Balti language
|
|
| Balti (Balti) | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Pakistan, India |
| Region: | Kashmir |
| Total speakers: | 333,000 |
| Ranking: | |
| Genetic classification: | Sino-Tibetan languages Tibeto-Burman languages |
| Official status | |
| Official language of: | Balti |
| Regulated by: | - |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | {{{iso1}}} |
| ISO 639-2 | {{{iso2}}} |
| SIL | BFT |
| See also: Language – List of languages | |
Balti is a language spoken in Baltistan, in what is now part of the Northern Areas of Pakistan. The language is an archaic dialect of the Tibetan language. Many of the consonants that are silent in most modern Tibetan dialects are pronounced in Balti.
Script
Balti is also the name of the Tibetan Balti script, no longer in use, which was replaced by the Persian script in the 16th Century, due to Arabic influence.
Recently a number of Balti scholars have been trying to repromote the use of the Balti script (including the Tibetan form) and as well as preserving their semi-Tibetan Balti culture, in order to preserve their racial identity.
Vocabulary
The Balti language shares 80-90% of the vocabulary with the neighboring Ladakhi, although they have adopted words from Shina, Burushaski and Persian with the process of Islamization.
External links
- Unicode (http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr3-2)
- Koshur: The Balti Language (http://koshur.org/Linguistic/7.html)
- Pakistan's Northern Areas dilemma (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1491179.stm)
- Northern Areas Development Gateway (http://www.northernareas.org.pk)
- Pakistan's Northern Areas (http://paknews.com/articles.php?id=1&date1=2003-04-17)