Dehwari (دهواری, Dehwārī) is a southwestern Persian language spoken by c. 14,000 Dehwar people in Balochistan, Pakistan.[1] Most of the Dehwari speakers are concentrated in Mastung, Khuzdar, Nushk, Kharan, Sarlath District, Dalbandin, and Kalat.
Dehwari | |
---|---|
دهواری Dehwārī | |
Native to | Pakistan |
Region | Balochistan province: Kalat and Mastung |
Ethnicity | Dehwar |
Native speakers | 14,600 (2004) |
Language family | Indo-European
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Early forms | |
Writing system | Persian alphabet |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | deh |
Glottolog | dehw1238 |
Dehwari was introduced to the Brahui in the seventeenth century and the modern-day language uses many Dehwari loanwords in its vocabulary.[2]
In turn, Brahui has heavily influenced the language, which has made Dehwari a Persian dialect under heavy Brahui influence.[3] This has made Dehwari speakers bilingual in both Dehwari and Brahui, and some in Balochi, Urdu, and even English.[4]
The drop of speakers in Dehwari was recorded in the 1921 Indian Census, with Pashto facing the same consequences in Kalat and Mastung.[5] And in the 1931 Indian Census, the Dehwari population outside of Kalat and Mastung was only 1,795.[6]
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