Saraiki Language - Geographic Distribution - Dialects

Dialects

Shackle 1976 has proposed a tentative classification of Saraiki dialects into six "varieties", wherein variety is defined as a group of dialects. (Shackle's scheme really involves just three "varieties", since he himself observes that Shahpuri Jhangvi and Thali, spoken in Sargodha Division, Jhang and khanewal districts, are in truth not a kind of Saraiki, but instead a dialect of Punjabi with Saraiki features.)

A list of names in use at one or another time during the 20th century for Saraiki dialects and dialect groups is compiled in the table below. The dialect names are spelled in the standard Anglicized spelling. 'C' and 'ch' both resemble English 'ch'; 'c' represents an unaspirated sound, 'ch' an aspirated. A macron over a vowel indicates a long vowel. Following is the table of dialects based upon the different articles and may not actually represent any specific classification.

Dialect group of Saraiki Subdialect Where spoken Alternate_names Notes
Saraiki
(Central or Pure Saraiki)
Saraiki Language Multan District, Lodhran District, Bahawalpur District, Muzaffargarh District, Rahim Yar Khan District, Dera Ghazi Khan District, Rajanpur District, Derawal Nagar, Delhi, India 1.Riyāsatī in Bahawalpur District.
2.Ḍerāwālī in Dera Ghazi Khan
1.According to Masica, the two names Bahāwalpurī and Riyāsatī are locally specific names for the Multani dialect group, possibly specific dialects within the group. According to Shackle, they instead denote a distinct dialect group. Also according to Shackle, the Bahawalpur District of Punjab Province (i.e., within its 1976 boundaries) is split between Mūltānī in the north and Bahāwalpurī in the south, with the dialect of Bahawalpur city being of blend of these two.
2.According to Masica, this use of the name Ḍerāwālī is to be distinguished from its use as an alternate name for a different dialect group (see following row). The spelling with retroflex 'Ḍ' instead of 'D' is according to Masica. The name dialect name "Thaḷī" is used to refer to the local dialects of both Dera Ghazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan, but "Thaḷī" in the former is the Multani dialect and "Ḍerāwālī " in the latter is the Thaḷī dialect.
Thaḷī Bhakkar District, Layyah District, Muzaffargarh District, Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Tank District, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Derawal Nagar, Delhi, India 1.Thalochi and Thaḷochṛi in Bhakkar District.
2.Jaṭkī; Hindko or Hindki on the west of Indus River.
3.Thaḷī in Dera Ismail Khan District and Tank District
1.Named after the Thal Desert, a region bordered by the Indus River to the west and the Jhelum and Chenab Rivers to the east.
2.Hindko is classified as Lahnda language whose southern dialects are closer to Saraiki. Sometimes, in Mianwali, it is referred as Mianwali di Boli and has close link with Hindko.
Sindhi-Saraiki Northern part of Sindh including Kashmore District, Jacobabad District, Shikarpur District, Tando Muhammad Khan District, Tando Allahyar District, Sobho Khan Mastoi, Kamal Khan Mastoi, Thatta District, Sujawal, Dadu District and Ghotki District. Sireli (of north) Dialect of Saraiki which has some features of the Sindhi language. Sindhi Saraiki is also categorized as a dialect of Sindhi language. In the Interier Sindh, 40% of population speak Sindhi-Saraiki.
Jadgali Southwest of Sindh, and Jafarabad District and Nasirabad District of Balochistan. Also in Iran Jat, Jatgali, Jatki A Dialect of Sindhi. It is closer to Saraiki
Khetrani Sulaiman Mountains, Balochistan Classified as a dialect of Balochi as well as Lahnda language, is closer to Saraiki.
Jafri Musakhel District, Balochistan
Kandahari - Multani Kandahar, Afghanistan It is spoken by Hindus living in Kandahar. Some of these people are called Kandhari or Hindki.

Although present day Pakistani academia chooses to call this language "Saraiki", this word is largely unknown to the Saraiki people who migrated to India during the partition - predominantly the Hindu Seraikis. These people better know their language and identity as "Multani" rather than Seraiki. One of the reasons why Hindu Multanis of India have not been able to join the mainstream Seraiki / Multani resources on the internet today is the difference in the nomenclature.

The language should ideally be called Multani. Multan is the main city of the Multani speaking region (Seraikistan), and its dialect can be considered to be High Multani. Other dialects are spoken in the regions around Multan such as Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and so on.

The word Seraiki is recognized only by the academia and not by the Multani diaspora in India, who call themselves Multanis. Groups have recently emerged on social networking sites such as Facebook whereby the Indian diaspora continue to refer to themselves as Multanis.

The estimates about the Multani speaking population is quite low and the choice of the name for the language is definitely a reason for this. It is impossible that only 70,000 people in India speak Multani when over 30% to 35% (perhaps 40%) of the population of the Multani speaking region was Hindu at the time of the partition and almost all the Hindu Multanis migrated to India. There are currently nearly 10 million Multani speakers in Pakistan today. The number of Multani speakers in India should most certainly be several hundred thousands if not over a million.

Another reason why these estimates are most certainly wrong is that most Multanis in India, for want of a better identity, call themselves Punjabi, and when asked about their language, will call themselves Punjabi-speakers, for want of a better classification. However, with the revival of interest in ethnic identities, many people are coming forward and distinguishing themselves as Multanis rather than Punjabis.

Read more about this topic:  Saraiki Language, Geographic Distribution