Modern Balochi Dress Design in Foreign Countries

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The Story of Shay Murid and Hani

By: Longworth Dames

Murid and Chakar were both betrothed. They went out hunting and became very thirsty. Then Chakar said, ‘ Go to my betrothed and drink water with her, and I will go to yours.’ Chakar came to Murid’s betrothed, and Murid to Chakar’s. She gave him water to drink and he became very sick. When Chakar went to the other woman (Murid’s betrothed), she put straw into the cup and then gave him to drink, so that he was not sick. In the evening, when the people returned to their homes, both drank together, and Murid lost his senses from drunkenness.
Then Chakar said,
‘ Give me thy bride/ and Murid replied,
‘ She is thine.’ Then Chakar said,
‘ All the Rinds are
witnesses that Murid has given me his bride ; and he also
said, ‘To-morrow I will celebrate my marriage.’ When Chakur had been married Murid left that land, and his father searched over the whole country that he might behold him again. Chakar had then settled at Fatehpur, and Murid’s father had searched over the whole country
without finding him, and said :
Si sal hamodha gar khuthaun
Af gharoa dohithauri
Main sar syah-saren kirman jatha
Fatehpure khohl kilat
Suny bath sunya rawath
Nodhe mawarathi zare
Binge rawant ma bhana.
That is: Thirty years have I wasted there carrying waterpots on my head, so that black-headed worms have attacked my head. May the hill-fort of Fatehpur be deserted, may it lie waste. May rain-clouds never bring it wealth, may dogs howl in its cattle pens ! And since then rain never falls in Fatehpur ! [The verses given above are evidently part of another poem on the same subject, and resemble the curse with which this poem concludes.]

COMMENCEMENT OF BALLAD.

The Rinds held an assembly below Mir Chakar’s tent, and Mir Chakar said, ‘How many times was there lightning last night?’ No one gave any information. ‘Sardar, there was neither cloud nor storm. How can there be lightning, after the storm is over, on a fine winter’s night ?
‘
Then said Murid the Mad :
‘ Let not my lord be angry, and I will tell thee the truth : If my manly body be not destroyed, I will give a true token. Last night it did lighten thrice. The third time it was but feeble, but twice it blazed out.’
Then said Chakar the Amir :
‘ Well done ! son of Mubarak, with thy unworthy stones about Chakar’s moonfaced lady/ Then Mubarak pulled off his shoe and hit Murid on the head, saying, ‘ Leave off, Murid, thy evil deeds and shameful works with Chakar’s moon-faced lady. Chakar is not a man of bad reputation. At his call a thousand armed Rinds ride forth on sturdy horses.’ Then said Murid the Mad :
‘ Oh, my excellent father, he is but Chakar, and I am a shaikh. I too am not a man of bad reputation. He rides out with a thousand horsemen, and I with my own companions. It were well he had not seen my fair one, the par! ; the palace-shaker, with bare head in her narrow hut, the maiden of towns and camps, Hani of the seamless garments. For she belongs to me, who am ready to answer for her, though I wander and am lost, and have but a Kuran with me. I am not in chains and fetters, nor are my hands confined in iron manacles. I flee at the disgrace of the blacksmith’s touch. When the breath of the south wind blows I am, as it were, a madman. Bring no forge for me, no mulla with many documents. There is no plague among my cattle. I will not become either mulla or munshl, nor will I say many prayers. And, with hands joined and head bent, I swear that on account of that blow from Mubarak’s shoe I will cut off my hair, and will at once depart and go to a far land. I will lay down my noble weapons, put off my rustling clothes from my body, and I give them to Mir Mando, Hani’s royal father. Fair Hani will keep them white from the moisture of storms and clouds. My carpet I give to ‘All, my crossbow to Isa. And I leave my horses tied up, tethered inside my hut, I leave them to Mir Chakar. Myself I will go with a cubit of cloth for a waist cloth. I am a mendicant and beggar, and go with those men, the naked brotherhood; I will go as a pilgrim to salute the blessed shrine of the prophet. Thirty years will I pass thus, thirty years and part of a year, and one day I will return and come to a camp of the Rinds/ The Rinds had set up a mark below Mir Chakar’s tent. ‘ Now let the faqlr shoot arrows at the mark.’ When he drew the bow the wood snapped.
The Rinds then guessed and perceived that it was Murid of the embroidered garments, the lord of the iron-bow: ‘ Bring Murid’s bow-string.’ They brought his iron-bow to him ; he kissed it and laid it on his eyes ; the unstrung bow he strung. With the first arrow he hit the mark, with the second arrow he hit the notch of the first Then the Rinds knew him that he was certainly Murid of the embroidered clothes, the lord of the iron-bow. Then they placed Hani and sweet-scented Murid in a house. Murid, as mad as a mast camel, bit Hani on the cheek and her two soft lips.
Then said Murid the Mad :
‘ Hani, as long as I had need of thee there was no kindness in thy heart of stone, thou wast with thy lover, Mir Chakar. Now the powder is spilt from the pan ; I am not in a fit state for thee. Do not separate me from my companions. From a seeing man do not make me blind.’ As soon as Murid had turned his back the Rind women began to lament, and Hani said to her companions : ‘I will put my sari around my neck and go twenty paces after him. It may be I shall turn Murid back from the naked brotherhood, and if I do not succeed I will get a token from his hand.’ Then Hani called after him. This was the answer of Murid : ‘ May Chakar the Amir be destroyed, may thy house be burnt with fire, may thieves carry off thy horses. (If I consent) may the token of my hand be destroyed, may my body be laden with the burden of sin.’

 

The Death of Doda

By: Longworth Dames

The good woman Samml came with her cows to Doda for protection. Ramen, a youth who dwelt near by, saw Samml’s cows ; the Children of Mlral (i.e. the Buledhls) raided them, and wickedly drove them away. In the first watch of the day the alarm was raised. Doda was lying asleep when his wise mother came and roused him, saying :’I bore you for nine months in my womb, and for three years I suckled you. Now, go forth in pursuit of the cattle, for who is so swift of foot as you ? and either collect and bring them back or bring destruction on your own head ! ‘ And his wife’s mothen with great dignity, said,’ Men who promise to give protection do not lie asleep in the day-time.’ Generous Doda arose, and thus spoke to his mareSurkhang, in excuse ‘The lady has brought you cold water on her head, and a relish of fat sheep’s tails; lentils in a broad dish she has given you, and for your heart’s content grain in a red nosebag, and water in a fine bucket. Now is the time of Doda’s need; I go forth through the craft of my foes. That day (for which I reared you) has come to-day, and somewhere we must overtake the cattle.’
In a place below two cliffs, where the water flows through the gorge close to Garmaf, Doda the Brave overtook them, and fell upon them, the young man, his mother’s beloved son. The Angel of Death brought him thither, him and Jam ‘Umar together, with Surkhl his mare of the light paces. A youth struck him from one side, and Doda fell from his mare’s saddle on to the plain, and together with Jam ‘Umar he died there, with red boots on his feet and glittering rings on his hands !

Balach son of Hasan sings: the Gorgezh Baloch
sings : the avenging Baloch sings.
Take away Blvaragh’s black-pointed sword ; how has he become as a foolish boy, and taken leave of his childish wits! He came and plundered the cattle which grazed in Doda’s charge on Mir Hamal’s sandy waste, leaving the owner enraged, the grey tiger in his wrath. For me and you, oh my enemies, such thefts were not to be carried out, picking out and counting the cattle! You saw Doda in his wrath when he came raging after you ; he was not in a pleasant place. You killed his mare, striking shoulder and hip-joint ; blood bubbled from her mouth. Doda followed on foot, wearing red boots on his feet ; your horsemen overtook and slew him. You slew my brethren, Rals, Chandram, Kawarl the bold ; you killed fiery Rals, and had no fear of what was to follow! Doda, thy lordly armour, thy harness and kingly weapons, thy feathered arrows the plunderers divided ; the makers of butter carried away thy helmet! The women in the camp were scattered ; they saw clearly what had happened. Tears of blood they shed on their shoulders and bodices which were wet with their grief. ye, who have slain this man, the Baloch women are left without their lord, and wander about outside. I see the bay mares running loose, roaming about turned out of their stalls ; I see the children naked, the women go to earn their bread in dreams, no lover comes to comb their hair and spread it out over their shoulders. My lordly body grows hot at the sight like a log of ^afar-wood 1,charcoal, like wax it melts and wastes away in its soft outer garment. I sit and fight with my heart, and my heart thus answers me : ‘Balach is a tiger, a hailstorm. That wealth which Blvaragh carried will never become fair clothes and raiment, nor will he be able to give away in presents much of that cloth and Khorasan coats. This is my Chief’s token : Doda’s gold-hilted sword and brave Rals’s tigressmare on Blvaragh’s bull-neck !
‘

Balach sings: in reply to Blvaragh he sings.

The mountains are the Baloches’ forts, the peaks are better than an army ; the lofty heights are our comrades, the pathless gorges our friends. Our drink is from the flowing springs, our cup the leaf of the dwarf-palm, our bed the thorny brush, the ground we make our pillow. My white sandals are my steed, for my sons you may choose the arrows, for my sons-in-law the pointed dagger, for my brethren the broad shield, for my father the widewounding sword.
I and Nakhlfo went forth, yesterday evening we went down to the valley, and in a village we saw a bard, a cunning man in singing songs. We tarried awhile in the assembly and heard the bard sing a new song containing a taunt from Blvaragh.
Blvaragh ! Thy wits are in thy head, thou knowest that to flee is not for a Baloch. The blood of seven of mine is on thy head, and on the band of thy young brothers. The deaths of Summen and Doda are on thee, of Chandram and Kawari the bold, of Tota and sweet Murid, and of Rals the foremost in battle. Thou slewest them, and hadst thou no after-fear?
I have not made war like a jackal, but like a tiger have I burst through my foes. I have no bay mare worth a thousand rupees, nor any swollen army, but I swear on my head that every night I will burst forth like a storm-cloud in the Rains, I will come forth to fight when your young men are all sleeping in their huts in the arms of their fair ones, and your priceless mares are all tethered in their sheds.
Blvaragh ! Thou dost not speak as one of understanding when thou sayest in the assembly, ‘The death of Balach by God’s will will come one day through a trick of mine/ Blvaragh ! How many jugglers, such even as thou art, has Nakhlfo slain with his blade through God’s help, how many have we devoured with the edge of the sword ?

1, The Kahir (Prosopis spicigera) gives out great heat in burning.

 

The Story of Doda and Balach

By: M. Longworth Dames

There was a certain Buledhi who dwelt in the land of Sangsila; he had much cattle but no son. And in that place he grew a crop of millet,1 One day as he walked round his millet he saw that a herd of cattle had been eating it. He searched for their tracks on all four sides that he might see whence they had come, but not a single track went outside the embankment which surrounded the
field,2 although the herd had grazed on the millet inside. The next day when he came he found that the millet had been eaten again, and again he followed the tracks, but they did not go outside. Then he made a smoky fire and left it burning by the millet, that the cows might come close to the fire, as is the custom of cows. On the third day when he came he saw that the cattle after grazing on the millet had lain down by the fire. Then he knew in his heart that this herd had come from heaven. There were nineteen cows ; he drove them off and brought them home, and gave them to his wife, whose name was Samml, saying, ‘ This herd is thine, for when I die my heirs will not give thee my other cattle.’ Then he moved away from that place, and came to live under the protection of Doda Gorgezh, and said to him, ‘ When I die let my heirs carry away the rest of my cattle, but this herd is Sammi’s. Do not then give them up to anyone, they are under thy protection.’ One day Samml’s husband died, and the heirs came and demanded the cattle. Doda gave them all the rest of the cattle, but not Samml’s herd. The next day the Buledhls came and raided that herd. Doda pursued and overtook them at Garmaf Daf, and there they fought.3. Doda was killed by the Buledhls, his tomb is still there. Then the Buledhls came again and raided a herd of camels belonging to Rals, son of Doda’s uncle. Rals, with his brethren Kawri, Chandram, Tota, Murld and Summen pursued and overtook them and gave them battle, but they were all slain there together with Rals. Only one of the brethren was left, Balach, a poor-spirited man. Balach then went to the shrine of Sakhi Sarwar, and for three years he fetched water (carried water pots) for the pilgrims. After three years were past, one night he saw a vision. Sakhi Sarwar came and roused Balach, saying, ‘ Go and fight with the Buledhls.’ He arose and bought him a bow, and at night he left it unstrung. When he arose in the morning, behold, his bow was strung. Then Sakhi Sarwar gave him leave to depart, and said, ‘ Now thy bow is strung, go and smite the enemy.’ So Balach went and waged war upon the Buledhls. He had but one companion, Nakhlfo his brother. (They had the same father, but Nakhlfo’s mother was a slave- girl.) No one else was with him. They fought in the Sham and Nesao, in Barkhan, Syahaf and Kahan,4. for in those days all that country belonged to the Buledhls. When men lay down to rest at night in their homes they would discharge their arrows at them ; three-score and one men they slew.Then the Buledhis left that country and settled in the plains. 5. When Balach became old he lived at Sangslla, and a band of Buledhi horsemen came and slew him there, and lost one of their own men as well. It happened in this wise. When the Buledhls came they said to Balach, ‘Balach, pay that money that you carried off!’ Balach replied, ‘ Come nearer, I am deaf.’ So they came nearer and again demanded it. Then Balach said, ‘ In the days when I had money you never asked for it, but now that it has all dropped away from me you come and demand it.’ He had a razor in his hand and he plunged it into the belly of the Buledhi, saying, ‘ There is your money,’ and killed him. Then they fell upon Balach and slew him. It was thus that the Gorgezh and the Buledhls fought.

Refereance:

1.^Zurth ; the Arabic dhurrah, Indian jawar (Holcus Sorghum).
2.Every field is surrounded by a lath or embankment to keep in the water which is let in for irrigation when the hill-torrents are in flood.
3. This is the subject of the first of the ballads which follow. Garmaf Daf is the Hotwater Pass. There are several places which bear the name Garmaf. This one is near Sangsila, in the Bugti country.
4. That is in the country now occupied by the Mam, Bugti, Khetran and Gurcham tribes.
5. The Buledhls, or Burdis, still live in northern Sindh, near the Indus.

 

Bivaragh and the King of Qandahar’s Daughter

By: M. Longworth Dames

Blvaragh son of Bahar, one of the principal actors in the struggle between Mir Chakur and Gwaharam, is the hero. He tells the tale in the first person, and relates how he abducted the daughter of the King of Qandahar, and brought her back to Sevi. Also how he joined Gwaharam instead of his own Chief Mir Chakur, and how he pacified the Turkish King who came to take revenge.
The King alluded to is probably Shah Beg son of Zu’n-nun Beg Arghun who ruled at Qandahar at this period, and was frequently at war with the Baloches. It is probable that Blvaragh’s reason for taking refuge with Gwaharam rather than with Mir Chakur was that the Rinds were in alliance with the Turks, and unlikely therefore to give him any countenance in his escapade. For Blvaragh’s genealogy,In the ballads relating to the outbreak of the Rind and Lashari war he figures as the moderate man who endeavoured to restrain Mir Chakur’s rage. Modern tradition holds that Blvaragh had a son named Gishkhaur by his marriage with the King of Qandahar’s daughter, who is the ancestor of the Gishkhauri tribe.
Blvaragh son of Bahar sings : the lofty Rind sings : of his love he sings : how he brought in the princess he sings. In Qandahar is a garden, an ancient place, the abode and dwelling of kings. Wandering through the crowded streets I came upon a way, and at a window I espied a fair lady. I let forth a complaint from my helpless heart. In Persian words the fair one called to me, ‘ Come quickly, with that form, bring your flashing sword and your trusty shield.’ I went, trusting in God, with my royal steed. I repeated a text from the Quran (as a charm), a powerful word from God’s revelation. Distressed and dark in soul I went, through desire of my love’s golden necklace.
Under the palace I tied up my mare, and I climbed the walls, driving in iron pegs. I entered the private rooms, and with joyful heart I perceived my lady reclining on a golden couch. Seven nights and seven days I abode with my love. Then said to me the enchantress, the beauty and crown of her companions,’ Blvaragh, my prince of chieftains, my King bears great love for me, look that he does not secretly receive tidings of our doings, when he will leave neither of us two alive and well. If you have any manliness within your loin-string, it were well to carry me away to your own land.’ I understood my love’s speech, and she left all her possessions and her golden couch. When we came to the foot of the palace wall I unloosed my mare thence, and seated my love on the black mare’s shoulder. I turned my face back to the Bolan, and came to the walls of Sevi fort. Then said my fair enchantress : ‘ Bivaragh, my chief of chiefs, thou saidst to me : “I have mighty armies.” How many are thy Rinds’ swift mares? How many are thy Mlr’s bands of young warriors ? ‘ Then I replied to my love : ‘ Forty thousand men are Mir Chakur’s warriors, thirty thousand draw the sword for Gwaharam.’ Then said my lady Granaz : ‘ Which is thy friend, and which thy foe ? ‘ And I replied to my love : ‘ Chakur is my friend, Gwaharam my foe.’ Then said my lady Granaz : ‘ Let us go to Gwaharam the sword-wielder, for Chakur does not take his ease at his home.’ So we came to Gwaharam the sword-wielder, saying :
‘ Gwaharam ! Prince of Chiefs ! we have not halted till we reached you ; the spoils of the King are with us. If you will keep me I will abide with you ; if you will not keep me I will look for shelter elsewhere.’ Then said Gwaharam the sword-wielder : ‘Come! you are welcome, Mir of the Baloches, with your love to stay in welfare and safety.’ He arose and showed us a place to dwell in, he cleared for us a palace in the Chief’s fort. He gave us a bedstead and spread out the rugs, cups of silver, platters of gold. From one side came trays of pulao, from one side came roast meat on spits, from one side came flagons of wine. Neither did I eat of the food, nor my love. Most of it we threw away under the walls, and a little we left upon the dishes, and my lady Granaz said to me : ‘ Blvaragh ! you have become a Lashari. What saying is this ? You sit on a mat and are filled with wrath.’ I replied to my love : ‘ I will not eat, for the salt (of an enemy) is not good. That salt will one day become unlawful.’ I called a shopkeeper from the town, and a Minmin (i.e. a Khoja, a Muhammadan shopkeeper) came at once. ‘ If you wish to eat I will bring you something. ‘ ‘Bring some sweet scents that we may inhale them, bring garments that we may dress ourselves therewith.’ Seven or eight days I kept a tailor working, I became indebted in seven hundred pieces of silver.1 Then Gwaharam the sword-wielder took counsel, and sent a messenger (telling him to speak) thus : ‘ Tell Chakur the Ruler that a Chief’s business is not to play nor to act like a boy. Blvaragh has brought down agreat burden, he has the spoil of the King with him.’The King’s army passed out of the Bolan Pass, there was no room for the Amirs’ tents. The sun rose with battlements of gold, and Mir Chakur’s army set forth. Mir Chakur and Gwaharam took counsel together, and sent out the swift horsemen of the Rinds. ‘ Go forth ; circle round the head of the army and return (bringing news).’ Blvaragh said : ‘I myself will be your scout, be on the watch for three nights and days.’ I went forth trusting in God with my own royal steed. I came to the army, and fetched a compass about it, and tied up my mare close to the army. I repeated some powerful verses from the Qurans, some mighty secrets of the Almighty. I went on with my glittering blade, and came close up to the King’s tent. I was seen by Jago Khan the Turk, and I drew my glittering blade from its sheath, and struck such a fearless blow that it passed through like lightning in a thunderstorm. The King (God) protected me, and made my way clear. I cut through the strong tent ropes, and went through carrying my head on my shoulders. I came and saw the King of the army lying on a Turkish bedstead. I took the Turk by the hand and roused him (saying) : ‘ I am that Blvaragh who has been spoken of. It is I who have done this work of Shaitan. To forgive is the heritage of Kings. If thou dost not forgive me it is in thy own hands. That is thy sword, this is my neck.’ He called his trusty men for counsel, and for a little while they discussed the matter. Then the King presented me with a swift thundering steed, and clothed my body in red silk. The army struck its tents with stout ropes, and turned back by the Bolan Pass. I came to the fort of SevI and told what had happened in the Rind assembly. No man was held to quarter through me, nor had the Rinds a heavy battle to fight, nor the Lasharl to join in war. With joyful heart I stay with my love, and sport with her golden necklace.

1 The coin alluded to is doubtless the dirhem of the Taimuri dynasties, weighing about 80 grains.

 

Balochi Dress Design

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Marking of arguments in Balochi ergative and mixed constructions

Prof. Dr. Agnes Corne

By: Dr. Agnes Korn

1. Introduction

Balochi (Bal.) is a contemporary language of the Iranian (Ir.) branch of Indo-European languages and is spoken in Western Pakistan, South Western Afghanistan, South Eastern Iran and some other countries by several millions of people. Its dialects may be divided into a Western (WBal.), a Southern (SBal.) and an Eastern (EBal.) group.1 While the majority of Balochi dialects pattern ergatively in the PAST domain (see 1.1), many sentences show somewhat deviant constructions. These patterns are interesting from a typological point of view, specifically in their combination in one and the same language; they are the topic of this paper. The approach will be a comparative one, contrasting Balochi dialects with each other, and with data from earlier Iranian languages.

1.1 Ergative constructions

Nominative constructions are characterised by marking the subject of intransitive constructions (S) in the same way as the agent of transitive constructions (A) while the patient of transitive constructions (P) is marked differently. Ergative constructions, on the other hand, show identical marking of subject and patient, with the agent being marked differently (see e.g. PAYNE 1998:555). As a rule, ergativity in Iranian languages is of the split ergativity type, with nominative patterning of verbs forms from the present stem and ergative for the tenses formed from the past stem. These domains will be referred to as PRESENT and PAST domain, respectively, in what follows.2 So the shown in tables 1 and 2 coexist in the grammatical system in Ir. languages that show ergativity.3 The case used for the patient in nominative constructions is the same as the one used for the ergative agent (underlined).
1.: Marking of arguments in nominative constructions
2.: Marking of arguments in ergative constructions
A A
P S P S
1 This three way division of Balochi dialects follows JAHANI 2000:11 (see also KORN 2005:41 for more discussion). Although undeniably descending from a common protolanguage, it is questionable to which degree the Balochi dialects spoken today should be termed one language (see KORN, fthc. 3).
2 The two terms are capatalised to indicate that not all forms from the present stem are necessarily some sort of present tense, nor do all formations based on the past stem function as past. For details as to which constructions pattern ergatively and which ones nominatively in Balochi, see KORN (fthc. 1).
3 Cf. e.g. WINDFUHR 1992:31-32. It will be seen that this statement requires modification (as indeed mentioned by Windfuhr), see section 7.

1.2 The Balochi case system

Before embarking on the discussion of ergative Bal. constructions, a short look at the nominal system of Balochi is necessary. Table 3 shows the case system that I assume to underly all Bal. dialects.4 Apart from the vocative, there are four cases: direct, oblique and object case, genitive and vocative. The direct case has the ending -∅ both in the singular and the plural. In ergative constructions, the direct case is used for the patient while the oblique case (underlined) is used to mark the agent.

3.: Balochi case system

direct oblique object genitive vocative
singular
-∅
-¯a -¯ar¯a -ai, -¯e, -¯ı, -a, -∅ -∅
plural -¯an -¯an¯a, -¯anr¯a -¯an¯ı -¯an
For the personal pronouns, it is necessary to list the forms of the three major dialect groups separately.

4.: Inflection of Balochi personal pronouns

direct oblique object genitive singular 1st WBal. man man¯a
m(a)n¯ı
SBal. man man¯a man¯ar¯a
EBal. mã, ma, m㯠ma¯ mana¯, man㯠ma¯ı, ma˜ı
2nd WBal. taw, ta tar¯a
SBal. tau, to¯ t(a)ra¯ tara¯ra¯ t(h)a¯ı, t(h)¯ı
EBal. thau, tha thar¯a
plural 1st5 WBal. (am)m¯a (am)m¯ar¯a
(am)mai, m¯e
SBal. m¯a m¯ar¯a
EBal. ma¯ ma¯r(a¯) ma˜ı¯
2nd WBal. š(u)m¯a šum¯ar¯a
šumai, šum¯e
SBal. šum¯a šum¯ar¯a
EBal. š(a)w¯a, š¯a š(a)w¯ar, š¯ar š(a)w¯a¯ı, š¯a¯ı
4 For discussion of this case system, see KORN (fthc. 3); for its history, see KORN (fthc. 2). For the case system of the Bal. dialects of Iran, see section 3.1. The transcription of Balochi has been put to unified system; the same applies to the glosses of the examples, some of which are based on the authors’, others are mine. Translations are meant literal rather than idiomatic to reflect the Bal. constructions. The left column of the exanmples specifies the dialect group and the subdialect (where known) of the sentences.
5 The forms am(m)¯a etc. are used in Afghan and Turkmen Balochi.

In most variants of Balochi, there is no distinction between direct and oblique case of the 1st and 2nd person pronouns. The WBal. dialects have only one form for the direct and the oblique case, which derives from the Middle Iranian oblique case. This form is classed as direct case in the remaining dialects, new oblique and object case forms being added to the system. However, even in the dialects which have a neo-oblique case, it is predominantly the forms deriving from the old oblique that are used as agent of ergative constructions (underlined).6 In addition, there are pronominal clitics. These are found in all functions of the oblique cases, including the agent of ergative constructions.7 For the 3rd person, demonstrative pronouns are used, which are for the most part inflected like nouns.

2. “Model” ergative constructions

Bal. ergative constructions of the standard type show the agent in the oblique and the patient in the direct case:
1 s¯abir-¯a ¯e haw¯al-∅ uškit
WBal. PN-OBL DEM news-DIR heard.PAST
(Pakistan) “Sabir heard this news.” (ELFENBEIN 1990/I:62 no. 5)8
2 ¯ay-¯a g¯ok-∅ kušt
SBal. DEM-OBL cow-DIR kill.PAST
(Karachi) “He/she killed the cow.” (FARRELL 1990:39)
3a haw¯e ˇc¯a\-∅ khay-¯a ˇia\-a
EBal. this.very well-DIR who-OBL strike-PERF
“Who has dug this well?”
3b haw¯e ˇc¯a\-∅ m¯a ˇia\-a
this.very well-DIR I.OBL strike-PERF
“I have dug this well.” (GILBERTSON 1923:121)
The manuscript Codex Additional 24048 of the British Library is the oldest known Bal. manuscript,9 it may date from around 1820 (ELFENBEIN 1983:1-4). As demonstrated in the examples quoted in what follows, Bal. ergative constructions at that period had more or less the same form as those of contemporary dialects. An example for the standard form is
4 mard-¯a ham¯e z¯al-∅ gipt
SBal. man-OBL this.very woman-DIR take.PAST
(19th c.) “The man took (i.e. married) this woman.” (CodOrAdd 24048: f. 1a, l. 3)10
In ergative constructions, the verb does not agree with the agent:
6 The same forms are also used after prepositions.
7 On the placement of these clitics, see DABIR-MOGHADDAM (fthc.).
8 This sentence is from a story in the dialect of Kharan in Pakistan.
9 For an edition, see ELFENBEIN 1983. In what follows, the text will be quoted according to folio (f.) and line (l.) of the manuscript plus page of Elfenbein’s edition. The transcription and the analysis are not always identical with those suggested by Elfenbein; glosses are mine.
10 ELFENBEIN 1983:10.

5 ã¯h-㯠to¯b¯ı ˇia\-a-∅
EBal. DEM-OBL.PL diving strike-PERF
“They have dived (lit.: have struck a dive).” (GILBERTSON 1923:59) Conversely, the verb may agree with the patient. There is no agreement in person11 of the verb with the patient in any dialect of Balochi, but 3rd person patient may agree with the verb in number, i.e. the 3pl. ending is optionally added if the patient is understood to be plural:
6 b¯anuk-¯a zahm-∅ kaššit drust-∅ ˇiat-ant
SBal. lady-OBL sword-DIR draw.PAST all-DIR strike.PAST-3PL
(19th c.) “The lady drew a sword [and] struck them all.” (CodOrAdd 24048: f. 4a, l. 2)12
7 ã¯h¯ı-a¯ kull-e˜¯ band¯ı-∅ yala ku\-ag-ant
EBal. DEM-OBL all-ADJ prisoner-DIR free do-PERF-3PL
(Marri) “He has freed all the prisoners.” (BASHIR 1991:104)13
8 z¯ı ã¯h¯ı-a¯ ma˜ı¯ ˇiarr-∅ šušt-ag-ã
EBal. yesterday DEM-OBL my clothes-DIR wash-PERF-3PL
(Marri) “Yesterday s/he washed my clothes.” (BASHIR 1991:104)14
Since the direct case has the ending -∅ both in the singular and the plural, agreement of the patient with the verb, i.e. the 3pl. ending of the verb, is the only indicator (besides the context) of plurality of the patient. Animacy and definiteness are not relevant here: plurality of animate as well as inanimate patients may be marked, neither need the patient be definite (see ex. 29). Ergative constructions that index the agent by way of a pronominal clitic have been treated as a separate type by some authors.15 It does not seem necessary to establish a separate type, though: pronominal clitics function as clitic form of the oblique case pronouns, so they may naturally also be used as ergative agent. These ergative constructions are indeed quite common. Some Bal. dialects use them for all persons, but in others, their use is limited to the 3rd person. It is significant that Bal. dialects where the distinction between direct and oblique case tends to be lost (see section 3.1) make ample use of the pronominal clitics, as their function is unmistakeably oblique.
9 p¯ıa¯la¯-∅=õ¯ zu¯rt-a
SBal. bowl-DIR=PRON.1SG seize-PERF
(Karachi) “I have taken the bowl.” (FARRELL 1990:54)
11 Since there is no gender in Balochi, there is obviously no agreement in gender either.
12 ELFENBEIN 1983:14. Elfenbein transcribes durust.
13 Bashir has kull¯e, which she interprets (Elena Bashir, personal communication) as containing the -¯e “one” (for
which see fn. 23), but it seems to make more sense to assume that the ¯e is nasalised, i.e. the suffix appearing on attributive adjectives.
14 BASHIR 1991:104 interprets these two sentences as showing past perfect, but it seems that they are regular present perfect examples with agreement of the verb with the object. Bashir’s EBal. examples are from an informant from the Marri tribe and appear to be elicited.
15 Thus e.g. MOŠKALO 1985:113-119, FARRELL 1995 and KALBA¯ S¯I 1988:78-82. I am grateful to Moritz Flatow for bringing the latter article to my attention.

10 b¯agp¯an-∅ gipt=¯ı
SBal. gardener-DIR take.PAST=PRON.3SG
(19th c.) “He seized the gardener.” (CodOrAdd 24048: f. 4a, l. 7)16
11 ma¯ı g¯oš-∅ buri\-ag-ant=iš
EBal. my ear-DIR cut-PERF-3PL=PRON.3PL
“They cut off my ears.” (GILBERTSON 1923:73)
The pronominal clitics may also occur in addition to an agent expressed as a noun:
12 ¯e sard¯ar-¯a g¯o man-∅ yak šart=¯ı kut-ag
SBal. DEM chief-OBL with I-DIR one bet=PRON.1SG do-PERF
(19th c.) “This chief made a bet with me.” (CodOrAdd 24048: f. 5b, l. 12)17
3. Marking of the agent
There are contexts in which the agent in the PAST domain is not in the oblique. This effects a marking of arguments that may be called neutral:18 the agent and the patient of transitive verbs, and the subject of intransitive verbs are all marked identically:
5.: Marking of arguments
in Balochi neutral constructions
A
P S
This pattern is found under two entirely different conditions, viz. in the Bal. dialects spoken in Iran, and in all Bal. dialects in sentences with a pronoun of the 1st or 2nd pronoun as agent and a 3sg. as patient.

3.1 Ergative constructions in Iranian Balochi
Irrespective of their affiliation to one of the major dialect groups, the Bal. dialects spoken in Iran share a case system which markedly differs from that of other Bal. dialects, presumably due to the influence of Persian, whence they will be collectively termed “Iranian Balochi” (IrBal.) here. The genitive may be replaced by the e ˙z¯afe construction.19
16 ELFENBEIN 1983:14.
17 ELFENBEIN 1983:16-17. Elfenbein edits g¯on, but the photo of the manuscript seems to speak for g¯o, both variants of which are used in Balochi (cf. KORN 2005:181).
18 KALB ¯ AS¯I 1988:71 uses the term xon ¯s¯a “hermaphrodite, neutral”.
19 See JAHANI 2004 and 2003 for discussion of the IrBal. case system, for affiliation of IrBal. dialects and some of their features, see KORN 2005:256, for Bal. dialect groups, see also section 1.

6.: Case system of Iranian Balochi

nominative object genitive (or e ˙z¯afe)
singular -∅ -¯a(r¯a) -ey
plural -¯an -¯an¯a -¯an¯ı
Direct and oblique case tend to merge and yield a case that may be called nominative, with an ending -∅ in the singular and -¯an in the plural. The object case is used for indirect objects and for patients in the PRESENT domain. Being the conflation of the direct and the oblique cases, the nominative of Iranian Balochi marks both the agent and the patient of ergative constructions, and also the subject of intransitive verbs. So for Iranian Balochi, “neutral marking” means that agent, patient, and subject in the nominative case in the PAST domain.
Here are IrBal. examples for the subject in the nominative:
13 ost¯ad-¯an ez tehr¯an-∅ a yaht-ent
IrBal. teacher-NOM.PL from PN-NOM IPF come.PAST-3PL
(Sarawani) “The teachers were (lit.: were coming) from Tehran.” (BARANZEHI 2003:93)
14 pogol-㯠tawa¯r a ko
IrBal. frog-NOM.PL sound IPF do.PAST
(Sarawani) “The frogs were making noise.” (BARANZEHI 2003:103)
15 k¯ar-¯an=o tam¯am kapt-e-∅
IrBal. work-NOM.PL=PRON.1SG finish fall-PERF-3SG
“My works have become (lit.: fallen) finished.” (MAHMOODI BAKHTIARI 2003:143)20
The same case marks the agent:
16 e¯ sey-e˜¯ bacˇak-㯠(…) ro¯za=yeš wa¯rt-a
IrBal. this three-ADJ boy-NOM.PL fasting=PRON.3PL eat-PERF
(Sarawani) “These three boys have broken the fast.” (BARANZEHI 2003:94)
The plurality of the patient may still be marked on the verb:
17 n ¯ ˜u gw¯at-∅ ˇcan ˙d-¯ent-˜e
IrBal. now wind-NOM swing-CAUS.PAST-3PL
(Sarawani) “Now the wind swung [the clothes].” (BARANZEHI 2003:82)
18 mõ-∅ d¯at-˜e ramaz¯an-a ke ra-∅
IrBal. I-NOM give.PAST-3PL PN-OBJ SUB go.PAST-3SG
(Sarawani) “I gave them to Ramazan, who [then] went.” (BARANZEHI 2003:83).
20 This sentence is not elicited according to MAHMOODI BAKHTIARI 2003:143 and indeed does not entirely
correspond to its Persian equivalent:
i k¯ar-h¯a=yam=r¯a tam¯am kard-e-am
NP work-PL=PRON.1SG=DO finish do-PERF-1SG
“I have finished my works (now that I am talking to you).”
It is noteworthy that in Iranian Balochi, the agent is expressed by a pronominal clitic in all persons wherever possible (see section 2.). Indeed, the use of these clitics is convenient in a system that would otherwise mark agent and patient identically.
19 ket¯ab=õ w¯ant
IrBal. book=PRON.1SG read.PAST
(Lashari) “I read (past tense) the book.”21
20 t¯an do s¯al dega ma-∅ l¯og=o zort-a
IrBal. until two year next I-NOM house=PRON.1SG seize-PERF
“I will have bought a house by the next two years.” (MAHMOODI BAKHTIARI
2003:143)22
21 ˇcand wahd=¯e=yat ke yakk o degar=˜e na-d¯ıst-at
IrBal. some time=one23=
COP.PAST.3SG
SUB one and other=PRON.1PL NEG-see-PPERF
(Sarawani) “It was some time since we had seen each other.” (BARANZEHI 2003:95)
22 n¯un=˜e belett-∅ gept
IrBal. now=PRON.1PL ticket-NOM take.PAST
(Sarawani) “Now we bought the ticket.” (BARANZEHI 2003:102)
23 dars-∅=en a wã¯
IrBal. lesson-NOM=PRON.1PL IPF read.PAST
(Khash) “We were studying.” (JAHANI 2003:125)
24 zekk-∅=¯ı t¯al¯an kort er ham-¯e tagerd
IrBal. goat.skin-NOM=PRON.3SG pouring do.PAST from this.very mat
(Sarawani) “She poured out a goat skin on the mat.” (BARANZEHI 2003:83)
The agent is expressed both by a noun and a pronominal clitic specifically when the agent
is a 3sg.:
25 tam¯am-e s¯ıst¯an o bal¯oˇcest¯an-∅ xeil¯ı p¯ıšraft=¯ı kort-a
IrBal. all-EZ PN-NOM much progress=PRON.3SG do-PERF
(Zahedan) “The whole of Sistan and Balochistan has progressed a lot.” (JAHANI 2003:125)
26 al¯ı-∅ hasan-∅=¯ı zat
IrBal. PN-NOM PN-NOM=PRON.3SG strike.PAST
(Lashari) “Ali hit Hasan.”24
21 Elicited by the author from D¯od¯a Mahm¯udzah¯ı, Iranshahr (January 2005).
22 This sentence is the translation of the Persian sentence (i.e. elicited)
ii t¯a do s¯al-e d¯ıgar x¯ane xar¯ıd-e-am
NP until two year-EZ next house buy-PERF-1SG
“I will have bought a house by the next two years.”
23 The clitic -¯e is usually termed “indefinite article”, but this does not seem quite adequate: its cooccurrence
with the oblique ending shows that it rather denotes e.g. “one (specific)”, not “a (any)” (see also fn. 43).
27 go-˜e al¯ı-∅ ˇian¯ı=¯ı košt-a o ˇiest-a-∅
IrBal. say.PRES-3PL PN-DIR wife=PRON.3SG kill-PERF and jump-PERF-3SG
“They say that Ali has killed his wife and run away.” (MAHMOODI BAKHTIARI
2003:143)25
In sentences like these, the use of the pronominal clitic disambiguates a sentence that otherwise would be open to two different analyses: as the pronominal clitic may not be suffixed to the agent, the noun that carries the clitic must be the patient, so Ali is the agent.

3.2 Personal pronouns as agent
As shown in table 4, the 1st and 2nd person pronouns have the same form in the direct and oblique case in Western and Eastern Balochi. In Southern Balochi, the form of the direct case is used for the agent in ergative constructions. The only exception is the EBal. 1sg. pronoun, which has a separate form for the oblique case that is also used for the agent (see ex. 3b).26 Except for the EBal. 1sg., a 1st or 2nd person agent expressed by a full pronoun is in (what is also) the direct case. Such sentences with a 3rd person patient show neutral marking:27
28 man-∅ wat¯ı l¯og-∅ pr¯ošt-ag
SBal. I-DIR own house-DIR break-PERF
(Kech) “I have broken my own house.” (MOCKLER 1877:86)
29 man-∅ xat-∅ likit-ã
SBal. I-DIR letter-DIR write.PAST-3PL
(Karachi) “I wrote letters.” (FARRELL 1990:40)
Examples of this type are not so common, though, because the agent seems to be particularly liable to be indexed by a pronominal clitic.

4. Marking of the patient
In addition to the neutral constructions, there are other patterns in Balochi that have the arguments of sentences in the PAST domain in something else than the ergative pattern. These do not show the patient in the direct case, but the patient is marked as it would be in a nominative construction, i.e. it is in the oblique or in the object case. Examples of this type 24 Elicited by the author from Mohammad Y¯usef Parvareš (Ra’¯ıs¯ı), Espake (January 2005). 25 This sentence is the translation of the Persian sentence
iii m¯ı-g-an al¯ı zan=eš=o košt-e-∅ o far¯ar kard-e-∅
NP PRES-say-3PL NP wife=PRON.3SG=DO kill-PERF-3SG and escape do-PERF-3SG
“They say that Ali has killed his wife and run away.”
26 This form is likely to have been introduced secondarily to match the pattern of agent marking in the oblique
(see KORN, fthc. 1).
27 For 1st and 2nd person patients, see 4.3.

have been considered as incorrect by some authors.28 However, they are rather common, so it seems more adequate to describe them as patterns in their own right, i.e. specific types of mixed constructions.

4.1 Patient in the oblique case
In sentences that have the patient in the oblique case and the agent not a 1st or 2nd person pronoun, the agent and the patient are marked in the same way. The difference to a neutral construction is that the subject of intransitive verbs is in a different case, and that agent and patient are in the oblique. This pattern may be termed “double oblique”.29

7.: Marking of arguments
in Balochi double oblique constructions
A
P S
The existence of a pattern which has both the agent and the patient marked as oblique is noteworthy since it has been noted that such sentences do not occur.30
30 bacˇakk-a¯ wat¯ı danta¯n-㯠pro¯št
WBal. boy-OBL own tooth-OBL.PL break.PAST
(Pakistan) “The boy broke his teeth.” (BARKER/MENGAL 1969/I:348)
This construction existed already in the 1820s (see also ex. 38):
31 n¯am-¯a har kas-¯a z¯ant
SBal. name-OBL every person-OBL know.PAST
(19th c.) “Everyone knew the name.” (CodOrAdd 24048: f. 13b, l. 13)31
32 ¯e haps-¯a ¯o ¯e zahm-¯a kill¯ah-¯a paˇc=¯ı gipt
SBal. DEM horse-OBL and DEM sword-OBL fort-OBL open=PRON.3SG take.PAST
(19th c.) “He got hold of this horse and this sword [and] the fort.” (CodOrAdd 24048: f. 5b, l. 1-
2)32
28 See e.g. COLLETT 1983:21 (who says these constructions “should not” be used) and ELFENBEIN 1983:7.
29 Following HARRIS/CAMPBELL 1995:241. Such constructions are termed n¯ader “singular, uncommon” by
KALBA¯ S¯I 1988:73.
30 FARRELL 1995:222, 224. However, their occurrence is also noted by RZEHAK 1998:178. As Collett does not differentiate between what is oblique and object case here, and as he does not give examples, it is not clear whether the note about the existence of unusual ergative constructions (COLLETT 1983:21) refers to the patterns classed here as double oblique or to tripartite constructions, or to both.
31 ELFENBEIN 1983:30.

33 t¯ıng-¯a k¯az¯ı[-¯e] k¯er-¯a =¯e b¯un-¯a burrit
SBal. slave.girl-OBL officer[-GEN] penis-OBL from base-OBL cut.PAST
(19th c.) “The slave girl cut the officer’s penis from its base.” (CodOrAdd 24048: f. 4a, l. 5-
6)33
This pattern is ergativoid in that the verb does not agree with the agent, but may show agreement with the patient:
34 ma¯ zahm-㯠a¯r\-ag-ant
EBal. I.OBL sword-OBL.PL bring-PERF-3PL
“I brought the swords.” (GILBERTSON 1923:113) In all examples of a patient marked in the oblique in the PAST domain that I have found so far, the patient is definite: it seems that definiteness is a necessary condition for the patient being marked this way. However, definiteness does not imply that the patient needs to be in the oblique as is shown, for instance, by examples 1-3. So oblique marking of the patient is obviously optional and is likely to depend on pragmatic factors.

4.2 Patient in the object case
Other examples from the PAST domain have the patient in the object case (with double underlining):
35 kuˇcik-¯a ham¯a ˇiinik-¯ar¯a d¯ıst
SBal. dog-OBL that.very girl-OBJ see.PAST
(Karachi) “The dog saw this girl.” (FARRELL 1995:221)
36 ma¯ mard-ã¯ra¯ ˇia\-a
EBal. I.OBL man-OBJ.PL hit-PERF
“I have struck the men.” (GILBERTSON 1923:197)
32 ELFENBEIN 1983:16. Elfenbein reads zahm (against the photo of the manuscript). For what I assume to be kill¯ah-¯a, the photo indicates kul¯ah¯a, which Elfenbein transcribes as kull¯ah¯a and translates “entirely”, but it is not clear how kull¯ah¯a might be derived from kull “whole”, and in several other places in the story (cf. f. 4b, l. 2 and f. 6b, l. 9-10), zahm, haps and kill¯ah are enumerated as the possessions that are taken away first and given back later. Maybe the copyist mistook a šadda sign in the original for ˙damma.
33 ELFENBEIN 1983:14. I apologise for this example.
The manuscript, which often confuses vowel length, writes burr¯ıt, which is surely an error. Elfenbein transcribes t¯ınga (probably only a misprint), k¯ır¯ae (but the word is k¯er in all other Bal. sources) and b¯on, which is not known to me from other sources. The usual word is bun, so maybe it is a writing error. However, as the word is written throughout in this manuscript, it might perhaps be an existing variant, cf. Persian bon besides b¯un, which might be different developments from Proto-Ir. *budna-.
The genitive ending on k¯az¯ı is not present in this sentence, maybe due to some uncertainty how to write word-final -¯ı-¯e, but it is there in a variant of the same sentence occurring later on in the story: k¯az¯ı-¯e k¯er-¯a-¯e b¯un-¯a burritag “someone has cut…” (f. 6a, l. 12, ELFENBEIN 1983:18). The parallel in f. 6b, l. 3 (ELFENBEIN 1983:18) has drust ¯e (Elfenbein reads ¯ay¯ı) b¯un¯a burritag-ant “someone cut everything from the base”, -ant agreeing with the patient, makes clear that drust here and k¯er-¯a in the other sentences is the patient and that
b¯un¯a has locative function.
This construction is likewise already present in the 1820 manuscript:
37 d¯ıt=iš mard-¯ar¯a
SBal. see.PAST=PRON.3PL man-OBJ
(19th c.) “They saw the man.” (CodOrAdd 24048: f. 4b, l. 3-4)34
38 wat¯ı mardum-¯an¯a l¯o ˙t-¯a¯ent wat¯ı huštir-¯an=¯ı
SBal. own man-OBJ.PL want-CAUS.PAST own camel-OBL.PL=PRON.3SG
(19th c.) “He let ask for his men [and] his camels.” (CodOrAdd 24048: f. 2a, l. 3-4)35
This pattern has agent, patient and subject each in different cases:
8.: Marking of arguments in Balochi tripartite constructions
A
P S
The difference between these examples and those in the preceding section is that a patient marked with object case ending is human while things, body parts and animals would have the oblique ending (see 4.1). This statement seems to be contradicted by one example in
COLLETT 1983:
39 t¯o-∅ ¯ay-r¯a ¯art
SBal. you.SG-DIR/OBL DEM-OBJ bring.PAST
(Oman) “You brought it.” (COLLETT 1983:10, Collett’s translation)
Similarly, MOCKLER 1877:18 states that any noun has the endings -∅ or -¯ar¯a when
functioning as patient of an ergative construction, e.g.
40 mard-¯a aps-∅ /
aps-¯ar¯a
kušt-a
SBal. man-OBL horse-DIR /
horse-OBJ
kill-PERF
(Kech) “The man has killed the horse.” (MOCKLER 1877:21) It is not quite clear how this should be interpreted. The data adduced here by Collett and Mockler here are clearly not derived from free speech, but appear to be elicited, if not even
34 ELFENBEIN 1983:16.
35 ELFENBEIN 1983:12. Elfenbein translates “he asked for his man (sic), his drivers”, and edits l¯o ˙t¯aint and mardum¯an. The photo of the manuscript shows £” x£*HdÆ* (sic); this seems to indicate mardum¯an¯a which to the scribe or the copyist (who probably were not Baloch according to ELFENBEIN 1983:3-4) was not clear:
in the same way, b¯agp¯an¯a (OBL of b¯agp¯an “gardener”, usually spelled £”£C u£†) is written £” x£C u£† in f. 2b, last line – f. 3a, l. 1.
constructed by the authors themselves. It is not excluded, though, that some SBal. dialect(s?) patterns somewhat differently than the others. At any rate, one might say that human patients (and maybe in some SBal. varieties also other patients) may be marked with the object case ending if they are definite. Again, this marking is clearly optional, since sentences like example 4 show a definite human patient in the direct case. According to FARRELL 1995:224,
the marking depends on the presence of a specific emphasis on the patient. It remains to be seen, however, if more specific conditions can be found.
4.3 Personal pronouns
As pronouns of the 1st and 2nd persons are by definition human and definite, it is to be expected that they can appear in the object case when functioning as patient in the PAST domain as well. Indeed, nowadays they apparently have to be in the object case. In Southern Balochi, the use of the oblique is also possible.
41 ta-∅ be ˇc¯akar-∅ man-¯a baxšet
IrBal. you.SG-NOM to PN-NOM I-OBJ give.PAST
(Khash) “You gave me to Chakar.” (JAHANI 2003:126)
42 man-∅ ta-r¯a gušt
WBal. I-DIR/OBL you.SG-OBJ say.PAST
(Pakistan) “I told you.” (ELFENBEIN 1990/I:104 no. 100)36
43 r¯ah-¯a mn-¯a tunn-¯a ˇiat-a
WBal. way-OBL I-OBJ thirst-OBL strike-PERF (Afghanistan) “On the way, thirst has struck me.” (RZEHAK 1998:178)37
44 man-∅ ta-r¯a gitt
SBal. I-DIR you.SG-OBL take.PAST
(Karachi) “I caught you.” (FARRELL 1995:224)
45 ba¯dša¯h-a¯ man-㯠khušth-a
EBal. king-OBL I-OBJ kill-PERF
“The king has killed me” (GRIERSON 1921:352)
Again, the 19th century manuscript shows the same structures:
46 ¯e man-∅ b¯ıt-ag-¯an ki
SBal. DEM I-DIR be-PERF-1SG SUB
(19th c.) ta-r¯a=un ¯awurt-ag y¯a digar=¯e b¯ıt-∅
you.SG-OBL=PRON.1SG bring-PERF or other=one be.PAST-3SG
“Was it me who (lit.: that I) has brought you, or was it another one (= someone else)?”
(CodOrAdd 24048: f. 8a, l. 5)38
36 The text is a story in the dialect of Kharan (Pakistan).
37 The Bal. dialect of Afghanistan is otherwise entirely nominative. However, epic poetry shows ergative and
other patterns as well.
38 The reading tar¯a-un cautiously suggested by ELFENBEIN 1983:20 seems to be the only solution that makes
sense for the manuscript’s HxÆ° .
47 man-¯ar¯a ¯e kamuk-¯a na-ˇiat=¯ı
SBal. I-OBJ DEM bit-OBL NEG-hit.PAST=PRON.3SG
(19th c.) “She did not hit me this bit (= not even a bit).” (CodOrAdd 24048: f. 3a, l. 13)39
However, in this manuscript, the pronoun also appears in the direct case when functioning as
patient:
48 man-∅=¯ı ˇiat
SBal. I-DIR=PRON.3SG hit.PAST
(19th c.) “She hit me.” (CodOrAdd 24048: f. 3a, l. 7)40
This manuscript seems to indicate a language change within the last 200 years, starting with an optional object case marking of human definite patients in general and ending with the 1st and 2nd person pronouns being always in the object case. The explanation may be that the form of these pronoun is (identical to) the direct case when it functions as agent, there is a strong motivation to mark it differently when occurring as patient. The reason for the marking being oblique or object in Southern Balochi instead of object case throughout is likely to be that the object case marking seems to be a recent system.41 5. Summary of case use in ergative constructions Table 9 presents the result of a counting of case uses in ergative and mixed constructions in
the first story in the British Library manuscript (ELFENBEIN 1983:10-21). The numbers here are not to be taken too literally, as some sentences may be open to different interpretations.
However, the table should give an idea of the relative frequency of sentence patterns.42 We may conclude that in Bal. sentence patterns of the PAST domain, the choice of the case of the patients seems to be governed by criteria of definiteness and animacy (table 10): if the patient is definite, things and animals are optionally in the oblique, thus identical with the agent, while humans may show a specific patient marking, which is not used for inanimate patients or agents, but also for animate patients in the PRESENT domain.
39 ELFENBEIN 1983:14. Elfenbein transcribes man¯ar¯a-¯ı, so that the sentence would contain two pronominal
clitics of the 3sg. The photo seems to indicate ¯e as it is marked with a diacritic sign which in other places of the manuscript is used to differentiate ¯e from ¯ı.
40 ELFENBEIN 1983:14.
41 The function of tar¯a etc. as oblique is due to a rearrangement of the SBal. pronominal system, which uses a doubly marked form (tar¯ar¯a etc.) for the object case (see table 4). The use of tar¯a etc. here may be said to reflect the stage prior to this adjustment.
42 “Transitive verb forms” here include compound verbs which have an additional patient. Multiple patients of one verb are counted as one if they are in the same case.
9.: Marking of agent and patient in the first story in CodOrAdd 24048
transitive verb forms in the PAST domain: 221. plurality of patient marked on these: 11 noun pronoun of the 1st, 2nd person
agent:
oblique: 118
“one” + oblique: 243
agent = pronominal clitic: 18
direct case: 2 direct case: 15
patient:
direct case: 64
direct + “one”: 12
+ 17 possible nominal parts of
compound verbs
OBL/OBJ case:
sg.: -¯a: 5, -¯ar¯a: 1
pl.: -¯an: 1, -¯an¯a: 1
direct case: 1 man¯ar¯a: 1
tar¯a: 1
10.: Marking of patients in Balochi ergative and mixed constructions
indefinite definite
non-human DIR OBL (optional)
human DIR OBJ (optional)
pronoun 1st, 2nd person – OBL/OBJ (1820 optional, today regular)
To the extent that Bal. neutral, double oblique and tripartite constructions have been noted at all, they have been explained as mixtures of the nominative and the active construction, i.e. by a mixing of the structures seen in tables 1 and 2.44 Such language-internal factors may certainly play a role, but it seems worthwhile to check for additional factors that might have influenced the Bal. sentence patterns.
6. Definiteness and animacy in ergative constructions of neighbouring languages
6.1 Urdu
Indic languages likewise display split ergativity, and the marking of the patient depends on criteria of definiteness and animacy. One might thus wonder whether influence from Urdu 43 These cases are:
yak r¯oˇc-¯e mardum-¯e-¯a ˇc¯arit “one day, a man looked” (f. 4a, l. 10-11); ELFENBEIN 1983:14 reads mardumiy¯a,
which would be morphologically unclear, and ˇc¯ar¯ıt, which is indeed what the manuscript has and would be the 3sg. present tense, but the past stem suffix -it is frequently written -¯ıt in this manuscript (cf. fn. 33);
yakk-¯e-¯a gušt “someone said” (f. 5b, l. 4); ELFENBEIN 1983:16 reads yakkay¯a, but translates “somebody said”, in which function his form would not be clear. In Balochi, the suffix -¯e “one” somes before the OBL ending in all dialects that allow this combination (see KORN, fthc. 2).
44 Cf. e.g. MOŠKALO 1985:121, who uses the term “contamination”. might have caused the Bal. ergative system.45
11.: Marking of patients in Urdu/Hindi ergative constructions
indefinite definite
inanimate NOM NOM
animate (humans and animals) NOM ACC However, comparing the Urdu system to the Balochi one, it emerges that they are not parallel: inanimate patients are not marked in Urdu, no matter whether they are definite or not, while they may be marked in Balochi if they are definite (cf. KLAIMAN 1987:76).
Conversely, marking of definite animate patients is regular in Urdu while it is optional in Balochi even if the patient is animate and definite. The animacy split is also different: while in Urdu, it is animates vs. inanimates, it is humans vs. the rest in Balochi. So the Bal. system of marking of patients is not likely to have been influenced by the Urdu system.
5.2 Bactrian
The animacy split of humans vs. not-humans recalls a phenomenon observed in Bactrian, a Middle Ir. language which was spoken in Northern Afghanistan and beyond and in several respects occupies an intermediary position between East and Western Iranian. Bactrian shows split ergativity with agreement of the verb wiht the patient in person and number:
49 oto=mo to … azado … uirt-hio
Bactr. and=PRON.1SG you.SG.DIR free release.PAST-2SG
“I released you.”46
The preposition abo, which has directional function, is also used to mark patients in the PRESENT and PAST domain if these are human and definite (SIMS-WILLIAMS 1998:86, 2004:2). In this example from the PRESENT domain, the first abo marks the patient, the second and third have local function: 50 od=aldo abo twmaxo abo lado od=abo razogolo oihl-amo Bactr. and=or to you.PL.OBL to court and=to royal tribunal bring.SBJ-1PL
“…or we should take you to court and to the royal tribunal.”47
The same marking is found for definite human patients in the PAST domain:
51 aggit=ido amaxo mano babo odo pidoko abo raliko olo
Bactr. receive.PAST=PTC we I.OBL PN and PN to PN wife
“We received – I, Bab, and [I], Piduk – Ralik [as our] wife.”48
45 For Urdu influence on Balochi, see e.g. FARRELL 2003, KORN 2005:48-50, for more on Urdu cases, see e.g.
BUTT/KING 2004.
46 From a deed of manumission (ed. SIMS-WILLIAMS 2000:45, document F, l. 8, maybe 480 AD).
47 From a contract for the purchase of an estate (SIMS-WILLIAMS 2000:59, document J, l. 24, possibly from 528
AD). twmaxo is only attested in oblique function (SIMS-WILLIAMS 2000:227).
The Bactrian constructions might indicate that criteria of animacy and definiteness were relevant in Iranian languages of the region already in Middle Iranian times.
6.3 Parthian
If this is the case, this might open an interesting aspect for Parthian, which is particularly relevant here since it is the Middle Iranian language that is most closely related to Balochi.
Like Bactrian, Parthian shows split ergativity with verbal agreement with the patient in person and number:
52 u=t az hišt h-¯em s¯ewag
Parth. and=PRON.2SG I.OBL leave.PAST COP-1SG orphan
“… and you have left me as an orphan.”49
53 u=š¯an ¯o murd¯an ¯edw¯ast h-¯em
Parth. and=PRON.3PL to dead-OBL.PL lead.PAST COP-1SG
“… and they have lead me to the dead.”50
In many Parthian examples from the PAST domain, a plural patient51 is not in the direct, but in the oblique case, thus marked identically with the agent. In example 53, the agent is expressed by the pronominal clitic -um, the patients, which are definite and human, are marked with the oblique ending, and the verb agrees with them: 54 ab¯aw=um harw-¯ın br¯adar-¯an ud wx¯ar-¯ın
Parth. there=PRON.1SG all-OBL.PL brother-OBL.PL and sister-OBL.PL
pad kirb¯ag wind¯ad ah-¯end
in piety find.PAST COP-3PL
“There, I found all brothers and sisters in piety.”52 Such examples have been interpreted as showing the obl.pl. ending being generalised as plural marker. This process is well-known to have happened in Middle Persian.53 It remains to be investigated, however, to which degree it has operated in Parthian, i.e. how many of the instances of an unexpected Prth. obl.pl. suffix involve the marking of a patient in an otherwise ergative sentence, and whether animacy and definiteness might play a role here as well.
48 From a marriage contract (SIMS-WILLIAMS 2000:33, document A, l. 15-16, maybe from 333 AD). amaxo serves both as direct and as oblique case of the 1pl. pronoun (SIMS-WILLIAMS 2000:179).
49 Fragment M 42 R i l. 15-16, quoted from DURKIN-MEISTERERNST p. 282.
50 Fragment M 7 II V ii, l. 1-3 (transliteration and German translation in ANDREAS/HENNING 1934:29.
51 In the singular, nouns (including family terms, cf. SIMS-WILLIAMS 1981:170) are not differentiated for case.
52 Transliteration and German translation in ANDREAS/HENNING 1934:858. Part of the example is also cited in RASTORGUEVA/MOLˇCANOVA 1981:223.
53 Cf. e.g. SUNDERMANN 1989:155. The same process also takes place in IrBal. dialects (see 3.1).

7. Conclusion
7.1 Balochi sentence patterns
The discussion above has revealed the existence of a large variation of sentence patterns in Balochi: in addition to nominative and ergative patterns, there are neutral, double oblique and tripartite patterns. Bal. neutral double oblique and tripartite patterns are charaterised by the verb optionally agreeing with 3pl. patients. These patterns interact in complex ways: Balochi as a whole patterns nominatively in the PRESENT domain, and in sentences of the PAST domain that have a pronoun of the 1st or 2nd person54 both as agent and as patient. Some WBal. varieties pattern nominatively also in all other contexts. The remaining dialects show neutral patterning for 1st and 2nd pronoun agents in sentences with a 3rd person patient. For other constructions, the dialects diverge considerably. For Iranian Balochi, neutral patterning is the general pattern in the PAST domain, while the remaining dialects have ergative constructions. Instead of the ergative, double oblique may be used for definite non-human patients and tripartite patterning for definite human ones.

12.: Patterns of argument marking in Balochi dialects
Western Balochi Southern
Balochi
Eastern
Balochi
Iranian
Balochi
PRESENT domain nominative pattern (table 1)
PAST domain:
agent and patient 1st, 2nd pronoun
PAST domain:
agent 1st, 2nd pronoun, patient 3rd nominative
pattern
(table 1)
neutral pattern (table 5)
PAST domain: agent and patient 3rd
ergative pattern (table 2) neutral pattern
(table 5)
PAST domain:
patient 3rd definite non-human ergative pattern (table 2) or double oblique pattern (table 7)
PAST domain:
patient 3rd definite human ergative pattern (table 2) or tripartite pattern (table 8)
PAST domain:
patient 1st, 2nd pronoun tripartite pattern (table 8)
54 In this table, “pronoun” denotes “full pronoun” (to the exclusion of pronominal clitics). For the EBal. 1sg. pronoun, see 3.2. The nowadays regular marking of 1st and 2nd person pronouns in a way that is different from that of 3rd persons may be described as a Identified Object Marking (IOM) or Differential Case Marking phenomenon (see FARRELL 1995:222, MIRDEHGHAN, fthc.). FARRELL 1995:224 argues that the optional marking of patients (in Farrell’s view only with object case endings) is not a candidate for IOM as it does not depend on identification, but on emphasis. However, the data suggest that only identified objects may be marked (albeit additional factors are also necessary) while unidentified may not, so the oblique and object case marking of patients may also be interpreted within an IOM framework.

Thence some WBal. dialects only show one pattern, Iranian Balochi shows nominative and neutral pattern and the remaining dialects show all five patterns that have been observed in language typology. Indeed, it appears that no Bal. dialect has (only) the two patterns shown in table 1 and 2.

7.2 The context of Iranian ergative constructions
It seems rather plausible that a similar statement might apply to other Iranian languages as well, as can indeed be inferred from the Bactrian examples given above. For instance, STILO 2004:243 notes nominative, ergative and double oblique constructions for Vafsi. However, the Vafsi double oblique constructions differ from the Bal. ones in that the verb agrees rather with the subject. Tripartite constructions are not uncommon in Western Iranian languages either: in Middle Persian and Parthian, patients (and indirect objects) in the PRESENT and PAST domain may be marked by the preposition ¯o,55 so that in the PAST domain, there is tripartite marking besides ergative. There is also a certain tendency to neutral marking in sentences where ¯o is not used, as direct and oblique case are in many instances not distinguished (see 6.3).
These data taken together might tend to speak against the terms in which Iranian neutral, double oblique and tripartite constructions in the PAST domain have been described. So far, these have been thought to show a “decay” of ergativity and “transition” between ergative and nominative constructions.56 It goes without saying that from a diachronic point of view, this is certainly correct in that the starting point are ergative constructions, and it is possible that the end point is a consistent nominative patterning as it is in the case of New Persian and some WBal. varieties. However, the presence of neutral, double oblique and tripartite constructions in such a wide range of languages from the Middle and New Iranian period would seem to indicate that such constructions may indeed be rather stable,57 so in this sense, their labeling as transitory or decaying is somewhat misleading. The mixed constructions may indeed have persisted for quite a long time (and continue to do so), and coexist with other patterns in one and the same language. Abbreviations:
1sg., 1SG 1st person sg. (other persons accordingly)
A agent (of transitive verbs)
ACC accusative case
ADJ adjective suffix
Bal. Balochi
CAUS causative
CodOr 24048 = ed. ELFENBEIN 1983
COP copula
DEM demonstrative pronoun
55 Unlike Bactrian, this marking seems to be independent of animacy, e.g.
iv nidraxt ¯o haw-¯ın panˇi ahrewar
Parth. oppress.PAST to that-OBL.PL five pit.of.death
“(The Prince of Darkness) subdued those five pits of destruction.” (Fragment M 507 V l. 14,
transliteration and translation in BOYCE 1952:441)
For the uses of ¯o, see also BRUNNER 1977:132-140 and DURKIN-MEISTERERNST p. 230-238.
56 Cf. e.g. FARRELL 1995:218, 240 and SIMS-WILLIAMS/CRIBB 1996:87, 90.
57 See also WENDTLAND 2005 for data that seems to point in the same direction.
DIR direct case
DO marker of direct object
EBal. Eastern Balochi
EZ e ˙z¯afe
f. folio
GEN genitive case
IPF imperfective aspect
Ir. Iranian
IrBal. Iranian Balochi (= Balochi spoken in Iran)
l. line
NEG negation
NOM nominative
NP New Persian
OBJ object case
obl., OBL oblique case
P patient
PAST past tense; domain of ergativity (see 1.1)
PERF present perfect
pl., PL plural
PN personal name
PPERF past perfect
PRES present tense
PRESENT domain of nominative constructions (see
1.1)
PRON pronominal clitic
PTC particle
S subject (of intransitive verbs)
SBal. Southern Balochi
SBJ subjunctive mood
sg., SG singular
SUB subordinating particle
WBal. Western Balochi

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State Control and its Impact on Language in Balochistan

Prof Dr. Carina Jahani

By: Prof Dr. Carina Jahani

The purpose of the present article will be to present certain aspects of the sociolinguistic situation among one of the least studied ethnic groups in the  Middle East, the Baloch, who inhabit the south-eastern corner of the Iranian linguistic area. It is an area where the dominance of the state is relatively recent, and where modern society with a monetary economy, a settled lifestyle, mass education, state administration etc. is just being established. It is particularly interesting to study language-related decisions of the state, and the implementation of these decisions in a region like Balochistan, where until recently there were no such phenomena as e.g. language planning, education, mass media, newspapers or administrative language. However, in Iran the Persian language and in Pakistan Urdu and English have started to play a constantly growing role in Balochistan, something which is by many Baloch felt as a threat to both their language and their distinct ethnic identity. It must be stressed that modernity is not regarded as negative, but the Baloch intellectuals face the dilemma of how to retain their ethnic and linguistic diversity at the same time as they seek active participation in an increasingly globalised world.

The Historical Background

The border between Iran and Pakistan, which cuts through the traditional land of the Baloch, has since the time of its demarcation in the late nineteenth century been constantly questioned and frequently ignored by the Baloch living on both sides of it. It is called the Goldsmid line, and was drawn by a border commission headed by the British general Goldsmid, which also held representatives from Tehran and the Balochi Khanate of Kalat (see below) (Breseeg 2001: 133-134, Hosseinbor 2000: 73-80).1 However, it has had a considerable impact on linguistic issues, and it is therefore interesting to study the position of Balochi on both sides of this border.
There is very little known about the early history of the Baloch, but two main theories prevail as to when they arrived in their present habitat, which includes south-eastern Iran, south-western Pakistan and southern Afghanistan.
The ‘native theory’ argues that the core of the Baloch settled in Balochistan and mixed with other local peoples as early as 2000 years ago, as a continued movement of the Aryan tribes that had already invaded the Iranian plateau from the north. The ‘migration theory’, supported by the indigenous epic tradition as related in the epic poetry on genealogies and the wanderings of the Baloch tribes, suggests that the Baloch arrived in Balochistan from the northwest considerably more recently, some time around the tenth century A.D. In fact, the ballads suggest a Semitic origin for the Baloch and a close relation to the prophet Muhammed. This could, however, be seen as a pseudohistoric way of legitimising the Baloch as good and orthodox Muslims. Other origins, such as Turkic or Indian, have also been suggested for the Baloch (Dames 1904: 7). It may well be that the Baloch earlier in their history were ‘a series of tribal communities not sharing any feelings of common ethnicity’ (Spooner 1989: 607), and that even though linguistic evidence suggests the likelihood that at least a core group were of Indo-European origin2 who had migrated from the north-west, ‘Arab groups could have found their way into the heterogeneous tribal population that eventually assimilated Baluch identity east of Kerman’ (Spooner 1989: 609). Arab historians from the ninth and tenth centuries A.D. associate them with the area between Kerman, Khorasan, Sistan and Makran (Spooner 1989: 606). It is also possible that they assimilated a major part of the local inhabitants in Balochistan when they settled there.
It is not possible to talk about ‘a Baloch race’ (cf. Dames 1904) in order to distinguish them from neighbouring peoples, but there are other factors which bind them together and separate them from others in the region. Anthony D. Smith (1986: 21) finds that the term ethnos ‘would appear to be more suited to cultural rather than biological or kinship differences’. Among such cultural differences, he enumerates ‘a collective name’, ‘a common myth of descent’, ‘a shared history’, ‘a distinctive shared culture’, ‘an association with a specific territory’ and ‘a sense of solidarity’ as crucial components of ethnic affiliation (Smith 1986: 22-31). All these factors are applicable in the case of the Baloch.
Among the components of a shared culture, those of language and religion are particularly important, and the Balochi language as well as the Sunni creed are distinguishing factors in relation to neighbouring ethnic groups.3 It is important to be able to distinguish the ‘self-group’ from other surrounding ethnic groups. In fact, it is only in an interactive relation to other groups that are perceived as different that a delimitation of the ‘own-group’ versus the others becomes meaningful (see e.g. Eriksen 1993). In Iran the Sunni creed is crucial in that respect, since the Balochi language is closely related to Persian and is normally in the official discourse described as a ‘dialect’ (guyeš) of the Persian language (zabān), whereas the majority in Iran, contrary to most Baloch, profess Shi’a Islam. In Pakistan, on the other hand, the language, which is not closely related to Sindhi, Lahnda, Punjabi, Urdu or other Indian languages and very distinct from the eastern Iranian language Pashto, is more crucial, since the majority of the Muslims in Pakistan, including a vast majority of the Baloch, profess Sunni Islam.
The traditional socio-economic systems in Balochistan divide the land into a northern part and a southern part.4 In the north, pastoral nomadism has been the predominant lifestyle, whereas in the south agriculture, with few landowners and landless workers or slaves, has been more common. The tribal structure has, however, historically been a uniting factor among free-born Baloch in all Balochistan, and it has been easy for originally non-Baloch tribes and clans to associate with and incorporate themselves into the Balochi tribal system.5 Nowadays the de-tribalisation process is strong, especially in those parts of Balochistan where the traditional economy is based on settled agriculture rather than on pastoral nomadism.6 Tribal loyalties are also often felt to hamper a strong nationalist movement, and many intellectual Baloch nowadays try to propagate the replacement of tribal (sub-national) loyalties with loyalty to the entire Balochi ethnie (see Smith 1986: 21).
In the seventeenth century the Baloch allied themselves with another tribal people, the Brahuis,7 against other forces in the region, and this Balochi- Brahui Khanate, with its centre in Kalat (in present-day Pakistan) continued to exist until 1947. It was especially powerful during the second half of the eighteenth century, under Nasir Khan I, who ‘was the only khan who successfully transcended tribal loyalties’ (Spooner 1989: 611), but it was later weakened and incorporated into the British administration in 1839. The language of administration in Kalat was from the beginning Persian (Baloch 1987: 120),8 but English later replaced Persian for official purposes.
In the nineteenth century the Qajar shahs, ruling from Tehran, made several attempts to subdue the western parts of Balochistan. Likewise, British India had intentions of expanding westwards in Balochistan. This is the background of the Goldsmid border commission, and the demarcation that resulted from it divided most of the Balochi mainland between British India and Iran.9 Even so, the Qajars never succeeded in establishing their power in Balochistan, and it was only in 1928 that the newly established Pahlavi monarchy was successful in imposing direct control over the province.

Official Language Policy and the Impact of Education and Mass Media

Education in Balochistan prior to the modern era was comprised of the traditional Islamic madrasa-education. There was no possibility of studying the Balochi language and literature within this system, since there was no written literary tradition in Balochi to refer to. The languages employed were Arabic, which was the language of religion and science, and Persian, the language of a long and elevated literary tradition.
Along with modernisation came a secular education system and a nationalist discourse as well, first in British India, and later in Iran. Hosseinbor finds several reasons as to why a nationalist movement demanding political, linguistic and cultural rights for the Baloch was much slower to emerge in western (Iranian) Balochistan than in eastern (Pakistani) Balochistan, e.g. the ‘extremely slow pace of urbanization, the absence of social and economic modernization, and the very limited modern education introduced in western Baluchistan prior to the 1960s’ as well as the ‘repressive Pahlavi rule’ (Hosseinbor 2000: 150).
When the demands for freedom from the colonial yoke grew stronger and stronger in British India, several of the educated young Baloch started to demand a free Balochistan as well. Some of these nationalists were also poets and writers and played a major part in the Balochi literary movement. The British had already paid considerable attention to the Balochi language. A number of grammatical descriptions and dictionaries of various Balochi dialects were produced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.10 Balochi oral epic poetry, folktales, stories etc. were collected and published by M. Longworth Dames, who as a result made a great contribution to the preservation and study of Balochi oral literature.11 Examinations were also held in Balochi, and the colonial officials were encouraged to learn the language (Bruce 1900: 69). When the young nationalists from the 1930s onwards started to write poetry, stories and other literary pieces in Balochi, they thus had a certain\ tradition to fall back on. The importance of books and periodicals in Balochi published from the mid-1950s onwards must not be underestimated. These publications, however, are also very limited in many ways. Firstly, their distribution is geographically limited, largely to Pakistan, and secondly, their readership is very limited. All educated Baloch have received their education in English/Urdu (in Pakistan), Persian (in Iran and Afghanistan) or another language, e.g. Arabic in the Gulf States. In addition, the Balochi literary movement is founded solely on personal initiatives, with next to no official support. Therefore, only a small literary elite takes an interest in reading books and magazines in Balochi, which also places financial constraints on publishing in Balochi (see e.g. Dashtyari 2003).There is no official use of Balochi as a language of administration or education in Pakistan, even if voices have been raised in particular for introducing it as a language of education. The official support the language receives in Pakistan is that it is taught at the University of Balochistan in Quetta, that it has an official academy, the Balochi Academy, founded in 1961 and that it is used as a language for radio and TV transmissions. There is also a periodical, Ulus, published in Quetta by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.12
In the early 1990s measures were taken to introduce Balochi as a language of primary education in those areas of Pakistani Balochistan where it is spoken by a majority of the population. This experiment was not very successful, however, due to several reasons, including disagreement among the Baloch on orthographic issues and the lack of qualified teachers. What was perhaps more important was the speakers’ attitude towards Balochi, which many Baloch see as a ‘backward and rural’ language, knowledge of which offers no improvement in terms of social or economic status in today’s Pakistan. Likewise, people felt threatened by the fact that the Brahuis and the Baloch would be taught in different languages, even though as a result of their political alliance in the Khanate of Kalat, they strongly identify as one people. There is also widespread bilingualism (Balochi – Brahui) among the Brahuis (Farrell 2000: 24-25).
Although the cultural climate in British India, and later in Pakistan, was not totally negative to a Balochi cultural and literary movement, things were quite different on the other side of the Goldsmid line. The linguistic and cultural policy of the Pahlavi monarchs was that of strict conformity to the majority. All attempts at strengthening local customs, traditions and cultures were viewed as opposition against the nation and as threats to the territorial integrity of Iran. Especially those languages spoken within the borders of Iran that are related to Persian (the Iranian languages)13 were regarded as local dialects of Persian. Under such circumstances there was, of course, no provision made by the government for mother tongue education or even cultural activities or publication in the minority languages. Mojab and Hassanpour describe this cultural and linguistic hegemony as the propagation of ‘racist and national chauvinistic myths in the state-controlled media, in educational institutions (all state owned), and in government organs’, denying the national, linguistic and cultural diversity of Iran (Mojab and Hassanpour 1995: 231-232).
According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, chapter 1, article 15, in addition to the official language Persian, ‘[t]he use of regional and national…languages in the press and mass media…as well as for teaching in schools the literatures written in them, is permitted’ (Algar 1980: 34). This means that it is in principle permitted to publish books and newspapers in Balochi, but at present there is hardly any such publication taking place in Iran. When it comes to teaching Balochi literature in the schools, there is, of course, no provision being made for such a subject, due to the almost total lack of Balochi literature in written form. The first time publication in Balochi was possible in Iran was directly after the Islamic Revolution (1979-1980). A number of magazines appeared for some months, but this publication was soon forced to cease. In the late 1990s publishing in Balochi was resumed, and two bilingual magazines (Persian- Balochi) are at present being published, one from Iranshahr and one from  Zahedan. As for radio programmes, the situation is different, and Radio Zahedan has daily broadcasts in Balochi. In fact, these broadcasts date back at least to the 1960s, thus to the time of the Pahlavi monarchy.14 The contents of these broadcasts are usually viewed with suspicion by the Baloch, being regarded as ‘official propaganda’ rather than as genuine concern for the Balochi language.
There is no provision being made for TV transmissions in Balochi in Iran. State control in Iran expresses itself as control over education, administration, media, publication etc., and thus there is an exclusive or nearly exclusive use of Persian in these language domains. There is no interest on the part of the state to stimulate the development of a vigorous Balochi language to be used in media, education and administration. The reason  for this is obvious. There is a strong fear that a movement in support of cultural autonomy would soon develop into a political movement with demands for independence. It should, however, be said in favour of the present regime that it has allowed much more cultural plurality than the Pahlavi monarchy. TV programmes showing regional variations in e.g. lifestyle, dress, dance etc. are frequently broadcast. Permission has been given to arrange ‘poetry evenings’ with recital of Balochi traditional and modern poetry e.g. in Chabahar where many culturally active Baloch live. The bilingual magazines in Persian- Balochi (see above) are also a positive feature. There is, in fact, a considerable publication (books, newspapers etc.) taking place in the two largest minority languages Azerbaijani and Kurdish, and in the academic year 2004-05 B.A. programmes in the Azerbaijani language and literature (in Tabriz) and in the Kurdish language and literature (in Sanandaj) are offered in Iran for the very first time.15 There is also a Department of Gilan Studies at the University of Rasht.16 In Pakistan the use of Balochi in education, administration and media is also very limited, although not as restricted as it still is in Iran. Balochi is mainly spoken at home, within one’s immediate community (with relatives, neighbours, friends etc.), and sometimes at work as well. When it comes to religion, Arabic is the language of recitation and worship, whereas sermons are normally delivered in Balochi for the sake of comprehension in Balochi speaking communities both in Iran17 and in Pakistan. On the whole, however, Balochi may be regarded as the language of the traditional domains, which carry no particular status in today’s society. Prestigious domains such as administration and education, which hold the opportunities for advancing in society, are non-Balochi domains. Here the state language(s) is/are totally predominant. Therefore, many parents who are eager for their children to advance in society prefer them to learn these languages instead of Balochi.18 The survival of Balochi would under such circumstances only be possible at the cost of education and progress in society. Farrell (2000: 20) finds that ‘[a]t present it is partly lack of education that is ensuring the strength of Balochi’, a situation that is, of course, both impossible and undesirable to perpetuate. The state, i.e. the ruling elite, may desire to keep the Baloch uneducated and unable to participate in modern political discourse, but that is definitely no longer the desire of a majority of the Baloch themselves. Even though the literacy rate is still low in Balochistan, it is gradually rising. I have made my own observations and also interviewed several people who live in Iranian Balochistan or who have visited the region recently, and it is quite clear that most children there, both boys and girls, nowadays receive at least primary education. The traditional lifestyle is more and more giving way to modern life, which makes school attendance easier19 and more attractive. Thus, nearly the entire younger generation becomes acquainted with Persian at least from the age of six, when they begin school. The socio-cultural hindrances against girls’ education were also to a certain degree weakened after the establishment of the Islamic Republic, with separate boys’ and girls’ schools and the compulsory veil. On the other hand, reports also indicate that in small villages with only a few children, boys and girls are taught together in one class, something which causes most girls to drop out after elementary
school.
In the census carried out in 1996 (Ābān 1375 in the Iranian Anno Hijra solar calendar) the literacy rate for the province of Sistan and Balochistan was 57 per cent for persons six years of age and older. Looking at the literacy rate by gender, the breakdown was 49 per cent for females and 65 per cent for males (Iran Statistical Yearbook 1377 2000: 603). The definition of literacy was very generally stated as ‘all individuals who can read and write a simple text in Farsi or any other language’ and even those who had studied only the first year in primary school or the equivalent were counted as literate (Iran Statistical Yearbook 1377 2000: 595).
The figures for Sistan and Balochistan may be compared to the average literacy rate for the entire country, which was 80 per cent for the same year,20 and to the province with the lowest literacy rate after Sistan and Balochistan, namely Kurdistan, where 68 per cent of the population was literate (Iran Statistical Yearbook 1377 2000: 603).21 Ten years earlier, in 1986 (Mehr 1365 in the Iranian Anno Hijra solar calendar), the literacy rate in Sistan and Balochistan was 36 per cent22 compared to 61 per cent in the whole country (Iran Statistical Yearbook 1370 1993: 123).
Another factor that has greatly strengthened the impact of Persian in Iranian Balochistan is the electrification of the province, which, although it had already started, was speeded up and almost totally completed shortly after the Islamic Revolution. Along with electricity came television. Many Baloch men, especially in the southern parts of Balochistan, spend at least some time as guest workers in the Gulf States, where they often purchase electronic goods, such as radio- and TV-sets, for their family in Balochistan. Television was first introduced in the provincial capital, Zahedan, in the 1960s, but nowadays television has reached even the most remote areas of Iranian Balochistan.
Television has been a major breakthrough in the introduction of Persian in Balochistan. By watching Persian programmes at an early age, often even before going to school, the children get acquainted with this language and learn to pronounce it with a Tehrani accent, something which is not true of most educated Baloch in the older generation, who generally speak Persian with a ‘Balochi accent’. One reason for that is that they were introduced to Persian at school, generally by local teachers, who themselves spoke Persian with a Sistani or Balochi accent. Several Baloch friends of mine from Iran remember that they felt ashamed to speak Persian at school, especially in front of Persian-speaking classmates who made fun of their accent.23

Structural Influence from Persian on Iranian Balochi 24

In Iranian Balochistan two major dialects are spoken, the Western (or Rakhshani) dialect and the Southern (or Makrani) dialect. Both these dialects are spoken on the other side of the Goldsmid line as well. There is also an area in Iranian Balochistan, Sarawan, where a very particular dialect, more profoundly influenced by Persian than other Balochi dialects, is spoken (see also Baranzehi 2003).
Nowadays it is quite obvious that the national language, Persian, is the socially and culturally dominant language, and that Balochi is the low-status vernacular. However, this has not always been the case, and the example of Sarawan proves that clearly. Within this area one or two centuries ago, Baloch tribesmen of high status in the local society lived side by side with immigrant peasants of Afghan or other Persian-speaking origins, who had come to Sarawan more recently than the Baloch (Spooner 1967: 56). Languages in contact can affect each other in different ways. Much depends on the relative status of the languages. Two or more languages of more or less equal status may be spoken side by side and mutually affect each other in terms of structure and lexicon without eradicating either one or the other language. This is called adstrate influence.
Another setting is when a dominant language, e.g. the language of a conquering group or the political elite, exercises influence on a dominated language, e.g. the language of a minority group. This type of influence is often called superstrate. Sometimes this term also implies that the final outcome of language contact is that the prestigious language is abandoned by the conquerors in favour of the local language, which, however, has been considerably influenced by that language. Such an outcome is more likely when a small number of conquerors seize political power in an area where a language other than their own is spoken, e.g. at the Norman conquest of Britain.
However, the term superstrate is also used in a broader sense to describe the influence on a low-prestige language when ‘another and more prestigious language which is imposed upon the speakers of the first, usually by conquest or political absorption…exercises an identifiable effect upon that first language’ (Trask 2000: 330). By this definition, Persian structural and lexical influence on minority languages in Iran could be termed superstrate influence. It is, however, very unlikely that local languages would replace Persian in
present-day Iran.
The term substrate is normally used for a language already spoken in an area or by a group of people ‘which has had a detectable effect upon the newly arrived one’ (Trask 2000: 329). As with superstrate, this term generally refers to a difference in status between the substrate language and the newly arrived language, where the substrate language is the low-status language. Likewise, it is often used to describe settings where this language has been replaced by the new language, in which it has left structural and lexical traits. As an example, Celtic traits in English could be mentioned.
The dialect of the central valley of Sarawan mentioned above is especially interesting to study from a contact linguistic perspective. In Sarawan, the non pastoral economy, mainly based on settled agriculture, has a longer tradition than in other parts of Iranian Balochistan. The same applies to education. Since education is in Persian, it considerably strengthens the Persian influence.
This, together with the immigration of Persian speakers to Sarawan in the past centuries, has made this dialect a very interesting object for studying linguistic contact. It seems that in former times, Balochi was the high-status language in Sarawan, since the immigrants gave up Persian for Balochi.25 However, a significant number of substrate phenomena26 from Persian can be found in Sarawani Balochi. These features are not encountered in any other dialect of Balochi, either in Iran or in Pakistan. Examples of such phenomena are the replacement of the genitive with the izāfa-construction for genitive attributes, and, on the whole, a case system very similar to that of Persian. Another structural reshaping is that all postpositions have changed into prepositions.
Today Persian is the unquestioned high-status language, and nowadays superstrate effects from Persian on Sarawani as well as on other Balochi dialects in Iran is heavy. Among superstrate phenomena can be mentioned syntactic constructions instead of morphological case marking (e.g. for the indirect object), adjectives placed after their nouns with the izāfa as the linker and Tense-Aspect-Mood (TAM) forms of the verb modelled on Persian constructions (e.g. the progressive present and past). Extensive use of Persian lexical items can also be observed in most dialects.

Is there a Future for the Balochi Language within the State of Iran?

As long as a language is used in all the domains represented in everyone’s daily life, or at least in the life of a majority of its speakers, it cannot be seen as threatened. But as soon as socio-economic changes take place, the traditional lifestyle and culture of an ethnie, and with that possibly its whole basis of identification, is threatened.27 When this happens among a minority group, like the Baloch, there are several courses the group, or members of the group, can take. They may seek full acceptance in the majority society and be ready to give up what is distinct and exclusive to their group, including the language, or they may see a need to defend their identity by demanding selfdetermination in some form or another. They may also strive to retain their identity as a separate ethnie within the present political framework. This approach is a realistic alternative only if adequate opportunities for the development of distinct languages, forms of worship and other components of the ‘ethnic’ cultures are given by the state authorities. In Iranian Balochistan there is a deeply rooted suspicion against the Persians,28 who are often derogatorily called gajar.29 The Balochi way of living, including its social organisation and its honour codes, differs considerably from that of the Persians. There have been several insurgencies against the direct rule from Tehran over Balochistan after 1928 (see e.g. Hosseinbor 2000: 141-164). After 1979, the different religious creeds have also been accentuated, and there is a strong feeling among the Baloch that due to their Sunni creed, they are not given adequate opportunities to advance in
the Islamic Republic, which is based on the Shi’a creed.
The Iranian Baloch also have strong links with the Baloch in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Gulf States, e.g. by massive immigration to Karachi from Iran after the 1928 events, by tribal links to the Baloch in Afghanistan and by Iranian Baloch seeking employment as guest workers in the Gulf States. The choice to be incorporated into the majority society would mean giving up these links. It is therefore unlikely that the Baloch will seek full acceptance in the majority society, and if adequate measures are not taken for cultural (including linguistic) development within the present political framework, there will most likely be increased demands for political self-determination. Indeed, many Baloch intellectuals are genuinely concerned about the future of the Balochi language in Iran. With the introduction of education and modern socio-economic structures in Balochistan, the basis of the traditional society is being eradicated slowly but surely. However, there is also an awakening to the fact that if Balochi is to continue to be a vigorous language in Iranian Balochistan, the Baloch themselves must adopt a positive attitude towards the language and work for its development in the new domains as well, i.e. as a language of writing, and ultimately of education. Some steps have already been taken, such as the publication of bilingual (Persian-Balochi) journals and the more and more frequent arrangements of Balochi literary and cultural gatherings (see above). I have also been told that there is some lobbying for the introduction of Balochi as a subject at university level in Iranian Balochistan.30 These are all steps that have been taken several years ago in Pakistani Balochistan.
It is the state that forms policies towards language and culture and controls the administrative and educational systems. The demands of the people within the state have, of course, a strong bearing on the decisions of the ruling elite.
The present paper has tried to show that the more favourable conditions for the Balochi language in British India than those seen in Iran from the beginning of the twentieth century prepared the path for a new generation of educated Baloch to also use their language in reading and writing.31 It must, however, be stressed that even in Pakistan the Balochi cultural movement is facing enormous problems, including low readership, financial constraints and official suspicion. The unsuccessful launching of Balochi as a language of primary education in Pakistani Balochistan can also be seen as a serious backlash.
On the other hand, it was noted above that political strength is a changeable factor, and that at one time the Baloch tribes in Iranian Sarawan were a mighty force, who assimilated other ethnic groups such as Afghans and Sistanis, whereas now the Shi’a Muslims32 constitute the ruling elite in Iran. What will happen on the political scene in Iran and Pakistan in the future is hard to foresee, and one can do nothing but speculate about whether there will be new shifts in the political strengths between the Baloch and the present ruling elites.

Reference

1 The Baloch delegates opposed the demarcation already at the meeting of the border commission, arguing that both the western and the eastern parts of Balochistan ought to belong to the Balochi Khanate of Kalat.
2 Balochi is an Indo-European language of the Iranian branch, most closely related to Kurdish, Gilaki, Mazandarani, Talyshi and other north-western Iranian languages.
3 However, a small number of Baloch in Iran profess Shi’a Islam. There are also Shi’a Muslims among the Baloch in Pakistan (Breseeg 2001: 58). There are, furthermore, communities who profess the so-called zikri religion which developed out of Sunni Islam around 1500 A.D. As for language, many people who ethnically regard themselves as Baloch, especially in Punjab and Sindh, do not any longer speak Balochi, which means that there is a process of language shift under way among the Baloch. There are strong reasons to believe that this process will continue and probably even be speeded up as modern society with education etc. more and more strongly penetrates Balochistan.
4 For a thorough discussion of socio-economic structures in Balochistan, see e.g. Fabietti (1996).
5 See Titus (1998: 668), who discusses the differences in social structure between the Pashtuns and the Baloch, and finds that among the Baloch a hierarchical structure predominates and facilitates the incorporation of new elements into the tribe.
6 Cf. Orywal (1996), who describes the de-tribalisation process among the Baloch in Afghanistan.
7 The Brahuis speak a Dravidian language, and therefore are generally considered to have migrated to their present habitat from the south-east.
8 Persian had a long tradition as a language of writing, literature and administration. The Samanids, ruling from Bokhara over large areas of Central Asia and Khorasan in the ninth and tenth centuries, began using New Persian in addition to Arabic, the language of the Muslim conquerors, as an administrative language.
9 A smaller part is found within the borders of present-day Afghanistan.
10 E.g. Gilbertson, George W., The Balochi Language, A Grammar and Manual, Hertford 1923; Gilbertson, George W., English-Balochi Colloquial Dictionary, I-II, Hertford 1925; Marston, E. W., Grammar and Vocabulary of the Mekranee Beloochee Dialect, Bombay 1877; Mockler, E., A Grammar of the Baloochee Language, Henry S. King & Co., London 1877; Pierce, E., ‘A
Description of the Mekranee-Beloochee Dialect’, Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society, 11(1875): 31, Bombay 1876, pp 1-98.
11 In Dames, M. Longworth, Popular Poetry of the Baloches, I-II, published for the Folk-Lore Society by David Nutt, London 1907, and Dames, M. Longworth, A Text Book of the Balochi Language, Punjab Government Press, Lahore 1891.
12 Ulus was published regularly between 1961 and 1991. It was re-started in 1996, but the issues appear very irregularly.
13 These languages include e.g. Kurdish, Lori, Gilaki, Mazandarani and Balochi. Languages totally unrelated to Persian that are spoken in Iran are e.g. Arabic (a Semitic language) and Azerbaijani Turkish (a Turkic language).
14 Elfenbein (1966: 1) refers to broadcasts in Balochi from Zahedan.
15 For Azerbaijani, see http://www.tribun.com/2000/2009.htm. Information about Kurdish was given
by Hashem Ahmadzadeh, Uppsala.
16 Oral communication with Padideh Pakpour, Uppsala, who spent the spring semester 2004 as a guest student at the University of Rasht.
17 This occurs within the Sunni mosques throughout Balochistan, which are not frequented by the Shi’ites. However, in the Masjed-e Makki ‘The Meccan Mosque’ in Zahedan the sermon is in Persian due to the fact that this mosque is also frequented by other Sunnis than the Baloch (recent information obtained from Iran).
18 It was, in fact, observed in Zahedan, the provincial capital in the Iranian province of Sistan and Balochistan, that some families chose to speak Persian to their children rather than Balochi. They argued that this would prepare their children better for starting school, since the child would otherwise in school meet a new language that he/she was not familiar with, something that could hamper the learning process and put the child at a disadvantage compared to classmates who already knew Persian. See also Farrell (2000: 25), who notes that in Balochi tuition centres in Karachi, the aim of which is to provide supplementary education to the children of their community, Urdu is used as the teaching language, since the goal is ‘academic advancement of their pupils rather than any concern for language issues’. For a comprehensive study on language attitudes among university students in Pakistan, see Mahboob (2002). Only
10 per cent of the respondents to the question ‘Should your first language (other than Urdu) be the medium of instruction for primary education’ give a positive answer, whereas the same figure for Urdu is 63.1 per cent and for English as high as 76 per cent (Mahboob 2002: 30).
19 E.g. when the nomadic lifestyle is replaced by a settled way of life.
20 74 per cent for females and 85 per cent for males.
21 57 per cent for females and 79 per cent for males.
22 25 per cent for females and 46 per cent for males. Compare this to Kurdistan, with a 39 per cent literacy rate (23 per cent for females and 54 per cent for males).
23 The power of television exceeds by far the power of radio. Since it is both audial and visual, it makes a much greater impact than only audial media. The power of television in making a whole generation acquainted with a language can also clearly be seen in Sweden, where many children in the younger generation who grow up with American serials subtitled in Swedish start speaking English before they are even able to read and write Swedish. Procházka also stresses the impact of television as one of the key factors behind the ongoing language shift from Arabic to Turkish among speakers of Arabic dialects in Turkey (Procházka 1999: 124).
24 The purpose of a research project carried out by the present author, funded by the Swedish Research Council between 1998 and 2002, was to describe the linguistic interaction between Persian and Balochi in Iranian Balochistan. For further information on phonological, morphosyntactic and lexical influences from Persian on Balochi both in historical and modern times, see Jahani and Korn (2003), particularly the articles written by Baranzehi, Farrell, Jahani, Korn, Mahmoodi Bakhtiari and Mahmoodzahi.
25 This was my assumption at the time when I wrote the article. However, new information on Sarawan (obtained during a field journey to Iran in February-March 2005) gives a different picture. The Baranzahi/Barakzahi khans of Sarawan were of Afghan origin, thus not speakers of Balochi. However, in order to be able to communicate with their subjects, they acquired Balochi, retaining the Persian grammatical structures referred to in the article as substrate phenomena.
26 I am broadening the use of this term here. Normally it is used to describe the influence from an indigenous low-prestige language on a newly arrived language. Here, I use it to denote the influence of any language of low status (in this case Persian spoken by an immigrant group who had settled in the central valley of Sarawan) on a more prestigious language (here Balochi, the language of the ruling elite, which was also gradually adopted by the immigrants).
27 Religious beliefs may be re-evaluated (secularisation), and the language may be threatened, especially in a minority setting, based on the fact that new language domains (e.g. education and official administration in a language other than the minority language) enter into the life of the members of the ethnie.
28 This is also the case with other Shi’ites, e.g. the Azerbaijani Turks.
29 This term comes from the Qajar dynasty, who ruled Iran between 1796 and 1925. It was during this dynasty that Tehran became the capital. Military campaigns from this new capital were launched towards Balochistan to subdue the region, something which created strong hatred towards the ‘gajars’ among the Baloch.

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Spooner, Brian. (1989). ‘Baluchistan, I: Geography, History, and Ethnography’, in E. Yarshater (ed), Encyclopaedia Iranica, III (London and New York, Routledge and Kegan Paul), pp 598- 632.
Titus, Paul. (1998). ‘Honor the Baloch, Buy the Pushtun: Stereotypes, Social Organization and History in Western Pakistan’, Modern Asian Studies 32/3 (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press), pp 657-687.
Trask, Robert L. (2000). The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics (Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press).

 

Code-Copying in the Balochi Language of Sistan

By: Lutz Rzehak
Berlin Humboldt University, Germany

Abstract

This empirical study deals with language contact phenomena in Sistan. Codecopying is viewed as a strategy of linguistic behavior when a dominated language acquires new elements in lexicon, phonology, morphology, syntax, pragmatic organization, etc., which can be interpreted as copies of a dominating language. In this framework Persian is regarded as the model code which provides elements for being copied into Balochi as the basic code. It is argued here that code-copying affects most readily the lexicon, whereas more structured subsystems like morphology and syntax hardly admit to copying.
Instead lexical copies serve as an intermediary for copying phonic and morphological-syntactical features of the model code. Copies of the Persian model code which become established linguistic features of Balochi are distinguished from ephemeral linguistic switches which are studied within the context of communication situation variables and other linguistic or extra linguistic factors. The study is based upon audio recordings of colloquial Balochi speech made by the author in Sistan during the last six years.

Introduction

In multilingual societies a structural functional distribution of the languages or varieties involved can be observed. In Sistan the schools, media, administration, etc., are dominated by Persian. Balochi is limited to being used exclusively as a spoken language within the speech community. The weight of pressure falls in line with the importance the linguistic domains of Persian hold within the community. Asymmetric settings of that kind encompass several linguistic phenomena including intensive code-copying. The dominated language may acquire new elements in lexicon, in phonology, morphology, syntax, pragmatic organization, etc., which can be interpreted as copies of the dominating language. Copies from Persian shape the Balochi language decisively and Persian can be regarded the most important model code for Balochi speakers in the wider region of Sistan. Especially in the northern parts of Sistan both standard Persian of Iran and standard Persian of Afghanistan (Dari) may provide model codes.
Balochi has been studied in a contact linguistic perspective before, and most attention was paid to elements of grammatical structure1. The object of this empirical study is parole rather than langue and code-copying is viewed as a strategy of linguistic behavior. Instead of metaphors like “borrowing”, “import”or “transfer”, I use the framework of “code-copying” as developed and proposed by Lars Johanson: “The central concept of the framework is that copies of lexical, phonic or grammatical elements of a Model Code are inserted into clauses of a Basic Code. Copies can be more or less habitualized and conventionalized, thus ranging from ephemeral insertional switches to established linguistic changes” (Johanson 2002: 262).
This paper is aimed to analyze how code-copying works in modern Balochi of Sistan2. I will show that code-copying affects most readily the lexicon being 1 For Iranian Balochi see Jahani (1994), Jahani (1999), Jahani (2003), Baranzehi (2003), Mahmoodi Bakhtiari (2003), Mahmoodzahi (2003). Some features of the Balochi language of Afghanistan were studied in a contact linguistic perspective by Rzehak (2003). Some notes on the iẓāfa -construction in various Balochi dialects were made by Buddruss (1988: 49), Spooner (1967: 57) and Elfenbein (1989: 357). 2 The sociolinguistic impact of code-copying cannot be discussed here. The role of code-copying in language endangerment is discussed by Johanson (2002), Brenzinger (1997), and Craig (1997).
an unstructured repository of lexical items3. Persian “loanwords” in Balochi are evident, but copying of lexical elements serves as an intermediary for the copying of other elements as well. Phonic and even some grammatical features of modern Persian are copied, i.e. imitated and adapted to Balochi, being conveyed and channeled by lexical copies. Only in rare cases more structured subsystems like morphology and syntax admit to copying as well.I take my material from audio-recordings which I made in Sistan between 2002 and 2008. These recordings include texts about everyday life which were created for my study purposes especially, as well as habitual conversations between (male) Balochi speakers. The spectrum of informants ranges from illiterate persons up to speakers who are well acquainted with the writing tradition of Persian. All informants are bilingual, and for all of them Balochi is the language which they learned first, the primary language or the “mother tongue”, the language of the home. Persian was acquired as a second system through schooling, mass media or communication outside of the home. No written uses of Balochi exist, except for some dialect poetry. Literature is all in Persian.
The language examples given below demonstrate an emerging trend in the linguistic behavior of Balochi speakers in Sistan. These examples are representative not statistically, but for the reason that they go with an evident trend. Besides short sequences of free speech which are embedded in the text, a longer narration about wedding traditions is given at the end of this paper for a better demonstration of code-copying. For cross references to this narration the number of the corresponding paragraph is added in brackets.

1.Lexical Copies

In habitual communication it is primarily denotations of technical innovations which are copied from Persian without noteworthy phonic or grammatical 3 See King (2000) for a discussion of structural attempts to explain why lexical aspects of a language might be more affected by linguistic contact than others. adaptation, e.g. gūš’ī 4 ‘cell phone’, māš’īn ‘car’, yaxč’āl ‘refrigerator’, telewīzy’ōn ‘TV’, kūndīzy’ōn ‘air conditioner’, fīlmbardār’ī ‘film shooting’, dūrb’īn camera’etc5. The Baloch in Sistan do not create neologisms for the denotation of technical innovations. On the contrary, some traditional Balochi denotations are given up and copies of Persian lexemes are used instead. For instance, since the distant past Baloch nomads produced a drink made of buttermilk and water which was called sut traditionally. Nowadays most Baloch have given up the nomadic way of life and they don’t produce sut anymore. They buy the industrially-produced drink at the bazaar where it is sold under the Persian name dūġ . Today the same word is used instead of sut by most urban Baloch.
As long as Baloch nomads knotted carpets they called them čērg’ēǧ . Modern Baloch who do not produce carpets but buy them at the bazaar prefer the Persian name farš. The fondness for Persian lexemes falls in line with fundamental changes in the Balochi way of life in the past few decades. In the sample narration one can find numerous lexical copies of Persian nouns used instead of traditional Balochi lexemes due to a changed way of life which is more and more dominated by Persian terms, e.g. xānawād’a / xānewād’a (instead of xānaw’ār , kah’ōl ) ‘family’, ‘relatives’ (1, 2, 3, 6, 25 et al.), ezdew’āǧ (instead of gis-u ār’ōs ) ‘marriage’ (1), xāstagār’ī (instead of kāsid’ī ) ‘courtship’, ‘wooing’
(2, 7), šīrbah’ā (instead of šīrbēl’ī ) ‘gift to a bride’s mother (for having nursed her)’
(4), pūl (instead of zar , pays’ag ) ‘money’
(5), šīrīnīxor’ī (instead of waššīxor’ī )‘engagement’, ‘betrothal’ (7), leb’ās (instead of pučč ) ‘clothing’ (12, 17), nah’ār(instead of nān ) ‘lunch’ (17, 21). Copies of Persian nouns are widely used ascomponents of compound verbs mostly with kurt’in / kan’ag as the light verb. In the sample narration the following examples can be cited: pard’āxt ‘payment’ in bāy’ad pard’āxt kant ‘[he] has to pay’ (5), ezdew’āǧ ‘marriage’ in lōṭ’īt … 4 Dynamic word stress is marked by’ before the stressed vowel in polysyllabic words.
5 Some of these lexemes are used in the sample narration (6, 17). ezdew’āǧ kant ‘[who] wants … to marry’ (1), fīlmbardār’ī ‘film shooting’ in mūd būt’a … fīlmbardār’ī-a kanant ‘it has come into fashion … to shoot a film’ (17). Adjectives which are copied from Persian model codes can be used both as attribute and as predicate. When used as attribute the Balochi ending -ēn is added, e.g. xast’a ‘exhausted’ and xatarn’āk ‘dangerous’, ‘thrilling’ in the following sequences:
[1] ēš am xast’a int bēčār’a xulās’a gis’ay payd’ā kurt’a – ‘He was so exhausted, this poor man; well he found the house.’
[2] ē bāz xatarn’ākēn film int – ‘This is a very thrilling film.’
Lexical copies of Persian model codes are numerous in Balochi, but their usage can still be regarded as differing from some standard pattern. A widespread strategy of linguistic self-correction is lexical doubling when a speaker uses both the lexical copy of a Persian model code and the original Balochi lexeme with the same meaning one after another. In the following sample sequences this applies to ann’ūn (Bal.) and fēl’an (< Pers.) ‘now’ and to izdiw’āǧ kū (< Pers.) and gis kū (Bal.) ‘[he] married’:
[3] senf-e duwāzd’a ham al’ās k’urtun-u ann’ūn fēl’an n’ištun bēk’ār-un – ‘I finished the 12th class, and now I am sitting here, I am jobless.’
[4] ā gēštir ‘kī bi kišāwarz’īā ann’ūn ki fēl’an xušksāl’ī int-u ēč ēč k’ārēa n’akanant bīk’ār n’ištant – ‘They [are] mostly in agriculture, but now there is a drought and they are not working at all, they are sitting jobless.’
[5] bād’an ē mard’ak āt-u ham’idā masal’an kār-u bār kurt-u izdiw’āǧ ku gis ku – ‘Then this man came here, did some business and married.’

2. Phonic Copies

In modern Balochi of Sistan Persian phonemes appear in lexical units which were copied from Persian recently and in some lexical units which traditionally belong to the common lexicon of Persian and Balochi. In words which had been copied from or via Persian a long time ago, unknown or at least uncommon phonemes traditionally were adapted to the phonic habits of Balochi. Today such lexemes of the common lexicon can be pronounced by following the Persian model code if a word is associated with those fields of communication which are regarded as the linguistic domain of Persian rather than of Balochi within the structural functional distribution of languages.

1.1Consonants

Originally the local dialect of Balochi did not have the uvular plosive /q/; words with an etymological /q/ were adapted to the linguistic habits of Balochi by pronouncing /k/ or (seldom) /x/ instead, cf. kawm (< qawm ) ‘tribe’, ‘clan’, kudr’at (< qudr’at ) ‘power’, ‘strength’, waxt / wakt (< waqt ) ‘time’. Today one can hear the uvular plosive /q/ as well, but not in all corresponding words. In the following sequence /q/ is pronounced only in the word qudr’at and its derivatives, but not in kawm . [6] ham’ē say kawm xūb ant pa qudr’atā-u dig’ar kawm ant kawm ant zabr’ēn ṭūy’ēn qudratm’andēn kawm ant – ‘These three tribes are good with regard to power, and there are other tribes, good and big tribes; there are powerful tribes.’ Obviously, in words which are common to Balochi and Persian, /k/ is preserved in words like kawm which are regarded as genuine Balochi words; kawm describes a central unit in the social structure of the Baloch. The pronunciation with the etymological allophone /q/ is preferred in words which are more or less intensively associated with the linguistic domain of Persian and which can be regarded as lexical copies of a Persian model code. The same applies to raf’īq ‘friend’ in the sample narration (15). In the colloquial standard of Iran the uvular plosive /q/ is mostly replaced by the fricative /ġ/. In today’s linguistic behavior of Balochi speakers this way of pronunciation can also be found; but /ġ/ is pronounced particularly in such lexical items which were copied as complete lexical units from a Persian model code or which are associated with the linguistic domain of Persian rather than of Balochi. In the following sequences such lexical items are ġad’īmā ‘formerly’, mantaġ’a ‘region’, taġrīb’an ‘approximately’, mawġi’a ‘occasion’, ‘time’, and mulāġ’āt ‘meeting’. The original phonic adaptation of etymological /q/ to the linguistic habits of Balochi by pronouncing /k/ has also been preserved in kawm‘tribe’, ‘clan’: [7] ġadīm’ā masal’an ki būt’a id’ā ‘ātan bi kang’ā b’ūtan amm’ay ǧā mantaġ’a amm’ay kang int – ‘Formerly we came here, we were in Kang. Our place, our homeland is Kang.’ [8] man taġrīb’an ša w’axt-ē ki man šut’a-un bi makt’abā zānt’a-un čī kawmun – ‘Approximately from the time when I went to school I knew which tribe I belonged to.’ [9] zindag’ī pēšraft’a n’awat ā mawġi’a – ‘Life was not progressive at that time.’ [10] man āt ‘a-un čē am ‘ē wāt ‘ī ǧin ‘ikkayā ki wat ‘ī ǧin ‘ikkā mulāġ ‘āt kan ‘īn-u bg ‘indīn-ī – ‘I came to, to my daughter’s place, to meet my daughter and to see her.’In the sample narration lexical copies of Persian model codes with an unmodified pronunciation of /ġ/ are: mowġ’e ‘occasion’ (5, 25), aġd ‘engagement’, ‘wedding’ (9, 10, 18, 19), tawāf’oġ ‘agreement’ (8, 10, 25), tebġ-e ‘according to’ (9), āġ’ā ‘Mister’ (13), mantaġ’a ‘region’ (19), taġrīb’an ‘approximately’ (24). In the Balochi dialect of Sistan initial /h/ is instable, cf. (h)am ‘also’, (h)ar ‘every’, (h)aft ‘seven’6. However, in certain situations initial /h/ is pronounced regularly following the Iranian Persian model code. This happens particularly with year specifications which are associated rather with the linguistic domain of Persian than of Balochi. A case in point is the repeated articulation of initial /h/ in haft ‘seven’ in the following sequence: [11] man sāl-e az’ār-u sē sad-u panǧ’āh-u haft-e mīlād’ī mīlād’īay bīt yā īr’ānay mīlād’īā payd’ā būt’a-un māh-e dah-e yek-e panǧ’āh-u haft yān’ī 6 Cf. Buddruss (1989: 44). bahm’an-māh-e panǧ’āh-u če panǧ’āh-u h’aftā payd’ā būt’a-un – ‘I was born in the Gregorian year 1357. Shall I say the Gregorian [year] or the Iranian? In [1357] of the Gregorian calendar, on the 1st of the tenth month of [13] 57, i.e. in the month of Bahman of fifty-, fifty seven I was born.’ 7 The numerals (h)aft ‘seven’ as well as (h)ašt ‘eight’ are often pronounced without initial /h/ as aft and ašt when used not for year specification but in another context, for instance, when describing a period of time: [12] yak šaš aft sāl dars w’āntan – ‘Six or seven years I went to school.’8 [13] aft māh ašt māh dēm’ā būta ašt māh dēm’ā – ‘[This] was seven or eight months ago, eight months ago.’ In the sample narration a distinguished pronunciation of initial /h/ can be interpreted as copy of a Persian lexical model code in hamdīg’ar ‘each other’ (5), ham’ā ‘this’ (16, 17), and ham’ām ‘bath’ (17).

1.2 Diphthongs

Originally, Balochi had only two diphthongs: /aw/ and /ay/; cf. kawm “tribe”, kay “who”.9 In presentday Iranian Persian historical /aw/ has been transformed into /ow/ (or even /ō/) and /ay/ into /ey/. Correspondingly, today in Balochi along with /aw/ and /ay/ one can hear the Iranian Persian pronunciation /ey/ and /ow/ in lexemes which have been copied from Persian like xeylī ‘very’ and mowġe ‘occasion’, ‘time’ in the following sample sequences. The original Balochi pronunciation /aw/ and /ay/ is preserved in am’ē rāz’ay ‘such’ and awg’ān ‘Pashtun’. 7 The speaker, obviously, confused the calendar systems with each other. Besides that, Bahman is the 11th month of the Iranian solar year. 8 The 1st person plural ending in w’āntan can be explained as pluralis modestiae . 9 Cf. Buddruss (1988: 49).[14] bāz bi pākist’ānā balōčist’ānā x’eylī kam ast ē rāz’ay ki trā guš’ant čī kaum’ī int – ‘But in Pakistan, in Balochistan it is very seldom [that way] that they tell you which tribe one belongs to.’[15] yak mowġ’eī yak bal’ōčē watī ǧin’ikkā dāt bi awg’ānēā – ‘Once a Baloch married his daughter to a Pashtun.’ In the sample text the pronunication /ow/ of a Persian model code waspreserved in mowġ’e ‘occasion’, ‘time’ (5, 25) and in mowlaw’ī ‘Mullah’ (9).

1.3 Vowels

In traditional Balochi three short vowels can be distinguished: /a/, /i/ and /u/. In modern Persian the corresponding short vowels are pronounced as /a/, /e/ and /o/. Today some speakers of Balochi follow the Persian model code precisely, at least in particular cases, by pronouncing /e/ and /o/, although the opposition between /e/ and /i/ or between /o/ and /u/ has no phonemic relevance in Balochi.
The Persian vowels /e/ and /o/ are preferred as allophones of /i/ and /u/ in words or expressions which are associated rather with the linguistic domain of Persian than of Balochi. In the sample text numerous examples can be found both for the articulation of /e/, cf. extel’āf ‘dispute’ (5), ǧehziy’e (< ǧehīziy’e ) ‘dowry’ (6), wasā’el ‘means’ (6), telewizy’ōn ‘TV set’ (6), marās’em ‘ceremony’ (8, 29), leb’ās (12, 17), es’āb (< hes’āb ) ‘account’, ‘reckoning’, esl’ā (< esl’āh )‘correction’ (17), xānewād’a ‘family’ (25), and of /o/, cf. sonn’at ‘tradition’ (9), koll ‘all’ (15, 24). The Persian ezāfe is also pronounced as /e/ rather than as /i/. Iranian Persian has given up the long vowels /ō/ (wāw-e maǧhūl ) and /ē/ (yāye maǧhūl ); /ū/ and /ī/ are pronounced instead. Some Balochi speakers follow this tendency occasionally by articulating /ū/ instead of /ō/ in words which belong to the common lexicon of Persian and Balochi. As a case in point the Balochi lexeme pōst ‘skin’ can be pronounced as pūst when it occurs in a compound word like siyāhp’ūst ‘black-skinned’ which was copied as a lexical unit from Persian.
[16] siyāhp’ūstānī dīn-u amm’ay dīn isl’ām int –The belief of the blackskinned and our belief is Islam.’ In the sample narration lexemes of the common lexicon in which /ū/ was pronounced instead of traditional /ō/ by following the Persian model code are arūs’ī ‘wedding’ (11, 13, 15, 23, and 29), dūst ‘friend’ (15), gūšt ‘meat’ (17). Some speakers of Balochi pronounce long /ī/ instead of etymological /ē/ in constructions with yā-ye ešāre like kas-ī ke ‘the person who’, or in constructions with yā-ye wahdat like yak-ī ‘one [of them]’. In these cases all the constructions with yā-ye ešāre or yā-ye wahdat must be regarded as copies of a Persian model code which were generated without further phonic modification. Examples in the sample narration are čīz-ī ke ‘a thing which’ (5), pūl-ī ke ‘the money which’ (6), yek-ī ‘one [of them]’ (4), and har mowġ’e-ī ke ‘whenever’ (5). The lexeme mowġ’e ‘occasion’, ‘time’ is a buzzword in modern Balochi of Sistan, and the pronunciation of long /ī/ in constructions like mowġ’e-ī ke ‘when’ or har mowġ’e-ī ke ‘whenever’ can be regarded as an established language switch. However, in lexical items which belong to the common lexicon of Persian and Balochi not all phonic features of a Persian model code must necessarily be copied in the Balochi basic code. In corresponding words the phonetic systems of Persian and Balochi are often mixed. In the following sequences the pronunciation ġayč’īn ‘scissors’ and awġānist’ān ‘Afghanistan’ follows the Persian model codes ġeyč’ī and afġānest’ān by articulating /ġ /, but the original Balochi pronunciation /ay/ and /aw/ and the Balochi short vowel /i/ were preserved10. [17] māld’ār n’awant gōk-u pas n’adārant-u šamš’ēr ǧōṛ-a kan’ant kārd ǧōṛ-a kan’ant ġayč’īn ǧōṛ-a11 am’ē rāz’ay čīz ǧōṛ-a kan’ant – ‘[They] are no herdsmen, they have no cows or sheep, they make swords, knives and scissors, they make such things.’ 10 Cf. mawġi’a with a combined pronunciation of /ġ / and /aw/ in sample sequence [4]. 11 The flow of words was disrupted here. [18] senf-e yāzd’a al’ās k’urtun īr’ānay tā bād šā’ī āt’a-un awġānist’ānā – ‘I finished the 11th class in Iran, after that I went to Afghanistan.’ Similarly, in xānewād’a ‘family’ as pronounced in the sample narration (25) the Persian final /e/ (hā-ye ġeyr-e malfūz ) was copied precisely in the first component of this compound (xāne ) whereas in the second component (wāda ) the pronunciation of hā-ye ġeyr-e malfūz was adapted to the linguistic habits of Balochi and articulated as /a/. Such irregularities demonstrate that phonic copies of a Persian model code are ephemeral insertional switches rather than established speech patterns.

3. Morphological-Syntactical Copies

In the sample narration the Persian plural ending -hā was used in b’āzē mouġeh’ā‘sometimes’ (25). It is evident that this phrase was copied from Persian en bloc. As far as my material shows in modern Balochi the Persian plural ending – hā is never used in a productive way for creating plural forms.The same applies to other morphological and syntactical features of colloquial Balochi which can be interpreted as copies of a Persian model code. Only a few of them are used in a productive way.

3.1 Prepositions

In colloquial speech one often can hear Persian prepositions like bā ‘with’ or dar ‘in’. However, when used in Balochi they are not productive as prepositions, but copied within more complex lexical units. The Persian preposition bā can be used as part of the collocations bā ham ‘together’ or bā wasl ‘with connections’, but it is not used as a direct replacement of the Balochi preposition gō(n) ‘with’: [19] šaš aft brās-an amm’ā y’akǧā bā ham zindag’ī-a kanan – ‘We are six, seven brothers, we live together.’ [20] mard’um rū bi kār b’ūtant-u ē mard’um-ē ki bā wasl at-u ġar’īb at-u č’īz-ē n’adāšt ēš ham ‘ātant ham’idā ǧā g’iptant-u xulās’a xūb zindag’ī-iš pak’aš būt – ‘People turned to the work; and those people who had connections and [those who] were poor, who had nothing, they also came here, took their place. Anyway, well, life was good. In the latter sequence the preposition bi must also be regarded as a copy of the Persian preposition be ‘to’ which was reproduced with slight phonic modification (/e/ > /i/) within the lexical unit rū be/bi kār ‘turning to the work.Similarly the Persian preposition dar can be copied within complex lexical units such as nesf dar nesf , nīm dar nīm [both:] ‘half and half’ or dar hāl-e ‘in the state of’. Outside of such units constructions with the meaning ‘in’ aregenerated the traditional way as with the postposition tā :[21] muhāǧ’ir dig’a ē rāz guš’īn ki nesf dar nesf nīm dar nīm muhāǧ’ir būtant īr’ānay tā-u pākist’ānay tā –Migrants, I would say that half and half became migrants in Iran and Pakistan.’ [22] lūṛ’ī ant dig’a amīš’a dar hāl-e kūč ant –‘The Luri are, they are always in the state of wandering.’Similarly in the sample narration the Persian preposition dar was used within the phrase dar zamān-e pīr’ī ‘at the old age’ (27) which was also copied from Persian en bloc. In Balochi only some compound prepositions which are generated by copying a Persian model code can really be used as prepositions, but some lexical adaptation is necessary. Thus the lexemes az and be of the Persian model code be ġeyr az ‘without’ are replaced by their Balochi equivalents ša and pa when the compound preposition pa ġeyr ša is generated in Balochi. As a whole it can be regarded as a copy of the Persian model code and it is used instead of traditional constructions meaning ‘without’ such as čap ša . The Persian model code bedūn az with the same meaning can be copied in a very similar way by replacing az by ša . The fact that pa ġeyr ša and bidūn ša are used as prepositions in a productive way reveals itself by the usage of the prepositional case ending -ā with āp ‘water’ and kišāwarz’ī ‘agriculture’ in the following sequences:m [23] ē rāz at ki mard’umānī zindag’i kull’an gō āp’ā at pa ġayr ša bidūn ša āp’ā ābād’ī-a n’abīt gō āp’ā ābād’ī-a bīt – ‘It was that way that the life of the people depended upon water completely. Without water there is no prosperity. With water there is prosperity.’ [24] pa ġayr ša kišāwarz’īā am dig’ar k’ār-ē nēst – ‘Except for agriculture there is no other work.’ A copy of the Persian compound preposition baʿd az ‘after’ can be generated similarly by replacing az by ša and by a slight phonic adaptation (baʿd> bād ); the copy bād ša ‘after’ also requires the prepositional case as in ēš-‘ān in the following sequence: [25] gēšt’irēn bal’ōčānā nīmr’ūzī welāy’atay tā tāyip’a-e šīrz’ī ant tašk’īl-a day’ant bād ša ēš’ān gōrg’ēǧ ham h’astant wa raxšān’ī ham h’astant – ‘The majority of the Baloch in the province of Nimroz holds the tribe of the Shirzi; after them there are also Gurgej and Rakhshani.’ In the sample narration the prepositional case is used in combination with bād ša in bād ša ezdew’āǧā ‘after the marriage’ (5), bād ša say rōč’ā ‘after three days’ (20). More probably than not in all these compound prepositions it is the final position of the Balochi preposition ša ‘from’ which provokes the prepositional case. By contrast, the prepositional case does not appear after copies of compound prepositions with final ezāfe such as ša nazar-e ‘regarding’ which can be interpreted as a copy of the Persian construction az nazar-e : [26] ē pa mard’umānī dēm’ā ša nazar-e aqīd’a yak šaxs-e mazhabī-u buzurgw’ār-ē at – ‘With regard to belief he was a godly and great person for the people.’ In the sample narration similar copies of Persian compound prepositions with final ezāfe are tāt-e (< taht-e ) ‘under’ (1) and tebġ-e ‘according to’ (9). No prepositional case appears after them.

3.2 The ezāfe-construction

Collocations with ezāfe are numerous in the modern Balochi language of Sistan. However in most cases the ezāfe is copied as an element of more complex lexical units such as in the sample narration belfarz-e mes’āl ‘for example’ (2, 15), wābastag’ī-e xānawādag’ī ‘family ties’ (25), kārt-e daʿw’at ‘invitation card’ (15), or marās’em-e arūs’ī ‘marriage ceremony’ (15, 23, 29). Collocations with ezāfe which are copied into Balochi without further modification are usually fixed terms. Some of them contain numerical data such as senf-e yāzd’a ‘the 11th class’, others are names of languages such as fārs’ī-e īr’ān ‘the Persian language of Iran’ or names of person groups such as ahl-e tasann’un ‘Sunnites’.
[27] dig’a taġrīb’an tā senf-e yāzd’aā dars wānt’a-un –’Then I went to school approximately till the 11th class.’ [28] lūṛ’ī gid’ān dār’ant gēšt’ir čō bal’ōč ‘astant dig’a bal’ōč ant w’alē ā āw’ānā guš’ant ki lūṛ’ī 12 ki fārs’īā guš’ant-iš čall’ī fārs’ī-e īr’ānā gīt čall’ī taw’ār-iš-a kanant – ‘The Luri have tents. Mostly they are like Baloch. Actually they are Baloch, but they are called Luri. In Persian they are called Challi, if one takes Iranian Persian they are called Challi.’[29] ahl-e tasann’un čār mazh’ab dār’īt w’alē ē13 amm’ā anaf’ī an ē mantaq’a arčī ast’ant anaf’ī ant – ‘The Sunnites have four confessions, but we are Hanafi. Everyone in this region is Hanafi.’ The fact that case markers can be added to collocations of that kind shows that in these and similar cases the ezāfe is copied as an element of more complex lexical units. In the following sequences this applies to the endings –ay in ahl-e tasann’unay and -ā in tār’īx-e tawal’odā ‘date of birth’: [30] sunn’ī hastant tasann’un ant ahl-e tasann’unay tā anaf’ī ant – ‘They are Sunnites, Sunni people. Among the Sunnites they are Hanafi.’
12 The flow of words was disrupted here.
13 The flow of words was disrupted here.
[31] tār’īx-e tawal’odā n’azānīn amm’ā bal’ōč an n’azānan čunt sāl int payd’ā b’ūtan n’abūtan – ‘I don’t know the date of my birth. We are Baloch. We don’t know how many years ago we were born or so.’ In Persian the direct object of some compound verbs such as taškīl dādan‘to form’, ‘to establish’ can be combined by ezāfe with the nominal component of the verb in the form of taškīl-e čīz-ī dādan ‘to establish something’. Sometimes this pattern is copied in Balochi as in the sample narration lōṭ’īt tašk’īl-e xānawād’a dant ‘[a person] wants to start a family’ (1). Here the ezāfe was copied within the Persian compound verb, which as a whole must be regarded as the primary model code.
Another popular pattern of ezāfe constructions copied in Balochi are paraphrasing collocations such as ba nām-e or ba unwān-e , both meaning‘named’, as used in the sample narration (5, 6, and 8), or dar hāl-e ‘in the state of’. [32] lūṛ’ī … čak’uš-u sind’ān-u š-ēš’ān dār’ant-u hamēš’a dar hāl-e kūč ant š-ē mantaġ’a bi ā mantaġ’a raw’ant –– ‘The Luri … have hammers and anvils and such tings and they are always [in the state of] wandering, they go from this region to that region.’ Here a creation of attributive collocations with the help of ezāfe can be assumed. However, it is revealed that the Persian model codes ba nām-e , baʿonwān-e or dar hāl-e were copied as complex lexical units by the fact that the lexical compounds ba and dar were preserved in the original Persian form14. The ezāfe has become an established feature of modern Balochi in combination with dig’a(r) when being used as a trailing attribute in the meaning of ‘other’, ‘more’, or ‘further’. [33] xūb yak du rōč-e dig’a tēr būt’a ša s’aray – ‘Well, one or two more days passed by for him.’ 14 The pronunciation variant ba is a copy of the Dari preposition ba “to”. [34] dig’a amm’ā panǧ brās an y’akk-ē tī sang’att int wa amm’ā čār brās-e dig’ar am’idā – ‘We are five brothers. One [of them] is your friend and we four other brothers [are] here.’In other cases a productive usage of the ezāfe is quite uncommon, but not unimaginable in modern Balochi of Sistan. In the sample narration the attributive collocation marās’em-e gwanḍ’ē n-ē ‘a small celebration’ (7) was created by combining the adjective gwanḍ ‘small’ (with the Balochi attributive ending -ēn ) by ezāfa with the noun marās’em ‘ceremony’. For ‘household belongings’ the nouns wasā’il ‘belongings’ and gis ‘house’ were combined with each other by ezāfe in the form wasā’el-e gis in the sample narration (6), but the same speaker used the Balochi genitive marker -ay as well, c.f. gis-‘ay wasā’il (10). Instead of the Balochi possessive pronoun wat’ī ‘own’ which usually precedes the word it refers to, the usage pattern of the Persian reflexive pronoun xod can be copied by combining its Balochi equivalent wat by ezāfe with the word it refers to: [35] ā bihišt-e wat ǧūṛ kurt – ‘He built up his own paradise.’ If a speaker uses the ezāfe in a productive way he sometimes realizes that this differs from some standard speech pattern. In such cases doubling is again a popular strategy of self-correction. As a result the genitive can be marked twice – both by ezāfe and by the Balochi genitive case marker -ay as it happened with ǧāmi’a ‘society’ in the following sequence. [36] ē xusūsiy’at-ē int am’ē ǧāmi’aay xusūsiy’at-e am’ē ǧāmi’a int’a – ‘This is a special feature of this society, a feature of this society.If there is a productive usage of the ezāfe at all, in free speech the ezāfe can be seen as a morphological-syntactical feature of modern Balochi in nascent state. Fixed phrases are a special case. The wide field of pragmatics cannot be discussed here but phrases of the Persian taʿārof are often inserted directly and without further adaptation in Balochi conversation, e.g. ġorb’ān-e šom’ā ‘[let me be] your sacrifice’ or ġāb’el-ī n’adāre ‘not worth mentioning’. Other Persian phrases of civility are copied in the Balochi basic code by translating every single lexical element into Balochi. Some of these copies substitute traditional Balochi phrases such as xayr ginday ‘thank you’ or čōn ay ‘how are you?’: [37] dast tī dard m’akant – ‘Thank you!’ (Cf. Persian: dast-e šomā dard n’akon-ad , literally ‘May your hand not hurt!’) [38] hāl tī čōn int – ‘How are you?’ (Cf. Persian: hāl-e šom’ā čet’owr ast , literally ‘How is your state [of condition]’) [39] sā’at tī tēr bīt – ‘Are you well entertained?’ (Cf. Dari: sāʿ’at-e šom’ā tēr mēšawad , literally ‘Are your hours passing by?’) What is remarkable here is that in all these phrases the word order differs from the established syntactical pattern. In Balochi the possessive pronoun tī ‘your’ usually precedes the word it refers to, c.f. tī dast ‘your hand’, tī hāl ‘your state [of condition]’, tī sā’at ‘your hours’. In Persian the ezāfe is used as possessive determiner and the pronoun follows the word it refers to, c.f. dast-e šom’ā ‘your hand’, hāl-e šom’ā ‘your state [of condition]’ or sāʿat-e šom’ā ‘your hours’. In these phrases of civility the Persian ezāfe was copied in the Balochi basic code not directly, but in an indirect way by provoking a changed word order. Furthermore in these phrases the possessive pronoun is always unstressed like in Persian and it adheres to the word it refers to like an enclitic. Beyond fixed phrases of that kind similar changes do not appear in free speech.

3.3 Verb System

In the verb system copies of a Persian model code can be seen in the way the modal meaning of ‘can’, ‘to be able to’ is expressed. In traditional Balochi this is expressed in a more or less descriptive way by using different expressions with the noun was ‘ability’ such as in ša mnī was’ā bīt ki biy’āīn or was dārīn ki biy’āīn , both meaning literally ‘I have the ability to come’. Besides that, analytical constructions are used such as man āt’agā kanīn ‘I can come’. In modern Balochi the new verb tawānt’in / tawān’ag was generated by copying the Persian verb tawānestan . The pattern of how this verb is used in Balochi follows the Persian model code exactly. Usually the main verb appears in the subjunctive form and follows the modal verb; sometimes it precedes the modal verb and appears in the form of a past participle as in colloquial Dari. [40] ar ka māš’īnā tawānt’a pa wat bzīn’īt kār-a kant ‘īngur ‘āngur wall’ā dig’ar k’ār-ē n’aint –‘Everyone who could buy a car for himself is working here and there, but there is no other work.’ [41] bi b’āzē č’ēā ziyār’atānā bi ēš’ānā aqīd’a bāz dār’ant wa ‘ānčō tasaww’ur-akan’ant ki alb’atta ziyārat-a tawān’īt ki yak kār-ē-rā iǧr’ā kant – ‘[They] have strong beliefs in what, in some shrines; and they believe that a shrine, of course, can do something.’ [42] kas-ē zīt’a n’atawānīt – ‘Nobody can buy [it].’ Similarly the Iranian Persian gerund with dāštan can be copied in Balochi by using the lexical equivalent of the basic code dāšt’in / dār’ag literally meaning‘to own’, ‘to have’, or ‘to hold’: [43] kam kam d’ārant ǧōṛ-a kanant – ‘They are building up [the city] little bylittle.’ Even a future tense can be generated by copying the Persian pattern which consists of a finite form of xāstan and the so-called reduced infinitive, but this can hardly be regarded a productive construction in Balochi. More probably than not in the following sequence the expression qab’ūl … n’axāhēm dāšt was copied as a complete lexical unit which reveals itself by the fact that the personal ending -ēm / -īm of the Persian model code was preserved in Balochi: [44] amm’ā qab’ūl n’adāran wa n’axāhēm dāšt – ‘We do not accept [this] and we never will do so.’ In Persian the so-called yā-ye eltezāmī can be added to the infinitive of a verb in order to expresses that something is worth doing, e.g. ǧā-ye dīdan’ī ‘a place worth seeing’, i.e. ‘place of interest’, ‘tourist attraction’. In Balochi a similar characterization is traditionally expressed by combining the infinitive of a verb with the word it refers to using the genitive suffix -ay, such as ǧistin ‘to flee’ and ǧā ‘place’ in the following sequence: [45] ‘ādā ǧist’inay ǧā n’aint – ‘There is no place to flee to.’Correspondingly, for ‘place of interest’, ‘tourist attraction’ one would expect an expression with the verb dīst’in ‘to see’, such as dīst’inay ǧā ‘worth seeing’. However, in modern Balochi the Persian yā-ye eltezāmī can be used instead: [46] zāhid’ān dīstin’ī int – ‘Zahedan is worth seeing.’ A copy of the Persian yā-ye eltezāmī with an attributive meaning can be seen in the expression warag’īyēn āp ‘drinking water’. Constructions with yā-ye eltezāmī can be used to express a predicative meaning as well as to express the intention of doing something: [47] amm’ā am ‘ādā šutin’ī-an – ‘We also will go there.’

4. Conclusions

For the majority of Balochi speakers who can be assigned to the group of coordinate bilinguals code-copying affects most readily the lexicon. In their speech phonic and even morphological-syntactical features of Persian are copied mainly as elements of lexical copies. Such features are only copied habitually depending on various factors like communication situation, subject of conversation, linguistic knowledge and background of a speaker, primary and secondary communicative intentions etc. There is a sequence in the sample narration where the speaker interrupted himself to make sure that I had understood what he was talking about (paragraph 4). Before and after this break the speaker pronounced the word with the meaning ‘marriage portion payable after marriage’ with final -e as mehriye. When addressing me directly he pronounced the same word with final -a as mehriya . In lexical items which are common both for Persian and for Balochi the so-called hā-ye ġeyr-e malfūz is usually pronounced as -e in Iranian Persian, and as -a in Balochi. When asked to tell me something about the marriage ceremony of the Baloch this speaker, obviously, felt like a lecturing teacher. He followed the Persian model code by pronouncing final -e within his lecture because this communication situation belongs to the linguistic domain of Persian. He switched to colloquial speech when he addressed me directly and used the original Balochi pronunciation with final -a , because colloquial communication belongs to the linguistic domain of Balochi.
Linguistic behavior depends much on surrounding conditions, and codecopying is not a matter of pure chance. It must be studied within the context of communication situation variables in order to distinguish those copies which became established linguistic features of modern Balochi from ephemeral insertional switches, and in order to reveal the linguistic and extra-linguistic factors by which such linguistic slips or insertional switches are caused.

Appendix: Sample Narration

The text given below is a phonological transcription of a narration about the wedding traditions of the Baloch which was recorded in April 2002. The speaker lives in the village of Zahak close to Zabol in the Iranian Province of Sistan and Balochistan. He is a Baloch male who works as a taxi driver and was about 40 years old when the text was recorded. In this transcription of free speech no punctuation marks are used. Instead asterisks (*) indicate prosodic breaks which are accompanied by a pause and last approximately up to half a second. Longer pauses are indicated by two asterisks (**). This can help to separate the prosodic units produced by the informant. The dynamic word stress is marked by ‘ before the stressed vowel in polysyllabic words, e.g. naf’ar . In verbal phrases polysyllabic light verbs do not always have a stress accent of their own; one syllable of the whole phrase can be stressed instead. Verbal phrases of that kind are marked by curly brackets in order to show that the marked stress accent affects the whole phrase, e.g. {d’ōst dār-īn} . Significant changes in intonation are marked by arrows; up arrows (↑) indicate rising intonation, down arrows (↓) indicate falling intonation. Significant changes in speech speed are also marked by arrows. A sequence which is set between facing arrows (→ … ←) was spoken with relatively higher speed whereas the speed of speech was reduced significantly in sequences which are set between arrows turning away from each other (← … →). Numbering and paragraphs mark no separation of speech sequences which necessarily would have been intended by the informant. They were added by the author of this paper for easier orientation in the text and in its translation. In most cases this technical separation of the text corresponds to the usage of conjunctive adverbs like g’uṛān ‘then’ which, nevertheless, can be interpreted as starting markers of new units of speech.

Transcript Translation

[1] yak naf’ar-ē * ke * lōṭ’īt * tašk’īl-e
xānawād’a dant * yān’ē ezdew’āǧ
kant ↑ ** bilāxir’a * yak k’as-ē-rā
entex’āb-a ↓ kant * tāt-e naz’ar-a gīt
* {x’ōš-a kant} *
When a person wants to start a
family, i.e. [wants] to marry, [then
he] finally chooses somebody,
considers somebody, [and] likes
somebody.
[2] g’uṛān * wat’ī * xānawād’aā ↑ **
dēm-a dant xāstagār’ī ↓ * bi ‘ā * bestelā
* ǧin’ēnzāgay * xānawād’aay
gis’ā ** guš’īt man ↑ belf’arz-e mes’āl
filān’ī ǧin’ikā {d’ōst dārīn} * braw’īt
pamm’an * {xāstagār’ī ↓ kanīt} **
Then he sends his family for
matchmaking to this, so to speak, to
the house of the girl’s family. He says
that, for example, ‘I love this girl. Go
and woo for me.’
[3] ēš’āna raw’ant ↑ ** bač’akkay *
mard’ēnzāgay xānawād’a {rawant
‘ōdā} ** ‘ōda * wat’ī ab’arānā
day’ant ↑ **
They go. The family of the boy, of the
[young] man goes there; there they
say their matter.
[4] g’uṛān * ‘idā * du ↓ čīz hast * y’ek-ī *
{mehriy’e inta} * mehriy’a z’ānay
č’ī-ē * ↑z’ānay yā na * — [Me:]
z’ānīn — [Informant:] y’ek-ī
Then there are two things. One is
mehriye . Do you know what mehriya
is, do you know it or not? — [Me:]
Yes, I know. — [Informant:] One
{mehriy’e inta} * y’ek-ī {šīrbah’ā ↓
inta} *
thing is mehriye , and the other thing
is šīrbahā .
[5] xō * m’ehriye ↑ yek č’īz-ī ke * yak
mabl’aġ-e pūl {tā’īn-a kanant} * ke
* ā hast ↑ * har mouġ’e-ī ke * →ē
dōk’ēnānī mānǧ’inā yak mouġ’e-ē
extel’āf-ē ↑ kapt * bād ša ezdew’āǧā
extel’āf-ē ↑ kapt-u ēš’ān lōṭit’ant ša
hamdīg’arā ǧud’ā bay’ant ↑← * ā
mabl’aġ-ē ke ba unw’ān-e mehriy’e
int →’annūn har č’īnka hast ↑← * ē
mard’ēnzāg bāy’ad pard’āxt kant bi
ǧin’ēnzāgā ↓ ** ā hast *
Well, mehriye is a thing when they
define an amount of money. This
exists. Whenever between these both
persons occurs a dispute sometimes,
[when] after the marriage a dispute
occurs and they want to separate of
each other, this amount which is
called mehriye , however much it is,
the man must pay [it] back to the
woman. This exists.
[6] y’ak-ē ↑ ba unwān-e šīrbah’ā ↓ ‘inta *
š’īrbahā ↑ yak pūl-ī ke ** š’īrbahā ↑
yak p’ul-ī ke * ē * mard’ēnzāg ā’īrā
dant * bi ǧin’ikkay * xānawād’aā ↑ *
ki p-ā’ī * ǧehziy’e {tā’īn-a ↓ kanant}*
{ǧ’ūṛ-a kanant} y’ānē čē am’ē
wasā’el-e gis’ā ↓ * farš-u yaxč’āl-u
telewizy’ōn-u ēš’ān*
The other is named šīrbahā . Šīrbahā
is money which; šīrbahā is money
which this man gives to the woman’s
family so that they can define the
dowry for her, prepare [the dowry],
i.e. these household belongings,
carpets, refrigerator, TV set, and
these things.
[7] ē * aww’al ke raw’ant xāstagār’ī-ē ↑ *
tawāf’oġ {ās’il-a kanant} * g’uṛān
yak marās’em-ē gīr’ant * be nām-e
šīrīnīxor’ī ↓ * yek marās’em-e
gwanḍ’ēn-ē gīr’ant ↑ * am’ē fām’īlā
ǧamm-a kan’ant * nind’ant * wa
ab’arānā day’ant * yak š’ām-ē {ǧ’ūṛ-
a kanant} * nind’ant šām’ā war’ant *
First they go for matchmaking and
when they obtain approval then they
make a ceremony named šīrīnīxūrī .
They make a small ceremony. They
gather this family, sit down and have
a conversation. They prepare dinner,
sit down and have dinner.
[8] g’uṛān * tebġ-e ↑ * b-estel’ā amm’ay Then according to our tradition,

sonn’at-u * tebġ-e dīn * ēš’ānī aġd’ā
am’ā rūhān’ī * yā am’ā moulaw’ī *
ēš’ānī aġd’ā band’īt ↓ *
according to religion, their marriage,
this clergyman or this Mullah marries
them.
[9] aġd ↑ bast’ag-a bīt tam’ām ↓ * ē yak
mudd’at-ē mān’ant ↑ * yā šiš mā yā
yak sāl yā gēšt’ir yā kamt’ar ↑ →ar či
ki wat tawāf’oġ dār’ant ↓← * ke ē ↑
gis’ay wasā’il {ǧ’ūṛ ↓ būt-ant} *
The engagement is consummated.
End of story. Then they wait for a
while, six months or one year, or
more or less, as long as they agree
with each other, until these
household belongings were
prepared.
[10] g’uṛān bač’ak-a ↑ kayt guš’īt man
{arūs’ī-a ↓ kanīn} * wat’ī * b-estel’ā
xān’omay xānawād’a-ā ↑ guš’īt man-a
lōṭ’īn {arūs’ī ↓ kanīn} *
Then this boy comes and says that he
will marry. He says to, so to speak, to
his wife’s family that he wants to
marry.
[11] pa ēš’ān * leb’ās gīr’ant nōk’ēn ↑ *
am pa ǧin’ikkā am pa bač’akkā
leb’ās nōk’ēn-a gīr’ant *
They buy new clothes for them; both
for the girl and for the boy they buy
new clothes.
[12] g’uṛān yak r’ōč-ē-rā {tā’īn-a ↓
kanant} * ke āġ’ā fil’ān rōč’ā * tī ↑ *
{arūs’ī ↓ inta} *
Then they fix a day [and say:] Mister,
this day will be your wedding.
[13] g’uṛān ēš’ān xō {fām’īl ↑ dārant} *
am bač’akkay * xānawād’a {fām’īl
dārīt} * am ǧin’ikkay xānawād’a
{fām’īl ↓ dārīt} *
Then they have relatives, of course.
Both the family of the boy has
relatives and the family of the girl has
relatives.
[14] ēš’ānā es’āb-a ↑ kanant →belfarz-e
mes’āl ē māšm’ay marās’em-e
arūs’īay tā čunt ↓ naf’ar-a kayt ← *
sad ↑ naf’ar-a kayt * dwīst naf’ar-a
kayt * sē-s’ad naf’ar-a kayt ↑ * ēš’ānā
{kārt-a ↑ dayant} * kārt-e {daʿw’at-
They count them. For example, how
many persons will come to our
wedding ceremony? Hundred
persons, two hundred persons, three
hundred persons will come. They
give them cards, they give them
138
a ↓ dayant} * dwīst sē-s’ad naf’ar *
koll-e wat’ī dūst-u raf’īq-u āšn’ā-u
fām’īlānā ↑ * har naf’ar-ē-rā yak
{k’ārt-ē ↓ dayant} *
invitation cards; to two or three
hundred persons, to all their friends,
comrades, acquaintances, and
relatives, to every person they give an
invitation card.
[15] yak r’ōč-ē-rā ↑ ham {tār’īx-a ǧanant}
ke ham’ā fal’ān rōč’ā * amm’ā *
{nah’ār-a ↓ dayan} *
They fix one day [and say:] this day
we will give a lunch.
[16] ham’ā rōč’ā ↑ bač’ak * ber’enǧ-u *
gūšt-u * taškīl’ātā kār’īt * yak
nah’ār-ē {ǧ’ūṛ-a kanant} * ē *
nah’ārā day’ant *u g’uṛān šap’īnā ↑ *
ke {š’ap-a bīt} * dig’a ēš’ānā bar’antu
* bač’akā bar’ant-u ham’ām ↑-u
sar-u sūr’atā {esl’ā-a kanant}-u *
leb’ās nōk’ēn-u * →dig’ar ann’ūn
mūd ↑ būt’a ǧadīd’an fīlmbardār’ī-a
kan’ant-u ēš’ānī marās’emā ← **
This day this boy brings rice and
meat and all objects. They prepare
lunch. They serve this lunch, and
then in the evening, when it becomes
night, they bring them away; they
bring the boy away, bath him, dress
his hear and shave him, [they dress
him up in] new clothes and … Now,
recently it has come into fashion to
shoot a film of their ceremony.
[17] g’uṛān šap’īnā ēš’ānī aġd’ā ↓
band’ant *
Then in the evening they get
married.
[18] aġd’ā ki band’ant ↑ (… … …)15 *
say ↑ rōč * amm’ay mantaġ’a rasm
int bal’ōčānī * say rōč ē bač’ak
mān’īt am’ē ǧin’ikkay piss’ay ↓ * gis’ā
*
When they make the marriage, in our
region it is a custom of the Baloch
that this boy remains in the house of
the father of this girl three days.
[19] bād ša say ↑ rōč’ā * bač’akkay piss-a
kayt * wat’ī zāg’ā * daʿw’at-a kant
wat’ī gis’ā ↓ ** š-‘idā zūr’īt ↑-u * ā’īrāu
ā’ī xān’umā* zūr’īt-u bārt bi wat’ī
After three days this boy’s father
comes and invites his son to his
house. He takes him away from
there; he takes him and his wife away
15 A sequence of about three syllables cannot be understood due to ambient noises.
Code-Copying in the Balochi Language of Sistan
139
gis’ā ↓ * and brings them to his house.
[20] ‘ōdā bārt-ī ↑ * p-ēš’ān yak * n’azr-ē *
yak p’as-ē * ēš’ānī dēm’ā kuš’īt * pēš’ān
nah’ār-ē ǧūṛ-a kant ēš’ānā
dant **
He brought them there, [makes] an
oblation for them; he butchers a
sheep in front of them, prepares a
lunch for them and gives it to them.
[21] g’uṛān * am’ī fām’īl ↑ * ←brās-u
gwār-u nāk’ō-u nākōz’āk-u trūz’āk-u
ēš’ān → * har š’ap-ē * →ēš’ānā
daʿw’at-a kant wat’ī gis’ā ↓←
Then their relatives, brothers, sisters,
uncles, cousins, etc., every night they
invite them to their houses.
[22] masal’an tī brās ↑ int * šap’ī ta
{daʿw’at-a kanay} b’āndā man
{daʿw’at-a kanīn} pōš’ī ā daʿw’at-a
kant * ē * marās’em-e arūs’ī ↓ int *
For example there is your brother,
one night you invite, tomorrow night
I invite, the day after tomorrow he
invites. This is the wedding
ceremony.
[23] tā taġrīb’an ↑ koll-e fām’il ēš’ānā
{daʿw’at-a kanant} wat’ī gis’ā * ke
marās’em ēš’ānī * dig’a tam’ām ↓ bīt
*
Until approximately all relatives
invite them to their houses, the
wedding ceremony gets finished.
[24] g’uṛān ↑ īh’ā * ‘aga bač’ak * waziy’at
* zāg * waziy’at-e māl’ī-e xūb būt **
{bastag’ī dārīt} * b’āzē mouġeh’ā gō
wat’ī xānewād’aā {zindag’ī-a
kanant} {tawāf’oġ-a kanant} *b’āzē
mouġeh’ā ǧit’ā {zindag’ī-a ↓ kanant}
*
Then they, when the boy, the
situation, when the boy’s financial
situation is good – it depends –
sometimes they live with their
relatives, they agree [to do so], and
sometimes they live apart.
[25] xō b’alōčān ↑ * gēšt’ir yakk-ē *
wābastag’ī-e xānawādag’ī dār’ant *
yān’in wat’ī pis-u m’āsānā ** wayl-a
n’akan-ant ↓
The Baloch mostly have close family
ties, e.g. they do not give up their
parents.
[26] [Me:] {č’ē ↑ nakanant} [Informant:] [Me:] What don’t they do?

* wayl-iš-a n’akanant ke b’erawant
{ǧit’ā bayant} * ǧit’ā ↑ n’abayant *
pis-u m’āsānā w’at-a sāt’ant ↓ *
[Informant:] They don’t give them
up; don’t go away to part [from
them]. They don’t part from them.
[27] pis {p’īr-a ↑ bīt} mās {p’īr-a bīt}
ēš’ānā * {w’at-a sātant} →čūn
bal’ōčān gēšt’ir ← * dar zam’ān-e
pīr’ī ham muht’āǧ ant-u * pa zāg’ān
{muht’āǧ-a ↓ kanant} * zam’ān-ē pīr
bay’ant ↑ pa zāg’ān {muht’āǧ-a ↓
kanant} * dig’a ↑ zāg wat-r’ā s’ātant ↓
*
They take care of their parents.
When the father becomes old, when
the mother becomes old, they take
care for them themselves; because
the Baloch mostly are needy at the
old age, they need their sons. When
they become old they need their
sons. And the son takes care [for
them].
[28] ē ↑ marās’em-e arūs’ī ↓-iš * xō * dig’a
čē lōṭit’ay z’ānay ↑
These are those marriage customs.
What else did you want to know?

References

Buddruss, Georg (1988). Aus dem Leben eines jungen Balutschen, von ihm selbst erzählt, Stuttgart: Steiner Verlag.
Baranzehi, Adam Nader (2003). “The Sarawani Dialect of Balochi and Persian Influence on It”, in Jahani / Korn, pp.75-111.
Brenzinger, Mattias (1997). “Language Contact and Language Displacement”, in Coulmas, F. (ed.), Handbook of Sociolinguistics, Oxford, pp. 273-284.
Craig, Colette (1997). “Language Contact and Language Degeneration”, in
Coulmas, Florian, (ed.), The Handbook of Sociolinguistics, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 257-270.
Elfenbein, Josef (1989). “Balōčī”, in Schmitt, Rüdiger (ed.), Compendium
Linguarum Iranicarum , Wiesbaden: Reichert, pp. 350-361.
Jahani, Carina (1994). “Notes on the use of genitive constructions versus iẓāfa constructions in Iranian Balochi”, in Studia Iranica 23, pp. 285-298.
Code-Copying in the Balochi Language of Sistan 141
Jahani, Carina (1999). “Persian Influence on some Verbal Constructions in
Iranian Balochi”, in Studia Iranica 28, pp. 123-143.
Jahani, Carina (2003). “The Case System in Iranian Balochi in a Contact
Linguistic Perspective”, in Jahani / Korn, pp. 113-132.
Jahani, Carina, and Korn, Agnes (eds.) (2003). The Baloch and Their
Neighbours. Ethnic and Linguistic Contact in Balochistan in Historical and
Modern Times , Wiesbaden: Reichert.
Johanson, Lars (2002). “Do languages die of ‘structuritis’? On the role of codecopying
in language and endangerment”, Italian Journal of Linguistics,
Rivista di Linguistica, 14:2, pp. 249-270.
King, Ruth Elizabeth (2000). The Lexical Basis of Grammatical Borrowing. A
Prince Edward Island French case study, Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Mahmoodi Bakhtiari, Behrooz (2003). “Notes on the Tense System in Balochi
and Standard Persian”, in Jahani / Korn, pp. 133-145.
Mahmoodzahi, Moosa (2003). “Linguistic Contact in Iranian Balochistan in
Historical and Modern Times”, in Jahani / Korn, pp. 147-156.
Rzehak, Lutz (2003). “Some Thoughts and Material on Balochi in
Afghanistan”, in Jahani / Korn, pp. 259-276.
Spooner, Brian (1967). “Notes on the Baluchī Spoken in Persian Baluchistan”,
in Iran, Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies 5, pp. 51-71.

 

Workshop on languages of Afghanistan and neighboring areas

By: Elena Bashir

The following notes (from Bashir 1991, unless otherwise indicated) are intended as the briefest of introductions to Balochi materials.

The language.

Balochi is a Western Iranian language, thus grouping with Persian, in contrast to Pashto, which is Eastern Iranian. It is an SOV language, some of its dialects showing partial ergativity. It also displays much lexical influence from various stages of Persian.

Dialects.

Elfenbein (1966, 1990) identifies six dialects: (1) Rakhshani, (2) Kechi, (3) Coastal dialects (in some sources called Mekrani), (4) Sarawani, (5) Lashari, (6) Eastern Hill dialects. Of these, Rakhshani, Kechi, the Coastal dialects, and the Eastern Hill Dialects are spoken in Pakistan; while Sarawani and Lashari are spoken mostly in Iran. There are also substantial numbers of Rakhshani speakers in Afghanistan, and (former Soviet) Turkmenistan. The dialects of Balochi form a continuum, with the westernmost varieties most heavily influenced by Persian, the easternmost by Sindhi and Siraiki, and the dialects adjacent to the Brahui-speaking area by Brahui. In Pakistan, Rakhshani and the Coastal dialects are culturally dominant: radio and television programs from Quetta are broadcast mainly in Rakhshani, while much of classical Balochi literature is written in one or the other of the coastal dialects.
There is an excellent color map of Balochi dialects at http://titus.uni_frankfurt.de/didact/karten/iran/baloc.htm
The names of the dialects on this map differ somewhat from Elfenbein’s names above.
Within Balochistan, the dialect distribution is as summarized in the following table.

Table 1. Speakers of Balochi in Balochistan

Dialect Number of Speakers
Eastern 630,000
Western
Rakhshani 590,000
Mekrani (=Coastal 660,000
dialects + Kechi)
Total 1,880,000

Phonology.
Balochi consonant system

Original Balochi phonemes
Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Palatal Retroflex Velar Post-velar Glottal
Bashir – Balochi notes 2
Stops
Voiceless p t k
Voiced b d g
Affricates
Voiceless 􀀀
Voiced j
Fricatives
Voiceless s  h
Voiced z 〉
Nasals m n
Laterals l
Trills r
Semivowels w y
Borrowed phonemes
Stops
Voiceless T q
Voiced D
Fricatives
Voiceless f x
Voiced (
Flaps R

Selected linguistics-oriented references

Elfenbein, J. 1966. The Baluchi Language: A Dialectology with Texts. Royal Asiatic Society Monographs, Vol. XXVII. London: The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. [Important work by this preeminent scholar of Balochi.]
. 1982. Baluchi-Brahui Linguistic Commensality. Transactions of the Philological Society, 77-98. [Discusses the long-standing cultural and linguistic interaction between Balochi and Brahui. An important paper, and accessible to the non-specialist.]
. 1989. Baloci. Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Weisbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert
Verlag. pp. 350-362. [A thumbnail sketch of Balochi grammar, with emphasis on historical development]
. 1990. An Anthology of Classical and Modern Balochi Literature, Vol. I. Anthology, Vol.
II, Glossary. Weisbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. [This is the largest and best anthology of Balochi literature in English. Indispensible for English speakers trying to gain a familiarity with Balochi literature.] ____. Baluchi language and literature. Encyclopaedia Iranica (web-based edition), pp. 633-
644. ed. Ehsan Yarshater. (http://www.iranica.com) [A good introduction to both language and literature. Contains examples of written literary Balochi and nominal and verbal paradigms.]
Jahani, Carina. 1989. Standardization and Orthography in the Balochi Language. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 1. Uppsala: University of Uppsala.
Bashir – Balochi notes 3 [This book is a detailed study provides a description and assessment of the development of Balochi as a written literary language. Its conclusion is that at present there is no single accepted standardized norm for written Balochi.]
Korn, Agnes. Towards a Historical Grammar of Balochi: Studies in Balochi Historical Phonology and Vocabulary. Ph.D. thesis ms. (at
http://titus.uni_frankfurt.de/personal/agnes/diss.htm) [This very recent work of historical linguistics contains a very detailed and recent bibliography on Balochi and Balochi studies. Though this work itself is not pedagogically oriented, some of the references listed may be helpful in preparing educational materials.] The following book is in press, and promises to be an extremely valuable new resource for Balochi studies. Jahani, Carina and Agnes Korn (eds.) The Baloch and Their Neighbours: Ethnic and Linguistic Contact in Balochistan in Historical and Modern Times. Wiesbaden (Reichert). [Contains rticles by important scholars of Balochi. Sections are: I. Historical linguistics; II. Language contact in modern times with subsections on Iran, Pakistan, and other countries; III. History, culture, and the future of the Balochi language. Includes ten maps. (full table of contents can be viewed at: http://titus.uni_frankfurt.de/personal/agnes/contents.pdf )]

Selected pedagogically oriented references

Ahmad, Mumtaz. 1985. Baluchi Glossary: A Baluchi-English Glossary: Elementary Level. Dunwoody Press. [A pedagogic work for beginning learners of Balochi. Part of the Dunwoody series of readers in uncommonly taught languages. May represent Balochi of Pakistan, concentrating on core vocabulary that is probably common to most written dialects found in Pakistan.] Barker, Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman and Aqil Khan Mengal. 1969/1980. A Course in Baluchi. Montreal: Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University. [Parallel in format to Barker’’s three-volume introductory Urdu course, these materials were developed with A. K. Mengal at the University of Balochistan. Volume II contains 197 pages of Balochi-English vocabulary, coordinated with the grammar materials and texts. Pages 604-660 are an English-Balochi index. This reflects Balochi usage in Pakistan current in the late 1960s, which is likely to be closest to standard literary usage in Pakistan.] Bashir, Elena. 1991. A Contrastive Analysis of Balochi and Urdu. Peshawar, Pakistan:
Directorate of Primary Education; Washington, D.C.: Academy for Educational Development. [This study was prepared with the aim of identifying areas of Balochi phonology or grammar which might illuminate differences faced by Balochi-speaking children in learning Urdu.

 

Zahoor Shah Hashmi: A one-man institution

Sayad Zahoor Shah Hashmi

By: Abbas Jalbani

Balochi literature is very rich in oral tradition but comparatively poor in the printed text. It was only in the early twentieth century that Balochi began to be transcribed in books. Under such trying conditions, it wasn’t easy for anyone to devote his entire life to the promotion of Balochi literature. Sayad Zahoor Shah Hashmi was a man with the commitment to do that.

This is why he managed to accomplish what the literary institutions and organizations of Balochistan failed to achieve. He modernized Balochi poetry by giving it a new contemporary direction. Meanwhile he freed Balochi poetic diction from the influence of Persian and Urdu. He encouraged many others to turn to Balochi prose by writing the first novel in the language.

He pioneered the native version of the history of Balochi language and literature, a field hitherto dominated by the non-Baloch. Most significant of all, he developed the standard Balochi script, standardized Balochi grammar and syntax and authored the first comprehensive Balochi dictionary, with thousands of entries spread on 833 folio size pages, supplemented with a guide on pronunciation and punctuation etc.

And Hashmi did all that without having a university or college education. He was born in 1939 in the multi-lingual coastal town of Gwadar, which then lay in the territorial jurisdiction of the Sultanate of Oman. He received elementary education at home from his father, Sayad Mohammad Shah, who was a learned man in the oriental tradition.

Later, young Hashmi was enrolled in a local school, which taught Arabic language as a compulsory subject, besides Persian and English. From his father and a teacher, Maulvi Mohammad Essa, he acquired a fondness for Persian poetry, particularly that of Hafiz Shirazi, Shaikh Saadi and Allama Iqbal, which led to his writing Persian as well as Urdu poetry while he was a teenager.

Hashmi joined hands with Haji Karim Bukhsh Saeedi to form a social welfare organization to strive for the educational, civic and political development of Gwadar. The organization established a library in the picturesque town, which became the hub of social and literary activities in a very short span of time. The organization also pressed the local authorities to establish more educational institutions and provide civic amenities to the town. It struggled for the economic uplift of the fisherfolk community. This made Hashmi and this organization very popular and as a token of participation in its work every fisherman would donate a fish after his trip to the sea.

Shocked by this surge of awareness among the people, the Wali of Gwadar, who used to represent the Sultan of Oman, and the other city authorities feared that the trend would lead to political awakening in the area, that would subsequently take the form of a demand for Gwadar’s secession from Oman and its merger into Pakistan, which was then on the cards. The local tribal elite as well as the immigrant business community were also disturbed and shared the authorities’ dislike for Hashmi. The Wali complained to the Sultan about Hashmi’s “rebellious” activities.

Being afraid that Hashmi might be imprisoned by the headstrong Sultan, his friends advised him against proceeding to Oman but paying no heed to this advice he went to the Gulf state with Abdul Majid Suhrabi. Contrary to popular expectations, the Sultan treated him with respect and held negotiations with him on the developmental needs of Gwadar.

Hashmi returned with a promise of Gwadar’s uplift by the Sultan and resumed his social and educational work with renewed zeal. This infuriated the Wali, who imprisoned him. However, due to his immense popularity among the people, the Wali came to fear that the Gwadris might attack the prison to free their leader. Fearing the worst, he released Hashmi and sent him into exile.

Thus Hashmi came to Karachi where he joined Radio Pakistan as incharge of its newly launched Balochi service. While at this post, he realized how poor Balochi language was in prose and modern forms of literature. The biggest obstacle in the way of promotion of the language, he soon realized, was the absence of a standard script and grammar. Deeply moved by the plight of his mother tongue, he decided to devote his life for the development of a standard Balochi script and the promotion of Balochi literature. He also began writing Balochi poetry and recited his first Balochi poem at a local mushaira, where he received acclaim from the senior Balochi writers.

From then on, he not only continued writing Balochi poetry and prose but also began studying classical Balochi poetry and striving for the promotion of Balochi language and literature. The period marked the establishment of literary organizations by the Baloch, including the Balochi Halqa-i-Adab and Balochi Bazm-i-Adab. Hashmi’s efforts facilitated the merger of the two organizations into the Balochi Zuban-i-Sarchamag, with the basic aim of evolving a standard Balochi script and grammar. In 1954 he prepared the Qaida, elementary book of Balochi language, which was approved by the Sarchamag and writers from different corners of Balochistan, including veteran Mohammad Hussain Anqa and Mir Gul Khan Nasir, at a meeting held at Magsi House, Karachi.

In order to acquaint himself with different dialects of Balochi language and to introduce the Sarchamag in every nook and corner of the province, Hashmi and another linguist, Abdul Samad Amiri, visited different parts of Balochistan. During this long and tiring journey at a time when the province had few metalled roads and travelling could be a nerve-shattering exercise, the pair was introduced to the Balochi writers of different regions. The two of them gathered valuable knowledge about the classical as well as contemporary language and literature. Hashmi also visited Iranian Balochistan to study the Balochi literature of that area.

After his return to Karachi, severe differences split the activists of the Sarchamag. Discouraged by this situation, he left for the Gulf states and spent the subsequent years of his life in Bahrain and other states. In 1956 while he was in Bahrain, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and other ailments, from which he could never recover.

However, he refused to allow his deteriorating health to affect his literary pursuits and continued working on his books, the most important being the compilation of the dictionary, which was a gigantic task. In a TB sanatorium of Bahrain he completed a much needed book on Balochi grammar, called Balochi siyahag-i-rast nibisag.

Those, who had met him during his long-drawn ailment, recall that Hashmi became even more obsessed with writing as he felt that he had little time left to go. After being discharged from the hospital, he went to Bombay, where he published Sistagen dastonk, Angar-o-trungle, Trapkanen trimp, Balochi bungeji and the Balochi translation of the Quranic para, Ain Meem. , Mirgind and Balochi siyahag-i-rast nibisag were published later.

In 1963 a European orientalist Dr John Strasser came to Pakistan to study the Balochi language. He visited the different Balochi-speaking areas of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, and held meetings with Balochi writers. Strasser also met Hashmi and was greatly inspired by his insight into Balochi language and literature. Later, Strasser went to Pune (India) and invited Hashmi to join him there. There the latter had meetings with the prominent linguist Dr N.S. Shukla and learnt a lot about the languages of Indo-Iranian origin from him, which deepened his knowledge of Balochi language.

In 1970 he returned to Karachi where he married a woman from a literary family. One of the pioneers of modern Balochi poetry, Syed Malang Shah, and his daughter, Banul Dashtyari, who is a poet of repute in her own right, are from this family. In Karachi, Hashmi published Nazuk, the first novel in Balochi language, and finalized Sayad Gunj, the dictionary, Balochi Zuban-o-Adab ki Tarikh and other books.

As his health deteriorated, he devoted more efforts and time to giving final touches to his books as he did not want his projects to remain incomplete. He died in April 1978, with the yearning to see the publication of Sayad Ganj, the most precious labour of his love. It had taken him 26 years of extensive research, challenging journeys across the Balochi-speaking world and countless discussions with scholars and the common folk to compile this dictionary. Its publication took another quarter of a century and was surrounded by many controversies.

When the book appeared in the market, readers were shocked to see a price tag of three figures on it. They believe that since its publication had been funded mostly by the expatriate Baloch people, the book could and should have had a lower price, to enable everybody to buy it.

Not only that Sayad Ganj was confined to the libraries of the rich, the Baloch community — and their literary institutions and organizations, including the Balochi Academy and the Sayad Hashmi Academy — have been constantly failing to remember Hashmi even on his death anniversary and about 20 of his books are still lying around awaiting publication. Is this amnesia their tribute to a man whose contributions to the Balochi language is unparalleled?

 

Baluchi Music Has Risen From The Heart of History

Balochi Soroz

By: Ashraf Sarbazi

That music which we hear nowadays in Baluchestan differs with genuine Baluchi music because of many reasons. One of these reasons is the big distance between Baluchestan and the capital and lack of attention by former regimes to the impoverished and far flung region. Anotherreason is that Baluchestan neighbors Pakistan and is influenced by Pakistani Baluchi music as well as Indian music.

From ancient times this region has had close commercial and cultural ties with India. The Indian influence was also due to the fact that Baluchestan was too distant from the central governments in Iran and was ignored by these governments. By exploring the root of such influence we will come across geographical and historical facts. Aside from dynasties such as the Sogdians whose seat of government was in Sistan and Baluchestan during the second century A.D., lack of roads and communication with interior parts in the country where Iranian culture prevailed, was another reason that physically and spiritually exposed Baluchi music to Indian culture.

Although the Baluchi tribesmen are strictly religious and fanatic, the musicians are treated as confidantes and intimates and they are permitted to play in private parties where women are also present. However, Baluchi women do not play musical instruments and only sing songs mostly in groups and behind the curtain and where their voice cannot reach male ears. One can rarely find a woman in Baluchestan to be a professional singer in wedding, birthday, circumcision and other festive parties. The musical instruments through which the Baluchi singer pours outs his/her restless and deep sentiments, are genuine instruments such as Tanburak (the small guitar), Setar (three stringed guitar), Qalam (a flute divided into five or six sections), the pitcher, the oboe, ordinary and small kettledrum, the tambourine and roebuck or Hijdah (eighteen) Tar.

Another native musical instrument in Baluchestan province is banjo on which many changes have been made and it has been converted into a native instrument in the Sind Province in Pakistan. Eighty percent of the population in Sind Province are composed of various Baluchi tribesmen. The most famous banjo player in Sind was the late Lavarborji who had descended from Dashtiari Baluchi sect in the Iranian Baluchestan. The next native instrument in Baluchestan is Dongi (whose Pakistani name in Sind Province is different). Dongi includes a pair of male and female flutes. The best Dongi players in Baluchestan who had universal fame came from the Siri tribe and were called Mesri Khan Jamali and Khabir Khan Jamali. Banjo and Dongi are so intermingled with other Baluchi instruments that have become naturalized in Baluchestan. The preservation of tribal traditions such as Sepak, Shabatagi, Liloo, Sote, Liko, Laloo, etc. which are accompanied by music, has helped this remote Iranian province to retain samples of genuine Baluchi music. Moreover, one can find singers and musicians in Baluchestan who are devoted to their traditional music. The singers and musicians who have inherited the art from their ancestors from generations to generations are called Pahlevans. “Pahlevan” is a combination of “Pahloo” and “Van”. Pahloo is derived from Pahlavi language and means brave and powerful. “Van” means a singer. Meanwhile in the Baluchi language “Vang” also means singing. Therefore, “Pahlevan” means one who shows bravery and chivalry.

Here we will briefly refer to several examples of genuine Baluchi music which is now popular in Baluchestan. Sepad which means praise are a series of melodies which are sung after the birth of a child. Such songs continue for 14 nights while the mother prepares herself to wash her body. Sepad is sung only by women and by groups and is aimed to help the mother to forget the pains that she has suffered during child delivery. In these songs they mostly praise God, the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the elders of the religion and wish health and happiness for the mother and the newborn. Vazbad also means laudation and are a group of songs which are sung by either a single lady or a group of ladies and responded by another group. Such melodies which continue for about 14 nights at the newborn’s house, praise God and the Prophet for bestowing a child to the woman.

Shabtagi is another rite in Baluchestan. When a baby is born the lady’s relatives, neighbors and friends assemble in her house in the evenings and at times stay all the night and pray for the health of the mother and the baby. They congratulate the relatives for the newborn and sing poems in a soft tune accompanied by the oboe and tambourine. These poems and songs are known as Shabtagi which means to remain awake in the night. The majority of Shabtagi melodies are in praise of God, the Prophet, the Prophet’s companions and elders of religion in which they congratulate the mother and the father and wish health and a brilliant future for the newborn. During such rites they officially sing the Azan (Muslim call for prayer) into the baby’s ear which means that the newborn is a Muslim. Shabtagi songs help the mother to forget her labor and refreshes her spirit and bestows strength to her body. Moreover, the Baluchi tribesmen believe that evil souls and evil wishers await in ambuscade to attack and harm the mother and the newborn by talisman and by magic spells. For example they believe that Jatooq who is a devil and sorcerer will devour the child’s heart and liver. Jatooq is believed to be an evil and cunning woman who longs for her newborn which she lost during delivery. She envies the others’ children and harms such women. The Baluchi women believe that Jatooq’s evil spirit secretly devours the baby’s heart and liver and for that reason they must not let the mother and the new born remain alone for a minimum of three days and nights. As a result they assemble beside the mother and the child and recite the Quran.

Shabtagi extend from 6 nights to 14 nights at times to even 40 nights according to the family’s financial condition. Loola is another song which is sung during festive occasions such as wedding parties and has different meanings. But Laloo shesghani is specially dedicated to the sixth day of the baby’s birth. In this song the singer appeals to Almighty God, the Prophet and His blessed family for a happy life for the new born. For example if the baby is a boy, they wish him to be brave, true to his promise, a good swordsman, truthful, kind, hospitable and pious, obedient to elders and other good qualities which is admired in the Baluchi culture. But if the newborn is a daughter, they pray her to be chaste, faithful, a good housewife, truthful, hospitable, kind to her husband, brother and sisters and faithful to Baluchi culture. The christening and circumcision is often performed on the sixth night of childbirth and during that night femaleguests are entertained by food, perfume, and oil.

Liloo or Looli is in fact lullaby which the mother sings to put the child to sleep. Zayirak is the most melancholy melody among the Baluchis which complains of separation, from unkind darling or miseries of life. Zayirak or Zayirik is accompanied by doleful melodies and the music is played only by Qalam or flute. However, nowadays Zayirak is played with banjo as well. This is a long, monotonous and doleful music which is played with drum and the notes are repeated with slight difference. Zayirak is divided into various branches among which the most famous ones are Ashrafdor Zayirak, Janoozami Zayirak and Zamerani Zayirak. When you hear Zayirak it seems that you are sitting at a melancholy coast listening to the repeated sad notes of the flute with the Gheichak. This resembles the sea waves which start with violence at first but as they approach the coast the tempest subsides and at last the ripples find peace at the seashore. The music starts with a shrill tune, rises to its peak, then gradually subsidies and grows silent. Then after a short pause, again the flutes wail shrilly, and the episode is repeated again and again. Zayirak is sung with or without musical instruments and is sung for the absence of close relatives, such as father, mother, brother, sister, daughter, son, wife, a mistress and even for absence from one’s homeland. Zayirak is derived from Zahir which according to the Dehkhoda Encyclopedia means remembrance, sadness and a wish to meet the beloved one. Zahir also means melancholy and dejected. Formerly Zayirak was sung by women during their daily chores specially when they gathered near the mill to grind their wheat into flour. At those times the melody was sung alternately by two groups of women. Such a method of singing is no more observed these days. Nowadays Zayirak is only sung by men by Flute, Gheichak and Banjo.