Sindhi language

language
name=Sindhi
nativename = سنڌي सिन्धी "Sindhī"
states= Pakistan, India. Also Hong Kong, Oman, Philippines, Singapore, UAE, UK, USA, Afghanistan
region=South Asia
speakers=54.3 million
rank=23
familycolor=Indo-European
fam2=Indo-Iranian
fam3=Indo-Aryan
fam4=Northwestern Zone
script=Arabic, Devanagari
nation= Pakistan, India
iso1=sd|iso2=snd|iso3=snd
notice=Indic

Sindhi (Arabic script: سنڌي, Devanagari script: सिन्धी, "Sindhī") is the language of the Sindh region of South Asia, which is a province of Pakistan. It is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 41 million people in Pakistan, and 12 million in India; it is the second most spoken language of Pakistan, a recognized official language in Pakistan and also an official language in India. Government of Pakistan issues National Identity Cards to its citizens only in two languages, i.e. Sindhi and Urdu. Although the language is predominantly Indo-Aryan, it also shows signs of heavy Dravidian influence. Most Sindhi speakers in Pakistan are concentrated in the Sindh province. The remaining speakers are found in India and amongst the Sindhi diaspora community which are scattered throughout the world. The Sindhi language has spread as the Hindu Sindhis left Sindh during the Independence of Pakistan in 1947. The language is written in Devanagari script by Sindhi Hindus; however, with the conversion of most Sindhis to Islam, a modified Arabic script was produced. [http://yangtze.cs.uiuc.edu/~jamali/sindh/sammelan/04.html] After the independence of both India and Pakistan from British rule, the Government of India introduced Devanagari, alongside the modified Arabic, for writing Sindhi. [http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?menu=004&LangID=201]

Geographical distribution

Sindhi is taught as a first language in the schools of Sindh and second language in Balochistan in Pakistan. In India, especially in the State of Maharashtra, many educational institutions managed by Sindhi community and in the schools of such society Sindhi is taught either as the medium of instruction or as a subject. [ [http://www.thesindhuworld.com The Sindhu World] ] Sindhi has a vast vocabulary; this has made it a favourite of many writers and consequently much literature and poetry have been written in Sindhi. Dialects of Sindhi are spoken in southern Punjab, Balochistan, Northwest province of Pakistan (NWFP), and also Gujarat as well as Rajasthan in India.

History

Arab and Persian travellers, specifically Abu-Rayhan Biruni in his book 'Mal al-Hind', had declared that even before the advent of Islam in Sindh (711 A.D.), the language was prevalent in the region. It was not only widely spoken but written in different scripts. Biruni has described many Sindhi words leading to the conclusion that the Sindhi language was widely spoken and rich in vocabulary in his time.

The Qur'an was first translated into Sindhi in rhymatic format. This was the first ever translation of Qur'an in the 12th century or earlier.

Sindhi was a very popular literary language between the 14th and 18th centuries. This is when sufis such as Shah Abdul Latif, Sachal Sarmast,Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (as well as numerous others) narrated their theosophical poetry depicting the relationship between humans and God.

Sindhi Culture is estimated to be about 4108 years old; When Mohenjo Daro ("Mound of the Dead", an ancient city of the Indus Valley civilization) was dug out, a statue was found covered in Ajrak, which is one of the symbols of Sindhi culture.

Basic Phrases

* "Keeyen aahyo"?- "how are you?" (general greeting)
* "Ma theek aahiyan" - "Very well".
* "Meherbani" - "Thank you"
* "Meherbani karay" - "Please"
* "Ha" - "Yes"
* "Na" - "No"
* "Keeyen ahyo/Kehra haal aahin" - "How are you?"
* "Maa/Aaon teekh ahyaan" - "I'm fine"
* "Allah wahi" - "Goodbye" (used to end a conversation by Muslim Sindhis)
* "Theekh aah"- "Goodbye" (used to end a conversation by Hindu Sindhis)
* "Tawhanjo naalo cha aahaye" - "What's your name?"
* "Munhenjo naalo ______ aahaye." - "My name is _____."
* "Hik" - "One"
* "Ba" - "Two"
* "Tay" - "Three"
* "Maa/Aaon Sindh jo aahya/ Maa/Aaon Sindh maa ahyaa" - "I am from Sindh"
* "Maa/Aaon musulman" / "hindhu aahya" - "I am Muslim / Hindu"
* "Maa/Aaon Sindhi aahya" / "Assin Sindhi aahyoo" - "I am Sindhi" / "We are Sindhis"
* "Allah Wahi" - "God bless you"

ounds

Sindhi has a large sound inventory. It has 46 distinctive consonant phonemes (more than all the phonemes of English combined) and a further 16 vowels. All plosives, affricates, nasals, the retroflex flap and the lateral approximant /l/ have aspirated or breathy voiced counterparts. The language also features four separate implosives.

Consonants

See also

* Sindhology
* Institute of Sindhology
* List of Sindhi-language films
* Languages of Pakistan
* Languages of India
* List of national languages of India
* List of Indian languages by total speakers

External links

* [http://www.sindhisangat.com Sindhi Sangat - promoting & preserving Sindhi language with Learn Sindhi CD-ROM. ]
* [http://www.larkano.com/abro//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=50 Sindhi Tutorial]
* [http://www.sindhology.com.pk/ Institute of Sindhology] , Pakistan
* [http://www.sindhi.org.uk Sindhi Tutorial and Keyboard Layout for Windows XP/2000]
* [http://www.ayazrb.wordpress.com SINDH REVIEW(website in sindhi language)]
* [http://www.sindhiana.com Sindhi Literature Magazine in Sindhi Language]
* [http://www.sindhology.org/ Indian institute of Sindhology]
* [http://www.sindhilanguage.com SindhiLanguage.com]
* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/sindhi.htm Sindhi Script History and Script]
* http://sindhipatrika.blogspot.com Complete Sindhi Tipno, Patrika, Almanac, listing festivities, rituals related to Hindu Sindhi Culture
* [http://www.sindhhyd.com Daily Sindh Hyderabad A Newspaper in sindhi Language]

References

ources

* International Phonetic Association (1999) "Handbook of the International Phonetic Association" ISBN 0-521-63751-1
*SOWL
* [http://www.larkano.com/abro//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=51 Sindhi Alphabet with example words]
* [http://freenet-homepage.de/prilop/sindhi-alphabet.html Sindhi Alphabet] with Devanagari equivalents
* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/sindhi.htm]
* [http://www.webjournal.unior.it M. Qasim Bughio, "The Diachronic Sociolinguistic Situation in Sindh" in Web Journal on Cultural Patrimony (Fabio Maniscalco ed.), vol. 1, January-June 2006]
* Trumpp P., Grammar of the Sindhi Language, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, Reprinted in 1970 (original edition 1872)