This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Siddiqui (talk | contribs) at 13:48, 7 November 2006 (Category:Siraiki people). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 13:48, 7 November 2006 by Siddiqui (talk | contribs) (Category:Siraiki people)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Siraiki | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Pakistan and India |
| Native speakers | ~14,000,000 |
| Language family | Indo-European
|
| Writing system | Arabic alphabet |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | inc |
| ISO 639-3 | skr |
Siraiki (Urdu: سراییکی ) is a language mostly spoken in the provinces of Sindh and the Punjab in central Pakistan and sindh by about 4.5 crore people( according to 1998 census) 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'. Proposed etymologies include it being derived from a Sindhi word meaning "north", and from a Sanskrit word meaning "sun".
ALI-AL-KUFI 712 A.D also in his book chach nama(shash nama..arabic) about sindh says that saraiki is a dialect of sindhi language.ALI-Al-KUFI was considered as authority on subject of sindh, and because of this reason he was invited by the arab rulers several times to provide useful information about sindh and its people.He explainded in detail that there is one language spoken in country sindh and its called sindhi.He further said that 'sareki' is its one of its(sindhi's)three dialect.
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.
Siraiki is an independent language. It is not part or dialect of Punjabi or Sindhi.
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. Siraiki is also spoken in N.W.F.P although Frontier is famous for Pathans but Saraiki is Second Main Language of N.W.F.P and is widely spoken in Southern N.W.F.P Areas Specially in D.I.Khan, Kulachi and in Tank District and also speaking widely in Lakki Marwat City.
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 | p pʰ | t̪ t̪ʰ | t tʰ | k kʰ | ʔ | |||
| Voiced | b bʰ | d̪ d̪ʰ | d dʰ | ɡ ɡʰ | |||||
| Affricate | Voiceless | tʃ tʃʰ | |||||||
| Voiced | dʒ dʒʰ | ||||||||
| Implosive | ɓ | ɗ | ʄ | ɠ | |||||
| Nasal | m mʰ | n nʰ | ɳ | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Fricative | Voiceless | f | s | ʃ | x | h | |||
| Voiced | v | z | ʒ | ɣ | |||||
| Trill | r rʰ | ||||||||
| Flap | ɽ ɽʰ | ||||||||
| Lateral | l lʰ | ||||||||
| Semivowel | j | ||||||||
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
- Ahsan, Wagha (1990). The Siraiki Language: Its Growth and Development. Islamabad: Dderawar Publications.
- Gardezi, Hassan N. (1996). Siraiki Language and its poetics: An Introduction. London: Sangat Publishers.
- Shackle, Christopher (1976). The Siraiki Language of Central Pakistan: A Reference Grammar. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.
- Shackle, Christopher (1977). "Siariki: A Language Movement in Pakistan". Modern Asian Studies. 11 (3): 279–403.
See also
External links
- Ethnologue report for language code:skr
- Western Panjabi (Siraiki) Alphabet with Gurmukhi equivalents
- Wasaib.com Collection of Articles and other resources on Seraiki language & culture
- Phonemic Inventory of Siraiki Language and Acoustic Analysis of Voiced Implosives (PDF)