Balti (Urdu: بلتی) is a language spoken in Baltistan, in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Baltistan - before independence - was part of Ladakh province. The language is a sub-dialect of Ladakhi and an archaic dialect of the Tibetan language. Many of the consonants that are silent in most modern Tibetan dialects are pronounced in Balti.

Script

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Balti is also the name of the Tibetan Balti script, which was replaced by the Persian script in the 17th Century.

Recently a number of Balti scholars and social activists are trying to repromote the use of the Balti script (Yige) which will also help to preserve indigenous Ladakhi and Balti form of culture and racial identity.

Vocabulary

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The Balti language shares 80-90% of the vocabulary with the neighboring Ladakhi, although they have adopted words from Shina, Burushaski and Persian with the process of Islamization.

See also

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• Balti people

External links

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• ^*
• Unicode
• Koshur: The Balti Language
• Pakistan's Northern Areas dilemma
• Northern Areas Development Gateway
• Pakistan's Northern Areas

Languages of Pakistan | Bodic languages

Bahasa Baltistani