| Khetrani | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native to | Pakistan |
Native speakers | over 100,000 (2017)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xhe |
| Glottolog | khet1238 |
 Khetrani is a minor language of Pakistan which is mainly spoken inBarkhan District, it is given a space in this map. | |
Khetrānī, orKhetranki,[2] is anIndo-Aryan language of north-easternBalochistan. It is spoken by the majority of theKhetrans,[3] an ethnolinguistic tribe that occupies a hilly tract in theSulaiman Mountains comprising the whole ofBarkhan District as well as small parts of neighbouringKohlu District to the south-west, andMusakhel District to the north.[4] Alternative names for the language attested at the start of the 20th century areBarāzai andJāfaraki.[5]
Khetrani has grammatical features in common with bothSindhi and withSaraiki,[6] but is not mutually intelligible with either.[7] Khetrani has a relatively small number ofBalochi loanwords in its vocabulary.[8] Khetrani was formerly a dialect continuum of both Sindhi and Saraiki.[6]
It is likely to have been formerly spoken over a wider area, which has been reduced with the expansion ofPashto from the north and Balochi from the south-east.[9] The earlier suggestion that Khetrani might be a remnant of aDardic language[10] has been found "difficult to substantiate" by more detailed recent research.[11]
TheKhetrans. It is certain that the whole of the triangular block of hill now occupied by the Marris was in the possession of Indian tribes before the Baloch invasion. They were gradually destroyed or absorbed by the Baloch from the south and the Afghans from the north and such names as Shahdedja among theMarris and Haripal among the Afghans to the north indicate that fragments of these tribes remain among the Baloch and the Afghans. The Khetrans however between the Afghan and the Baloch have preserved their identity and their peculiar Indian dialect to the present day.[12]
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