Parachi (''Parāčī'') is an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

language. Parachi is spoken by some 600 individuals of the Parachi ethnic group in eastern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, mainly in the upper part of

Nijrab District Nijrāb District, (Pashto/Persian: نجراب), also called Nijrāw, is situated in the central part of Kapisa Province, Afghanistan. It is located in a valley about 120 km northeast of Kabul. It borders Mahmud Raqi and Koh Band districts ...

, northeast of

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, out of a total ethnic Parachi population of some 5,000. It is closely related to the

Ormuri language Ormuri (Pashto: ارموری ژبه) fa, زبان ارموری; literally, "Ormuri language") also known as ''Baraki, Ormur, Ormui or Bargista '' is an Eastern Iranian language spoken in Southeast Afghanistan and Waziristan. It is primarily spo ...

Kaniguram Kānīgūram ( ps, کانيګورم) is a town in South Waziristan, Pakistan about 10 km south of the town of Ladha. Located within the heart of Mahsud land in Waziristan, Kaniguram is the principal place associated with the Ormur or Burki ...

South Waziristan South Waziristan District ( ps, سويلي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) was a district in Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before splitting in to Lower South Waziristan District and Upper South Waziristan District and t ...

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 ...

. Parachi is usually classified as a member of the Southeastern group of the

Eastern Iranian languages The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from c. the 4th century BC). The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian. As opposed to the Middle Western Iranian diale ...

,Nicholas Sims-Williams
Eastern Iranian languages
in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, 2010 although this is an areal group rather than a genetical one.

References

Further reading