ABSTRACT

Sindhi belongs to the North-W estern group of the New Indo-Aryan languages (N IA ), and is spoken by between 6 and 10 million people in Pakistan and Baluchistan. A fter partition, over 1 million Sindhi speakers moved to India and settled in large cities such as Delhi, Bombay, and Poona. There are several dialects. The literary language is based on the central Vicoli dialect, which does not differ greatly from the N orthern or Siraiki dialect. Though basically a New Indo-Aryan language, Sindhi shows very m arked Islamic influence, with both A rabic and Iranian traits.