Siraiki language
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Siraiki (also known as Seraiki, Multani and Southern Punjabi) is a language or dialect mostly spoken in the provinces of Sindh and the Punjab in central Pakistan by about 14,000,000 people, as well as by about 20,000 people in India, and an immigrant population in the United Kingdom.
The origin word of the word Siraiki is uncertain. Proposed etymologies include it being derived from a Sindhi word word meaning "north", and from a Sanskrit word meaning "sun".
Contents
Classification
Siraiki is part of a dialect continuum with Punjabi and Sindhi, and is considered by some to be a dialect of Punjabi.Siraiki, Punjabi and Sindhi are members of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family, and so are related to English, albeit very distantly.
Geographic distribution
Siraiki is widely spoken and understood as a second language in northern and western Sindh down to the suburbs of Karachi and in the Kachhi plain of Balochistan. It is also known as Derawali in Derajat area.Phonology
Vowels
Siraiki has three short vowels, seven long vowels and six nasal vowels.Consonants
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | Voiceless | ||||||||
| Voiced | |||||||||
| Affricate | Voiceless | ||||||||
| Voiced | |||||||||
| Implosive | |||||||||
| Nasal | |||||||||
| Fricative | Voiceless | ||||||||
| Voiced | |||||||||
| Trill | |||||||||
| Flap | |||||||||
| Lateral | |||||||||
| Semivowel | |||||||||
Writing system
Siraiki is written in a variant of the Arabic alphabet. Very few Siraiki speakers are literate in their own language, however, although some may be able to write other languages.Bibliography
See also
External links
- [Ethnologue report for language code:skr]
- [Phonemic Inventory of Siraiki Language and Acoustic Analysis of Voiced Implosives] (PDF)
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