Thali dialect
Dialect of Saraiki)
title: "Thali dialect" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["punjabi-language-in-pakistan", "punjabi-dialects"] description: "Dialect of Saraiki)" topic_path: "geography/pakistan" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thali_dialect" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Dialect of Saraiki) ::
::data[format=table title="infobox dialect"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| image | Thali_dialect.svg |
| state | Pakistan |
| pushpin_map | Pakistan |
| coordinates | |
| familycolor | Indo-European |
| fam2 | Indo-Iranian |
| fam3 | Indo-Aryan |
| fam4 | Northwestern |
| fam5 | Lahnda |
| fam6 | Saraiki |
| isoexception | dialect |
| glotto | thal1241 |
| glottorefname | Thali |
| name | Thali |
| region | northern Thal Desert, southwestern Khyber Paktunkhwa |
| :: |
| image = Thali_dialect.svg | state = Pakistan | pushpin_map = Pakistan | coordinates = | familycolor = Indo-European | fam2 = Indo-Iranian | fam3 = Indo-Aryan | fam4 = Northwestern | fam5 = Lahnda | fam6 = Saraiki | fam7 = | iso3 = | isoexception = dialect | glotto = thal1241 | glottorefname = Thali | name = Thali | region = northern Thal Desert, southwestern Khyber Paktunkhwa
Thaḷī is a dialect of Saraiki language spoken in parts of the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is alternative term for Derawali dialect of Saraiki, although it has also been described as transitional between Saraiki and Jhangvi-Shahpuri. Its name derives from the Thal Desert, in which it is spoken.
The vocabulary of Thali is similar to Jhangvi-Shahpuri spoken to the east, but often the forms are closer to that of Saraiki. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Saraiki_language_and_its_dialects.jpg" caption="Dialects of Saraiki"] ::
Geographical distribution
As defined in the Linguistic Survey of India, the Thali dialect is spoken in parts of the Sindh Sagar Doab south of the Salt Range from Pind Dadan Khan tehsil in Jhelum district in the northeast to present Layyah district in the south, and is also spoken west of the Indus in Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In Dera Ismail Khan District, it goes by the name of "Ḍerāwāl" or "Derawali", and in Mianwali and Bannu districts it is known as "Hindko" or "Mulkī". Prior to Partition, this was the predominant dialect used by Hindus in Bannu district. A dialect of Thali spoken in the northeast is known as "Kacchī". Inhabitants of Dera Ismail Khan District, where this dialect is spoken, variously identify their language as Hindko Saraiki. Likewise those living in Mianwali District primarily identify their language as Saraiki or Hindko.
References
Bibliography
- The account of Thali here is based entirely on Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India.
- (requires registration).
References
- South Asia Partnership-Pakistan. "Profile of district Mianwali".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::