Brahui is a Dravidian language spoken by about 2.2 million people mainly in the Balochistan region of Pakistan. There are also speakers in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Turkmenistan and the UAE. Brahui belong to the northern subfamily of Dravidian languages and is related to Kurukh and Malto, and has been influenced by Balochi and other Iranian languages. Brahui has three dialects: Kalat Brahui, Jharavan Brahui and Saravan Brahui.
Brahui has no official status, and is not used in education or government administration. However there is a newspaper in Brahui called Haftaí Talár. Few Brahui-speakers can read and write their language.
Brahui is written with a version of the Arabic script, and also with a version of the Latin alphabet known as Brolikva or Brahui Roman Likvar, which was developed by the Brahui Language Board (Bráhuí Báşágal Brolikva) of the University of Balochistan in Quetta.
ق, ع, ظ, ط, ض, ص, ذ, ح and ث are only used in Arabic loanwords.
Download an alphabet chart for Brahui (Excel)
Information about Brahui pronunciation supplied by Wolfram Siegel and Michael Peter Füstumum
Brahui is quite distantly related to other Dravidian Languages. Geographically Brahui is an outlier. The major Dravidian Languages are spoken mainly in southern India. Some cognates between Brahui and other Dravidian Languages exist:
| Brahui | irrat / اِرٹ | musi / مُسہ | dir / دیر | ba / با | banning / بِنَنگ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kannada | ಎರಡು (ēraḍu) | ಮೂರು (mūru) | ನೀರು (nēru) | ಬಾಯಿ (bāyi) | ಬಾ (bā) |
| English | two | three | water | mouth | to come |
Information supplied by Krishna Rao
مُچَّا اِنسَاںک آجو او اِزَّت نَا رِد اَٹ بَرےبَر وَدِى مَسُّنو. اوفتے پُهِى او دَلِىل رَسےںگَانے. اَندَادے وفتے اَسِ اےلو تون اِىلُمِى اے وَدِّفوئِى اے.
Muccá insáńk ájo o izzat ná rid aŧ barebar vadí massuno. Ofte puhí o dalíl raseńgáne. andáde ofte asi elo ton ílumí e vaddifoí e.
Brahui version provided by Professor Liaqat Sani of the Brahui Language Board, from the University of Quetta in Baluchistan. Arabic script version provided by Michael Peter Füstumum
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Information about Brahui | Numbers
Information about Brahui
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahui_language
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Брауи
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/brh
Brahui Language Board
https://sites.google.com/site/brahuilb/
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Page last modified: 14.04.22
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