Khetrānī, or Khetranki,[2] is an Indo-Aryan language of north-eastern Balochistan. It is spoken by the majority of the Khetrans,[3] an ethnolinguistic tribe that occupies a hilly tract in the Sulaiman Mountains comprising the whole of Barkhan District as well as small parts of neighbouring Kohlu District to the south-west, and Musakhel District to the north. The ethnic Khetran population found to the east in the Vehova Tehsil of Taunsa Sharif District of Punjab instead speak Saraiki.[4] Alternative names for the language attested at the start of the 20th century are Barāzai and Jāfaraki.[5]
| Khetrani | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native to | Pakistan |
Native speakers | over 100,000 (2017)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xhe |
| Glottolog | khet1238 |
 Khetrani is a minor language of Pakistan which is mainly spoken in Barkhan District, it is given a space in this map. | |
Khetrani has grammatical features in common with both Sindhi and with Saraiki,[6] but is not mutually intelligible with either.[7] Khetrani has a relatively small number of Balochi loanwords in its vocabulary.[8] Khetrani was formerly a dialect continuum of both Sindhi and Saraiki.[6]
It is likely to have been formerly spoken over a wider area, which has been reduced with the expansion of Pashto from the north and Balochi from the south-east.[9] The earlier suggestion that Khetrani might be a remnant of a Dardic language[10] has been found "difficult to substantiate" by more detailed recent research.[11]
History
The Khetrans. It is certain that the whole of the triangular block of hill now occupied by the Marris was in the possession of Indian tribes before the Baloch invasion. They were gradually destroyed or absorbed by the Baloch from the south and the Afghans from the north and such names as Shahdedja among the Marris and Haripal among the Afghans to the north indicate that fragments of these tribes remain among the Baloch and the Afghans. The Khetrans however between the Afghan and the Baloch have preserved their identity and their peculiar Indian dialect to the present day.[12]
Footnotes
Bibliography
- Birmani, Ali H.; Ahmed, Fasih (2017). "Language of the Khetrans of Barkhan of Pakistani Balochistan: A preliminary description". Lingua. 191–192: 3–21. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2016.12.003. ISSN 0024-3841.
- Elfenbein, Joseph H. (1994). "Notes on Khetrāni phonology". Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik. 19: 71–82. ISSN 0341-4191.
- Grierson, George A. (1919). Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. VIII, Part 1, Indo-Aryan family. North-western group. Specimens of Sindhī and Lahndā. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India.
- Masica, Colin P. (1991). The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-23420-7.
- Minchin, C.F. (1907). Loralai District. Baluchistan district gazetteers. Vol. 2. Allahabad: Pioneer Press.
