Siraiki, also known as Ubheji, Siroli and Sireli, is a dialect of the Sindhi language spoken in the Siro region of upper Sindh. Inhabitants of this 'Siro'[a] region are known as Sirai.[2][3][4] The Siraiki dialect of upper Sindh is not to be confused with the Saraiki variety of the Punjabi language, which share a similar name.[5]
Etymology
In Sindhī, the word siru means 'head.' From it is derived sirō, the extremity of anything, and, hence, the upper part of Sindh, from the northern frontier down to, say, the 27th degree of north latitude, about midway between Larkana and Sehwan. From this, again, is derived the adjective sirāikō, of or belonging to Upper Sindh or the Sirō.[6] The word "Siraiki" means "northern speech" and is derived from Sindhi language.[7]
^Stack, George (2017). Abbasi, Prof. Mohsin; Rizvi, Ms. Parsa; Hussain, Dr. Fahmida (eds.). A Dictionary - Sindhi and English (January 2017 ed.). Hyderabad, Sindh: Sindhi Language Authority. p. 603.
^Austin, Peter (2008). One thousand languages: living, endangered, and lost. Berkeley (Calif.): University of California press. ISBN978-0-520-25560-9. Sindhi has six major dialects: Siraiki (Seraiki), Vicholi, Lari, Lasi, Thari (Thareli) and Katchhi (Kachchhi).
^Masica, Colin P. (1993). The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge University Press (1. paperback ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-23420-7.
^Handbook of comparative and historical Indo-European linguistics ; Volume 1. Berlin Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. 2017. p. 433. ISBN9783110393248. The five major dialects of Sindhi are Vicholi, Lari, Lasi, Thari, and Kachhi. Four dialects are spoken within the borders of Sindh itself. Siraiki, in Upper Sindh, is not to be confused with the Punjabi language of the same name. Vicholi, considered the standard dialect, is spoken in central Sindh, while Lari is the dialect in southern Sindh. Lasi is spoken on the western frontier of Sindh and in Balochistan. The Sindhi spoken in the Thar desert of the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan is called Thari. In Gujarat, Kachhi is spoken along the Rann of Kutch and in the Kathiawar peninsula.
^"Linguistic Survey of India". dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-24. In Sindhī, the word siru means 'head.' From it is derived sirō, the extremity of anything, and, hence, the upper part of Sindh, from the northern frontier down to, say, the 27th degree of north latitude, about midway between Larkana and Sehwan. From this, again, is derived the adjective sirāikō, of or belonging to Upper Sindh or the Sirō.
^Simpson, Andrew (2007). Language and national identity in Asia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 114. ISBN9780199226481. Siraiki' is a Sindhi-derived term meaning 'northern speech', hence its confusing earlier use as the name of the northern dialect of Sindhi, now usually termed Siroli.
