the singular
exception of the copula to be), and two aspects (perfect, imperfect/
continuative). Verbs agree with their subjects in person and number. Complex
or so-called light verb constructions are productive in the language. In this
construction, a nominal, adjectival, or verbal element is followed by an
auxiliary verb such as come, become, do, etc.
viii
Data
zarr
Taraa
biraat
Manee
gave
money
You
brother
My
(gen.sg.)
(nom.pl.)
(dat.sg.)
(nom.sg.)
(gen.sg.)
Orthography
Balochi has a very short writing system history. Prior to the 19th
century, Balochi was an unwritten language. The British introduced Balochi in
written form during the 19th century with a Roman script. In the late 19th
century, a substantial sect of scholars adopted the Naskh or Arabic script, thus
dividing the language community. Today, there is no standard orthography and
every school of thought has its own pattern, but among all these a standard
orthography is also coming out. In Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, Balochi is
written using the Arabic/Urdu orthography. The Roman script is widely
employed by Balochi speakers outside these countries.
ix
Adjective
Adverb
Conjunction
Interjection
Infinitive
Imperative
Noun
Preposition
Pronoun
Verb
Languages
A
Br
E
P
Pash
U
Arabic
Brahui
English
Persian
Pashto
Urdu
aa or
a
b
p
t
th or t
s
j
ch or
h
kh or x
d
dh or
z
r
rh,
z
zh or
s
sh and
s
zh or
t
z
h
gh or
f
q
k
g
l
m
n
v
h
h
) or i, a, o)
ee or
y/i
2.
3.
4.
xii
Sources of Readings
1
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
xiv
Bibliography
Ahmedzai Baloch Mir Naseer. 1984. The Grammar of Balochi language
Quetta. Balochi Academy, Sariab Road.
Ahmedzai Baloch Mir Naseer. 1988. English/Urdu/Balochi Brahui
Bolchaal Quetta. Balochi Academy, Sariab Road.
Dames, M.Longworth. 1922. A Textbook of the Balochi Language. Punjab.
Superintendent Government Printing Press.
Jahani Carina. The Balochi Language. Encyclopedia of the Worlds Major
Languages.
J.H. Elfenbein. 1980. THE BALUCHI LANGUAGE a dialectology with
text. Karachi. Indus Publications.
Josef Elfenbein, Mainz. 1989. Baloi. Compendium Linguarum
Iranicarum, Herausgegeben von Rdiger Schmitt. Edited by Wiesbaden. p.
350-362.
M.A.R. Barker and A.K. Mengal. 1969. A Course in Baluchi Vol. l-ll.
Montreal.
Mumtaz Ahmed. 1985. BALOCHI GLOSSARY. Maryland, USA.
Dunwoody Press/Kensington.
Serge Axenov. 2006. The Balochi Language of Turkmenistan. UppsalaSweden. Uppsala Universitet.
Tetsuo, NAWATA. 1981. BALUCHI. Tokyo. Institute for the Study of
Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign
Studies.
Magazines, journals, newspapers and voice sources/references
Daily Nawa-i-Watan. Quetta-Balochistan, Pakistan.
Kech. Degree College Turbat magazine.
Balochi Labzank. Hub-Balochistan, Pakistan.
Balochi. Quetta-Balochistan, Pakistan.
Balochi Zind. Nushki-Balochistan, Pakistan.
Chagird. Quetta-Balochistan, Pakistan.
Nidkar. Gawadar-Balochistan.
Saarten Sameen. Turbat-Balochistan, Pakistan.
Ulus. Balochi Quetta- Pakistan.
Saachaan. Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Quetta Centre.
Qadam-pa-qadam. Pakistan Television Quetta Centre.
xv
Selections
Selection One
Selection 1
Vocabulary
(V) To exploit; to
acquire.
(N) School.
; (N) The Almighty Allah
God.
acquisition.
Selection One
or( N) To be a
candidate; to expect.
( V-Inf) To hope; to
expect; to trust.
( N) Expectations; hopes.
( N) Expectation
( N) Wish.
( V) Is.
( V)(Pl) Are.
( V) Make together; may
collect.
( Adv) Together; with;
along with; side by side; mix
( N) Union; alliance;
collection.
( Inf) To make
together; to collect; to mix.
( Adj) First; firstly.
( N) First time; for the
first time.
( Pron) This; these.
( Pron) That; those.
( N) Madam (title for respected
lady).
( Adv) Must; it is necessary.
( V) Will keep; will hold; will
take.
(Inf) To keep; to put; to
hold; to take.
( N) Time; moment; turn.
( Adj) Continue; alive.
( Inf) To keep alive;
to retain; to continue.
( V-Fut) Will keep
alive; retain; will continue.
( Adv) You know; that is; to say.
( Inf) To know.
( V) May keep; may do.
( Inf) To do; to keep.
( N) Baloch.
( N)(Pl) Balochs.
( N)(Sing) Baloch.
( N) Balochistan.
( N) Balochi; an Iranian
language spoken in Pakistani
Balochistan, Sindh; Punjab;
Iranian Balochistan, and some
Selection One
( A)(Adv) Particularly;
specially.
came.
( Adj) Particular;
( Inf) To reach; to
Selection One
( N) Loot; robbing of; havoc.
( V) To loot.
( V) To devastation; snatch.
( Pron) We.
(Pron) I.
( Adj) Mothers; ancestral.
( N) Mother (in Eastern
Selection One
( Adj) Federal; central.
( N) Federation; center.
( Adv) Any; at all; at any time;
never.
( Adv) At any time; never.
( Adv) Anyone; anybody.
( Adv) Anytime.
( Adj) Every; any; each; all.
( Pron) That; those.
( Adv) Also; too; even; as well as;
as well; moreover.
Notes
1. ( N) A well-educated and dynamic lady from a far-flung area of
Mekran, Balochistan. She is well-known for her social mobilization and educational
reforms in the country, particularly in Mekran. She was Federal Minister of
Education during the years 2002-2004 and she is now Federal Minister for
Pakistans Special Education.
2. ( N) The Persian word used for daughter and e is a preposition that
means of. The complete term means daughter of Balochistan.
3. ( Fifty-two) In Balochi, a digit within a decade is expressed by the word
for the decade + the connective // and + the digit, e.g, ( forty-four);
( eighty-three). Multiples such as hundred and thousand are indicated by
the digit denoting the multiple + the larger unit. For example
( three lac sixty-two thousand nine hundred fifty-six).
4. ( Adj) Big thing or big news. In Balochi the attributive adjectives take
the suffix and precede the noun they qualify, e.g, the old man or the
prominent man, the red water.
5. For the first time. Ordinal numerals are formed by the addition of the
suffix / / to the numeral stem. There are only three irregularities. a) First is
expressed by a completely separate word derived from the Persian . b)
First after a decade is expressed by the decade + /w . c) The stem / / two
has an alternate form / / before / / e.g. / / second.
6. Like in Persian, God is called in Balochi with a phonetic change of into .
The Southern Balochi dialect does not have , thus, they say for the Persian
word .
7. In Balochi or mothers means traditional and
means dress or dresses. The combined meaning of the word is ancestral;
traditional; cultural.
8. Request with folded hands. / or / means hands and / /
folded. Together they mean to make a sincere request.
Selection One
9. ( N) News. A traditional Balochi style to welcome wherein the newcomer
or stranger to a home or village is asked to state his purpose and tell his travel story.
In exchange, an elder will tell him the latest news or event. According to Baloch
tradition, if a host does not do this, he does not care about his guest.
10. RB, The Rakhshani Dialect of Balochi spoken in the Western region of
Balochistan.
11. EB; EHB, The Eastern Hill Dialect of Balochi spoken in Eastern Balochistan.
Selection Two
Selection 2
Logo
Selection Two
Vocabulary
( V) Comforts; facilities.
( Adj) Prosperity; comfort;
Selection Two
( N) Distinction; logo;
identification.
( N) Monogram; sign
of distinction; logo.
( N) Arrival.
( Inf) To reach; to arrive.
( V-Inf) To prove; to clear; to
disclose.
( E)(N) Program(s).
( E)(N) P.T (Physical
Training/exercise) show.
( Adj) Fully. See also
( Adj) Complete; full.
( Prep) Till; to; up to; until.
( N) Preparation.
( Inf) To be alert; to
be prepared; to be ready (for).
( Adj) Ready; finished;
complete.
( N) Arrangements.
( N)(Sing) Arrangement.
( N) Civilization.
( A)(Adj) Cultural.
( N) Culture.
( N) Jaam; a tribal title of the
former rulers of the Lasbela
State in Balochistan.
( Adj) Wild; forests.
( N) Forest; jungle.
( N) Banner; flag.
( Adj) Four.
( Adj) All four.
( Adj) Four.
( Adj) Fourth.
( Adj) Special; particular;
main.
( Prep) For.
( N) Efforts; services.
( A)(N) Truth; fact; reality;
condition.
( N) Government.
( N) Expenditure;
expenses.
( Inf) To spend.
( N) Care; look after;
preservation.
arrange; to keep.
( N) Show.
( N) World; globe. See also
( N) World; globe.
( Adj) Custom;
traditional; cultural.
( N) Custom;
tradition; culture. See also
.
( N) Period; times; era.
( Adj) Two; both.
( V-Past) Has been
taken; has been
( Inf) To take; to catch;
caught.
( N) Beauty.
( V-Inf) To arrange; to
launch.
( N) Time; occasion.
( Adv) Presently;
forthwith.
( N) Day; sun; daylight.
( N) Animals.
( N) Animal.
( V-Inf) To compete; to
complete; to
( N) Completion; finish;
finish; to perform;
performance.
( N) Perfectness;
completeness.
( Inf) To complete; to
accomplish; to finish.
( A)(N) Due to; reason; cause.
( N) September.
( E)(N) Stadium; playground.
( Adj) Entire; whole; all
around; perfect; complete.
( Pl) Heads.
( N)(Sing) Head; end;
corner.
( V) To decorate; to arrange
in order.
Selection Two
( N) Victory; success;
conquest.
( N) Day; sun; victory;
success; conquest.
( N) Morning; daylight;
( N) Morning and
night; success; continuously;
regularly.
( N) Entertainment;
happiness.
( N) Evening; night.
( N) Night; evening; dark.
( N) Day and night;
continuously.
( Adj) Better; second degree of
( Adj) Good; very good.
( Adj) Six.
( N) Editorial (Balochi
newspapers and magazines use
this combined word for
editorial. ( A)(N)
Development; promotion;
advancement; increase;
progress.
( N) Word; poetic verses.
( N) City; town.
( N) Thing(s); article(s).
( Adj) Hundred.
( N)(Pl) Provinces.
( N)(Sing) Province.
( Adj) National.
( N) National level.
( N) Success; victory.
( V) They will come.
( Inf) To come.
( N) Level; measurement.
( Adj) Level;
standard.
( V-Past) Have done; did;
made.
( Inf) To do; to make.
( Adj) Shortage; lack of.
( V)(Pl) Committees.
( Sing) Committee.
( V) He/she/it does; it can.
( Inf) To do; to make.
( V-Inf) To do; to make.
make;
( Inf) To do; to make; do;
will do.
( N) Labor; hard work;
( V-Inf) To make
an effort; work hard; to make
an effort; labor.
( N) Labor and
hard work.
( N) Quetta (the capital of
Balochistan).
( Adj) Mountainous.
( N) Mountain sheep.
( Adj) Most ancient; very
old.
( Adj) Old; ancient.
( N-Adj) Ancient
civilization.
( N) Estimate; approximate.
( Adj) Last; end; after.
( Adv) In the end; at least; at
length.
( N) Sheep.
( V) They will catch; they will
( V) Participate; take
part.
( V-Inf) To participate.
( V-Inf) To see; to watch; to
look; to wait.
( N) Games; sports.
( Adj) Past; previous;
ancient; old.
( N) Past time;
previous times; ancient period.
( E)(N) Logo; monogram; sign
of distinction.
( A)(N) Game; sports.
( Pl) Games
( Sub) Player.
Of the games.
( N) Games.
( Pl) Games
( Sub) Player; athlete.
( N) Player(s).
( N) Athletes.
( Sub) Player; athlete.
( E)(N) Level.
10
Selection Two
( V) They stay; they will stay;
( N) Gathering; function;
ceremony.
Notes
1. ( N) Quetta is the capital city and headquarters of the Balochistan province
of Pakistan. The old name of the city was Shalkot. The Baloch and Brahui tribes
living in and around the city call it Shalkot even today.
2. ( N) Games, of the. Balochi has a three case system, all with singular and
plural, direct, genitive, and oblique. The genitive plural ending is /ee / from
(Games) ( Games, of the).
3. ( N) is a Balochi construction that means inauguration or opening, but
in Balochi means root and or ( Inf) means to put. The word for
meaning of the word is to put the root and it has the general meaning of
opening or inauguration.
4. In Balochi, sometimes a compound noun is constructed by two words with the
same meaning in different languages, one being Balochi and the other from a
neighboring language such as Arabic, Persian, or Urdu. For example, ( N)
level; standard. in Balochi sometimes means measurement, distance, and
space, while means estimate. When these words are joined with , the
combined word means level, standard. The same thing happens with
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Selection Two
which means success, but is from Urdu and Persian while
is the original Balochi word meaning success.
5. ( Mehrgarh) is a 9,000 year-old Neolithic archaeological site near Bolan
Pass (Balochistan) that contains the signs of an old civilization of South Asia. The
discoveries at Mehrgarh near Sibi at the foot of the Bolan Pass have proved beyond
any doubt that a well-developed agricultural system existed here as far back as
7,000 BC. The domestication of animals is also thought to have begun in Mehrgarh.
6. Another artifact worth mentioning is a stamp with a rising sun on it which was
also discovered by French archaeologists at Mehrgarh. This sun is popular in
Balochistan which is why it was selected as the logo of the 29th National Games at
Quetta in 2004.
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