Socio-linguistic Contact and the Providence of the
Balochi Language in Modern Times
__________________________________________
Hamid Ali
Baloch٭
Lecturer, Department of Balochi Language and Literature,
University of Balochistan, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan
E-mail: hamid_baloch14@yahoo.com
Abstract:
The Balochi
language is spoken in many countries of the world and it has socio-linguistic
contacts with the other native languages. In the modern times, Balochi is to
contact with Persian, Arabic, Pashto, Turkmen, Sindhi, Punjabi, Saraiki
(Lahinda), English and other European and African languages. At the same time,
the Balochi language has been influenced on the one hand and on the other hand
Balochi has influenced other languages and assimilated them within it. But
Balochi has been largely influenced in Iran, Afghanistan, and in the Arab
countries. In Pakistan and Turkmenistan the case is different. In many areas in
Balochistan, the foreigners and other native speakers have changed their
language into Balochi or bilingual.
Introduction:
The linguistic outcomes of language contact are determined in large
part by the history of social relations among populations, including economic,
political and demographic factors. The crucial point here, almost too obvious
perhaps to merit stating, is that languages spoken by bilinguals are often
altered such that ensuing changes differ from the results of internal processes
of change within monolingual speech communities. In other words, languages spoken by
bilinguals affect each other in a different ways. 1
Language
contacts have, historically, taken place in large part under conditions of
social inequality resulting from wars, conquests, colonialism, slavery, and
migrations–forced and otherwise.
Comparatively, benign contacts involving urbanization or trade as a
contact stimulus are also documented, as are some situations of relative
equality.
Language
contacts have in some times and places been short-lived, with language loss and
assimilation a relatively short-term result, whereas other historical
situations have produced relative long-term stability and acceptance by the bi-
or multilingual population.
Very broadly
speaking, two major social processes have given rise to contact situations of
interest to linguists: conquest and immigration. The imposition of a language of wider
communication has occurred both as a result of conquest per se, and in
the establishment of standard languages via institutions like universal
elementary education, where local populations have been transformed into
linguistic minorities in a broader political unit. In the case of a local
linguistic group that has been conquered or surrounded by a larger group, slow
language shift may mean many generations of bilinguals, providing ample
opportunity for substratum influence to become established in the language
towards which the community is shifting.
Historically, many
conquered or colonized peoples, or those who have found themselves newly
incorporated in a nation state, have felt the linguistic effects of these
social changes only very slowly, giving rise to language contacts that have
endured over decades, generations, or even centuries. These situations of stable bilingualism are
perhaps the most likely of all to lead to what Weinreich called “integration”:
the acceptance of structures due to interference as part of the receiving
language, and even to structural convergence and the Sprachbund phenomenon
recognized in many parts of the world.
With the
obvious exemption of those situations where the death of an a language,
language death is the conclusion of a process whereby a speech community moves
from a primary use of one language to another in a process that is known as
language shift.
Socio-linguistic contact and the Balochi Language:
In the modern
times the Balochi language is in contact with different languages in different
countries. As it is a natural phenomena that the languages which are in contact
with other languages in the same country or state, occasionally enrich the
languages vice versa, but sometimes there will be possibilities to lose their
own identity. In case of the Balochi language, it is confronting a miserable
situation in the countries where it is spoken. The ruling governments of
different countries never proposed to teach, promote and preserve the Balochi
language in their own countries, where the Balochi is spoken in a vast majority
area.
This phenomena
or policy of the governments has worsened the linguistic position of the
Balochi language in different neighboring countries. In the past and even
today, the situation is the same.
Socio-linguistic contact with the Sindhis:
In the modern
times, 60 percent of the population of the Sindh Province is racially Baloch;
out of which 40-45% Baloch speak their mother tongue. The Baloch settlement in
the Province of Sindh is not new, but back dates to the Muslim era in Sindh.
The Baloch people, according to some historians, were the key commanders in the
Muslim army of Muhammad bin Qasim ( the Muslim commander and the nephew of
Hajjaj bin Yousuf Athaqafi) when they attacked Sindh especially, the port of
Debal to revenge the pirates who abducted some Muslim women and children. From
that day, Baloch settled in the different parts of Sindh, which was then part
of the Great Hindu Kingdom. 1٭
According to
Dr. Shah Muhammad Marri, an eminent Baloch writer and historian, describes that
the Baloch are one of the ancient settlers of the Sindh region. He opines that,
the remnants of the Mehr Gahr Civilization show that the Baloch has been the
part and parcel of this civilization, which has about 7000 years estimated
history. 2٭
In Pakistan,
the majority of the Baloch Population is living in the Province of Sindh and
shares a good relation with Sindhis. The eminent tribes of the Sindh province
are considered as Baloch.
The Shar Baloch is a sub-branch of the Jatoi tribe living in the
different parts of Sindh, their women dress in Balochi embroidered garments,
same to the Baloch of the different of parts of Balochistan. They have
maintained their cultural norms and values, in their homes as well as in the
public places. Men having traditional beards (as they had kept centuries
before), but they speak the Sindhi language at home as well as in the market
places.. The Kosh Baloch tribe is living at Gotki, their cultural norms and
values, and psyche is totally Baloch, but they speak Sindhi at home as well as
in public places. 3٭
Another
well-known tribe which is known as Pitāfi, inhabiting at Ghotki and
Sukkar, still preserves its language.
Some of the people are in opinion that
50-60% masses of this tribe have preserved its language, but the remaining 40%
speaks Saraiki (Lahinda), instead of Sindhi. Lund tribe also occupies a vast
area of Sindh Province, and inhabiting different parts of it. This tribe has
also preserved 50% of its language. Apart from this, a large number of Lunđ
clan who are believed to be the primitive inhabitants of Yārā Lunđ Ghoţki, out
of whom 50 percent of them speak Balochi and 50 percent has lost their
language, who by now speak the Sindhi language. Whether, Legharis are residing
in Sindh and Sindhi Speaking areas but mostly they speak Balochi and a small
number of them speak Saraiki than that of Sindhi.
In 1843, when
Charles Napier conquered Sind the Baloch tribe of Talpurs was ruling the whole
Sindh area. The Talpurs had seized the powers from the Kalhoras in 1783. The
court language of Sindh was Persian and somehow Sindhi.
In 1847, R. K
Pringle, the Commissioner of Sindh, submitted a report on the language
situation in Sindh to George Russell Clerk, Governor of Bombay, suggesting that
education may be encouraged in the local language. He writes " it may also
be for consideration whether the vernacular language of the people may not with
advantage be introduced in business; but I have not yet had and opportunity of
ascertaining its capabilities for this purpose."2
Most British
officers favored the use of vernacular language at the lower levels and Sir
George Clerk wrote to his minute of 24th April 1848.
“We should
introduce the language of the country (namely, Sindhee) as the medium of
official intercourse.
I do not see in
what way our revenue and judicial officers (however their offices and courts
may be constituted) can work effectually through a foreign medium of
communication, such as Persian and English."3
Here it is a
sorry state that the ruling language and the language of a great number of
people of Sindh was Balochi, but the British imperialists acted upon the policy
of divide and rule. They wanted to root the Balochi language out from Sindh and
destabilize the Baloch rule in the area. They intentionally were not in favor
of the preservation and conservation of the Sindhi language, but they had their
own interest behind this policy. Come what may, these steps destabilized the
Balochi language in the market as well as in the courts and offices.
Before the
formation of Pakistan in 1947, the circumstances were different than that are
today. The Balochi language was playing a key role in different parts of Sindh
and the Baloch were in touched with the Baloch population of Balochistan. But,
when the Baloch areas were tri-furcated into Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, it
started deteriorating the condition of the Balochi language in Sindh as well as
in Punjab.
In
Karachi, which is the metropolitan and densely populated city of Pakistan,
where different ethnic groups reside. The Baloch is considered to be the
preliminary inhabitants of this city, and in the modern times the Baloch
population occupies a large area and the population is estimated at above
2.5million in Karachi.
Before 1947, Karachi was
the sole and only city where the majority of the population was Balochi
speaking people, but after the foundation of Pakistan, a huge number of Indian Muhajireen
(refugees now call themselves as Urdu speaking) were rehabilitated in Karachi
city and its vicinity, and the Baloch population was converted in the minority.
This process of mass migration through Baloch population never stopped and it
is simultaneously under wary till today.
In the later
years, Urdu was declared as the national language of Pakistan and it was
implemented as the medium of education, communication and instruction
throughout Pakistan.
This made the Muhajireen
(refugees) stable, because they already had a language which was called Bihāri
or Urdu. A catastrophic change begins in the social life of the Baloch of
Karachi when Mahajirs started enjoying Urdu as market language as well
as the language of communication. A Baloch has to contact with a Muhajir
in everyday life and he has to speak in Urdu every first or second person. In
this scenario, the Baloch of Karachi speak an Urdu-mixed Balochi language,
where the influence of Urdu is lucid and apparent in Karachi.
The major
reason of this is a large number of shifting of Muhajirs to the Baloch
majority areas by the local government. Mass shifts laid a great impact over
the Baloch because the Muhajirs were educated and they penetrated into
the institutions of the Baloch areas of Karachi.
Lyari and Malir
districts are the densely populated area of Karachi, where the Balochi language
is still considered to be the market language, but the karachiites Baloch fear the
huge mass flow of other communities especially the Muhajirs to the Baloch areas
make the things worse.Apart from the Karachi city, as I mentioned earlier that
the Baloch have a majority population in the remote or periphery of Sindh
province and they constitute a major economic body.
The main Baloch tribes that compose a huge number of the population of
the province of Sindh are as follows:
Ahmedani, Almani, Bijarani, Buledi, Bulfati, Bhurgari, Gabol, , Jakhrni, Jagirani, Jiskani, Jamali, Jamot, Jarwar, Jatoi, Khoso, Kalpar, Kalmati, Lashari, Leghari, Magsi, Marri, Mazari, Mirani, Nizaani, Nutkani, Qaisrani, Rind, Shar, Shirani, Sanjrani, Talpur, Umrani and Zardari.
The case is
different in Balochistan where the socio-linguistic contact is with Pashtun, Sindhi
and Brahui Baloch. The most considerable place where linguistically Baloch are in
contact with other ethnic groups is Quetta. This time the population of Quetta
city is at least 1.5 million. The ethnic majority of the population e.g. Sixty
percent is Baloch but a huge number of Afghan Muhajireen (refugees) have come
to settle in Quetta city. Baloch have a great relationship and social contact
with local Pashtun.
The primary
local inhabitants of the Quetta city are Kasai (Pashtun) and Shahwanis
(Baloch). These two groups are living for centuries in Quetta and intermarried
with each other. Ninety percent of the population of Quetta city is bi-lingual.
Baloch can speak a fluent Pashto and Pashtun can speak a fluent Balochi, but
neither Pashto has influenced Balochi nor has Balochi influenced Pashto. Even a
single word of Pashto is not found in the Balochi language, and the same case
is with Pashto. But another thing which is very interesting and discussable is
that the Afghan Muhajireen (refugees) who migrated from Afghanistan and settled
at Nokundi, Taftan and Noshki, intermixed with the Baloch, hundred
percent of settled Pashtun speak fluent Balochi and a huge number of them has lost their language, and now part
of the Baloch community. They have also adopted the Baloch culture and norms,
customs and values. Some of them consider themselves as Baloch. Bareech, a
leading clan of the Pashtun ethnic group scattered in different area of Noshki,
speak a meager Pashto but fluent in Brahui and Balochi. At present they are
living at Killi Gharīb ābād, Killī Mēngal, Killi Faqīrān and Badini Karēz
and outskirts of Noshki town. 4٭ They have intermarried with the majority
Balochi speaking people and in the modern times, they share an enormous
business in the Noshki town. In the areas of Nokundi, Taftan, and Chagai
Balochi has no threat in nearby Pashto language, but the annals show that the
Pashto language has been influenced a lot.
Socio-linguistic Contact in Iranian
Balochistan:
Languages in
contact can affect each other in different ways. Much depends on the relative
status of the languages. Two or more languages of more or less equal status may
be spoken side by side and mutually affect each other in terms of structure and
lexicon without eradicating either one or the other language. This is called adstrate
influence.
Another setting
is when a dominant language, e.g. the language of a conquering group or the
political elite, exercises influence on a dominated language, e.g. the language
of a minority group.
This type of influence is
often called superstrate. Sometimes this term also implies that the
final outcome of language contact is that the prestigious language is abandoned
by the conquerors in favor of the local language, which, however, has been
considerably influenced by that language. Such an outcome is more likely when a
small number of conquerors seize political power in an area where a language
other than their own is spoken, e.g. At the Norman conquest of Britain.4
Since education
is in Persian, it considerably strengthens the Persian influence. This,
together with the immigration of Persian speakers to Sarawan in the past
centuries, has made this dialect a very interesting object for studying
linguistic contact.
During the
Qajars in Iran, the Qajari King Reza Shah Pahlavi followed his ruthless and cruel
policies over the Baloch people of Iran. He was against the autonomy of the
Baloch people, and wanted the crushed down them by hook or by crook. For heavy
mass destruction he used the Baloch Sardars against their own people. 5٭ In 1928, Raza shah sent his army to
Balochistan to bring the whole region under his direct control. 5
During his assault over
the different part of Kirman, Sistan and Balochistan he crushed the Baloch, and
the Baloch were dispersed. A phase of socio-linguistic change begins, when the
Persian speaking people are stimulated to live in the Baloch areas.
In September 1936, by a
decision of the ministers’ council, the name of the capital of Iranian
Balochistan was changed from Duzzāp to Zāhidān. The Iranian government
encouraged people to migrate thereby providing public services and giving them
land free of charge under the condition that it would be used for the
construction of houses, shops or other businesses. By allocating more public
services, the Iranian government encouraged civil employees to live in Zahedan
and trading and business activities grew in the region. The state’s investment
in civil development encouraged more of Sistan and Balochistan’s population to
shift to Zahedan and population had grown to 17,495 in 1956 and 38,976 in
1966.6
The second city
of Iranian Balochistan was affected, is Pahra. In 1935, the name of Pahra was
changed to Iranshahr by the ministers’ council decision and thousand of masses
from different parts of Iran were shifted to Pahra (Iranshahr).7
The population
of this city was doubled. The third effected city of the Iranian Balochistan is
Chahbār (Chābhār), which is known to be one of the famous coastal cities, a
harbor and strategically important point for trade to the Indian sub-continent as
well as to the Arab and African countries. Since the 1970s, the strategic
location of the Chabahar, Gulf has received attention again in connection with
intensifying trade towards the Indian Ocean (Planning Organization 1988:
26-36). Basically, this city has been a Baloch populated city since the
beginning, but the so-called Iranian socioeconomic development laid a great
impact over the local population socially, culturally and linguistically. 6٭
The huge number
of mass shifting laid a great impact on the language and population of the
Baloch people. Before the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi, the total population of
the Iranian Balochistan and Sistan was Balochi speaking and the sole and only
language was Balochi.
In different cities of
Iranian Balochistan the outsiders were assimilated by the huge population of
the Baloch people. For example, in Zahedan, Pahra, Zabol and other cities which
share borders to the Persian speaking people, totally assimilated the incomers.
But simultaneous mass shifting changed the Baloch population from 1936 till
now.
This time, in Zahedan,
the official statistics show that the population is, 37 percent Sistan, 32
percent Baloch and the remaining other 22 percent are from other Iranian
provinces, like, Birjand, Kirman, Yazd and Azerbaijan. In Chabahar the
population of the Balochi speaking people is 54 percent and Sistanis are 9
percent. In Iranshahr the vast majority is of the population is Balochi
speaking. 8
In Sarawan the
case is totally different than that of other parts of Sistan and Balochistan.
According to Adam Nadir Baranzahi “ central Sarawani is especially fascinating
from a contact linguistic point of view, since it seems to have been in contact
with Persian longer, and influenced by Persian more most other Balochi dialects
spoken in Iran…. However in more recent times, especially after the
establishment of direct rule from Tehran in Balochistan (1928), Persian has
more and more started to take on the role of a language of high prestige, and
is definitely the language associated with modern education. It is possible
that longer and more intense contacts in Sarawan between Balochi and Persian,
due to a longer tradition of education there than in many other parts of
Balochistan has also played a part in the Persian structural and lexical
influence on Central Sarawani.9
But on the
other hand Nadir Baranzehi shows a different picture of this scenario and says
that “it is quite possible that some or most of the speakers of central
Sarawani originally were speakers of a dialect of Persian and belonged to the
immigrant Afghans, Tajiks, Sistanis and Persians and that they, after settling
in Balochistan, switch to speaking Balochi but retained some grammatical
features of their original language as substrate phenomena. Thus, in pre-modern
times, when the Baloch tribesmen were politically dominant in Balochistan,
Balochi was the prestigious language which the immigrants acquired after
settling in Sarawan. But, it is quite clear, that today the substrate effects
of Persian on central Sarawani, as well as on the other Balochi dialects in
Iran is heavy. 10
The
simultaneous mass shifting and penetration of Persians towards the Baloch
region, made a huge linguistic change. The Persian language was declared as the
official and national language of Iran and other languages were restricted to
read, write and speak in public places as well as in offices. Jobs were created
for those people who were qualified in Persian. Television and Radio Programs
were appreciated in the Persian language and the curriculum of different
subject was made in Persian.
According to
Carina Jahani “it is quite obvious that the national language, Persian, is the
socially and culturally dominant language, and that Balochi is the low-status
vernacular. However, this has not always been the case, and the example of
Sarawan proves that clearly. Within this area one or two centuries ago, Baloch
tribesmen of high status in the local society lived side by side with immigrant
peasants of Afghan or other Persian-speaking origins, who had come to Sarawan
more recently than the Baloch."7٭
Moosa
Mahmoodzahi has described the main influencing linguistic factors over the
Balochi language in Iran in a clear and apparent way. He writes that “the huge
impact of Persian in Iranian Balochistan was the continued electrification of
the province, which, although it had already started, was speeded up and almost
totally completed soon after the Islamic revolution. With electricity, TV
spread all over the province. Television has been a major breakthrough in the
introduction of Persian in Balochistan, far more powerful than radio. By watching Persian programs at an early age,
often even before going to school, the children get acquainted with this language
and learn to pronounce it with a Tehrani accent. Another reason is this that
they were introduced to Persian at school generally by local teachers. 11
The second
reason he asserts that “the spread of the official administrative system,
invariably carried out in Persian, has caused an influx of administrators, many
of them Zaboli or other Persian speaking persons with a certain local
connection originating from Birjand, Bam, Jiroft or Jask, into all parts of
Balochistan. This has also brought about an increase in the number of
intermarriages between the Baloch and Persian speakers. He adds that new
industries have been established in the in the province by Persian speakers,
employing both local Baloch and Persians moving into the region and their
language of business administration , of course, is Persian.12
Socio-linguistic Contact of Baloch areas in
Afghanistan:
In Afghanistan, Balochi is the principal language of the
Nīmrūz province. There are also colonies of Balochi speakers scattered
throughout the western part of the country, as far north as the Soviet
frontier; but Balochi is the principal local language only from Čaḵānsūr southward. It extends past Zaranj, the provincial
capital, along the Helmand valley eastward to about 64° east longitude, and
southward of the river to the Pakistan frontier in Chagai.13
A common Afghan vocabulary exists for
everyday topics only found to a small extent. Border field—there is commonly in
etiquette, religion, but only because there is little outside contact.
In the area of
communication, modern mass media, education, migrations and non-traditional
professions are widely dominated by common vocabulary.
Similarities subsist between Balochi
and other languages, copying Persian patterns since Persian has been held in
high regard for a long time. However, there is little Pashto influence, but
this is changing due to business. 8٭
Before 1978, there was no written material in Balochi of
Afghanistan, Dari was the official language. After the 1978 revolution, the
Soviets streamlined ethnic identity that had been outlawed from 1973-1978. In
the 1980’s Russians influenced language education and policy. Over 1992, there
is a return to the status of an almost unwritten language. As for the development of an alphabet for
Balochi, this is similar to other Afghan languages—a national alphabet exists,
but not another foreign dialect of Balochi. In writing, the alphabet is also
different because of limits on availability of symbols available in
pre-computer printing facilities. 9٭
According to Lutz, the Balochi of Afghanistan, linguistic
contact with Persian, Pashto and of course Brahui is most important. Most of
the languages of Afghanistan share a common vocabulary of economics, politics
and religion. Pashto has an insignificant influence over the Balochi which is
limited to lexical copies and which does not include structural reproductions.
Although on a higher political level the Baloch of Afghanistan never tired of
underlining their fraternal links with the Pashtun, on the local level of
Nimroz some tenses in the social relations between the Baloch and Pashtun may
have created psychological impediments and may have influenced the prestige of
the Pashtun. When quite a number of Pashtun settled in Afghani Sistan they
thereby displaced Baloch from that region. 14
This displacement of the Baloch ethnic group in Afghanistan
enhanced the gap between the Pashtun and the Baloch in Afghanistan and they
were compelled to make their relations stronger with the Persians. It’s very
interesting to note that they have intermarried with the Persian and prefer to
live with the Persian communities in Afghanistan.
Socio-Linguistic
contact of Baloch in Turkmenistan:
The Baloch are a people which have a strong sense of unity,
sharing a common origin, history, language, traditions and religion.15 The
Baloch occupies a vast area of the state of Turkmenistan, named as Mari Vilayat or Marv.
It is reported
that the Baloch have migrated from Afghanistan and Iran to Turkmenistan in the
early years of the twentieth century. They become united under the hegemony of
a Baloch leader named Kareem Khan. At present, the Baloch of Turkmenistan lives
mainly in the districts of Bayram Ali and Iolotan of the region of Mari (Mariyskiy Velayat). There are in 1997
probably approximately 38000-40000 Baloch in Turkmenistan, although some give a
higher estimate of around 50000 or even more.
The very strong loyalty among the Baloch to their mother tongue is quite
noteworthy, and can at least to a certain degree be explained by the rural way
of life. 16
The position of
the Baloch people is very worse and miserable in Turkmenistan in comparison
with the others. Not very much has been done to study their language and
culture. The disintegration of the USSR had brought more losses for the Baloch
of Turkmenistan, because the USSR had provided them some opportunities in
education, science and culture. The Balochi language is not so influenced by
the Turkmen language, a small number of words of Russian and Turkmen language
have penetrated into the Balochi Language, but it is a rare case. No one has
counted up that how many Russian and Turkmen words have been borrowed, because
there are no dictionaries or recorded data on this. A few number of Arabic and
Persian words are seen in the Balochi of Turkmenistan.17
As it has been mentioned that on the one hand Balochi of
Turkmenistan has borrowed a few words, but on the other hand it has influenced
the newcomers to the Balochi speaking areas of Turkmenistan. People who came to
inhabit on the Balochi speaking areas are Bareech, Malik (basically Punjabi
speaking) and Persian, who now-a-days speak the Balochi language. Besides,
other ethnic groups who are living within the Baloch community in Mari Velayat
understand and speak Balochi before
going to school, even a few numbers of the Turkmen who are living in the Baloch
areas, speak Balochi well.
It is a good
sign for the Baloch of Turkmenistan, but is difficult to decide that at the
current age of modern technology, where the official and national language of
Turkmenistan, and the language of education as well as the language of business
and communication is Turkmen how can the Baloch sustain their language in future. Balochi is neither the
language of education nor the language of communication. It’s just considered a
regional language, which is limited in the area of Mari Vilayat. Balochi is
neither taught in schools nor appreciated to be produced literary material or
curriculum for the nursery students by Balochi speaking students in schools. In
this condition, the Balochi language is confronting a lot of problems and it
will take catastrophic mode to the Balochi language.
The
socio-linguistic contact of Baloch are as we know with Turkmen people who speak the language of government where it
is considered the official and national
language, without which no job, no business or no communication is possible.
It's a good sign for the Baloch of Turkmenistan that they have preserved their language in
preliminary level, but there are some reservations for the Balochi language in
the future, because Baloch are moving towards big cities of Turkmenistan for
jobs, business and higher education, where they confront the market as well as
the national language. Another reason which will threaten the Balochi language
in the future is intermarriage. Many of the Baloch educated persons who work in
the government institutes; army, police and the administration have married to
Turkmen women and their children hardly speak Balochi, they consider Turkmen as
their mother tongue.
The biggest reason is that, the Balochs of
Turkmenistan are illiterate and there is no choice for them to get through in
different institutions and to lead their national identification.
Conclusion:
In different
parts of the world, especially in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan,
Turkmenistan and in the Gulf countries
where the Baloch are Bi or tri-lingual and they have the socio-linguistic
contact directly and indirectly with the other dominant as well as official languages. In Iran the situation is
very deteriorating for the Balochi language, where no one is allowed to even do
debates or discussion in Balochi. No newspaper is being issued with the support
of the Government of Iran and no academies of the preservation of the Balochi
language. The Balochi language is not taught in the schools and colleges. This
alarming situation is endangering the Balochi language in Iran and if
pre-cautionary actions were not taken to preserve and promote the Balochi
language it would imperil the existence of the Balochi language in Iran.
In Afghanistan
and Turkmenistan the position of the Balochi language is same, where the
socio-linguistic contact of the Baloch with the other official and national
languages, put it into the danger. In Afghanistan, the official languages (Pashto
and Dari Persian) are the language of communication and education. The Baloch
of Afghanistan have a direct contact with the speakers of the two major
languages in every sphere of life. According to estimation approximately thirty
percent of the Baloch of Afghanistan speaks Persian.
Endnotes:
1٭ This is a prevailing concept among the Baloch writers and
intellectuals. Apart from this , the Iranian Baloch commander Siyah Sawar, who
was then the key commander in the Persian army during the Muslim Caliphate Umar
Ibn e Khattab (R.A)
2٭ For detail see the Book of Dr. Shah Muhammad Marri ‘ Balochi
Zuban o Adab, Muqtadara Qomi Zuban, Islabam abd Pakistan.
3٭ a telephonic interview with Saeed
Ahmad Mazari ( Rojhan Mazari) on 22nd January, 7:00pm, 2012
4٭ A telephonic discussion with Abdul
Malik Taj (Killi Ghareeb Aabad) currently Lecturer of Botany in Agro-tech
Quetta, on 5th Feb. 11:00am, 2012
5٭ According to the historical records, Dost Muhammad , the Sardar
of Baranzahi tribe was fully supporting the Iranian army against his own people
and enjoy a luxurious life in compensation.
6٭ This time a huge number of Iranian officials, administrators
and people of another sphere of life are living in this coastal city and
enjoying the whole facilities than that of the local people.
7٭ See the details in the article of Jahani, Carina, “STATE
CONTROL AND IT S IMPACT ON LANGUAGE IN BALOCHISTAN”.
8٭ See the details on “Languages in and around Afghanistan,
Resources on Language Policy Group. Notes for 12-13 December 2003, University
of Pennsylvania Pedagogical Materials Project South Asia Language Resource
Center December 12-14, 2003
9 ٭ibid
References:
1. Peter Trudgill, J. Chambers & N. Schilling-Estes, Eds.,
Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 2001. P-3
2.
Tariq
Rahman, language and politics in Pakistan, p-104
3.
Ibid
4. Carina Jahani " State
Control and its Impact on Language in Balochistan" p-9
5.
Noraiee,
Hoshang: “ Change and Continuity: Power and Religion in Iranian Balochistan”, (ed):
the Baloch and others: Linguistic, Historical and Socio-political Perspectives
on Pluralism in Balochistan, p-347.
6. Hassan Afrakhteh: ‘ Social, Demographic and Cultural Change in Iranian Balochistan: Case studies of the
three Urban regions of Zahedan, Iranshahr and Chabahar (ed): Korn, Jahani and
Titus “ BALOCH AND OTHERS: Linguistic, Historical and Socio-political
Perspectives on Pluralism in Balochistan, p-199
7.
Ibid
p-200
8.
Hassan
Afrakhteh: ‘ Social, Demographic and Cultural Change in Iranian Balochistan: Case studies of the
three Urban regions of Zahedan, Iranshahr and Chabahar (ed): Korn, Jahani and
Titus “ BALOCH AND OTHERS: Linguistic, Historical and Socio-political
Perspectives on Pluralism in Balochistan, p-203
9.
Baranzehi,
Adam Nadir: “The Sarawani dialect of Balochi and Persian influence on it”
(Ed). Carina and Korn: “THE BALOCH AND
THEIR NEIGHBOURS: Ethnic and Linguistic Contact in Balochistan in Historical
and Modern Time” p-104
10. Ibid. pp-104-105
11. Moosa Mahmoodzahi: “Linguistic Contact in
Iranian Balochistan in Historical and Modern Times” (ed). Carina and Korn, “
THE BALOCH AND THEIR NEIGHBOURS: Ethnic and Linguistic Contact in Balochistan
in Historical and Modern times, p- 151-152
12. Ibid. pp-151-152
13.
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baluchistan-iii
14.
Lutz
Rzehak. “ Some thoughts and material on Balochi in Afghanistan.” (eds) Jahani,
Carina and Korn “ the Baloch and their neighbours: Ethnic and linguistic
Contact in Balochistan, in Historical and Modern Times. Pp-263-268
16.
Ibid
17. Ibid
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