Editing Baloch people (section)

==Language==
{{Main|Balochi language|Rakhshani dialect|Makrani dialect|Eastern Balochi (dialect)}}
{{See also|Balochi Standard Alphabet|Balochi Academy|Balochi literature|}}
Balochi ({{lang|bal|بلۏچی|rtl=yes}}, romanized: {{Transliteration|bal|Balòci}}) is an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]], spoken by the Baloch and belonging to the [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]] branch of the family. As an [[Iranian languages|Iranian language]], it is classified in the [[Western Iranian languages|Northwestern group]],<ref name=":The Baloch and Their Neighbours2">{{cite book |last1=Carina،Korn |first1=Jahani،Korn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3IMAQAAMAAJ&q=Scheming |title=The Baloch and Their Neighbours |date=2003 |publisher=Reichert |isbn=9783895003660 |pages=49,314–317,248,260}}</ref> spoken primarily in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. In addition, there are speakers in Oman, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Turkmenistan, East Africa and in diaspora communities in other parts of the world.<ref name=":The Iranian Languages2">{{cite book |last=Windfuhr |first=Gernot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QtpQZ1DD6tEC |title=The Iranian Languages |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2013 |isbn=9781135797041 |page=636}}</ref>

[[Uppsala University]] offers a course titled Balochi A, which provides basic knowledge of the phonetics and syntax of the [[Balochi language]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Balochi Language Project |url=https://www.uu.se/en/department/linguistics-and-philology/research/proj/the-balochi-language |access-date=December 17, 2024 |website=[[Uppsala University]]}}</ref> [[Carina Jahani]] is a prominent Swedish [[Iranian studies|Iranologist]] and professor of [[Iranian languages]] at Uppsala University, deeply researching in the study and preservation of the Balochi language.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jahani |first1=Carina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3XEbAQAAIAAJ&q=balochi |title=Standardization and Orthography in the Balochi Language |date=1989 |publisher=Uppsala University |isbn=978-91-554-2487-9}}</ref>

There are a number of characteristic features that Balochi shares to [[Parthian language|Parthian]] and [[Median language|Median]] and close affinity with them.<ref name="Spooner2">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Baluchistan i. Geography, History and Ethnography |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baluchistan-i |access-date=30 December 2014 |last=Spooner |first=Brian |date=1988}}</ref>{{sfn|Dashti, The Baloch and Balochistan|2012|pp=32}}<ref>{{cite book |last=John |first=Wilson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XfI-hEI8a9wC |title=PakistanThe Struggle Within |publisher=Pearson Longman |year=2009 |isbn=9788131725047 |page=22}}</ref>

The Balochi dialects are classified as:<ref>{{cite web |date=25 November 2024 |title=The Balochi Language Project |url=https://www.uu.se/en/department/linguistics-and-philology/research/proj/the-balochi-language |access-date=December 17, 2024 |website=[[Uppsala University]]}}</ref>

* [[Eastern Balochi (dialect)|Eastern group]] (the Soleimani dialect group)
* Southern group or [[Makrani dialect]] (part of the Makrani dialect group)
* Western group (part of the [[Rakhshani dialect|Rakhshani]] dialect group)

[[Koroshi dialect|Koroshi]] is also classified as Balochi.<ref>[[ethnologuefamily:90021|Ethnologue report for Southwestern Iranian languages]]</ref>

Many Baloch are either bilingual or multilingual, speaking the language of their respective nation of origin, such as Urdu, Persian, and Arabic as a second language alongside their native Balochi, while those in diaspora communities often speak three or more languages.<ref name=":The Baloch and Their Neighbours2" />