| Western Iranian | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Southwest Asia, Central Asia, Caucasus, and western South Asia |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
| Subdivisions |
|
| Glottolog | nort3177 (Northwestern Iranian) sout3157 (Southwestern Iranian) |
The Western Iranian languages or Western Iranic languages are a branch of the Iranian languages, attested from the time of Old Persian (6th century BC) and Median.
The traditional Northwestern branch is a convention for non-Southwestern languages, rather than a genetic group. The languages are as follows: [1] [2] [3]
There is also a recently described, and as yet unclassified, Batu'i language that is presumably Western Iranian. [1] Extinct Deilami is sometimes classified in the Caspian branch. An Iranian Khalaj language has been claimed, but does not exist; the Khalaj speak a Turkic language.
Many of the languages and dialects spoken in Markazi and Isfahan provinces are giving way to Persian in the younger generations. [6]
It is to note that the Caspian languages (incl. Adharic), the central dialects, and the Zaza-Gorani languages are likely descended from a later form of Median with varying amounts of Parthian substrata, [8] whereas the Semnani languages were likely descended from Parthian. [9]
Persians are an Iranic ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian.
Kurdish is a Northwestern Iranian language or group of languages spoken by Kurds in the region of Kurdistan, namely in Turkey, northern Iraq, northwest and northeast Iran, and Syria.
Semnan province is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. It is in the north of the country. Its capital is the city of Semnan.
Zaza or Zazaki is a Northwestern Iranian language spoken primarily in eastern Turkey by the Zazas, who are commonly considered as Kurds, and in many cases identify as such. The language is a part of the Zaza–Gorani language group of the northwestern group of the Iranian branch. The glossonym Zaza originated as a pejorative. According to Ethnologue, Zaza is spoken by around three to four million people. Nevins, however, puts the number of Zaza speakers between two and three million. Ethnologue also states that Zaza is threatened as the language is decreasing due to losing speakers, and that many are shifting to Turkish.
Luri is a Southwestern Iranian language continuum spoken by the Lurs, an Iranian people native to Western Asia. The Luri dialects are descended from Middle Persian and are Central Luri, Bakhtiari, and Southern Luri. This language is spoken mainly by the Bakhtiari and the Northern and Southern Lurs in Iran.
Southern Bashkardi or Bashagerdi, or simply "Bashkardi", and also known as southern "Bashaka", is a Southwestern Iranian language spoken in the southeast of Iran in the provinces of Kerman, Sistan and Baluchestan, and Hormozgan. The language is closely related to Garmsiri, Larestani and Kumzari. It forms a transitional dialect group to northwestern Iranian Balochi, due to intense areal contact.
Laki is a vernacular that consists of two dialects; Pish-e Kuh Laki and Posht-e Kuh Laki. Laki is considered a Kurdish dialect, by most linguists and is spoken chiefly in the area between Khorramabad and Kermanshah in Iran by about 680,000 native speakers.
Median was the language of the Medes. It is an extinct ancient Iranian language and classified as a distinct language belonging to the Northwestern Iranian subfamily, which includes many other more recently attested languages such as Kurdish, Old Azeri, Talysh, Gilaki, Mazandarani, Zaza–Gorani and Baluchi.
Tat, also known as Caucasian Persian, Tat/Tati Persian, or Caucasian Tat, is a Southwestern Iranian language closely related to, but not fully mutually intelligible with Persian and spoken by the Tats in Azerbaijan and Russia. There is also an Iranian language called Judeo-Tat spoken by Mountain Jews.
Judeo-Tat or Juhuri is a Judeo-Persian dialect of the Tat language historically spoken by the Mountain Jews, primarily in Azerbaijan, Dagestan, and today in Israel. It belongs to the southwestern group of the Iranian division of the Indo-European languages with heavy influence from the Hebrew language. In the era of Soviet historiography, the Mountain Jews were mistakenly considered to be related to the Muslim Tats of Azerbaijan. However, they do not share a common linguistic heritage, as the Mountain Jews kept their native language, while the Muslim Tats eventually adopted contemporary Persian. The words Juvuri and Juvuro translate as "Jewish" and "Jews".
Judeo-Hamadani and Judeo-Borujerdi constitute a Northwestern Iranian language, originally spoken by the Iranian Jews of Hamadan and Borujerd in western Iran. Hamadanis refer to their language as ebri "Hebrew" or zabān-e qadim "old language". Though not Hebrew, the term ebri is used to distinguish Judeo-Hamadani from Persian.
In 1920, Hamadan had around 13,000 Jewish residents. According to members of the community that Donald Stilo encountered in 2001-02, there were only eight people from the Jewish community left in Hamadān at the time, but others can still be found in Israel, New York City, and most predominantly in Los Angeles.
The Iranian languages, also called the Iranic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau.
Mazandarani is an Iranian language of the Northwestern branch spoken by the Mazandarani people. As of 2021, there were 1.36 million native speakers. The language appears to be decreasing, as it is threatened, and due to the majority of its speakers shifting to Iranian Persian. As a member of the Northwestern branch, etymologically speaking, it is rather closely related to Gilaki and also related to Persian, which belongs to the Southwestern branch. Though the Persian language has influenced Mazandarani to a great extent, Mazandarani still survives as an independent language with a northwestern Iranian origin.
New Persian, also known as Modern Persian is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian, Classical Persian, and Contemporary Persian.
The Semnani languages or Komisenian languages are a group of Northwestern Iranian languages, spoken in Semnan province of Iran that share many linguistic features and structures with Iranian languages. These languages are also called "dialects" in some sources. The Semnani languages are descendants of the extinct Parthian whereas the Caspian languages are descended from the extinct Median.
Sangsari or Sangisari is an Iranian language spoken mainly in the Semnan and Tehran provinces of Iran, especially in the Sangesar town and in several surrounding villages. Sangsari is included in the Semnani group of Northwestern Iranian languages that also includes Lasgerdi, Semnani, and Sorkhei. There are around 50,000 Sangsari speakers.
The Tati language is a Northwestern Iranian language spoken by the Tat people of Iran which is closely related to other languages such as Talysh, Zaza, Mazandarani and Gilaki.
Semnani is one of the local languages of the Semnan Province of Iran. Despite the common misconception that Semnani is a Persian dialect, the language belongs to the Northwestern branch of the Western Iranian languages. Like other Caspian languages, it bears some resemblance to the Old Iranian Median language and was influenced by Parthian in a later process.
The Judeo-Iranian languages are a number of related Jewish variants of Iranian languages spoken throughout the formerly extensive realm of the Persian Empire. Judeo-Iranian dialects are generally conservative in comparison with those of their Muslim neighbours. Judeo-Shirazi, for example, remains close to the language of Hafez.
Sorkhei is a Western Iranian language. It is spoken in the village of Sorkheh in Semnan Province in northwestern Iran.