Azerbaijani dialects
Azerbaijani dialects reflect relatively minor language differences and are mutually intelligible.[1] The Azerbaijani language has two distinct sublanguages: Northern[2] and Southern.[3]
Southern Azerbaijani contains many Arabic and Persian words that are not familiar to northern speakers. This began to increase in 1828.[4]
Dialect groups
The main dialect groups are Eastern (Derbent, Baku, Shamakhi, Mugan and Lankaran dialects), Western (Qazakh, Karabakh, Ganja and Ayrum dialects), Northern (Nukha, Zaqatala - Qakh dialects) and Southern (Yerevan, Nakhchivan, Ordubad and Tabriz dialects). The dialects are mutually intelligible but differ with regard to accent, syntax, and vocabulary. Eastern and northern groups of dialects were influenced by the Kypchak language.[5][6]
The dialects can be distinguished by geographical location such as Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Dagestan and Georgia. Afshar, Qashqai, Aynallu, Bayat, Shahsven, Qajar and Turkman dialects stem from these areas. Others are Tabriz, Urmia, Khoy, Kushchinskiy (central Ostan), Maraga, Merende, Uryantepin, Turkmenchay, Ardabil, Sarabian, Mian, Galugiha (Mazandaran), Lotfabad and Dergez (Khorasan- Rizaui) dialects.
According to Encyclopedia Iranica:[7]
We may distinguish the following Azeri dialects: (1) eastern group: Derbent (Darband), Kuba, Shemakha (Šamāḵī), Baku, Salyani (Salyānī), and Lenkoran (Lankarān), (2) western group: Kazakh (not to be confounded with the Kipchak-Turkic language of the same name), the dialect of the Ayrïm (Āyrom) tribe (which, however, resembles Turkish), and the dialect spoken in the region of the Borchala river; (3) northern group: Zakataly, Nukha, and Kutkashen; (4) southern group: Yerevan (Īravān), Nakhichevan (Naḵjavān), and Ordubad (Ordūbād); (5) central group: Ganja (Kirovabad) and Shusha; (6) North Iraqi dialects; (7) Northwest Iranian dialects: Tabrīz, Reżāʾīya (Urmia), etc., extended east to about Qazvīn; (8) Southeast Caspian dialect (Galūgāh). Optionally, we may adjoin as Azeri (or “Azeroid”) dialects: (9) East Anatolian, (10) Qašqāʾī, (11) Aynallū, (12) Sonqorī, (13) dialects south of Qom, (14) Kabul Afšārī.
According to Ethnologue, North Azerbaijani has the following regional dialects, each of which is slightly different from the other: "Quba, Derbend, Baku, Shamakhi, Salyan, Lenkaran, Qazakh, Airym, Borcala, Terekeme, Qyzylbash, Nukha, Zaqatala (Mugaly), Qabala, Nakhchivan, Ordubad, Ganja, Shusha (Karabakh), Karapapak, Kutkashen, Kuba".[8] While South Azerbaijani has the following dialects: "Aynallu (Inallu, Inanlu), Karapapakh, Tabriz, Afshari (Afsar, Afshar), Shahsavani (Shahseven), Moqaddam, Baharlu (Kamesh), Nafar, Qaragozlu, Pishagchi, Bayat, Qajar".[9]
According to the second edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, there are four main dialects of Azeri: 1) Baku-Shirvan, 2) Ganja-Karabakh, 3) Tabriz, and 4) Urmia.[10]
Publications
The first comparative analysis of the Turkic (Azerbaijani) dialects was carried out by Mirza Kazimbey in his 1839 book The General Grammar of the Turkish – Tatar Language.[11]
During 1924 - 1930, Soviet researchers collected some 60 thousand dialect words. The program was prepared to compile a comprehensive dictionary. N.I. Ashari led this program. The Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR published a one-volume dictionary named Dialectological Dictionary of the Azerbaijani Language in 1964, which covered more than six thousand words.
At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the Dictionary of the Dialects of the Azerbaijani language was published. The dictionary contained samples from Zangibasar, Sharur, Yardimli, Tebriz, Gubadli, Lachin, Kalbacar, Balakan, Qakh and Zagatala.
See also
References
- "Azerbaijan". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
- "Azerbaijani, North". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
- "Azerbaijani, South". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
- Bruno De Nicola; Yonatan Mendel and Husain Qutbuddin (November 2010). Reflections on Knowledge and Language in Middle Eastern Societies. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 9781443824309.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Library, International and Area Studies. "LibGuides: Resources for the study of the Azerbaijani language: Dictionaries and Grammar". guides.library.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
- "Azerbaijan:: Main page". azerbaijans.com (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 2018-06-30.
- Doerfer, Gerhard (1988). "AZERBAIJAN viii. Azeri Turkish". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
- "Azerbaijani, North". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- "Azerbaijani, South". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
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- Caferoǧlu, A. (2012). "Ād̲h̲arī (Azerī)". Encyclopaedia of Islam (12 vols.) (2nd ed.). Leiden: E. J. Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0017.
- "Presented Mirza Kazimbay's translated "General grammar of Turkic-Tatar language" book - News - Nizami Gəncəvi adına Milli Azərbaycan Ədəbiyyatı Muzeyi". nizamimuseum.az. Retrieved 2018-06-30.