Sindhi language

is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is primarily spoken by the Sindhi people native to the Pakistani province of Sindh, where the language has official status. It constitutes the mother tongue of over 34 million people in Pakistan, primarily concentrated in Sindh; with historic communities in neighbouring Balochistan as well. It is also spoken by 1.7 million people in India, mostly by the descendants of partition-era migrants; with it having the status of a scheduled language in the country without any state-level official status.

Being classified under the Northwestern branch of the Indo-Aryan languages, Sindhi, apart from other Sindhic languages, is most closely related to Saraiki and Punjabi. It is descended from Shauraseni Prakrit, which gradually developed into Apabhraṃśa and then into Early Sindhi. Sindhi further developed during the Islamic Golden Age and the Islamic period in South Asia, expanding its vocabulary under the influence of Arabic and Persian; with the earliest written evidence of Sindhi as a language being a translation of the Quran, dated back to 883 AD.

Sindhi is an inflected language, with five cases for noun, three for personal pronoun, four for third-person pronoun; eleven case markers; two genders (masculine, feminine); and two numbers (singular, plural). The base of its vocabulary is derived from Sanskrit in the form of Prakrit and Apabhraṃśa, while a significant portion of its high-register speech is derived from Persian and Arabic, along with a number of recent loanwords borrowed from English; and to a lesser extent from Portuguese and French. It has also had minor influence from and on neighbouring languages such as Saraiki, Punjabi, Balochi, Brahui, Gujarati, and Marwari.

Sindhi has a number of dialects and an established standard form, referred to as Standard Sindhi, which is based on the dialect of Hyderabad and the surrounding areas of central Sindh. The primary regulatory agency for the development and promotion of the language is the Sindhi Language Authority, an autonomous institution of the government of Sindh.

History

thumb|right|Cover of a book containing the epic [[Dodo Chanesar written in Hatvanki Sindhi or Khudabadi script.]]

Origins

The name "Sindhi" is derived from the Sanskrit síndhu, the original name of the Indus River, along whose delta Sindhi is spoken. In the Bronze Age (), the primary language of this region was likely the Harappan language, but no records exist indicating when or how that language was replaced by the Indo-Aryan languages.

Like other languages of the Indo-Aryan family, Sindhi is descended from Old Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit) via Middle Indo-Aryan (Pali, secondary Prakrits, and Apabhramsha). 20th century Western scholars such as George Abraham Grierson believed that Sindhi descended specifically from the Vrācaḍa dialect of Apabhramsha (described by Markandeya as being spoken in Sindhu-deśa, corresponding to modern Sindh) but later work has shown this to be unclear.

The sound changes that characterise the development of Sindhi from Middle Indo-Aryan are:

Development of implosives from geminate and initial stops (e.g. g-, -gg > ɠ); this is a highly distinctive sound change in NIA
Shortening of geminates (e.g. MIA akkhi > Sindhi akhi "eye")
Voicing of post-nasal consonants (e.g. MIA danta > Sindhi ɗ̣andu "tooth")
Debuccalization of intervocalic -s- > -h- (shared with some Punjabi varieties, primarily Saraiki)
Intervocalic -l- > -r- (likely via intermediate retroflex -ḷ-), -ll- > -l-, -ḍ- > -ṛ-
Fronting of r from medial clusters to initial (e.g. OIA dīrgha > Sindhi ḍrigho "long")

Additionally, the following retentions distinguish Sindhi from other New Indo-Aryan languages:

Retention of MIA -ṇ-
Retention of final short vowels -a, -i, -u, but also insertion of these into loanwords
Retention of long vowels before geminates (more archaic than e.g. Prakrit)
Retention of stop + r clusters but with retroflexion, e.g. tr- > ṭr-
Retention of v-

Early Sindhi (–16th century)

Literary attestation of early Sindhi is sparse. The earliest written evidence of Sindhi as a language can be found in a translation of the Qur’an into Sindhi dating back to 883 A.D. Historically, Isma'ili religious literature and poetry in India, as old as the 11th century CE, used a language that was closely related to Sindhi and Gujarati; at this point, Sindhi was not clearly established as an independent literary language. Much of this work is in the form of ginans (a kind of devotional hymn).

Sindhi was the first Indo-Aryan language to be in close contact with Arabic and Persian following the Umayyad conquest of Sindh in 712 CE. Arabic sources thus do mention the language of Sindh in various instances. The following excerpts are translated from The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians by Henry Miers Elliot.

Additionally, the Korean Buddhist monk Hyech'o mentions the unique language of Sindh in his travelogue:

Medieval Sindhi (16th–19th centuries)

Medieval Sindhi literature is of a primarily religious genre, comprising a syncretic Sufi and Advaita Vedanta poetry, the latter in the devotional bhakti tradition. The format of this poetry is the bayt, indicating significant influence from Arabic and Persian. The earliest known Sindhi poet of the Sufi tradition is Qazi Qadan (1493–1551). Other early poets were Shah Inat Rizvi ( 1613–1701) and Shah Abdul Karim Bulri (1538–1623). These poets had a mystical bent that profoundly influenced Sindhi poetry for much of this period.

The greatest poet of Sindhi was Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689/1690–1752), whose verses were compiled into the Shah Jo Risalo by his followers. While primarily Sufi, his verses also recount traditional Sindhi folktales and aspects of the cultural history of Sindh.

British India (1843–1947)

In 1843, the British conquest of Sindh led the region to become part of the Bombay Presidency. Soon after, in 1848, Governor George Clerk established Sindhi as the official language in the province, removing the literary dominance of Persian. Sir Bartle Frere, the then commissioner of Sindh, issued orders on August 29, 1857, advising civil servants in Sindh to pass an examination in Sindhi. He also ordered the use of Sindhi in official documents. In 1868, the Bombay Presidency assigned Narayan Jagannath Vaidya to replace the Abjad used in Sindhi with the Khudabadi script. The script was decreed a standard script by the Bombay Presidency, thus inciting anarchy in the Muslim majority region. A powerful unrest followed, after which Twelve Martial Laws were imposed by the British authorities. The granting of official status of Sindhi along with script reforms ushered in the development of modern Sindhi literature.

The first printed works in Sindhi were produced at the Muhammadi Press in Bombay beginning in 1867. These included Islamic stories set in verse by Muhammad Hashim Thattvi, one of the renowned religious scholars of Sindh.

The language and literary style of contemporary Sindhi writings in Pakistan and India were noticeably diverging by the late 20th century; authors from the former country were borrowing extensively from Urdu, while those from the latter were highly influenced by Hindi.

Geographical distribution

Sindhi is the official language of the Pakistani province of Sindh Before the inception of Pakistan, Sindhi was the national language of Sindh.

Sindhi is additionally spoken by many members of the Sindhi diaspora, particularly in Malaysia, Oman, Singapore, UAE, USA and UK.

Pakistan

thumb|Sindhi as a first, second, and third largest mother tongue by district in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, Sindhi is the first language of 34.40 million people, or % of the country's population as of the 2023 census. 33.46 million of these are found in Sindh, where they account for % of the total population of the province. There are 0.55 million speakers in the province of Balochistan, especially in the Kacchi Plain.

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible static-row-numbers sticky-header col1left" style="text-align:right"

|+2023 Census Statistics According to the Sindh Private Educational Institutions Form B (Regulations and Control) 2005 Rules, "All educational institutions are required to teach children the Sindhi language. Sindh Education and Literacy Minister, Syed Sardar Ali Shah, and Secretary of School Education, Qazi Shahid Pervaiz, have ordered the employment of Sindhi teachers in all private schools in Sindh so that this language can be easily and widely taught. Sindhi is taught in all provincial private schools that follow the Matric system and not the ones that follow the Cambridge system.

At the occasion of 'Mother Language Day' in 2023, the Sindh Assembly under Culture minister Sardar Ali Shah, passed a unanimous resolution to extend the use of language to primary level and increase the status of Sindhi as a national language of Pakistan.

Many Sindhi-language television channels are broadcasting in Pakistan, such as Time News, KTN, Sindh TV, Awaz Television Network, Mehran TV, and Dharti TV.

India

The Indian Government has legislated Sindhi as a scheduled language in India, making it an option for education. Despite lacking any state-level status, Sindhi is still a prominent minority language in the Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. In India, Sindhi mother tongue speakers were distributed in the following states:

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible static-row-numbers sticky-header col1left" style="text-align:right"

|+2011 Census Statistics

!State

!Population

|- style="background:#e6e6e6" class="sorttop static-row-header"

| 2,772,264

|Gujarat

|1,184,024

|Maharashtra

|723,748

|Rajasthan

|386,569

|Madhya Pradesh

|245,161

|Chhattisgarh

|93,424

|Delhi (NCT)

|31,177

|Uttar Pradesh

|28,952

|Assam

|19,646

|Karnataka

|16,954

|Andhra Pradesh

|11,299

|Tamil Nadu

|8,448

|West Bengal

|7,828

|Uttarakhand

|2,863

|Odisha

|2,338

|Bihar

|2,227

|Jharkhand

|1,701

|Haryana

|1,658

|Kerala

|1,251

|Punjab

|754

|Goa

|656

|Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

|894

|Meghalaya

|236

|Chandigarh

|134

|Puducherry

|94

|Nagaland

|82

|Himachal Pradesh

|62

|Tripura

|30

|Jammu and Kashmir

|19

|Andaman and Nicobar Islands

|14

|Arunachal Pradesh

|12

|Lakshadweep

|Sikkim

Sindhi diaspora

In Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore (where Sindhi has no official status), ethnic Sindhis are largely shifting to English as their first language, excepting some monolingual first-generation immigrants and second-generation speakers who use Sindhi at home. Codeswitching of varying degrees is observed in some speakers, usually with English but also with Malay and Indonesian. Similar shift to English is found in the smaller Hong Kong Sindhi community.

Sindhi speakers by country

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible static-row-numbers sticky-header col1left" style="text-align:right"

!Country

!Population

| 102,000

| 6,299

| 5,315

| 3,971

Dialects

thumb|The dialects of Sindhi language shown on map.

Sindhi has many dialects, and forms a dialect continuum at some places with neighboring languages such as Punjabi to the north and Gujarati to the south, but not with Marwari to the east.

Vicholi: The prestige dialect spoken around Hyderabad and central Sindh (the Vicholo region), on which the literary standard is based.
Uttaradi: The dialect of northern Sindh (Uttaru, meaning "north"), with minor differences in Larkana, Shikarpur and in parts of Sukkur and Kandiaro.
Lari: The dialect of southern Sindh (Lāṛu) spoken around areas like Karachi, Thatta, Sujawal, Tando Muhammad Khan and Badin districts.
Siroli (also Siraiki, Ubheji): The dialect of northernmost Sindh (Siro, meaning "head"). Spoken in smaller number all over Sindh but mainly in Jacobabad and Kashmore districts, it may be transitional with the Saraiki language variety of southern Punjab and has variously been treated either as a dialect of Saraiki or as a dialect of Sindhi.
Lasi: The dialect of Lasbela, Hub and Gwadar districts in Balochistan, closely related to Lari and Vicholi, and in contact with Balochi.
Firaqi: The dialect of the Kachhi plains the north eastern districts of Balochistan, where it is referred to as Firaqi Sindhi or commonly just Sindhi.
Thareli (also Tharechi): Spoken in the northeastern Thar desert of Sindh, but mainly spoken in the western part of Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, India by many Sindhi Muslims.
Sindhi Bhili: Spoken in Sindh by the Sindhi Meghwars and Bhils.

Furthermore, Kutchi and Jadgali are sometimes classified as dialects of Sindhi rather than independent languages.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+Sindhi dialects Comparison

!English

!Vicholi

!Lari

!Uttaradi

!Lasi

!Kutchi

!Dhatki

|Aao(n)

|Mā(n)

|Ã

|Aau(n)

|Hu(n)

|My

|Muhnjo

|Mujo

|Mānjo/Māhjo

|Mojo/Mājo

|Mujo

|Mānjo/Māhyo

|You "Sin, plu" (formal)

|Awha(n)/Awhee(n)

Tawha(n)/Tawhee(n)

|Aa(n)/Aei(n)

|Taha(n)/Taa(n)/

Tahee(n)/Taee(n)

|Awa(n)/Ai(n)

|Aa(n)/Ai(n)

|Awha/Ahee(n)/ Aween

|To me

|Mukhe

|Muke

|Mānkhe

|Mukh

|Muke

|Mina

|We

|Asee(n)

|Asee(n), Pān

|Asā(n)

|Asee(n)

|Asee(n), Pān

|Asee(n), Asā(n)

|What

|Chha/Kahirō

|Kujjāro/Kujja

|Chha/Shha

|Chho

|Kuro

|Kee

|Why

|Chho

|Ko

|Chho/Shho

|Chhela

|Kolāi/Kurelāe

|Kayla

|How

|Kiya(n)

|Kei(n)

|Kiya(n)

|Kee(n)

|Kiya(n)

|No

|Na, Kōna, Kōn

|Nā(n), Kīna

|Na, Kōna, Kāna, Kon, Kān

|Nā(n), Ma

|Nā

|Nā, Ni, Ko, Kon, Ma

|Legs (plural, fem)

|Tangu(n), Jjanghu(n)

|Tangu(n), Jjangu(n)

|Tangā(n), Jjanghā(n)

|Foot

|Pair

|Pair/Pagg/Pagulo

|Pair

|Pag

|Pagg, Pair

|Far

|Pare

|Ddoor

|Pare/Parte

|Ddor

|Chhete

|Ddor

|Near

|Vejhō

|Vejo/Ōdō/Ōdirō/Ore

|Vejhō/Vejhe/Orte

|Ōddō

|Wat, bājūme

|Nerro

|Good/Excellent

|Sutho, Chaṅō

|Khāso/Sutho/Thhāuko

|Sutho, Bhalo, Chango

|Khāsho

|Khāso, Laat

|Sutho, Phutro, Thhāuko

|High

|Utāho

|Ucho

|Mathe

|Ucho

|Uncho

|Silver

|Rupo

|Chādi/Rupo

|Chāndi

|Rupo

|Father

|Piu

|Pay/Abo/Aba/Ada

|Pee/Babo/Pirhe(n)

|Pe

|Pe, Bapa, Ada

|Wife

|Joe/Gharwāri

|Joe/Wani/Kuwār

|Zaal/Gharwāri

|Zaal

|Vahu/Vau

|Ddosi, Luggai

|Man

|Mardu

|Māņu/Mārū/Mard

/Murs/Musālu

|Mānhu/Musālo/Bhāi

/Kāko/Hamra

|Mānhu

|Māḍū/Mārū

|Mārū

|Woman

|Aurat

|Zāla/ōrat/ōlath

|Māi/Ran

|Zāla

|Bāeḍi/Bāyaḍī

|Child/Baby

|Bbār/Ningar/Bbālak

|Bbār/Ningar/Gabhur/

Bacho/Kako

|Bbār/Bacho/Adro/

Phar (animal)

|Gabhar

|Bār/Gabhar/Chokro

|Daughter

|Dhiu/Niyāni

|Dia/Niyāni/Kañā

|Dhee/Adri

|Dhia

|Dhi/Dhikri

|Dikri

|Sun

|Siju

|Sij, Sūrij

|Sijhu

|Siju

|Sūraj

|Sunlight

|Kārro

|Oosa

|Tarko

|Cat

|Billi

|Bili/Pusani

|Billi

|Phushini

|Minni

|Rain

|Barsāt/Mee(n)h

/Bārish

|Varsāt/Mee(n)/Mai(n)

|Barsāt/Mee(n)hu

|Varsāt

|Meh, Maiwla

|And

|Aēi(n)

|Ãū(n)/Ãē(n)/Nē

|Aēi(n)/Aū(n)/Aen

|Ãē/Or

|Nē/Anē

|A'e(n)/Ān

|Also

|Pin/Bhi

|Pin, Bee

|Bu/Pun

|Pin/Pan

|Is

|Āhe

|Āye

|Aa/Āhe/Hai

|Āhe/Āye

|Āye

|Āhe/Āh/Āye/Hai

|Fire

|Bāhe

|Bāē/āgg/jjērō

|Bāhe/Bāh

|Jjērō

|Jirō/lagāņō/āg

|Water

|Pāņī

|Pāņī/Jal

|Pāņī

|Pāņī/Jal

|Pāņī

|Where

|Kithē

|Kithē, Kāthe, Kehda, Kāday, Kādah, Kidah, Kithrē

|Kith

|Kidhē/Kidhā

|Kith

|Sleep

|Nindr(a)

|Nind(a)

|Nindr(a)

|Nind

|Ninder

|Oongh

|Slap

|Thaparr/Chammāt

|Tārr

|Chamātu/Chapātu/

Lapātu/Thapu

|Thapaat

|To Wash

|Dhoain(u)

|Dhun(u)

|Dhoain(u)/Dhuan(u)/

Dhowan(u)

|Dhowan

|Dhuwan(u)/

Dhoon(u)

|Will write (Masc)

|Likhandum, Likhandus

|Likhados

|Likhdum, Likhdus

|Likhdosī

|likhdos (m) / likhdis (f)

|Likhsā(n)

|I Went

|Aao(n) Vius

|Aao(n) Vēs

|Ma(n) Vayus (m)/ Vayas (f)

|Ã viosī

|Aau vyos (m) / veyis (f)

|Hu Gios

Phonology

Sindhi has a relatively large inventory of both consonants and vowels compared to other Indo-Aryan languages. Sindhi has 46 consonant phonemes and 10 vowels. The consonant to vowel ratio is around average for the world's languages at 2.8. All plosives, affricates, nasals, the retroflex flap, and the lateral approximant /l/ have aspirated or breathy voiced counterparts. The language also features four implosives.

Consonants

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center

|- style="font-size: 90%;"

|+Sindhi consonants

! colspan="2" |

!colspan=2| Labial

!colspan=2| Dental/ alveolar

!colspan=2| Retroflex

!colspan=2| (Alveolo-) Palatal

!colspan=2| Velar

!colspan=2| Glottal

! rowspan="2" | Nasal

!plain

| style="border-right:none;"| || style="border-left:none;"|

| style="border-right:none;"| || style="border-left:none;"| 𑊿

| colspan="2" |

!breathy

| style="border-right:none;"| || style="border-left:none;"|

| colspan="2" |

! rowspan="2" | Stop/ Affricate

!plain

| style="border-right:none;" ||| style="border-left:none;" |

| colspan="2" |

!breathy

| style="border-right:none;" ||| style="border-left:none;" |

| colspan="2" |

! colspan="2" | Implosive

| style="border-right:none;" | || style="border-left:none;" |

| colspan="2" |

| style="border-right:none;" | || style="border-left:none;" |

| colspan="2" |

! colspan="2" | Fricative

| style="border-right:none;" ||| style="border-left:none;" |

| colspan="2" |

| style="border-right:none;" ||| style="border-left:none;" |

! rowspan="2" | Approximant

!plain

| style="border-right:none;" | || style="border-left:none;" |

| colspan="2" |

| style="border-right:none;" | || style="border-left:none;" |

| colspan="2" |

!breathy

| colspan="2" |

| style="border-right:none;" | || style="border-left:none;" |

| colspan="2" |

! rowspan="2" | Rhotic

!plain

| colspan="2" |

| style="border-right:none;" | || style="border-left:none;" |

| colspan="2" |

!breathy

| colspan="2" |

| style="border-right:none;" | || style="border-left:none;" |

| colspan="2" |

The retroflex consonants are apical postalveolar and do not involve curling back of the tip of the tongue,, so they could be transcribed in phonetic transcription. The affricates are laminal post-alveolars with a relatively short release. It is not clear if is similar, or truly palatal. is realised as labiovelar or labiodental in free variation, but is not common, except before a stop.thumb|The vowel phonemes of Sindhi on a [[vowel chart]]

Vowels

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!Front

!Central

!Back

!Close

!Near-close

!Close-mid

!Mid

!Open-mid

| rowspan="2" |

!Open

|}The vowels are modal length and short . Consonants following short vowels are lengthened: 'leaf' vs. 'worn'.

Grammar

Nouns

Sindhi nouns distinguish two genders (masculine and feminine), two numbers (singular and plural), and five cases (nominative, vocative, oblique, ablative, and locative). This is a similar paradigm to Punjabi. Almost all Sindhi noun stems end in a vowel, except for some recent loanwords. The declension of a noun in Sindhi is largely determined by its grammatical gender and the final vowel (or if there is no final vowel). Generally, -o stems are masculine and -a stems are feminine, but the other final vowels can belong to either gender.

The different paradigms are listed below with examples. The ablative and locative cases are used with only some lexemes in the singular number and hence not listed, but predictably take the suffixes -ā̃ / -aū̃ / -ū̃ () and -i ().

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan=2 rowspan=2 |

! colspan=3 |

! rowspan=2 | Gloss

! !! !!

! rowspan=6 |

! I

| chokiro

| chokirā

| chokire

| chokirā

| chokirā / chokira

| chokirani

| boy

! II

| ɓāru

| colspan=3 | ɓāra

| ɓāra / ɓāro

| ɓārani

| child

! rowspan=2 | III

| colspan=2 | sāthī

| sāthīa

| sāthī

| sāthīaro

| sāthyani

| companion

| colspan=2 | rahākū

| rahākūa

| rahākū

| rahākuo

| rahākuni

| inhabitant

! rowspan=2 | IV

| colspan=3 | rājā

| colspan=2 | rājā / rājāito

| rājāuni

| king

| colspan=3 | seṭhu

| colspan=2 | seṭha

| seṭhani

| merchant

! rowspan=7 |

! rowspan=2 | I

| colspan=3 | zāla

| colspan=2 | zālū̃

| zāluni

| woman, wife

| colspan=3 | sasu

| colspan=2 | sasū̃

| sasuni

| mother-in-law

! rowspan=3 | II

| colspan=3 | davā

| colspan=2 | davāū̃

| davāuni

| medicine

| colspan=3 | rāti

| colspan=2 | rātyū̃

| rātyuni

| night

| colspan=3 | hoṭal

| colspan=2 | hoṭalū̃

| hoṭaluni

| hotel

! III

| colspan=2 | ɠaū̃

| ɠaū̃a

| colspan=2 | ɠaū̃

| ɠaūni

| cow

! IV

| colspan=2 | nadī

| nadīa

| colspan=2 | nadyū̃

| nadyuni

| river

A few nouns representing familial relations take irregular declensions with an extension in -r- in the plural. These are the masculine nouns bhāu "brother", pīu "father", and the feminine nouns dhīa "daughter", nū̃hã "daughter-in-law", bheṇa "sister", māu "mother", and joi "wife".

The third-person pronouns are listed below. Besides the unmarked demonstratives, there are also "specific" and "present" demonstratives. In the nominative singular, the demonstratives are marked for gender. Some other pronouns which decline identically to ko "someone" are har-ko "everyone", sabh-ko "all of them", je-ko "whoever" (relative), and te-ko "that one" (correlative).

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Third-person pronouns

! colspan=3 rowspan=3 |

! colspan=7 | Demonstrative

! rowspan=3 | Interrogative

! rowspan=3 | Relative

! rowspan=3 | Correlative

! colspan=2 | Unmarked

! colspan=2 | Specific

! colspan=2 | Present

! rowspan=2 | Indefinite

! !!

! rowspan=3 |

! rowspan=2 |

| hī

| hū

| iho

| uho

| ijho

| ojho

| ko

| keru

| jo

| so

| hīa

| hūa

| ihā

| uhā

| ijhā

| ojhā

| kā

| kera

| jā

| sā

! colspan=2 |

| hina

| huna

| inhẽ

| unhẽ

| colspan=2

| colspan=2 | kãhĩ

| jãhĩ

| tãhĩ

! rowspan=2 |

! colspan=2 |

| hī

| hū

| ihe

| uhe

| ijhe

| ojhe

| ke

| kera

| je

| se

! colspan=2 |

| hinani

| hunani

| inhani

| unhani

| colspan=2

| colspan=2 | kini

| jini

| tini

Pronominal suffixes

Unlike other Indo-Aryan languages, Sindhi has pronoun suffixes which can be used as an alternative way to express possession instead of possessive pronouns.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Pronominal suffixes

! colspan=3 |

! !! !!

| -mi

| -i

| -si

| -ū̃

| -va

| -ni

Numerals

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"

! Num.

! colspan=2 | Cardinal

! 0

| || ||

! 1

| || ||

! 2

| || ||

! 3

| || ||

! 4

| || ||

! 5

| || ||

! 6

| || ||

! 7

| || ||

! 8

| || ||

! 9

| || ||

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"

! Num.

! colspan=2 | Cardinal

! 10

| || ||

! 11

| || ||

! 12

| || ||

! 13

| || ||

! 14

| || ||

! 15

| || ||

! 16

| || ||

! 17

| || ||

! 18

| || ||

! 19

| || ||

Postpositions

Most nominal relations (e.g. the semantic role of a nominal as an argument to a verb) are indicated using postpositions, which follow a noun in the oblique case. The subject of the verb takes the bare oblique case, while the object may be in nominative case or in oblique case and followed by the accusative case marker khe.

The postpositions are divided into case markers, which directly follow the noun, and complex postpositions, which combine with a case marker (usually the genitive jo).

Case markers

The case markers are listed below.

The postpositions with the suffix -o decline in gender and number to agree with their governor, e.g. chokiro j-o pīu "the boy's father" but chokiro j-ī māu "the boy's mother".

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Case markers

! Case !! Marker !! Example !! English

| Nominative || — || chokiro || the boy

| Accusative Dative

| khe

| chokire khe

| the boy to the boy

| rowspan=2 | Genitive

| j-o || chokire jo

| rowspan=2 | of the boy

| sand-o || chokire sando

| Sociative || sudh-o || chokire sudho || along with the boy

| rowspan=2 | Comitative Instrumental

| sā̃ || chokire sā̃

| rowspan=2 | with the boy

| sāṇu || chokire sāṇu

| rowspan=2 | Locative

| mẽ || chokire mẽ

| rowspan=2 | in the boy

| manjhi || chokire manjhi

| rowspan=2 | Adessive

| te || chokire te || on the boy

| vaṭi || chokire vaṭi || near the boy the boy has...

| Orientative || ḍā̃hã || chokire ḍā̃hã || towards the boy

| Terminative || tāī̃ || chokire tāī̃ || up to the boy

| Benefactive || lāi || chokire lāi || for the boy

| rowspan=2 | Semblative

| vānguru || chokire vānguru

| rowspan=2 | like the boy

| jahṛ-o || chokire jahṛo

There are several ablative case markers formed from the spatial postpositions and the ablative ending -ā̃. These indicate complex motion such as "from inside of".

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Ablative case markers

! Marker !! Example !! English

| khā̃ || chokire khā̃ || from the boy

| mā̃ || chokire mā̃ || from inside the boy

| tā̃ || chokire tā̃ || from upon the boy

| ḍā̃hā̃ || chokire ḍā̃hā̃ || from the direction of the boy

Finally, some case markers are found in medieval Sindhi literature and/or modern poetic Sindhi, and otherwise not used in standard speech.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Obsolete/rare case markers

! Case !! Marker !! Example !! English

| Accusative Adessive || kane || chokire kane || to/near the boy

Complex postpositions

The complex postpositions are formed with a case marker, usually the genitive but sometimes the ablative. Many are listed below.

{| class="wikitable"

! !! !! Transliteration !! Explanation

| || || je aɠyā̃ || "ahead of, before"; apudessive

| || || je andari || "inside of"; inessive

| || || je badirā̃ || "instead of, in place of"

| || || je barābar || "equal to"

| || || je ɓāharā̃

| rowspan=2 | "outside of"

| || || khā̃ ɓāhari

| || ' || je bāre mẽ|| "about, concerning"

| || || je caudhārī || "around"

| || || je heṭhā̃ || "below, under"

| || || je kare || "for, on account of"

| || || je lāi || "for"

| || || je mathā̃ || "above, on top of, upon"

| || || khā̃ pare || "far from"

| || || je pāri || "across, on the other side of"

| || || je pāse || "on the side of, near"

| || || khā̃ poi || "after"

| || || je puṭhyā̃ || "behind"

| || || je sāmhõ || "in front of, facing"

| || || khā̃ sivāi || "besides, apart from"

| || || je vāste || "for the sake of, on account of"

| || || je vejho || "near"; adessive

| || || je vici mẽ || "between, among"

| || || je xātiri || "for the sake of"

| || || je xilāfi || "against"

| || || je zarī'e || "via, through"; perlative

Verbs

Sindhi verbs have two conjugations, one with a characteristic a which consists of passive and intransitive verbs, and the other, with a characteristic i which consists of transitive verbs, including causal verbs..

The infinitive form of verbs is formed by adding -aṇu to the verb root. If the root ends in a long ī, or ū, then they are shortened to i and u respectively. In the ī-conjugation, -iṇu is added if the verb root ends in a or ā..

The imperative forms have three conjugation patterns based on whether the verb stem is intransitive, transitive, or passive.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Imperative endings

! singular

! plural

! intransitive

| -u

| -o

! transitive

| -i

| -yo

! passive

| -i or -ãy

| -o

Adverbs

Adverbs are indeclinable in Sindhi.

Syntax

Sindhi has subject-object-verb word order.

Vocabulary

According to historian Nabi Bux Baloch, most Sindhi vocabulary is from ancient Sanskrit. However, owing to the influence of the Persian language over the subcontinent, Sindhi has adapted many words from Persian and Arabic. It has also borrowed from English and Hindustani. Today, Sindhi in Pakistan is slightly influenced by Urdu, with more borrowed Perso-Arabic elements, while Sindhi in India is influenced by Hindi, with more borrowed tatsam Sanskrit elements.

Writing systems

Sindhis in Pakistan use a version of the Perso-Arabic script with new letters adapted to Sindhi phonology, while in India a greater variety of scripts is in use, including Devanagari, Khudabadi, Khojki, and Gurmukhi. Perso-Arabic for Sindhi was also made digitally accessible relatively earlier.

The earliest attested records in Sindhi are from the 15th century. During British rule in the late 19th century, the Perso-Arabic script was decreed standard over Devanagari.

Perso-Arabic script

During the British Raj, a variant of the Persian alphabet was adopted for Sindhi in the 19th century. The script is used in Pakistan and India today. It has a total of 52 letters, augmenting the Persian with digraphs and eighteen new letters (<big></big>) for sounds particular to Sindhi and other Indo-Aryan languages. Some letters that are distinguished in Arabic or Persian are homophones in Sindhi.

The table presents the Sindhi Perso-Arabic alphabet. Letters shaded in yellow are solely used in writing of loanwords, and the phonemes they represent are also represented by other letters in the alphabet. Letters and digraphs shaded in green aren't usually considered part of the base alphabet. They are either commonly used digraphs representing aspirated consonants, or are ligatures serving a grammatical function. These ligatures include the , which is pronounced as [ãĩ̯] and represents and, and the , which is pronounced as [mẽ] and creates a locative relationship between words.

{|class="wikitable Unicode" dir="rtl"

|+ Sindhi alphabet

! Perso-Arabic <nowiki>[</nowiki>IPA<nowiki>]</nowiki>

| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | //