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{{Short description|Dravidian language spoken in Pakistan and Afghanistan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Brahui
| nativename = {{lang|brh|{{nq|براہوئی}}}}
| region = [[Balochistan]]
| states = [[Pakistan]]<ref name="e26" />
| map = Dravidian map.svg
| pronunciation = {{IPA|to|bɾaːhuiː|}}
| mapcaption = Brahui is geographically isolated from other Dravidian languages, spoken by a Baloch tribal confederacy.{{sfn|Dashti|2012|p=129}}
| ethnicity = [[Brahui people|Brahuis]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fkzEEAAAQBAJ&dq=brahui+people+a+ethnic+group&pg=PA47|title= Ethnic groups South Asia and the Pacific|author=James B. Minahan|year=2012|language=English|page=47|publisher= Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn= 978-1-59884-660-7|access-date=22 October 2025}}</ref>
| speakers = {{sigfig|2.795000|2}} million
| date = 1980–2017 Census
| ref = e26
| familycolor = Dravidian
| fam2 = [[Northern Dravidian languages|Northern]]
| script = [[Arabic script|Arabic]] ([[Brahui alphabet]])
{{Collapsible list|titlestyle = font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title = Other scripts|
|[[Latin script]] ([[Brolikva]])
}}
| iso3 = brh
| glotto = brah1256
| glottorefname = Brahui
| image = Brahui language.png
| imagecaption = The word ''Brahui'' written in the [[Nastaliq script]]
| map2 = Lang Status 80-VU.svg
| mapcaption2 = Brahui is classified as Vulnerable by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]''.
| agency = Department of Brahui, [[University of Balochistan]]
}}

'''Brahui'''<ref name="University of Balochistan" /> ({{IPA|brh|braːhʋiː, braːhu.iː|lang}}, {{IPA|en|bɹəˈhuːi|lang}} {{respell|brə|HOO|ee}};<ref>{{OED|Brahui}}</ref> {{langx|brh|{{nq|براہوئی}}|links=no}}; also romanised as '''Brahvi''' or '''Brohi''') is a [[Dravidian language]] which is primarily spoken in central and southern parts of the [[Pakistan]]i province of [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]], with smaller communities in [[Sistan and Baluchestan province|Iranian Baluchestan]], [[Balochistan, Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], and [[Turkmenistan]] (around [[Merv]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/lWCoIZ2K5dPycrhS1gk6nJ/A-slice-of-south-India-in-Balochistan.html|title=A slice of south India in Balochistan|date=18 February 2017}}</ref> Expatriate Brahui communities also exist in [[Iraq]], [[Qatar]], and the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref name="books.google.nl">[https://books.google.com/books?id=bCkaAQAAIAAJ&q=brahui+language+gulf+states "International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics, Volumes 36-37"] department of linguistics, University of Kerala{{full citation needed|date=November 2020}}</ref> Brahui is geographically isolated from other Dravidian languages, with the nearest being over {{convert|1500|km}} away in [[South India]].{{sfn|Parkin|1989|p=37}} The [[Kalat District|Kalat]], [[Khuzdar District|Khuzdar]], [[Mastung District|Mastung]], [[Quetta District|Quetta]], [[Bolan District|Bolan]], [[Nasirabad District|Nasirabad]], [[Nushki District|Nushki]], and [[Kharan District|Kharan]] districts of Balochistan Province are predominantly Brahui-speaking.

Brahui is the only Dravidian language that is primarily written in the [[Arabic script]]. It is also written in the [[Latin script]].

==Etymology==
The origin of the word "Brahui" is uncertain.<ref name="IranicaNoQuote">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1989 |title=BRAHUI |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. IV, Fasc. 4 |publisher= |location= |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/brahui |last=Elfenbein |first=Josef |editor-last= |editor-first= |editor-link= |pages=433–443 |isbn= |authorlink=}}</ref> Mikhail Andronov hypothesised a derivation from Dravidian (lit. Northern hillmen). However, Josef Elfenbein found it unconvincing and hypothesised a derivation from [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]] (Jaṭki) ''brāhō'', referring to the prophet ''[[Abraham in Islam|Abraham]]''; the term perhaps served to distinguish the neo-Muslim nomadic pastoralists — who had migrated into [[Sindh]] from the Western Deccan {{circa|a millennium}} ago and adopted Islam.<ref name="IranicaNoQuote" />

==Distribution==
[[File:Brahui-speakers by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|
<div style="text-align: center">The proportion of people with Brahui as their [[mother tongue]] in each Pakistani [[Districts of Pakistan|District]] as of the [[2017 Pakistan Census]]</div>]]
[[File:Distribution of Brahui as a first, second, and third largest mother tongue by district in Pakistan.jpg|thumb|Brahui as a first, second, and third largest mother tongue by district.
]]
Brahui is spoken in the central part of Pakistani [[Balochistan]], mainly in the [[Kalat District|Kalat]], [[Khuzdar District|Khuzdar]] and [[Mastung District|Mastung]] districts, but also in smaller numbers in neighboring districts, as well as in [[Afghanistan]] which borders Pakistani Balochistan; however, many members of the ethnic group [[language attrition|no longer speak]] Brahui.{{sfn|Parkin|1989|p=37}} There are also an unknown (but very small) number of expatriate Brahuis in the Arab States of the [[Persian Gulf]], and Turkmenistan.<ref name="books.google.nl" />

==History==
There is no consensus as to whether Brahui is a relatively recent language introduced into Balochistan or the remnant of a formerly more widespread Dravidian language family. According to Josef Elfenbein (1989), the most common theory is that the Brahui were part of a [[proto-Dravidian people|Dravidian]] migration into north-western parts of the [[Pakistan]] in the 3rd millennium BC, but unlike other Dravidians who migrated to the south, they remained in Sarawan and Jahlawan since before 2000 BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/brahui|title=BRAHUI – Encyclopaedia Iranica|website=www.iranicaonline.org}}</ref> However, some other scholars see it as a recent migrant language to its present region. They postulate that Brahui could only have migrated to Balochistan from [[central India]] after 1000 AD. This is contradicted by genetic evidence that shows the Brahui population to be indistinguishable from neighbouring Balochi speakers, and genetically distant from central Dravidian speakers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pagani |first1=Luca |last2=Colonna |first2=Vincenza |last3=Tyler-Smith |first3=Chris |last4=Ayub |first4=Qasim |title=An Ethnolinguistic and Genetic Perspective on the Origins of the Dravidian-Speaking Brahui in Pakistan |journal=Man in India |date=2017 |volume=97 |issue=1 |pages=267–278 |pmid=28381901 |pmc=5378296}}</ref> Others claimed that Brahui was a Dravidian language spoken by the indigenous people of Kalat valley, and was later adopted by Baloch tribes who spoke Balochi and Brahui tribes who at the time spoke a language known as Kurdgali.<ref>E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936: Volume 1, 1987, pp. 680</ref> The main Iranian contributor to Brahui vocabulary, [[Balochi language|Balochi]], is a [[Northwestern Iranian language]], and moved to the area from the west only around 1000 AD.{{sfn|Witzel|2008|p=1}}{{sfn|Elfenbein|1987}} One scholar places the migration as late as the 13th or 14th century.{{sfn|Sergent|1997|pp=129–130}} The Brahui lexicon is believed to be of: 35% Perso-Arabic origin, 20% Balochi origin, 20% Indo-Aryan origin, 15% Dravidian origin, and 10% unknown origin.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bashir |first=Elena |title=A contrastive analysis of Brahui and Urdu |date=1991 |publisher=Academy for Educational Development |oclc=31900835}}</ref>{{sfn|Krishnamurti|2003|p=27}} The Brahui language, with all dialects, was called Kurdi or Kurdgali, after the [[Kūrd|Kurd]] tribe, with Brahui becoming used more after the British colonization.<ref>Two Essays on Baloch History and Folklore: Two Essays on Baloch History and Folklore, Sabir Badal Khan, pp. 115</ref>

[[David W. McAlpin]] and [[Franklin Southworth]] proposed that Brahui is not a Dravidian language, but can be linked with the remaining Dravidian languages and [[Elamite language|Elamite]] to form the "[[Elamo-Dravidian languages|Zagrosian family]]," which originated in Southwest Asia (southern Iran) and was widely distributed in South Asia and parts of eastern West Asia before the Indo-Aryan migration.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McAlpin |first1=David |title=Modern Colloquial Eastern Elamite |journal=Al-Burz |date=2022 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=64–123 |doi=10.54781/abz.v14i1.370 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Southworth 2012">{{cite journal |last=Southworth |first=Franklin |year=2011 |title=Rice in Dravidian and its linguistic implications |journal=Rice |volume=4 |pages=142–148 |doi=10.1007/s12284-011-9076-9 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Dialects==
There are no important dialectal differences. Jhalawani (southern, centered on [[Khuzdar]]) and Sarawani (northern, centered on [[Kalat, Pakistan|Kalat]]) dialects are distinguished by the pronunciation of *h, which is retained only in the north (Elfenbein 1997).
Brahui has been influenced by the [[Iranian languages]] spoken in the area, including [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Balochi language|Balochi]] and [[Pashto]].{{sfn|Emeneau|1962|p={{Page needed|date=September 2010}}}}

==Phonology==
Brahui vowels show a partial length distinction between long {{IPA|/aː eː iː oː uː/}} and [[diphthong]]s {{IPA|/aɪ̯ aʊ̯/}} and short {{IPA|/a i u/}}. Brahui does not have short /e, o/ due to influence from neighbouring Indo-Aryan and Iranic languages, the PD short *e was replaced by a, ē and i, and ∗o by ō, u and a in root syllables.{{sfn|Krishnamurti|2003|p=118}} However, some older sources, such as by Denys Bray, claimed that Brahui has had a short {{IPA|/e/}}, in addition to its long counterpart.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+[[Vowels]]
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|iː}}
|
|{{IPA link|u}} {{IPA link|uː}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|({{IPA link|e}}) {{IPA link|eː}}
|
|{{IPA link|o|oː}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|{{IPA link|a}} {{IPA link|aː}}
|
|}

Brahui consonants show patterns of retroflexion but lack the [[Aspirated consonant|aspiration]] distinctions found in surrounding languages and include several [[fricatives]] such as the [[voiceless lateral fricative]] {{IPA|[ɬ]}}, a sound not otherwise found in the region.{{sfn|Bashir|2016|p=274}}
Consonants are also very similar to those of Balochi, but Brahui has more fricatives and nasals (Elfenbein 1993).
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|+[[Consonants]]
!
!colspan=2|[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
!colspan=2|[[Dental consonant|Dental]]{{break}}[[Alveolar consonant|alveolar]]
!colspan=2|[[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
!colspan=2|[[Palato-alveolar consonant|Palato-{{break}}alveolar]]
!colspan=2|[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
!colspan=2|[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|m}}
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|n}}
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|ɳ}}
|colspan=2|
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|({{IPA link|ŋ}})
|colspan=2|
|-
![[Stop consonant|Stop]]
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|p}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|b}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|t}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|d}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|ʈ}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|ɖ}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|k}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|ɡ}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|ʔ}}||style=border-left:0|
|-
![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|f}}||style=border-left:0|
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|s}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|z}}
|colspan=2|
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|ʃ}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|ʒ}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|x}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|ɣ}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|h}}||style=border-left:0|
|-
![[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
|colspan=2|
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA link|ɬ}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|l}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|-
![[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|colspan=2|
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|ɾ}}
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|ɽ}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|-
![[Glide consonant|Glide]]
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|j}}
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA link|w}}
|colspan=2|
|}

* {{IPA|[h]}} of north corresponds to a glottal stop of south initially and intervocalically. Before a C in word-final position it is lost. Non-phonemic glottal stop before word-initial vowels, e.g. hust (N), ʔust (S) 'heart'.{{sfn|Krishnamurti|2003|p=77}}
* {{IPA|[ɬ]}} and {{IPA|[l]}} vary freely in many cases; contrast is limited to two or three items. Conditions for the emergence of {{IPA|[ɬ]}} are not clear.{{sfn|Krishnamurti|2003|p=77}}
* {{IPA|/ɽ/}} does not occur word-initially. {{IPA|/r/}} → {{IPA|/ɽ/}} before {{IPA|/t d s z/}} in northern Brahui (Elfenbein 1998: 394), e.g. xūrt → xūṛt 'tiny'.{{sfn|Krishnamurti|2003|p=77}}
* The consonants {{IPA|[p t k]}} freely alternate with aspirated counterparts in the northeast. Aspirated stops word-initially occur in loanwords in the south, where they freely vary with unaspirated stops.{{sfn|Krishnamurti|2003|p=77}}
* {{IPA|[ŋ]}} occurs before velar stops {{IPA|/k, g/}}.{{sfn|Krishnamurti|2003|p=58}}
* Brahui preserves the PD laryngeal *{{IPA|/H/}} as {{IPA|/h/}} in some words e.g. PD. *caH- ~ *ceH- > Br. kah-.{{sfn|Krishnamurti|2003|p=118}}

===Stress===
Stress in Brahui follows a quantity-based pattern, occurring either on the first long vowel or diphthong, or on the first syllable if all vowels are short.

==Morphology==
===Verbal morphology===
Below is the paradigm of the simple verb uŧ "to be" in Brahui:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Present
|-
!
! colspan="2" | Affirmative
! colspan="2" | Negative
|-
!
! Singular
! Plural
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st person
| ''uŧ''
| ''un''
| ''affaŧ''
| ''affan''
|-
! 2nd person
| ''us''
| ''ure''
| ''affés''
| ''affére''
|-
! 3rd person
| ''é''
| ''o''
| ''affak''
| ''affas''
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Past
|-
!
! colspan="2" | Affirmative
! colspan="2" | Negative
|-
!
! Singular
! Plural
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st person
| ''assuŧ''
| ''assun''
| ''allavaŧ''
| ''allavan''
|-
! 2nd person
| ''assus''
| ''assure''
| ''allavés''
| ''allavére''
|-
! 3rd person
| ''ass''
| ''assur/asso''
| colspan="2" | ''allav''
|}

Similarly, regular finite verbs exhibit two paradigmatic series affirmative vs negative. Below is the schematic overview of fully finite, non-negated paradigm of the verb ''bar'' ("to come").

{| class="wikitable"
|+Fully finite, non-negated, first person singular of the root ''bar'' ("to come")
|-
!
! Form
! Example
! Meaning
|-
! Future/Present
| Σ-i/e-{{gcl|PERS}}/{{gcl|NUM}}-a
| bar-e-v-a
| "I come"
|-
! Future
| Σ-o-uŧ
| bar-o-ŧ
| "will come"
|-
! Past
| Σ.{{gcl|PST}}-{{gcl|PERS}}/{{gcl|NUM}}
| bass-uŧ
| "I came"
|-
! Past Conditional
| Σ-os-uŧ
| bar-os-uŧ
| "If I had come"
|-
! Imperfect
| Σ.{{gcl|PST}}-{{gcl|PERS}}/{{gcl|NUM}}-a
| bass-uŧ-a
| "I was coming"
|-
! Perfect
| Σ.{{gcl|PST}}-n-uŧ
| bass-un-uŧ
| "I have come"
|-
! Pluperfect
| Σ.{{gcl|PST}}-s-uŧ
| bass-us-uŧ
| "I had come"
|-
! Subjunctive
| Σ-e/i-{{gcl|PERS}}/{{gcl|NUM}}
| bar-e-v
| "I shall come"
|}

==Orthography==
Brahui is the only [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian language]] which is not known to have been written in a [[Brahmic scripts|Brahmi]]-based script.

===Arabic script===
{{Infobox Writing system
| name = Brahui
| sample = BrahuiLam.svg
| caption = Brahui has the rare letter "{{nq|[[ڷ]]}}" and is written in Nastaliq script.
| type = Abjad
| languages = Brahui language
| time = 20th century - present
| fam1 = [[Proto-Sinaitic alphabet|Proto-Sinaitic]]
| fam2 = [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]
| fam3 = [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]
| fam4 = [[Nabataean alphabet|Nabataean]]
| fam5 = [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]]
| fam6 = [[Persian alphabet]]
| fam7 = [[Urdu alphabet]]
| unicode =
}}

Brahui has been written in the [[Arabic script]] since the second half of the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worklib.ru/dic/%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B3%D1%83%D0%B8/ |title=Бесписьменный язык Б. |access-date=23 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623210754/http://www.worklib.ru/dic/%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B3%D1%83%D0%B8/ |archive-date=23 June 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other Dravidian languages have also been historically written in the Arabic script by the Muslim minority speakers of each respective language, namely [[Arwi|Arabi-Tamil]] and [[Arabi-Malayalam]].
In Pakistan, an [[Urdu alphabet|Urdu]] based [[Nastaʿlīq]] script is used in writing. Brahui orthography is unique in having the letter 'ڷ', representing the sound {{IPAblink|ɬ}}. Table below presents the letters adopted for Brahui orthography:

{| class="wikitable"
! Letter !! Latin equivalent !! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ا}}}} || á, a, i, u || {{IPA|/aː/}}, {{IPA|/ə/}}, {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, {{IPA|/ʊ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ب}}}} || b || {{IPA|/b/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|پ}}}} || p || {{IPA|/p/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ت}}}} || t || {{IPA|/t/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ٹ}}}} || ŧ || {{IPA|/ʈ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ث}}}} || (s) || {{IPA|/s/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ج}}}} || j || {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|چ}}}} || c || {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ح}}}} || (h) || {{IPA|/h/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|خ}}}} || x || {{IPA|/x/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|د}}}} || d || {{IPA|/d/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ڈ}}}} || đ || {{IPA|/ɖ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ذ}}}} || (z) || {{IPA|/z/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ر}}}} || r || {{IPA|/ɾ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ڑ}}}} || ŕ || {{IPA|/ɽ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ز}}}} || z || {{IPA|/z/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ژ}}}} || ź || {{IPA|/ʒ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|س}}}} || s || {{IPA|/s/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ش}}}} || ş || {{IPA|/ʃ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ص}}}} || (s) || {{IPA|/s/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ض}}}} || (z) || {{IPA|/z/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ط}}}} || (t) || {{IPA|/t/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ظ}}}} || (z) || {{IPA|/z/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ع}}}} || ', (a), (i), (u) || {{IPA|/ʔ/}}, {{IPA|/ə/}}, {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, {{IPA|/ʊ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|غ}}}} || ģ || {{IPA|/ɣ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ف}}}} || f || {{IPA|/f/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ق}}}} || (k) || {{IPA|/k/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ک}}}} || k || {{IPA|/k/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|گ}}}} || g || {{IPA|/ɡ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ل}}}} || l || {{IPA|/l/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ڷ}}}} || ļ || {{IPA|/ɬ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|م}}}} || m || {{IPA|/m/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ن}}}} || n || {{IPA|/n/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ں}}}} || ń || {{IPA|/ɳ/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|و}}}} || v, o, ú || {{IPA|/w~ʋ/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/u/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ہ}}}} || h || {{IPA|/h/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ھ}}}} || (h) || {{IPA|/h/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ی}}}} || y, í || {{IPA|/j/}}, {{IPA|/iː/}}
|-
| {{lang|brh|{{nq|ے}}}} || e || {{IPA|/eː/}}
|}

===Latin script===
More recently, a Roman-based orthography named Brolikva (an abbreviation of ''Brahui Roman Likvar'') was developed by the Brahui Language Board of the [[University of Balochistan]] in Quetta and adopted by the newspaper ''[[Talár (newspaper)|Talár]]''.

Below is the new promoted Bráhuí Báşágal Brolikva orthography:<ref name="University of Balochistan">{{citation|publisher=Brahui Language Board, University of Balochistan|location=Quetta|url=https://sites.google.com/site/brahuilb/home|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103173656/https://sites.google.com/site/brahuilb/home|title=Bráhuí Báşágal|date=April 2009|access-date=5 October 2023|archive-date=3 January 2023}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="line-height:1.4;text-align:center"
|-
| [[A|Aa]] {{IPA|/ə/}}
| [[I|Ii]] {{IPA|/ɪ/}}
| [[U|Uu]] {{IPA|/ʊ/}}
| [[E|Ee]] {{IPA|/eː/}}
| [[O|Oo]] {{IPA|/oː/}}
| [[K|Kk]] {{IPA|/k/}}
| [[G|Gg]] {{IPA|/g/}}
| [[X|Xx]] {{IPA|/x/}}
| [[H|Hh]] {{IPA|/h/}}
| [[P|Pp]] {{IPA|/p/}}
| [[B|Bb]] {{IPA|/b/}}
| [[F|Ff]] {{IPA|/f/}}
| [[V|Vv]] {{IPA|/w~ʋ/}}
| [[T|Tt]] {{IPA|/t/}}
| [[D|Dd]] {{IPA|/d/}}
| [[C|Cc]] {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}}
| [[S|Ss]] {{IPA|/s/}}
| [[Z|Zz]] {{IPA|/z/}}
| [[J|Jj]] {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}}
| [[M|Mm]] {{IPA|/m/}}
| [[N|Nn]] {{IPA|/n/}} ({{IPA|/ŋ/}})
| [[R|Rr]] {{IPA|/ɾ/}}
| [[L|Ll]] {{IPA|/l/}}
| [[Y|Yy]] {{IPA|/y/}}
|-
| [[Á|Áá]] {{IPA|/aː/}}
| [[Í|Íí]] {{IPA|/iː/}}
| [[Ú|Úú]] {{IPA|/uː/}}
|colspan="3" style="background:#EEE"|
| [[Ģ|Ģģ]] {{IPA|/ɣ/}}
|colspan="5" style="background:#EEE"|
| ([[W|Ww]]) {{IPA|/w~ʋ/}}
| [[Ŧ|Ŧŧ]] {{IPA|/ʈ/}}
| [[Đ|Đđ]] {{IPA|/ɖ/}}
|style="background:#EEE"|
| [[Ş|Şş]] {{IPA|/ʃ/}}
| [[Ź|Źź]] {{IPA|/ʒ/}}
|colspan="2" style="background:#EEE"|
| [[Ń|Ńń]] {{IPA|/ɳ/}}
| [[Ŕ|Ŕŕ]] {{IPA|/ɽ/}}
| [[Ļ|Ļļ]] {{IPA|/ɬ/}}
|style="background:#EEE"|
|}

The letters with diacritics are the long vowels, the post-alveolar or retroflex consonants, and the voiced velar or voiceless alveolar fricatives.

The native alphabetic order is: b á p í s y ş v (w) x e z ź ģ f ú m n l g c t ŧ r ŕ d o đ h j k a i u ń ļ

==Sample text==

===Universal Declaration of Human Rights===

====English====
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.

====Arabic script====
{{nq|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.}}<ref name="Omniglot">{{cite web |last1=Ager |first1=Simon |title=Brahui |url=https://omniglot.com/writing/brahui.htm |website=Omniglot}}</ref>

====Latin script====
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.<ref name="Omniglot" />

==Endangerment==
According to a 2009 [[UNESCO]] report, Brahui is one of the 27 [[languages of Pakistan]] that are facing the danger of extinction. It was classified as "unsafe", the least endangered level out of the five levels of concern (Unsafe, Definitely Endangered, Severely Endangered, Critically Endangered and Extinct).{{sfn|Moseley|2009|p={{page needed|date=November 2020}}}} This status has since been renamed to "vulnerable".<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite book |year=2010 |editor-last=Moseley |editor-first=Christopher |title=Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/atlas-of-languages-in-danger/ |series=Memory of Peoples |edition=3rd |location=Paris |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |isbn=978-92-3-104096-2 |access-date=11 April 2015 }}</ref>

===Publications===
[[Talár (newspaper)|Talár]] is the first daily newspaper in the Brahui language.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yousaf |first1=Muhammad |last2=Ali Sani |first2=Liaqat |date=2017 |title=Evolution of Brahui Journalism |url=http://web.uob.edu.pk/uob/Journals/Alburz/journals/Alburz-2017/eng/234-245%20Muhammad%20Yousaf.pdf |journal=Al-Burz |volume=9 |issue= |pages=234–245 |doi=10.54781/abz.v9i1.114 |issn=2071-9477 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=web.uob.edu.pk}}</ref> It uses the new Roman orthography and is "an attempt to standardize and develop [the] Brahui language to meet the requirements of modern political, social and scientific discourse."<ref>{{citation|title=Haftaí Talár|url=http://www.talarpub.tk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624214800/http://talarpub.tk/|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 June 2013|publisher=Talár Publications|access-date=29 June 2010}}</ref>

==References==
{{notelist}}
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation|title=South Asian Language Resource Center Workshop on Languages of Afghanistan and neighboring areas|date=December 2003|chapter=Brahui - Notes|first=Elena|last=Bashir|author-link=Elena Bashir|chapter-url=http://salrc.uchicago.edu/workshops/sponsored/121203/resources/brahui.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://salrc.uchicago.edu/workshops/sponsored/121203/resources/brahui.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live|access-date=29 June 2010}}
* {{cite book |doi=10.1515/9783110423303-004 |chapter=Contact and convergence |title=The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia |year=2016 |last1=Bashir |first1=Elena |isbn=978-3-11-042330-3 |editor1-last=Hock|editor1-first=Hans Henrich|editor1-link=Hans Henrich Hock|editor2-last=Bashir|editor2-first=Elena|editor2-link=Elena Bashir|pages=241–374 }}
* Bray, Denys. ''The Brahui Language, an Old Dravidian Language Spoken in Parts of Baluchistan and Sind: Grammar.'' Gian Publishing House, 1986.
* {{Cite book |last=Dashti |first=Naseer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xIjyLNpusbAC&pg=PA33 |title=The Baloch and Balochistan: A Historical Account from the Beginning to the Fall of the Baloch State |date=2012 |publisher=Trafford Publishing |isbn=978-1-4669-5896-8}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Elfenbein |first1=J. |title=A Periplus of the 'Brahi Problem' |journal=Studia Iranica |volume=16 |issue=2 |date=1987 |pages=215–233 |doi=10.2143/SI.16.2.2014604 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Emeneau |first1=M. B. |title=Bilingualism and Structural Borrowing |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |date=1962 |volume=106 |issue=5 |pages=430–442 |jstor=985488 }}
* {{Cite book|title= The Dravidian Languages |last= Krishnamurti |first= Bhadriraju |year= 2003 |publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn= 978-0-521-77111-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=54fV7Lwu3fMC}}
* {{Citation|title=Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger|year=2009|publisher=UNESCO|editor-first=Christopher|editor-last=Moseley|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?pg=00206|oclc=435877932}}
* {{Cite journal|first=Robert|last=Parkin|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal|doi=10.1163/000000089790082944|pages=37–43|title=Some comments on Brahui kinship terminology|volume=32|issue=1|year=1989|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00182435|jstor=24654607 |s2cid=161638780|url-access=subscription}}
* {{Citation|last=Sergent|first=Bernard|author-link=Bernard Sergent|title=Genèse de l'Inde|publisher= Bibliothèque scientifique Payot|year=1997|isbn=9782228891165|oclc=38198091}}
* {{cite book |last1=Witzel |first1=Michael |title=The Languages of Harappa: Early Linguistic Data and the Indus civilization |series=Kleine Schriften von Michael Witzel |volume=13 |date=2008 |doi=10.11588/xarep.00000120 |s2cid=165751802}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book|last1=Kobayashi|first1=Masato|last2=Ali|first2=Liaquat|chapter=Asyndetic Conditional Clauses in Brahui |pages=|editor-last1=Amritavalli|editor-first1=R.|editor-last2=Narasimhan|editor-first2=Bhuvana|title=The Oxford Handbook of Dravidian Languages|date=2024 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19761-044-2|location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197610411.013.33}}
* {{cite book |title=Brahui Texts: Glossed and Translated Short Stories and Folktales |last1=Ali |first1=Liaquat |last2=Kobayashi |first2=Masato |series=Asian and African Lexicon |volume=66 |location=Tokyo |publisher=Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA); Tokyo University of Foreign Studies |date=2024 |isbn=9784863375321 |url=https://tufs.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/2000650 |lang=Brahui, English}}

==External links==
{{Incubator|code= brh}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=mrcOAAAAQAAJ ''Handbook of the Birouhi language'' By Allâh Baksh (1877)]
* [https://sites.google.com/site/brahuilb/home Brahui Language Board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607085825/https://sites.google.com/site/brahuilb/home |date=7 June 2012 }}
* [https://sites.google.com/site/brahuilb/videos-1/untitledpost Bráhuí Báşágal (Brahui Alphabet)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114153726/https://sites.google.com/site/brahuilb/videos-1/untitledpost |date=14 November 2012 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080106095702/http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=207&menu=004 Profile of the Brahui language]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050421184249/http://www.southasiabibliography.de/Bibliography/Dravidian/Brahui___Birouhi/brahui___birouhi.html Partial bibliography of scholarly works on Brahui]
* [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brahui-language Britannica Brahui language]
* [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=new100&morpho=0&basename=new100\drv\bra&first=0 Brahui basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database]

{{Dravidian languages}}
{{Languages of South Asia}}
{{Languages of Afghanistan}}
{{Languages of Pakistan}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brahui Language}}
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Dravidian languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Languages of Iran]]
[[Category:Languages of Iraq]]
[[Category:Languages of Turkmenistan]]
[[Category:Languages of Qatar]]
[[Category:Languages of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Languages of Balochistan, Pakistan]]
[[Category:Arabic alphabets for South Asian languages]]
[[Category:Vulnerable languages]]

Brahui language - Revision history

KristyThacker77 at 18:17, 28 March 2026