Dehwari language

{{Infobox language

| name = Dehwari

| nativename = {{lang|fa|{{nq|دهواری}}}}
{{Transliteration|fa|Dehwārī}}

| image = دهواری.svg

| pronunciation =

| ethnicity = Dehwar

| states = Pakistan

| region = Balochistan province: Kalat and Mastung

| speakers = 19,000

| date = 2018

| ref = e25

| familycolor = Indo-European

| fam2 = Indo-Iranian

| fam3 = Iranian

| fam4 = Western Iranian

| fam5 = Southwestern Iranian

| fam6 = Persian

| ancestor = Old Persian

| ancestor2 = Middle Persian

| script = Persian alphabet

| iso3 = deh

| glotto = dehw1238

}}

Dehwari ({{lang|fa|{{nq|دهواری}}}}, Dehwārī) is a southwestern Persian language spoken by 19,000 Dehwar people in Balochistan, Pakistan as of 2018. Most of the Dehwari speakers are concentrated in Mastung, Khuzdar, Nushk, Kharan, Sarlath District, Dalbandin, and Kalat.

Influence on Brahui

Dehwari was introduced to the Brahui in the seventeenth century and the modern-day language uses many Dehwari loanwords in its vocabulary.{{cite journal |last1=Sani |first1=Liaquat Ali |title=Brahui as Native Language for a Native Dehwari Child. A case study of under Three-year old Child at Ishkina, District Mastung |date=2018 |volume=XXXIX |url=http://web.uob.edu.pk/uob/Journals/Balochistan-Review/data/BR%2002%202018/61-70%20Brahui%20as%20Native%20Language%20for%20a%20Native%20Dehwari%20Child.%20A%20case%20study%20of%20under%20Three-year%20old%20Child%20at%20Ishkina%20District%20Mastung,%20Dr.%20Liaquat%20Ali%20Sani.pdf |publisher=University of Balochistan, Quetta (Pakistan)}}

Brahui influence

In turn, Brahui has heavily influenced the language, which has made Dehwari a Persian dialect containing heavy Brahui (Dravidian) adstratum.{{cite web | url=http://baask.com/diwwan/index.php?topic=604.0;imode | title=Balochi Language & Literature }} This has made Dehwari speakers bilingual in both Dehwari and Brahui, and some in Balochi, Urdu, and even English.{{cite web | url=https://balochilinguist.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/balochi-language/ | title=Balochi is the principal language | date=25 February 2011 }}

Drop in Speakers

The drop of speakers in Dehwari was recorded in the 1921 Indian Census, with Pashto facing the same consequences in Kalat and Mastung.{{cite book |last1=Egye |first1=E. H. H. |title=Census of India, 1921 |date=1921 |publisher=Government Central Press, 1923 |page=83 |edition=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ABxYAAAAYAAJ&q=Dehwari}} And in the 1931 Indian Census, the Dehwari population outside of Kalat and Mastung was only 1,795.{{cite book |title=Census of India, 1931 |date=1931 |publisher=Government of India central publication branch, 1933 |page=511 |edition=Volume 1, Part 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sWQLAQAAIAAJ&q=Dehwari}}

References

Category:Languages of Balochistan, Pakistan

Category:Persian dialects and varieties

Category:Persian language in Pakistan