About the Hazaragi Living Dictionary

Hazaragi is a distinct and standalone language of the Hazara people, spoken by Hazara communities across five continents, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Australia, Europe, Africa, North America and many other parts of the world. According to figures cited on Wikipedia, Hazaragi is spoken by an estimated 14 –16 million people worldwide. The language has a rich linguistic heritage, incorporating Turkic and Mongolic linguistic elements, alongside loanwords and influences from Arabic, Urdu, Persian and many other languages.

John Gulzari and his spouse, Shehnaz Ali, have worked collaboratively to develop the Hazaragi Living Dictionary, documenting two important regional varieties of the language: the Ghazni, Quetta and Australian varieties. Also extended all other Hazaragi dialects, such as (Jaghuri, Turki, Tukmani, Quettagi, Dai Zingi, Mogholi, Hazaristani, Shahristani, Kabuli, Herati, Kaluk-Qarluqi etc.

The dictionary presents Hazaragi in two writing systems: the English/Roman alphabet and the Arabic-based script. It also incorporates phonetic transcriptions using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), together with English and Dari descriptions to make the entries more accessible to a wider audience.

A substantial proportion of the dictionary's entries has been compiled through the authors' own knowledge, memory and recollection as native speakers. Over time, the collection has also been enriched by consulting and incorporating material from dictionaries and linguistic works produced by various Hazara and non-Hazara linguists, researchers and lexicographers. These include Dr Hafiz Sharyati (Sahar), Tariq Malistani, Dr Mohammad Akber Sharistani, Abbas Deljo, H. A. Yousufi, Dr Zebul Nessa Alikhan, Professor Ali Akber Sharistani, Roman Gehring, V. A. Effimov, G. K. Dulling, Kristian Muthugalage, Dr Saira Bano, Taghai Temor, Bashir Bakhtiyari and others. Their contributions and published works have helped broaden the dictionary's vocabulary and linguistic coverage.

The Hazaragi Living Dictionary primarily aims to support Hazara communities in the diaspora, particularly those living in Western countries who may have limited knowledge of the Arabic-based writing system. For this reason, the English/Roman alphabet has been given particular prominence, making the dictionary more accessible to younger generations living in the West, students, families, researchers and anyone interested in learning Hazaragi.

The dictionary currently contains more than 9,000 words and phrases, and we are working towards adding approximately 5,000 more entries, with the goal of reaching at least 15,000 words and phrases. We hope to continue expanding this living resource through ongoing research, community participation and contributions from native speakers and language experts.

We warmly welcome contributions, additional vocabulary, corrections, suggestions and feedback from native Hazaragi speakers, linguists, researchers and members of the Hazara community. Your participation will help us build a more comprehensive linguistic resource and preserve our language for future generations.

To contribute or provide feedback, please contact us:

• Email: Hazaragilanguage@gmail.com

• Website: www.Hazaragilanguage.com.au

• Dictionary: https://livingdictionaries.app/hazaragi/about

Thank you for supporting the preservation, documentation and promotion of the Hazaragi language.

John Gulzari

Last updated: 11 November 2026