LINGUISTIC DEVELOPMENT

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Chapter 2

 

LINGUISTIC DEVELOPMENT

 

With its roots in the Indus Civilization of the 3rd millennium B.C., the modern Sindhi language has attained a spectacular development to become the Computer language in the 3rd millennium A.D. This long journey of linguistic evolution and development began in the time immemorial, and continues up to this day. The secret of Sindhi being a developed language is its contact and coexistence with a galaxy of languages since centuries. In such a process, Sindhi has gained by taking loan words from other languages, and has also contributed to the other languages reciprocally. As a result of frequent migration of people, groups and nations to the green belt of the Indus Valley through the centuries, the morphological, phonological and syntactical structure of the Sindhi language has only flourished with the passage of time.  

                                     

2.1 Diachronic Development of SINDHI

 

2.1.1 Ancient Era

The petroglyphs of pre-history discovered from the bed of Seeta river in the mountainous range of Khirthar in Sindh (Pirzado: 2002) have opened up new windows through which can be seen the people of Sindh engaged, in the time immemorial, writing something on the rocky pages of some prehistoric book.

In the homes of the inhabitants of Mohen-jo-daro (2500-1500 B.C.) and in its crowded bazaars, the language spoken was most probably an ancient form of Sindhi, the available script of which is not deciphered so far. It however provides evidence to the effect that literature was also produced in that ancient (Sindhi) language. But no extensive excavations have so far been conducted at the World Heritage Site of Mohen-jo-daro, wherefrom the discovery of a library could be possible that could provide a sort of clue like the Rosetta-Stone, to give us a real key into decipherment of the Indus Script.

 “Even the period of Proto-SINDHI or Primary Sindhi Prakrit was earlier than that of Panini, Patangali and Kalidas, and even the composition of Ramayana and Mahabharta.

“Tirthanker of Jainism (Anshanath the 11th) was born in Sindh where he preached in Sindhi language of the times and carried his propaganda right up to Bengal where he died.

 “According to the present knowledge of the science of languages, Bharat Muni was the first Sanskrit writer in whose great work Nataya Shastra of 2nd century A.D., are given some references of the language of the people of Sindhu Sauvira (Sindh).

 “In 7th century A.D., a Chinese pilgrim recorded that the language of the people of Sindh differed slightly from that of mid-India, comprising North Gujrat, Rajastan, Malwa and Western U.P. In the 8th century the language of the then Sindhis figured among the 18 important languages of Bharat Varsha and the poetry of the people of Sindh is mentioned as ‘Graceful, Sweet, Soft-toned and Patriotic in sentiment’.

 “An unknown Sindhi scholar, more than 1,000 years ago, wrote in Sindhi language a prose version of Mahabharta, differing though in some particulars from the Mahabharta as known today. This work was translated into Arabic, sometimes in 10th century A.D., by the evidence recorded in the writings of Al-Beruni and Abu Saleh; the said Mahabharta may be regarded as the earliest work of Sindhi Prose of 3rd century B.C.” (Khilnani: 1959) 

However, there are missing links in the history of Sindh during which various invaders burned down libraries, looted, plundered and erased every sign of academic life of Sindh while the indigenous population under siege had no respite to re-write their history.

 

Indus Script

After the discovery of Harappa and Mohen-jo-daro, two principal cities of the great Indus Valley Civilization, in the early twenties, John Marshall conducted archaeological excavations at the site of Mohen-jo-daro in 1922. It was for the first time that a pictorial script of the 3rd millennium B.C. was found written on the seals, potshards and other archaeological object-finds.

The archaeologists and scholars attempted to decipher the script of the Indus Civilization soon after its discovery but found no match in the old records anywhere in the world to reach any conclusion. Finally, Asko Parpola and John Hunter conducted computerized studies to decipher it but in vain. However, many linguists and etymologists are still in pursuit of finding any clue to the genesis of the ancient script.

However, most of the researchers believe, though hypothetically, that while striking cultural similarities do exist between the ancient and modern civilization of Sindh, the possibility of Indus script being SINDHI cannot be ruled out altogether.

 

2.1.2 Medieval Era

With the process of the decline of Indus Civilization started around 1650 B.C., the Indus Valley had lost its script (Panhwar: 1988). The Aryans soon evolved Brahmi script from Hebrew (or the Indus script?) for writing of Vedas. This gave birth to Sanskrit language about 1000 to 800 B.C. In its aftermath, a number of ancient scripts have been discovered from various sources indicating to the evolution of scripts for numerous vernaculars of South Asia. They include Kharosthi (300 B.C.), Sui Vihar Script (50 A.D.), Gupta Script (4rth Century A.D.), Old Nagra Script (9th Century A.D.), Sanskrit Bhasha (7-8 Century A.D.), Devanagri (8th Century A.D.), Ancient Script (Bhambhore), Sindhi Script (written by George Stack), Sindhi-Arabic Script (1020-1030 Hijra), and Khuwajki Script (1209-1290 A.D.), etc.

During the period of Rai Dynasty (6th Century A.D.) in Sindh, some letters written by Raja Dahar in the Sindhi language are on the record. The history of this period is mostly untraceable more so because the invasions of Sindh that followed brought about destruction resulting in disappearance of historical evidences.       

The Sindhi language was written in Devanagari Script up to the period of Soomra dynasty (1011-1351 A.D.) in Sindh. A specimen of this script is a verse of Qazi Qadan written in Devanagari in 1636 A.D. The record of the 40-lettered Khuwajki-Sindhi script (1209-1290 A.D) is also available. An early Sindhi script similar to Devanagari was found written on potshards excavated from Bhambhore.

 Arab Rule: During the Arab period some indigenous scholars developed Sindhi-Arabic script, in 187 Hijra. A single line written in this script is available on record. An earlier scholar of Sindhi Abul Hasan used in his early writings the Sindhi-Arabic script a few centuries ago.    

According to Dr N.A. Baloch, Sindhi developed further more in terms of its morphology and grammatical texture during the Arab rule. Its orbit was widened up under centralism of its sway. The alphabet of Sindhi enhanced with loan words from Arabic, and a solid base was provided to it with the publication of Islamic literature and medieval poetry. From 950 to 1050 A.D., the individuality and international status of Sindh was enhanced under Arabs while the trade flourished with the Arab world. The famous Sindhologist Al-Beruni visited Sindh during this era and immortalized many aspects of the history of Sindh.

Local Rule: Despite constant turmoil which rivalry for power brought to the country, it remained under Arab control till 1010 A.D., after which they began to lose their grasp. A bitter struggle for supremacy in Sindh took place between local tribes and eventually the Soomras emerged as the most powerful of them.

The Soomras ruled Sindh during 11th to mid-14th Century A.D., followed by Sammas, Arghoons, Tarkhans, Mughals, Kalhoras and Talpurs, who ruled during 14th to 19th Century A.D. During the Soomra Rule, the folklore of Sindhi gained impetus. Being the vernacular of the rulers, Sindhi was patronized by the government of the day. This era had also proved itself as continuity of the Arab policies about the development of Sindhi. Thus, there was transition from Devanagari to the Sindhi Arabic script while still the echo of Persian had not subsided fully well.

The rule of Soomras was followed by Samma dynasty (1350-1520). The Samma rulers extended their power very rapidly, especially during the reign of Jam Nindo (1461-1508). This era was known as the ‘Golden Age of Sindh’ during which the economy flourished, and a strong state was created which, however, maintained intellectual freedoms. (Bughio: 2001: 12).

During this period, the Sindhi-Arabic script became somewhat universal in Sindh. The Sindhi language produced literature on standardized pattern, and the tradition of classical poetry in Sindhi was consolidated. The boundaries of Sindhi were expanded to Kuchh in the southeast and to Las Belo in the southwest as a result of the conquests of the Sammas, and the age-old interaction between Balochs and Sindhis. A new ‘Jadgali’ dialect also came into being as a result of linguistic contact of Sindhi with Eastern Balochi and Western Balochi. The dialects of Kuchhi and Laasi besides Sindhi-Siraiki took their roots. The Sammas of Kuchh moved to Kathiawar and Gujrat taking influence of Sindhi along with them. The use of Sindhi as an official language of Sindh, besides academic and educational use, started systematically for the first time in Sindh. Since Sindhi was the mother tongue of Samma rulers who were first established in the Central Sindh, the ‘Vicholi’ dialect of Sindhi got impetus during the Samma dynasty (Baloch: 1999: 157-170).       

 

2.1.3 Modern Era

 

The British Rule

The Sindhi language witnessed different stages of modern development after the British conquest of Sindh in 1843. The first such development was the invention of the Sindhi Type-writer. The first such old-styled machine named as ‘Monarch’, was manufactured way back in 1926 by Remington, an American Company. The old Sindhi Type-writer, recovered from a person in Shahdadkot (Sindh) is preserved in the museum of the Institute of Sindhology, Jamshoro (Sindh).

It was in 1973 that a modern Sindhi Type-writer named as ‘Al-Mustafa Hermes Type writer’ was made with technical expertise of Pillard, a firm of Switzerland, and with serious efforts of Sindh University’s Vice Chancellor Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah and renowned Intellectual Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim Joyo. This modern machine was improved further through a new model restructured in 1994 (Abbasi: 1977: 6-12). Such a scientific development paved a way to make Sindhi a Computer language in the nineties.

When the new script/linguistic code was provided to Sindhi by the British rulers in 1853 A.D., in the form of Perso-Arabic-Sindhi script, it further enhanced its scope among all contemporary languages spoken in the Indus Valley (e.g Punjabi, Lahnda, Pashtu, Balochi, Brauhvi and Siraiki etc).

The decision of the British rulers to give a new script to Sindhi, deviating from Devanagari, might have had some political strings attached to it to. However, it proved to be a good omen for Sindhi as it paved the way for its further development on the scientific basis. It is only due to this that today after Urdu and English, the Sindhi language is more developed in comparison with other vernaculars of Pakistan.

The predominating class of the educated Sindhi Hindus already using Devanagari, Khudawadi and Hatiki scripts at the time of British rule in India had tried their level best to resist the verdict of the British rulers in favour of the new script on the cards. Even Dr Ernest Trumpp had disliked the idea of giving Perso-Arabic script to Sindhi as ‘the silliest’ idea. The new script was also bound to detach centuries-old historical links of Sindhi with the Indo-Aryan languages of India such as Sanskrit and Pali etc, of course in terms of sociolinguistics only; while its morphological, phonological and syntactical features still resembled with those languages. And, it also reflected the ‘Hindu-Muslim Divide’ in the arena of linguistics. Yet, it was a historical phenomenon of language change, which was perhaps quite inevitable.

 “The new linguistic phase took on a completely new form when the British arrived in Sindh. The British saw that if their rule in Sindh was to be successful, it was essential that appropriate communicative schemes should be installed. They saw that the best and most obvious means of accomplishing this was through the common ground of language. Thus from the very beginning attention was drawn to the question of making Sindhi the official language. Clerk (1848) in his memorandum to the House of Commons, on the administration of Sindh, broaches this issue, giving counsel as to the practicability of using the Sindhi vernacular for administrative purposes.

 “Others were of the view that Hindustani should be adopted as the official language, since they saw its universality in India and believed that if used in Sindh it would champion the cause of British hegemony. Although Stack saw that this was the case, he did not entertain this idea in case of Sindh, as he affirmed that Hindustani was not understood in Sindh and was only practiced in the judiciary realm and even there only by those magistrates who had no knowledge of Sindhi and Persian.

 “Early into the period of British rule a committee was established which was to tackle the language question in Sindh by coming up with one script which would clear up the confusion resulting from several other scripts being in use. On one side of the bench there were those who favoured the implementation of Devanagari script; opposing them were those who maintained that a Sindhi-Arabic script should be used. After much dissension it was decided that Sindhi-Arabic should become the new script. In due course the Sindhi script and orthography were modified in accordance with Sindhi phonetics.” (Bughio: 200: 21)

During the years following this decision, much work was done on the Sindhi language. The work commenced on grammar books, history books, textbooks, dictionaries and manuals. Major works from other languages such as Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali, Urdu, Persian and English were translated, periodicals were mass produced and a host of literary societies were founded to celebrate and promote the Sindhi language. Meanwhile English was being introduced gradually at different levels. Its popularity, however, was not secured overnight. Although the Hindus readily embraced the British system of education as they saw it as a stepping stone for entering into government service, the Muslims displayed more reluctance.

The annexation of Sindh to Bombay Presidency resulted in its having increased dealings with India. By this means Sindhi came in contact with Hindustani and English spoken by those British who had taken up office. The Hindustani and English influence was minimal, however, since those Sindhis who knew it were only those who had contact with the English and those from the educated classes. This bilingualism occurred only within the bounds of some urban areas; the rest of the people remained monolingual and isolated from power. This situation followed a similar pattern till Sindh’s separation from Bombay Presidency in 1936. With the departure of the Indian influence, language contact with Hindi or Hindustani was reduced, and Sindh remained monolingual once again in entirety.

 

2.1.4 1947 Onwards

The monolingual state of Sindh was over once again after a span of eleven years with the emergence of Pakistan in 1947. In the new state of Pakistan, Urdu was declared as the state language. Thus Sindh became a bilingual province with Sindhi and Urdu as the two languages of communication.

With it, the focus on Sindhi, rested during 104 years of British Rule as the sole language of Sindh, was now shifted on Urdu as the national language of Pakistan and Sindhi as a regional language of the southernmost region (or province) of Pakistan.

At the crucial juncture of taking final decision on the national or state language of the new state of Pakistan in the making, after the British had finally decided to quit India, there were different discussions in the air by the ruling elite and intellectuals.

The Urdu speaking immigrants voiced their demands for Urdu to be implemented as the national language, arguing that Urdu had been the lingua franca during the freedom movement of India and the language of the Muslims of India (cf. Fatehpuri, 1987).

Agha Khan and others wanted Arabic as the national language of the ‘would be’ Pakistan, arguing that this was not only the language of the Holy Quran but that all Muslims were familiar with it through their religious practices. Secondly, if adopted, Arabic will help create close relationship with the oil-rich Arab world. Urdu, they said, was the language of Muslim decadence in India.

“Arabic as a universal language of the Muslim World would unite; Urdu would divide and isolate”(Agha Khan, 1957).

The Bengalis forming a majority of 56% population of Pakistan desired for Bengali to become the national language.

And, there were politicians and intellectuals with true perception of federalism in mind demanding that all five indigenous languages, Bengali, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtu and Balochi may be declared as national languages of Pakistan. The English be implemented as the official language of the state till any of the local languages is developed to replace it. Urdu world remain the lingua franca of the country. 

And yet some others suggested by taking the middle line that Bengali should be adopted as the national language of East Pakistan and Urdu in West Pakistan. 

But, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Governor General of Pakistan announced his verdict at Dacca University in 1948

“… let me make it very clear to you that the State Language of Pakistan is going to be URDU and no other language. Any one who tries to mislead you is really the enemy of Pakistan. Without one State language, no nation can remain tied up solidly together and function” (Quoted in Callard, 1957: 182).    

In Sindh today, the promotion and development of Sindhi language is being carried on by various departments of the Government of Sindh. Besides, a number of private literary and cultural organizations of civil society are serving the cause of promoting language through production and publication of Sindhi literature, academic research and teaching of Sindhi language.

The Government of Sindh has established the Sindhi Language Authority (SLA) http://www.sindhila.com.pk in 1991 through a bill passed by the Sindh Legislative Assembly for promotion and development of the language. The federal government of Pakistan recognizes Sindhi as an official language of Sindh and one of the major languages of Pakistan.

The Department of Culture, Government of Sindh, Sindhi Adabi Board, Sindh Text Board, and Sindh Archives run by the provincial government of Sindh are striving for an overall development of Sindhi.

The University of Sindh established in 1947 awards the advanced academic degree of Ph.D in Sindhi while its Sindhi Department is imparting advanced teaching in Sindhi language and literature. Besides, the Sindh University has established the Institute of Sindhology to promote and carry on research on Sindh including its history, culture, language and literature.

The University of Karachi and the Shah Abdul Latif University in Kharpur also have Departments of Sindhi which also impart advanced teaching in Sindhi language as well as literature. They also have research Chairs such as Shah Latif Chair (KU) and Sheikh Ayaz Chair (SALU) which conduct research in their respective fields and also publish books and periodicals based on that research.

The Sindhi print media having history of more than a century with regular publication of more than 50 daily newspapers is contributing a lot towards linguistic and literary development of the language. The satellite television channels of Sindhi founded in Pakistan and India introduce this classical language of South Asia to the rest of the world.

         

2.2 Sindhi in Cyberspace

The dawn of 21st century saw Sindhi as a Computer language. Sindhi now is communicable on the Internet, thanks to the persistent efforts by Sindhi experts of Information Technology (IT) here in Sindh, and abroad.

The evolution and development of Sindhi has a long history. Prior to 1866 when Ernest Trumpp published Shah-Jo-Risalo through Lithography from Liepzig, Germany, Sindhi was only a hand-written language. The Sindhi Type writer was invented in 1926, and for the first time a page of Sindhi words composed on computerized typesetting came out from a laser printer in 1987. By 2002, Sindhi became a language of computer and Internet.           

By the year 1983, a Line Editor was structured on computer in Sindhi by an IT expert Mr Javed Laghari in MS DOS. Although, it was a pioneering work for Sindhi Computing, yet it had a limited utility.

In 1987-88, the Sindhi Word Processor and the Desktop Printing in Sindhi was introduced on Macintosh PC by yet another Sindhi IT expert Mr Majid Bhurgri. As a result of such endeavour, first time a page containing Sindhi words came out of a Laser Printer in 1987.

With it started the Typesetting practice for the benefit of newspapers and magazines in Sindhi. The first such Typeset column appeared in the Sindhi Daily Hilal-e-Pakistan, Karachi in 1987 for the first time.

In 1988, the pioneer of Sindhi Typesetting (Bhurgri) announced his achievement in a press conference. Following it, as a second instance, the Sindhi Section of a magazine ‘Naqoosh’ appeared with Computer Typesetting. Later on, some other Sindhi magazines such as ‘Paroor’, ‘Paras’, ‘Sughariun Sath’, ‘Sindh Sujag’, ‘Sha-oor’ and ‘Halchal’ were also published with computerised typesetting.

In 1989, the first Sindhi newspaper Daily ‘Awami Awaz’, Karachi was published with Computer Typesetting. The other Sindhi dailies such as ‘Kawish’, ‘Hilal-e-Pakistan’ and ‘Aftab’ followed the suit.

In the second phase, about a dozen Typefaces were prepared in Sindhi (by Majid Bhurgri) which were named as ‘Majidi’, ‘Latifi’, ‘Sarmast’, ‘Khursheed”, ‘Nargisi’, ‘Basit’, ‘Musawwir’, ‘Moomal’, ‘Sarang’ and ‘Makli’ etc. They are still in use on Macintosh Computer.

By now, the Microsoft Windows had attained multi-lingual capability on IBM Compatible Computer. Taking advantage of such a scientific advancement, another Sindhi IT expert Ayaz Shah succeeded in implementing Sindhi Typesetting system on Microsoft Windows. With such a precedent well set, yet another Sindhi expert Abdul Azeem Soomro started working on the software of Sindhi Word Processor.

But, in technical terms, it was simply an attempt to restructure the Arabic and Persian system of fonts for writing Sindhi on computer. The invention of independent Sindhi Fonts was a step still far ahead. Except for the Desktop Publishing, no other important work could be done on the computer by that time. The work on Sindhi Database Management, creation of Sindhi Web Page on Internet and sending of E-mail or Chatting on Internet in Sindhi was still a dream. It was all because there was no real Sindhi Computing system in existence by then.

What was being done for the last 14 years was simply to combine, truncate and substitute Arabic and Persian letters, characters and marks in an absolutely non-standardized way to achieve the objective and create pseudo Sindhi letters and characters; and that’s all. This way, all the 52 letters of the Sindhi Alphabet were unable to be accommodated on the computer. It was all because no formal Code Page of Sindhi was as yet formulated, and recognized by the international computing agencies so that it could be implemented in the Computer Operating System and Software (Bhurgri: 2002).

The world was now moving towards formulating a Universal Code Page or UNICODE to be used by all languages of the world. The computer scientists invented a Standard Unicode accommodating all languages of the world. Such a scientific development opened a new window for the Sindhi Language too. The Microsoft started using UNICODE fully well in Windows 2000 and Windows-XP as against its limited use in Windows 96 and Windows 98.

With it, Majid Bhurgri and Ayaz Shah made joint efforts to make Sindhi Fonts as per the specifications of the Unicode, but failed. Later on, Majid Bhurgri assisted by Sagar Latif Shaikh succeeded in restructuring Sindhi Fonts in accordance with the Unicode in early nineties. However, problems surfaced in their application.

By February 2000, Mr. Pal Nelson, head of Multilingual Wing of the Microsoft, prepared a Sindhi Keyboard for use in the Windows. With it, the Sindhi Database Management and Sorting System was finally made possible.

 “Now the Programming Language can also be prepared in Sindhi”, Dr Gul Agha, Professor of Computer Sciences, University of Albana, USA, opined in an interview. With it, all windows of computer development have been opened for the Sindhi language in the new millennium.

Thus, Sindhi has become the language of Computer and Internet. Now, we can send e-mail in Sindhi, and can chat in Sindhi on Internet.

 

2.3 Linguistic Research

Many occidental and indigenous scholars have conducted research on a number of disciplines to explore linguistic characteristics of the Sindhi language. Such process of work began long before the advent of British rule in Sindh in 1843. However, in the post-1843 period, the tradition of research on scientific basis was set in Sindh. Right from George Stack to Sir Grierson, and Vasnani to Bhrumal and Gurbuxani, or Dr N.A. Baloch, Siraj Memon and Dr Allana to the sociolinguistic study of Sindhi by Dr. Allah Dad Bohio, C.J. Daswani, Sundry Parchani, Laxman Khubchandani and Dr M. Qasim Bughio, the output of about 50 scholars is on the record to show the evolution of linguistic development of Sindhi. Still there are linguistic mysteries and academic riddles to be resolved by the new generation pertaining to the literary treasure of Sindhi.

 

George Stack (d. 1853)

He is the first occidental scholar who wrote the earliest book on grammar of Sindhi language in English in 1847. The book entitled ‘A Grammar of Sindhi Language’, however, was published in 1849. He also produced two dictionaries of Sindhi: English-Sindhi Dictionary containing 12,000 words (1849) and Sindhi-English Dictionary having 17,000 entries (1855). He accomplished this monumental work on Sindhi linguistics long before the decision of the British rulers to patronise the local vernacular in Sindh and to provide a new script (Arabic-Sindhi) to it. He used Devanagari script for writing in Sindhi, and when the British rulers decided to introduce a uniform script for Sindh in 1853, he favoured Devanagari, for which he had his own arguments. At the end of his book on Sindhi Grammar, George Stack penned down five popular Love Stories of Sindhi folklore as well, (Hidayat Prem: 2003).

 

Ernest Trumpp (1828-1885)

He was the second occidental (German) scholar who penned down ‘Grammar of the Sindhi Language’ (compared with the Sanskrit, Prakrit and the cognate Indian vernaculars) in 1872. One of the main characteristics of Trumpp’s grammer of Sindhi is the inclusion of Shah Latif’s language and its grammatical novelties in it. Prior to it, in 1858, he wrote a research article ‘Sindhi Reading Book (in Sanskrit and Arabic characters); in 1861 and 1862, he authored two research papers on the Sindhi Language; and in 1886 he wrote for the Journal of Asiatic Society on ‘Grammar of the Sindhi language’. In 1866, he compiled Shah-Jo-Risalo in Sindhi and got it printed first time on lithography, from Lepzik, Germany.

 

George Shirt (d. 1886)

In 1866, George Shirt authored a book on Sindhi grammar entitled ‘Akhar Dhatoo’. In this book, Shirt discussed roots of Sindhi in Sanskrit, Semetic and Dravidian languages. In 1879, He produced a Sindhi-English dictionary in collaboration with two local scholars Udharam Thanwardas and Mirza Sadiq Ali Beg. In his dictionary, he used Arabic-Sindhi script for Sindhi. Till 1911, the dictionary of George Shirt was in use when Permanand Mevaram brought out another Sindhi-English dictionary. He also penned down a research article on the origin and ancestry of Sindhi entitled ‘The Traces of Dravidian Element in Sindhi’, which was published in December 1878 issue of the Indian Antiquary. On behalf of the Christian Missionary Society, Hyderabad, he also published some 20 booklets in Sindhi on Christianity.

 

Sir George Abrahm Grierson (b. 1851)

His monumental work is ‘Linguistic Survey of India’ published in eleven volumes covering 500 languages of South Asia. The first part of the 8th volume of the book published in 1919 deals with Sindhi. According to him, Sindhi is the Indo-European language belonging to the northwestern outer circle of the Indo-Aryan group of languages. In this book, Grierson has discussed Sindhi grammar in detail, and has compared Sindhi language with all other languages of Indo-Aryan origin.

The 8th valume (part I) of this book was translated in Sindhi by Dr. Fahmida Hussain, which was published by Sindhi Language Authority in 2000 A.D.      

 

Sir Ralf Lilly Turner (b. 1885)

‘Sindhi Recursives or Voiced Stops Preceded by Glottal Closure’ is one of Turner’s important works (1923) on Sindhi linguistics. Besides, he wrote on ‘Cerebratipation in Sindhi’, and ‘Some problems of Sound Change in Indo-Aryan languages’, exploring new linguistic vistas pertaining to the Sindhi language. This professor of Linguistics produced two dictionaries ‘A Comparative Dictionary of Indo Aryan Languages’, and ‘A Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of Nepali language’ (1931), containing study on Sindhi in both. Prof Laxman Khubchandani regarded his work on Sindhi linguistics as a ‘landmark’.

 

John Beames (1837-1902)

His two important books are ‘Comparative Grammar of Modern Aryan Languages of India’ (1872-79), and ‘Quotations of Indian Philology’ (1867) containing linguistic study on Sindhi. The latter book of John Beames has been translated in Sindhi under the auspices of the Sindhi Language Authority, Hyderabad (Sindh) in 1994. Beames’ analysis of the grammar, dialects and appropriate script for Sindhi are thought provoking.

 

Jhamatmal Narumal Vasnani

He was the first scholar who authored a book on grammar of Sindhi language in Sindhi in the year 1892. Prior to him, George Stack (1847) and Ernest Trumpp (1872) wrote grammars of Sindhi language in English. Vasnani wrote in all five books on Sindhi literature. The title of his book on Sindhi grammar is ‘Sindhi Viyakranu’. He took advantage of E. Trumpp’s grammar on Sindhi. The other books of Vasnani are ‘Vaitpati Kosh’ (Etymological Dictionary) of Sindhi; ‘Shah-Ja-Baita’ (Verses of Shah Latif) published in 1895; ‘Hatoo Apeesh’ (Collection of Short Stories on morality); and ‘Desi Hissaban-Jo-Kitab’ (book on indigenous Arithmatic).

 

Mirza Qalich Baig

This stalwart of Sindhi literature wrote four books on Sindhi linguistics ‘Sindhi Viyakaranu’ (Sindhi Grammar) in four volumes, published in 1916, 1920 and 1921; and ‘Philological Curiosities’ in 1921. His other research works are ‘Lughaat Latifi’ (Dictionary of Shah Latif’s poetry) published in 1913; ‘Sindhi Boli-Ji-Tarikh’ (History of Sindhi Language)-1900; ‘Sindhi Lughat Qadimi’ (Dictionary of Old Sindhi words); and ‘Pahakan-Ji-Hikmat’ (Wisdom of Sindhi Idiom)-1925. He had also compiled Shah-Jo-Risalo in 1913. 

 

Bherumal Maharchand Advani

One of the stalwarts of Sindhi literature, B.M. Advani was both a poet and prose writer. In all, he authored 60 to 70 books. ‘Alif Bay Keean Thahi’ (How did Alphabet come into Being?)-1923; Mohen-jo-daro (1933), ‘Wado Sindhi Viyakaranu’ (Advanced Sindhi Grammar); ‘Qadeem Sindh’ (Ancient Sindh); ‘Sindhi Boli-Ji-Tarikh’ (History of Sindhi Language); ‘Gharibullughat’ (Dictionary of Sindhi); ‘Sindh Je Hindun Ji Tarikh’ 02 volumes (History of the Hindus of Sindh); and ‘Sodhan-Ji-Sahibi Ya Ranan-Jo-Raj’ (Rule of Sodhas and Ranas). etc.

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