Aer is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 150 people in

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. It is one of the smallest languages of Pakistan in terms of number of speakers, and is spoken in rural areas of Sindh including

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Kot Ghulam Muhammad Kot Ghulam Muhammad ( sd, ڪوٽ غلام محمد) (formerly known as Jemesabad) is named after Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bhurgri, the Tehsil situated in south-east Mirpur Khas District of the Southern Province Sindh in Pakistan. Kot Ghlam Muhamm ...

, and Kunri. Some speakers are also reported to be living in Shaheed Benazirabad, but they have a different culture.

History

After the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947, the Muslim speakers of the language migrated to Pakistan, while the Hindu speakers stayed in India. Most of the Aer speakers in Pakistan live in Deh 333, near

in lower Sindh. The language was formed in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

during the Delhi Sultanate and

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the ...

due to the influence of Persian,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

, and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

on Indian languages. A 1998 estimate concluded there were around 200 native speakers. Current estimates, however, put the number of speakers at 150, further cementing its 'endangered' status.

Classification

Aer has been classified as one of the Gujarati languages. Ethnologue reports that the closest language is

Kachi Koli Kachi Koli is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Pakistan and India. Part of the Gujarati subfamily, Kachi Koli is closely related to Parkari Koli and Wadiyara Koli Wadiyara Koli is an Indo-Aryan language of the Gujarati group. It is spok ...

, and that most Aer speakers are bilingual in Sindhi. Two varieties of Aer are Jikrio Goth Aer and Jamesabad Aer.

Alphabet

Aer is commonly not written, but when it is, it is written in a variety of the Arabic script.

References

Languages of Sindh Indo-Aryan languages {{Pakistan-stub