This article contains Sindhi text, written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters or other symbolsinstead of Sindhi script.
Sindhi is an inflected language, with five cases for noun, three for personal pronoun, four for third-person pronoun; eleven case markers; two genders (masculine, feminine); and two numbers (singular, plural).
The name "Sindhi" is derived from the Sanskritsíndhu, the original name of the Indus River, along whose delta Sindhi is spoken. In the Bronze Age (c.3300– c.1200BCE), the primary language of this region was likely the Harappan language, but no records exist indicating when or how that language was replaced by the Indo-Aryan languages.
Like other languages of the Indo-Aryan family, Sindhi is descended from Old Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit) via Middle Indo-Aryan (Pali, secondary Prakrits, and Apabhramsha). 20th century Western scholars such as George Abraham Grierson believed that Sindhi descended specifically from the Vrācaḍa dialect of Apabhramsha (described by Markandeya as being spoken in Sindhu-deśa, corresponding to modern Sindh) but later work has shown this to be unclear.
The sound changes that characterise the development of Sindhi from Middle Indo-Aryan are:
Development of implosives from geminate and initial stops (e.g. g-, -gg > ɠ); this is a highly distinctive sound change in NIA
Shortening of geminates (e.g. MIA akkhi > Sindhi akhi "eye")
Voicing of post-nasal consonants (e.g. MIA danta > Sindhi ɗ̣andu "tooth")
Fronting of r from medial clusters to initial (e.g. OIA dīrgha > Sindhi ḍrigho "long")
Additionally, the following retentions distinguish Sindhi from other New Indo-Aryan languages:
Retention of MIA -ṇ-
Retention of final short vowels -a, -i, -u, but also insertion of these into loanwords
Retention of long vowels before geminates (more archaic than e.g. Prakrit)
Retention of stop + r clusters but with retroflexion, e.g. tr- > ṭr-
Retention of v-
Literary attestation of early Sindhi is sparse. Historically, Isma'ili religious literature and poetry in India, as old as the 11th century CE, used a language that was closely related to Sindhi and Gujarati; at this point, Sindhi was not clearly established as an independent literary language. Much of this work is in the form of ginans (a kind of devotional hymn).
Additionally, the Korean Buddhist monk Hyech'o mentions the unique language of Sindh in his travelogue:
From Takka, I walked towards the West for another month and arrived at the country of Sindhukula. The dress, customs, climate, and temperature are similar to north India, although the language is slightly different.
Medieval Sindhi literature is of a primarily religious genre, comprising a syncretic Sufi and Advaita Vedanta poetry, the latter in the devotional bhakti tradition. The format of this poetry is the bayt, indicating significant influence from Arabic and Persian. The earliest known Sindhi poet of the Sufi tradition is Qazi Qadan (1493–1551). Other early poets were Shah Inat Rizvi (c. 1613–1701) and Shah Abdul Karim Bulri (1538–1623). These poets had a mystical bent that profoundly influenced Sindhi poetry for much of this period.
Another famous part of Medieval Sindhi literature is a wealth of Sindhi folktales, adapted and readapted into verse by many bards at various times and possibly much older than their earliest literary attestations. These include romantic epics such as Sassui Punnhun, Sohni Mahiwal, Momal Rano, Noori Jam Tamachi, Lilan Chanesar, and others.
The greatest poet of Sindhi was Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689/1690–1752), whose verses were compiled into the Shah Jo Risalo by his followers. While primarily Sufi, his verses also recount traditional Sindhi folktales and aspects of the cultural history of Sindh.
The first attested Sindhi translation of the Quran was done by Akhund Azizullah Muttalawi (1747–1824) and published in Gujarat in 1870. The first to appear in print was by Muhammad Siddiq in 1867.
British India
In 1843, the conquest of Sindh by the British East India Company led the region to become part of the Bombay Presidency. Soon after, in 1848, Governor George Clerk established Sindhi as the official language in the province, removing the literary dominance of Persian. Sir Bartle Frere, the then commissioner of Sindh, issued orders on August 29, 1857, advising civil servants in Sindh to pass an examination in Sindhi. He also ordered the use of Sindhi in official documents. In 1868, the Bombay Presidency assigned Narayan Jagannath Vaidya to replace the abjad used in Sindhi with the Khudabadi script. The script was decreed a standard script by the Bombay Presidency, thus inciting anarchy in the Muslim majority region. A powerful unrest followed, after which twelve martial laws were imposed by the British authorities. The granting of official status of Sindhi along with script reforms ushered in the development of modern Sindhi literature.
The first printed works in Sindhi were produced at the Muhammadi Press in Bombay beginning in 1867. These included Islamic stories set in verse by Muhammad Hashim Thattvi, one of the renowned religious scholars of Sindh.
Independent Pakistan and India
The partition of India in 1947 resulted in most Sindhi speakers ending up in the new state of Pakistan, commencing a push to establish a strong sub-national linguistic identity for Sindhi. This manifested in resistance to the imposition of Urdu and eventually Sindhi nationalism in the 1980s.
The language and literary style of contemporary Sindhi writings in Pakistan and India were noticeably diverging by the late 20th century; authors from the former country were borrowing extensively from Urdu, while those from the latter were highly influenced by Hindi.
In Pakistan, Sindhi is the first language of 34.40 million people, or 14.6% of the country's population as of the 2023 census. 33.46 million of these are found in Sindh, where they account for 60% of the total population of the province. There are 0.55 million speakers in the province of Balochistan, especially in the Kacchi Plain.
The Sindh Assembly has ordered compulsory teaching of the Sindhi language in all private schools in Sindh. According to the Sindh Private Educational Institutions Form B (Regulations and Control) 2005 Rules, "All educational institutions are required to teach children the Sindhi language. Sindh Education and Literacy Minister, Syed Sardar Ali Shah, and Secretary of School Education, Qazi Shahid Pervaiz, have ordered the employment of Sindhi teachers in all private schools in Sindh so that this language can be easily and widely taught. Sindhi is taught in all provincial private schools that follow the matric system and not the ones that follow the Cambridge system.
At the occasion of 'Mother Language Day' in 2023, the Sindh Assembly under Culture minister Sardar Ali Shah, passed a unanimous resolution to extend the use of language to the primary level, and to increase the status of Sindhi as a national language of Pakistan.
The Indian government has legislated Sindhi as a scheduled language in India, making it an option for education. Despite lacking any state-level status, Sindhi is still a prominent minority language in the Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. In India, Sindhi mother tongue speakers were distributed in the following states:
In Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore (where Sindhi has no official status), ethnic Sindhis are largely shifting to English as their first language, excepting some monolingual first-generation immigrants and second-generation speakers who use Sindhi at home. Codeswitching of varying degrees is observed in some speakers, usually with English but also with Malay and Indonesian. Similar shift to English is found in the smaller Hong Kong Sindhi community.
Sindhi has many dialects, and forms a dialect continuum at some places with neighboring languages such as Saraiki to the north and Gujarati to the south, but not with Marwari to the east. Some of the documented dialects of Sindhi are:
Vicholi: The prestige dialect spoken around Hyderabad and central Sindh (the Vicholo region), on which the literary standard is based.
Uttaradi: The dialect of northern Sindh (Uttaru, meaning "north"), with minor differences in Larkana, Shikarpur and in parts of Sukkur and Kandiaro.
Siroli (also Siraiki, Ubheji): The dialect of northernmost Sindh (Siro, meaning "head"). Spoken in smaller number all over Sindh but mainly in Jacobabad and Kashmore districts, it may be transitional with the Saraiki language of southern Punjab and has variously been treated either as a dialect of Saraiki or as a dialect of Sindhi.
Lasi: The dialect of Lasbela, Hub and Gwadar districts in Balochistan, closely related to Lari and Vicholi, and in contact with Balochi.
Firaqi: The dialect of the Kachhi plains the north eastern districts of Balochistan, where it is referred to as Firaqi Sindhi or commonly just Sindhi.
Thareli (also Tharechi): Spoken in the northeastern Thar desert of Sindh, but mainly spoken in the western part of Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, India by many Sindhi Muslims.
The retroflex consonants are apicalpostalveolar and do not involve curling back of the tip of the tongue,, so they could be transcribed [t̠,t̠ʰ,d̠,d̠ʱn̠n̠ʱɾ̠ɾ̠ʱ] in phonetic transcription. The affricates /tɕ,tɕʰ,dʑ,dʑʱ/ are laminal post-alveolars with a relatively short release. It is not clear if /ɲ/ is similar, or truly palatal. /ʋ/ is realised as labiovelar [w] or labiodental [ʋ] in free variation, but is not common, except before a stop.
The vowels are modal length /ieæɑɔou/ and short /ɪʊə/. Consonants following short vowels are lengthened: /pət̪o/[pət̪ˑoː] 'leaf' vs. /pɑt̪o/[pɑːt̪oː] 'worn'.
Grammar
Nouns
Sindhi nouns distinguish two genders (masculine and feminine), two numbers (singular and plural), and five cases (nominative, vocative, oblique, ablative, and locative). This is a similar paradigm to Punjabi. Almost all Sindhi noun stems end in a vowel, except for some recent loanwords. The declension of a noun in Sindhi is largely determined by its grammatical gender and the final vowel (or if there is no final vowel). Generally, -o stems are masculine and -a stems are feminine, but the other final vowels can belong to either gender.
The different paradigms are listed below with examples. The ablative and locative cases are used with only some lexemes in the singular number and hence not listed, but predictably take the suffixes -ā̃ / -aū̃ / -ū̃ (ABL) and -i (LOC).
SG
PL
Gloss
NOM
VOC
OBL
NOM
VOC
OBL
M
I
ڇوڪِرو छोकिरो chokiro
ڇوڪِرا छोकिरा chokirā
ڇوڪِري छोकिरे chokire
ڇوڪِرا छोकिरा chokirā
ڇوڪِرا / ڇوڪِرَछोकिरो / छोकिर chokirā / chokira
ڇوڪِرَنِछोकिरनि chokirani
boy
II
ٻارُ ॿारु ɓāru
ٻارَ ॿार ɓāra
ٻارو / ٻارَ ॿार /ॿारो ɓāra / ɓāro
ٻارَنِ ॿारनि ɓārani
child
III
ساٿِي साथी sāthī
ساٿِيءَ साथीअ sāthīa
ساٿِي साथी sāthī
ساٿيئَرو साथीअरो sāthīaro
ساٿيَنِ साथियनि sāthyani
companion
رَھاڪُو रहाकू rahākū
رَھاڪُوءَ रहाकूअ rahākūa
رَھاڪُو रहाकू rahākū
رَھاڪُئو रहाकूओ rahākuo
رَھاڪُنِ रहाकुनि rahākuni
inhabitant
IV
راجا राजा rājā
راجا / راجائتو राजा / राजाइतो rājā / rājāito
راجائُنِ राजाउनि rājāuni
king
سيٺُ सेठु seṭhu
سيٺَ सेठ seṭha
سيٺَنِ सेठनि seṭhani
merchant
F
I
زالَ ज़ाल zāla
زالُون ज़ालूं zālū̃
زالُنِ ज़ालुनि zāluni
woman, wife
سَسُ ससु sasu
سَسُون ससूं sasū̃
سَسُنِ ससुनि sasuni
mother-in-law
II
دَوا दवा davā
دَوائُون दवाऊं davāū̃
دَوائُنِ दवाउनि davāuni
medicine
راتِ राति rāti
راتيُون रातियूं rātyū̃
راتيُنِ रातियुनि rātyuni
night
هوٽَل होटल hoṭal
هوٽَلُون होटलूं hoṭalū̃
هوٽَلُنِ होटलुनि hoṭaluni
hotel
III
ڳَئُون ॻऊं ɠaū̃
ڳَئُونَ ॻऊंअ ɠaū̃a
ڳَئُون ॻऊं ɠaū̃
ڳَئُونِ ॻऊनि ɠaūni
cow
IV
نَدِي नदी nadī
نَدِيءَ नदीअ nadīa
نَديُون नदियूं nadyū̃
نَديُنِ नदियुनि nadyuni
river
A few nouns representing familial relations take irregular declensions with an extension in -r- in the plural. These are the masculine nouns ڀاءُ भाउbhāu "brother", پِيءُ पिउpīu "father", and the feminine nouns ڌِيءَ धीअdhīa "daughter", نُونھَن नूंहंnū̃hã "daughter-in-law", ڀيڻَ भेणbheṇa "sister", ماءُ माउmāu "mother", and جوءِ जोइjoi "wife".
Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Sindhi has first and second-person personal pronouns as well as several types of third-person proximal and distal demonstratives. These declines in the nominative and oblique cases. The genitive is a special form for the first and second-person singular, but formed as usual with the oblique and case marker جو जोjo for the rest. The personal pronouns are listed to the right.
The third-person pronouns are listed below. Besides the unmarked demonstratives, there are also "specific" and "present" demonstratives. In the nominative singular, the demonstratives are marked for gender. Some other pronouns which decline identically to ڪو कोko "someone" are ھَرڪو हरकोhar-ko "everyone", سَڀڪو सभकोsabh-ko "all of them", جيڪو जेकोje-ko "whoever" (relative), and تيڪو तेकोte-ko "that one" (correlative).
Unlike other Indo-Aryan languages, Sindhi has pronoun suffixes which can be used as an alternative way to express possession instead of possessive pronouns. The pronominal suffixes may also attach to verbs to mark the agent or indirect object. Verbs may take multiple pronominal suffixes to mark both the subject and object. The first person suffix -مان -मां-mi, changes to -مِ -मि-mā̃ when followed by another pronominal suffix as in لِکيوماسِ लिखियोमांसिlikhiyomā̃si, "I wrote to him". The use of pronominal suffixes is more common in northern Sindh.
Pronominal suffixes
SG
PL
1
2
3
1
2
3
agent
-مِ -मि -mi
-ِ -इ -i
-ِين -ईं -ī̃ or -ائِين -आईं -āī̃
-سين -सीं -sī̃ or -سُون -सूं -sū̃
-وَ -व -va
-ائُون -आऊं -āū̃
oblique
-سِ -सि -si
-ُون -ऊं -ū̃
-نِ -नि -ni
Numerals
The word for one has both masculine and feminine forms, هِڪُ/हिकुhiku and هِڪَ/हिकhika respectively, while the other numbers do not decline for gender.
Num.:157-158
Cardinal
0
ٻُڙِي
ॿुड़ी
ɓuṛi
1
هِڪُ
हिकु
hiku
2
ٻَہ
ॿ
ɓa
3
ٽي
टे
ṭe
4
چَارِ
चारि
cāri
5
پَنج
पंज
pañja
6
ڇَھَہ
छह
chaha
7
سَتَ
सत
sata
8
اَٺَ
अठ
aṭha
9
نَوَ
नव
nava
Num.
Cardinal
10
ڏَھَہ
ॾह
ɗaha
11
يَارَنھَن
यारंहं
yārãhã
12
ٻَارَھَن
ॿारहं
ɓārahã
13
تيرَھَن
तेरहं
terahã
14
چوڏَھَن
चोॾहं
coɗahã
15
پَندرَھَن
पन्द्रहं
pandrahã
16
سورَھَن
सोरहं
sorahã
17
سَترَھَن
सत्रहं
satrahã
18
اَرِڙَھَن / اَٺَارَھَن
अरिड़हं/ अठारहं
ariṛahã / aṭhārahã
19
اُڻوِيھَہ
उणवीह
uṇvīha
Postpositions
Most nominal relations (e.g. the semantic role of a nominal as an argument to a verb) are indicated using postpositions, which follow a noun in the oblique case. The subject of the verb takes the bare oblique case, while the object may be in nominative case or in oblique case and followed by the accusative case marker کيखेkhe.
The postpositions are divided into case markers, which directly follow the noun, and complex postpositions, which combine with a case marker (usually the genitive جوजोjo).
Case markers
The case markers are listed below.:399
The postpositions with the suffix -o decline in gender and number to agree with their governor, e.g. ڇوڪِرو جو پِيءُ छोकिरो जो पीउchokiro j-o pīu "the boy's father" but ڇوڪِر جِي مَاءُ छोकिरो जी माउchokiro j-ī māu "the boy's mother".
There are several ablative case markers formed from the spatial postpositions and the ablative ending -ā̃. These indicate complex motion such as "from inside of".:400
Ablative case markers
Marker
Example
English
کَان खां khā̃
ڇوڪِري کَان छोकिरे खां chokire khā̃
from the boy
مَان मां mā̃
ڇوڪِري مَان छोकिरे मां chokire mā̃
from inside the boy
تَان तां tā̃
ڇوڪِري تَان छोकिरे तां chokire tā̃
from upon the boy
ڏَانھَان ॾांहां ḍā̃hā̃
ڇوڪِري ڏَانھَان छोकिरे ॾांहां chokire ḍā̃hā̃
from the direction of the boy
Finally, some case markers are found in medieval Sindhi literature and/or modern poetic Sindhi, and otherwise not used in standard speech.
The copula is used as an auxiliary verb to form the conjugations of other verbs.
personal forms of "huaṇu"
singular
plural
1st
2nd
3rd
1st
2nd
3rd
indicative
present
āhiyā̃
āhī̃
āhe
āhiyū̃
āhiyo
āhini
imperfective
masculine
hosi
huī̃
huo
huāsī̃
huā
huā
feminine
huiasi
huiā̃
huī
huiū̃sī̃
huiū̃
huiū̃
future
masculine
hūndusi
hūndē̃
hūndo
hūndāsī̃
hūnda'u
hūndā
feminine
hūndiasī̃
hūndiā̃
hūndī
hūndiū̃sī̃
hūndiū̃
hūndiū̃
subjunctive
huā̃
huē̃
hue
hū̃
huo
huani
Sindhi verbs have two conjugations, one with a characteristic a which consists of passive and intransitive verbs, and the other, with a characteristic i which consists of transitive verbs, including causal verbs..
The infinitive form of verbs is formed by adding -aṇu to the verb root. If the root ends in a long ī, or ū, then they are shortened to i and u respectively. In the i-conjugation, -iṇu is added if the verb root ends in a or ā..
The imperative forms have three conjugation patterns based on whether the verb stem is intransitive, transitive, or passive.
Imperative endings
singular
plural
intransitive
-u
-o
transitive
-i
-yo
passive
-i or -ãy
-o
Participles
The present participle for active verbs is formed by adding -ando to a-conjugation verbs, and -īndo to i-conjugation verbs or a-conjugation verbs ending in ā.
The past participle is formed by adding -yo to the root, unless it ends in a c, ch. j, or jh in which case, the y is dropped, leaving -o. It carries a passive meaning as with other Indo-Aryan languages. Sindhi displays a far greater number of irregular past participle forms than other Indo-Aryan languages.
The future passive participle is formed by adding -iṇo to the stem of the infinitive form of verbs. If the infinitive stem ends in -i, then -aṇo is added instead. It is only used with transitive verbs.
The conjunctive participle has three forms. The most common form involves adding -ī or -e to the root, where -ī is added to a-conjugation verbs, and -e is added to i-conjugation verbs. The second form involves adding -yo or -yū̃, where the form in -yo is not always identical to the pass participle form if the verb is irregular. The third form involves adding -ije to transitive verbs or -ijī to intransitive verbs. The i in this form is often dropped.
The agent noun of verbs can be formed by adding either -vāro, or -hāru to the oblique form of the infinitive. The latter has the meaning of the future active participle.
According to historian Nabi Bux Baloch, most Sindhi vocabulary is from ancient Sanskrit. However, owing to the influence of the Persian language over the Indian subcontinent, Sindhi has adapted many words from Persian and Arabic. It has also borrowed from English and Hindustani. Today, Sindhi in Pakistan is slightly influenced by Urdu[citation needed], with more borrowed Perso-Arabic elements, while Sindhi in India is influenced by Hindi[citation needed], with more borrowed tatsam Sanskrit elements.
Writing systems
Sindhis in Pakistan use a version of the Perso-Arabic script with new letters adapted to Sindhi phonology, while in India a greater variety of scripts is in use, including Devanagari and historically Khudabadi, Khojki, and Gurmukhi. Perso-Arabic for Sindhi was also made digitally accessible relatively earlier.
The earliest attested records in Sindhi are from the 15th century. Before the standardisation of Sindhi orthography, numerous forms of Devanagari and Laṇḍā scripts were used for trading. For literary and religious purposes, a Perso-Arabic script developed by Abul-Hasan as-Sindi and Gurmukhi (a subset of Laṇḍā) were used. Another two scripts, Khudabadi and Shikarpuri, were reforms of the Landa script. During British rule in the late 19th century, the Perso-Arabic script was decreed standard over Devanagari.
During the British Raj, a variant of the Persian alphabet was adopted for Sindhi in the 19th century. The script is used in Pakistan and India today. It has a total of 52 letters, augmenting the Persian with digraphs and eighteen new letters (ڄ ٺ ٽ ٿ ڀ ٻ ڙ ڍ ڊ ڏ ڌ ڇ ڃ ڦ ڻ ڱ ڳ ڪ) for sounds particular to Sindhi and other Indo-Aryan languages. Some letters that are distinguished in Arabic or Persian are homophones in Sindhi.
The table presents the Sindhi Perso-Arabic alphabet. Letters shaded in yellow are solely used in writing of loanwords, and the phonemes they represent are also represented by other letters in the alphabet. Letters and digraphs shaded in green aren't usually considered part of the base alphabet. They are either commonly used digraphs representing aspirated consonants, or are ligatures serving a grammatical function. These ligatures include the ۽, which is pronounced as [ãĩ̯] and represents and, and the ۾, which is pronounced as [mẽ] and creates a locative relationship between words.
The orthography of the letter hāʾ in Sindhi, especially as it comes to typing as opposed to handwriting, has been a source of confusion for many. Especially because whereas in Arabic and Persian, there exists one single letter for hāʾ, in Urdu, the letter has diverged into two distinct variants: gol he ("round he") and do-cašmi he ("two-eyed he"). The former is written is written round and zigzagged as "ہـ ـہـ ـہ ہ", and can impart the "h" (/ɦ/) sound anywhere in a word, or the long "a" or the "e" vowels (/ɑː/ or /eː/) at the end of a word. The latter is written in Arabic Naskh style (as a loop) (ھ), in order to be used in digraphs and to create aspirated consonants.
For most aspirated consonants, Sindhi relies on unique letters as opposed to the Urdu practice of digraphs. However, this doesn't apply to all aspirated consonants. Some are still written as digraphs. The letter hāʾ is also used in Sindhi to represent the sound [h] in native Sindhi words, in Arabic and Persian loanwords, and to represent vowels (/ə/ or /əʰ/) at the end of the word. The notations and conventions in Sindhi are different from those of either Persian or Arabic and from those of Urdu. Given the variety of types of hāʾ across these languages for which Unicode characters have been designed, for the letters to be displayed correctly when typing, a correct and consistent convention needs to be followed. The following table will present these in detail.
Forming part of digraph for representation of other aspirated consonants ([ɽʰ], [lʱ], [mʰ], [nʰ], [ɳʰ]). In isolated and final positions, an extra hāʾ ـہ (U+06C1) is added
The punctuation of Sindhi Perso-Arabic script differs slightly from that of Urdu, Persian, and Arabic. Namely, instead of using the typical inverted comma (، [U+060C]) common in these mentioned alphabet, a reversed comma (⹁ [U+2E41]) is used, although many documents do indeed incorrectly use Urdu punctuations.
In India, the Devanagari script is also used to write Sindhi. A modern version was introduced by the government of India in 1948; however, it did not gain full acceptance, so both the Sindhi-Arabic and Devanagari scripts are used. In India, a person may write a Sindhi language paper for a Civil Services Examination in either script. Devanagari was seen as the most practical option for the Sindhi language in India. Diacritical bars below the letter are used to mark implosive consonants, and dots called nukta are used to form other additional consonants.
अ
आ
इ
ई
उ
ऊ
ए
ऐ
ओ
औ
ə
a
ɪ
i
ʊ
uː
e
ɛ
o
ɔ
क
ख
ख़
ग
ॻ
ग़
घ
ङ
k
kʰ
x
ɡ
ɠ
ɣ
ɡʱ
ŋ
च
छ
ज
ॼ
ज़
झ
ञ
t͡ɕ
t͡ɕʰ
d͡ʑʰ
ʄ
z
d͡ʑ
ɲ
ट
ठ
ड
ॾ
ड़
ढ
ढ़
ण
ʈ
ʈʰ
ɖ
ɗ
ɽ
ɖʱ
ɽʱ
ɳ
त
थ
द
ध
न
t
tʰ
d
dʱ
n
प
फ
फ़
ब
ॿ
भ
म
p
pʰ
f
b
ɓ
bʱ
m
य
र
ल
व
j
r
l
ʋ
श
ष
स
ह
ʂ
ʂ
s
h
Laṇḍā scripts
Laṇḍā-based scripts, such as Gurmukhi, Khojki, and the Khudabadi script, were used historically to write Sindhi.
The Khudabadi alphabet was invented in 1550 CE, and was used alongside other scripts by the Hindu community until the colonial era, where the sole usage of the Arabic script for official purposes was legislated. The script continued to be used on a smaller scale by the trader community until the partition of India in 1947.
دفعه ١۔ سمورا انسان آزاد ۽ عزت ۽ حقن جي حوالي کان برابر پيدا ٿيا آھن. انھن کي عقل ۽ ضمير حاصل ٿيو آھي، ان ڪري انھن کي ھڪ ٻئي سان ڀائيچاري وارو سلوڪ اختيار ڪرڻ گھرجي.
Devanagari
दफ़अ १: समूरा इंसान आज़ाद ऐं इज़्ज़त ऐं हक़न जी हवाले खां बराबर पैदा थिया आहिन। इन्हन खे अक़्ल ऐं ज़मीर हासिल थियो आहे, इन करे इन्हन खे हिक ॿिए सां भाईचारे वारो सुलूक इख़्तियार करण घुरजे॥
Article 1: 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.
The 1972 Sindhi Language Bill was passed by the provincial assembly of Sindh, which saw Sindhi given official status, thus becoming the first provincial language in Pakistan to have its own official status.
Sindhi language was made the official language of Sindh according to Language Bill.
All Educational institutes in Sindh are mandated to teach Sindhi as per the bill.
Software
By 2001, Abdul-Majid Bhurgri[failed verification] had coordinated with Microsoft to develop Unicode-based Software in the form of the Perso-Arabic Sindhi script, which afterwards became the basis for the communicated use by Sindhi speakers around the world. In 2016, Google introduced the first automated translator for the Sindhi language. Later on in 2023 an offline support was introduced by Google Translate. Which was followed by Microsoft Translator strengthening support in May of same year.
In June 2014, the Khudabadi script of the Sindhi language was added to Unicode, However as of now the script currently has no proper rendering support to view it in unsupported devices.
↑"The Imposition Of Urdu". NAWAIWAQT GROUP OF NEWSPAPERS. September 10, 2015. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
↑Nihalani, Paroo. (1999). Handbook of the International Phonetic Association (Sindhi). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
↑Nihalani, Paroo (December 1, 1995). "Illustration of the IPA – Sindhi". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 25 (2): 95–98. doi:10.1017/S0025100300005235. S2CID249410954.
↑The IPA Handbook uses the symbols c,cʰ,ɟ,ɟʱ, but makes it clear this is simply tradition and that these are neither palatal nor stops, but "laminal post-alveolars with a relatively short release". Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:83) confirm a transcription of [t̠ɕ,t̠ɕʰ,d̠ʑ,d̠ʑʱ] and further remark that "/ʄ/ is often a slightly creaky voiced palatal approximant" (caption of table 3.19).
↑"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Sindhi"[انساني حقن جو عالمي پڌرنامو](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Sindhi). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 10 December 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
↑Ismaili, Imdad Ali (2011). "Design & Development of the Graphical User Interface for Sindhi Language". Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology. The idea is to provide a software platform to the people of Sindh as well as Sindhi diasporas living across the globe to make use of computing for basic tasks such as editing, composition, formatting, and printing of documents in Sindhi by using GUISL. The implementation of the GUISL has been done in Java technology to make the system platform independent.
Masica, Colin P. (1991). The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge University Press. p.443. ISBN978-0-521-23420-7.
Shackle, Christopher (2007). "Pakistan". In Simpson, Andrew (ed.). Language and national identity in Asia. Oxford linguistics Y. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-922648-1.
Chopra, R. M (2013). "Persian in Sindh". The rise, growth, and decline of Indo-Persian literature (2nded.). New Delhi: Iran Culture House. OCLC909254259.
Grierson, George Abraham (1903–1928). Linguistic Survey of India. Vol.8. India: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing.
