Balti language

Not to be confused with Baltic languages.

Balti
Balti Bhotia
སྦལ་ཏི་སྐད།
Native to	Pakistan, India
Region	Baltistan and small pockets in Ladakh, Karachi, Rawalpindi/Islamabad and Lahore
Ethnicity	Baltipa
Native speakers	c.484,000 in Pakistan (2018)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Bodic Bodish Tibetan Western Tibetan Balti
Writing system	Tibetan script, Nastaliq script
Language codes
ISO 639-2	sit
ISO 639-3	bft
ELP

Balti (སྦལ་ཏི་སྐད།) or Bhotia is Tibetic language spoken in the Baltistan region of Gilgit Baltistan in northeastern Pakistan occupied Kashmir and a few neighboring villages of the territory of Indian Kashmir. The language is an archaic dialect of the Tibetan language, but many of the consonants of Classical Tibetan that are silent in most modern Tibetan dialects are pronounced in Balti.

History & People

Greeks used the word Byaltae instead of Bal-ti, which in Tibetan means water gorge. The historian Ptolemy who was also a general in the army of Alexander the Great had named the region (Byaltae) in his book. Baltistan is the Persian translation of the native term Baltiyul meaning “The Homeland of Balti”. The people belonging to Balti nationality are settled on both banks of the river Indus from Turtuk (in the east) to Haramosh (in the west) and from Karakoram range (in the north) to Deosai plains (in the south). Majority of Balti language speakers are of Tibetan origin. However people from Indus Plains (Monpa's) and Central Asia (Horpa's) migrated to this area in different periods of ancient times, on account of different reasons and after merging in the prevailing Tibetan society, they also speak the Balti language, which is a branch of the ancient Tibetan language. Small pockets of Brokskat, Purgi, Changthang and Ladakhi also exist in Baltistan.

The Balti people are a very forbearing, cheerful, brave and hospitable people. They ruled the area of Ladakh and Western Tibet under the Makpon reign (from 12th century to 1840 A.D.).

There are several Balti communities in Pakistan's urban areas farther south, that is in Lahore, Islamabad, in Karachi and other places.

Evolution

The Balti language has kept many honorific words like all other Tibetan dialects and many other languages. Below are a few examples:

Ordinary Balti	Honorific	Ladakhi	Meaning
	Baba	Aba	Father
	Zizi	Ama	Mother
	Kacho	Acho	Brother (elder)
	Zung	Nama	Wife
	Jangmocho	Ajang	Maternal uncle
	Nenecho	Ane	Aunt
	Bucho	Tugu	Son
	Nono		Boy
	Apocho	Meme	Grandfather
	Apicho	Abi	Grandmother
	Ashcho	Singmo	Sister (elder)
	bjes	Zo	Eat
	bjes	Thung	Drink
	Shokhs	Yong	Come
	Kasal-byung	Zer	Speak/Say
	gZim tong	Ngid tong	Sleep (go to)
	Phyaq-laq/g	Lagpa	Hand/Arm
	Yang/Yari-phyaqpo	Khyorang	You
Kanma	gzok-po		Leg

References

• Everson, Michael. ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N2985: Proposal to add four Tibetan characters for Balti to the BMP of the UCS Archived 2019-08-05 at the Wayback Machine. 2005-09-05
• Hussainabadi, Mohamad Yusuf. Balti Zaban. 1990.
• Read, A.F.C. Balti grammar.London:The Royal Asiatic society, 1934.

Other websites

• Unicode
• Koshur: The Balti Language
• Tibetan script makes a comeback in Pakistan Archived 2007-08-18 at the Wayback Machine
• Proposal to add four Tibetan characters for Balti to the BMP of the UCS Archived 2019-08-05 at the Wayback Machine
• Tibetan Extensions 2 : Balti Archived 2010-10-17 at the Wayback Machine
• Pakistan's Northern Areas dilemma
• Northern Areas Development Gateway Archived 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine
• Pakistan's Northern Areas Archived 2004-01-07 at the Wayback Machine