Dehwari language
Persian language of Pakistan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dehwari (دهواری, Dehwārī) is a Persian dialect[2] spoken by some 19,000 Dehwar people in Balochistan, Pakistan as of 2018.[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, Brahui |
Native speakers | 19,000 (2018)[1] |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | |
| Persian alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | deh |
| Glottolog | dehw1238 |
Interaction with Brahui
Dehwari was introduced to the Brahui in the seventeenth century and the modern-day language uses many Dehwari loanwords in its vocabulary.[3] In turn, Brahui has heavily influenced the language, which has made Dehwari a Persian dialect containing heavy Brahui (Dravidian) adstratum.[4] This has made Dehwari speakers bilingual in both Dehwari and Brahui, and some in Balochi, Urdu, and even English.[5]
Decline
The drop of speakers in Dehwari was recorded in the 1921 Indian Census, with Pashto facing the same consequences in Kalat and Mastung.[6] In the 1931 Indian Census, the Dehwari population outside of Kalat and Mastung was only 1,795.[7]
See also
- Madaklashti, a Persian dialect spoken in Chitral, northern Pakistan
- Hazaragi, a Persian dialect spoken by Hazara diaspora in Pakistan
