Iranian languages

The Iranian languages or Iranic languages[1][2] 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.

Iranian
Iranic
EthnicityIranian peoples
Geographic
distribution
Western Asia, Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia
Linguistic classificationIndo-European
Proto-languageProto-Iranian
Subdivisions
ISO 639-2 / 5ira
Linguasphere58= (phylozone)
Glottologiran1269
Areas where an Iranian language is either the majority spoken language or has official recognition

The Iranian languages are grouped in three stages: Old Iranian (until 400 BCE), Middle Iranian (400 BCE–900 CE) and New Iranian (since 900 CE). The two directly-attested Old Iranian languages are Old Persian (from the Achaemenid Empire) and Old Avestan (the language of the Avesta). Of the Middle Iranian languages, the better understood and recorded ones are Middle Persian (from the Sasanian Empire), Parthian (from the Parthian Empire), and Bactrian (from the Kushan and Hephthalite empires).

As of 2008, there were an estimated 150–200 million native speakers of the Iranian languages.[3] Ethnologue estimates that there are 86 languages in the group,[4][5] with the largest among them being Persian (Farsi, Dari, and Tajik dialects), Pashto, Kurdish, Luri, and Balochi.[6]

Terminology and grouping

Iranian vs. Iranic

The term Iranian is applied to any language which descends from the ancestral Proto-Iranian language.[7]

Some scholars such as John R. Perry prefer the term Iranic as the anthropological name for the linguistic family and ethnic groups of this category, and Iranian for anything about the modern country of Iran. He uses the same analogue as in differentiating German from Germanic or differentiating Turkish and Turkic.[8]

This use of the term for the Iranian language family was introduced in 1836 by Christian Lassen.[9] Robert Needham Cust used the term Irano-Aryan in 1878,[10] and Orientalists such as George Abraham Grierson and Max Müller contrasted Irano-Aryan (Iranian) and Indo-Aryan (Indic). Some recent scholarship, primarily in German, has revived this convention.[11][12][13][14]

Grouping

The Iranian languages are divided into the following branches:

  • The Western Iranian languages, subdivided into:
    • Southwestern, of which Persian (including the Dari and Tajik dialects) and Luri are the dominant members;
    • Northwestern, of which the Kurdish languages are the dominant members.
  • The Eastern Iranian languages, subdivided into:
    • Southeastern, of which Pashto is the dominant member;
    • Northeastern, by far the smallest branch, of which Ossetian is the dominant member.

According to modern scholarship, the Avestan languages are not considered to fall under these categories, and are instead sometimes classified as Central Iranian, since they diverged from Proto-Iranian before the east-west division rose to prominence. It has traditionally been viewed as Eastern Iranian; however, it lacks a large number of Eastern Iranian features and thus is only "Eastern Iranian" in the sense that it is not Western.[15]

Proto-Iranian

Historical distribution circa 170 BCE: Sarmatia, Scythia, Bactria (Eastern Iranian, in orange); and the Parthian Empire (Western Iranian, in red)

The Iranian languages all descend from a common ancestor: Proto-Iranian, which itself evolved from Proto-Indo-Iranian. This ancestor language is speculated to have origins in Central Asia, and the Andronovo culture of the Bronze Age is suggested as a candidate for the common Indo-Iranian culture around 2000 BCE.

The language was situated precisely in the western part of Central Asia that borders present-day Russia and Kazakhstan. It was thus in relative proximity to the other satem ethno-linguistic groups of the Indo-European family, such as Thracian, Balto-Slavic and others, and to common Indo-European's original homeland (more precisely, the Eurasian Steppe to the north of the Caucasus), according to the reconstructed linguistic relationships of common Indo-European.

Proto-Iranian thus dates to some time after the Proto-Indo-Iranian breakup, or the early-2nd millennium BCE, as the Old Iranian languages began to break off and evolve separately as the various Iranian tribes migrated and settled in vast areas of southeastern Europe, the Iranian Plateau, and Central Asia.

Proto-Iranian innovations compared to Proto-Indo-Iranian include:[16] the turning of sibilant fricative *s into non-sibilant fricative glottal *h; the voiced aspirated plosives *bʰ, *dʰ, *gʰ yielding to the voiced unaspirated plosives *b, *d, *g resp.; the voiceless unaspirated stops *p, *t, *k before another consonant changing into fricatives *f, *θ, *x resp.; voiceless aspirated stops *pʰ, *tʰ, *kʰ turning into fricatives *f, *θ, *x, resp.

Old Iranian

The multitude of Middle Iranian languages and peoples indicate that great linguistic diversity must have existed among the ancient speakers of Iranian languages. Of that variety of languages/dialects, direct evidence of only two have survived. These are:

Indirectly attested Old Iranian languages are discussed below.

Old Persian was an Old Iranian dialect as it was spoken in southwestern Iran (the modern-day province of Fars) by the inhabitants of Parsa, Persia or Persis who also gave their name to their region and language. Genuine Old Persian is best attested in one of the three languages of the Behistun inscription, composed circa 520 BCE, and which is the last inscription (and only inscription of significant length) in which Old Persian is still grammatically correct. Later inscriptions are comparatively brief, and typically simply copies of words and phrases from earlier ones, often with grammatical errors, which suggests that by the 4th century BCE the transition from Old Persian to Middle Persian was already far advanced, but efforts were still being made to retain an "old" quality for official proclamations.

The other directly attested Old Iranian dialects are the two forms of Avestan, which take their name from their use in the Avesta, the liturgical texts of indigenous Iranian religion that now goes by the name of Zoroastrianism but in the Avesta itself is simply known as vohu daena (later: behdin). The language of the Avesta is subdivided into two dialects, conventionally known as "Old (or 'Gathic') Avestan", and "Younger Avestan". These terms, which date to the 19th century, are slightly misleading since 'Younger Avestan' is not only much younger than 'Old Avestan', but also from a different geographic region. The Old Avestan dialect is very archaic, and at roughly the same stage of development as Rigvedic Sanskrit. On the other hand, Younger Avestan is at about the same linguistic stage as Old Persian, but by virtue of its use as a sacred language retained its "old" characteristics long after the Old Iranian languages had yielded to their Middle Iranian stage. Unlike Old Persian, which has Middle Persian as its known successor, Avestan has no clearly identifiable Middle Iranian stage (the effect of Middle Iranian is indistinguishable from effects due to other causes).

In addition to Old Persian and Avestan, which are the only directly attested Old Iranian languages, all Middle Iranian languages must have had a predecessor "Old Iranian" form of that language, and thus can all be said to have had an (at least hypothetical) "Old" form. Such hypothetical Old Iranian languages include Carduchian (the hypothetical predecessor to Kurdish) and Old Parthian. Additionally, the existence of unattested languages can sometimes be inferred from the impact they had on neighbouring languages. Such transfer is known to have occurred for Old Persian, which has (what is called) a "Median" substrate in some of its vocabulary.[18] Also, foreign references to languages can also provide a hint to the existence of otherwise unattested languages, for example through toponyms/ethnonyms or in the recording of vocabulary, as Herodotus did for what he called "Scythian" and in one instance, Median (σπάκα "dog").

Isoglosses

Conventionally, Iranian languages are grouped in "western" and "eastern" branches.[19] These terms have little meaning with respect to Old Avestan as that stage of the language may predate the settling of the Iranian peoples into western and eastern groups. The geographic terms also have little meaning when applied to Younger Avestan since it isn't known where that dialect (or dialects) was spoken either. Certain is only that Avestan (all forms) and Old Persian are distinct, and since Old Persian is "western", and Avestan was not Old Persian, Avestan acquired a default assignment to "eastern". Further confusing the issue is the introduction of a western Iranian substrate in later Avestan compositions and redactions undertaken at the centers of imperial power in western Iran (either in the south-west in Persia, or in the north-west in Nisa/Parthia and Ecbatana/Media).

Two of the earliest dialectal divisions among Iranian indeed happen to not follow the later division into Western and Eastern blocks. These concern the fate of the Proto-Indo-Iranian first-series palatal consonants, *ć and *dź:[20]

  • Avestan and most other Iranian languages have deaffricated and depalatalized these consonants, and have *ć > s, *dź > z.
  • Old Persian, however, has fronted these consonants further: *ć > θ, *dź > *ð > d.

As a common intermediate stage, it is possible to reconstruct depalatalized affricates: *c, *dz. (This coincides with the state of affairs in the neighboring Nuristani languages.) A further complication however concerns the consonant clusters *ćw and *dźw:

  • Avestan and most other Iranian languages have shifted these clusters to sp, zb.
  • In Old Persian, these clusters yield s, z, with loss of the glide *w, but without further fronting.
  • The Saka language, attested in the Middle Iranian period, and its modern relative Wakhi fail to fit into either group: in these, palatalization remains, and similar glide loss as in Old Persian occurs: *ćw > š, *dźw > ž.

A division of Iranian languages in at least three groups during the Old Iranian period is thus implied:

  • Persid (Old Persian and its descendants)
  • Sakan (Saka, Wakhi, and their Old Iranian ancestor)
  • Central Iranian (all other Iranian languages)

It is possible that other distinct dialect groups were already in existence during this period. Good candidates are the hypothetical ancestor languages of Alanian/Scytho-Sarmatian subgroup of Scythian in the far northwest; and the hypothetical "Old Parthian" (the Old Iranian ancestor of Parthian) in the near northwest, where original *dw > *b (paralleling the development of *ćw).

Middle Iranian

What is known in Iranian linguistic history as the "Middle Iranian" era is thought to begin around the 4th century BCE lasting through the 9th century. Linguistically the Middle Iranian languages are conventionally classified into two main groups, Western and Eastern.

The Western family includes Parthian (Arsacid Pahlavi) and Middle Persian, while Bactrian, Sogdian, Khwarezmian, Saka and Old Ossetic (Scytho-Sarmatian) fall under the Eastern category. The two languages of the Western group were linguistically very close to each other, but quite distinct from their eastern counterparts. On the other hand, the Eastern group was an areal entity whose languages retained some similarity to Avestan. They were inscribed in various Aramaic-derived alphabets which had ultimately evolved from the Achaemenid Imperial Aramaic script, though Bactrian was written using an adapted Greek script.

Middle Persian (Pahlavi) was the official language under the Sasanian dynasty in Iran. It was in use from the 3rd century CE until the beginning of the 10th century. The script used for Middle Persian in this era underwent significant maturity. Middle Persian, Parthian and Sogdian were also used as literary languages by the Manichaeans, whose texts also survive in various non-Iranian languages, from Latin to Chinese. Manichaean texts were written in a script closely akin to the Syriac script.[21]

New Iranian

Dark green: countries where Iranian languages are official.
Teal: countries where Iranian languages are official in a subdivision

Following the Arab conquest of Persia, there were important changes in the role of the different dialects within the Persian Empire. The old prestige form of Middle Iranian, also known as Pahlavi, was replaced by a new standard dialect called Dari as the official language of the court. The name Dari comes from the word darbâr (دربار), which refers to the royal court, where many of the poets, protagonists and patrons of the literature flourished. The Saffarid dynasty in particular was the first in a line of many dynasties to officially adopt the new language in 875 CE. Dari may have been heavily influenced by regional dialects of eastern Iran, whereas the earlier Pahlavi standard was based more on western dialects. This new prestige dialect became the basis of Standard New Persian. Medieval Iranian scholars such as Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa (8th century) and Ibn al-Nadim (10th century) associated the term "Dari" with the eastern province of Khorasan, while they used the term "Pahlavi" to describe the dialects of the northwestern areas between Isfahan and Azerbaijan, and "Pârsi" ("Persian" proper) to describe the dialects of Fars. They also noted that the unofficial language of the royalty itself was yet another dialect, "Khuzi", associated with the western province of Khuzestan.

The Islamic conquest also brought with it the adoption of the Arabic script for writing Persian and much later, Kurdish, Pashto and Balochi. All three were adapted to the writing by the addition of a few letters. This development probably occurred some time during the second half of the 8th century, when the old middle Persian script began dwindling in usage. The Arabic script remains in use in contemporary modern Persian. Tajik script, used to write the Tajik language, was first Latinised in the 1920s under the then Soviet nationality policy. The script was however subsequently Cyrillicized in the 1930s by the Soviet government.

The geographical regions in which Iranian languages were spoken were pushed back in several areas by newly neighbouring languages. Arabic spread into some parts of Western Iran (Khuzestan), and Turkic languages spread through much of Central Asia, displacing various Iranian languages such as Sogdian and Bactrian in parts of what is today Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. In Eastern Europe, mostly comprising the territory of modern-day Ukraine, southern European Russia, and parts of the Balkans, the core region of the native Scythians, Sarmatians, and Alans had been decisively taken over as a result of absorption and assimilation (e.g. Slavicisation) by the various Proto-Slavic population of the region, by the 6th century CE.[22][23][24][25] This resulted in the displacement and extinction of the once predominant Scythian languages of the region. Sogdian's close relative Yaghnobi barely survives in a small area of the Zarafshan valley east of Samarkand, and Saka as Ossetic in the Caucasus, which is the sole remnant of the once predominant Scythian languages in Eastern Europe proper and large parts of the North Caucasus. Various small Iranian languages in the Pamir Mountains survive that are derived from Eastern Iranian.

Comparison table

English Zaza Sorani Kurdish Kurmanji Kurdish Pashto Tati Talyshi Balochi Gilaki Mazanderani Tat Luri Persian Middle Persian Parthian Old Persian Avestan Ossetian
beautiful rınd, xasek ciwan, nayab rind, delal, bedew, xweşik x̌kūlay, x̌āista xojir ghašang dorr, soherâ, mah rang, sharr, juwān xujir, xojir xoşgel, xojir güzəl, qəşəng qəşaŋ, xoşgel zibā/xuš-čehr(e)/xoşgel(ak)/ghashanq/najib hučihr, hužihr hužihr naiba vahu-, srîra ræsughd
blood goni xwên xwîn, xûn wīna xevn xun hon Xun xun xun xī(n) xūn xōn gōxan vohuni- tug
bread nan, non nan nan ḍoḍəi, məṛəi nun nun nān, nagan nown nun nun nu(n) nān nān nān dzul
bring ardene /anîn, hawerdin, hênan anîn (rā)wṛəl vârden, biyordon varde âurten, yārag, ārag havardən, hardən, avardən biyârden avardən o(v)erden, āwurdan, biyār ("(you) bring!") āwurdan, āwāy-, āwar-, bar- āwāy-, āwar-, bar- bara- bara, bar- xæssyn
brother bıra bira bira wror bərâr bira, boli brāt, brās berær, barâr birâr birar berar barādar brād, brâdar brād, brādar brātar brātar- æfsymær
come ameyene hatin, were, bew (Pehlewanî) hatin, were, rā tləl biyâmiyan ome āhag, āyag, hatin hamæn, amown biyamona, enen, biyâmuen amarən umae(n) āmadan āmadan, awar awar, čām āy-, āgam āgam- cæwyn
cry bermayene giryan, girîn, gîristin (Pehlewanî) girîn žəṛəl bərma berame, bame greewag, grehten burme birme girəstən gerevesen, gereva gerīstan/gerīye griy-, bram- barmâdan kæwyn
dark tari tarî/tarîk tarî skəṇ, skaṇ, tyara ul, gur, târica, târek toki tār tariki tārīk tārīk, tār tārīg/k tārīg, tārēn tārīk sâmahe, sâma tar
daughter keyne, çêne/çêneke kîj, kiç, kenîşk, düêt (Pehlewanî), dwêt (Pehlewanî) dot, keç lūr titiye, dətar kinə, kila dohtir, duttag lâku, kowr, kijâ(

(girl) dətər (daughter)

kîjâ(girl), deter (daughter) duxtər doxter doxtar duxtar duxt, duxtar duxδar čyzg (Iron), kizgæ (Digor)
day roce, roje, roze řoj, rûj (Pehlewanî) roj wrəd͡z (rwəd͡z) revj, ruz ruj roç ruj ruz, ruj ruz ru rūz rōz raucah- raocah- bon
do kerdene kirdin kirin kawəl kardan, kordan karde kanag, kurtin gudən, kudən hâkerden saxtən kerde kardan kardan kartan kạrta- kәrәta- kænyn
door ber, keyber, çêber derge/derke, derga, qapî (Kelhorî) derî wər darvâca dar, gelo, darwāzag bər dar, loş dər dər, dar dar dar dar, bar duvara- dvara- dwar
die merdene mirdin mirin mrəl bamarden marde mireg, murten murdən bamerden mürdən morde mordan murdan mạriya- mar- mælyn
donkey her ker, gwêdirêj, xer (Pehlewanî) ker xər astar, xar hə, hər har, her, kar xar xar xər xər xar xar xæræg
eat werdene xwardin xwarin xwāṛə, xurāk / xwaṛəl harden harde warag, warâk, wārten xowrdən xerâk / baxârden xardən harde xordan / xurāk parwarz / xwâr, xwardīg parwarz / xwâr hareθra / CE-, at- xærinag
egg hak, akk hêk/hêlke, tum, xaye (Pehlewanî), xa (Kelhorî) hêk hagəi merqâna, karxâ morqana, uyə heyg, heyk, ā morg merqâne, tîm, balî xaykərg xā'a toxm, xāya ("testicle") toxmag, xâyag taoxmag, xâyag taoxma- ajk
earth erd zemîn, zewî, ʿerz, erd erd, zevî d͡zməka (md͡zəka) zemin zamin zemin, degār zəmi, gel zamîn, bene xari zemi zamīn zamīg zamīg zam- zãm, zam, zem zæxx
evening şan êware, îware (Pehlewanî) êvar māx̌ām (māš̥ām) nomâzyar, nomâšon shav begáh nemâşun şangum evāra begáh ēvārag êbêrag izær
eye çım çaw/çaş çav stərga coš čaş,gelgan cham, chem çum çəş, bəj çüm tīya, çaş čashm čašm čašm čaša- čašman- cæst
father pi, pêr bawk, bab, babe, bawg (Pehlewanî) bav, bab plār piyar, piya, dada piya, lala, po pet, pes piyer, per pîyer, per piyər bua pedar, bābā pidar pid pitar pitar fyd
fear ters tirs tirs wēra (yara), bēra târs tars turs, terseg barmas taşe-vaşe, tars tərsi ters tars, harās tars tars tạrsa- tares- tas
fiancé waşti desgîran,xwşavest dergistî čənghol [masculine], čənghəla [feminine] numzâ nomja nāmzād nowmzəd numze nükürdə nāmzād - - usag
fine weş, hewl xoş xweş x̌a (š̥a), səm xojir, xar xoş wash, hosh xujir, xojir, xorum xâr, xeş, xojir xuş, xas, xub xu xoš, xūb, beh dārmag srîra xorz, dzæbæx
finger engışte/gışte, bêçıke engust, pence,angus, pênce tilî, pêçî gwəta anquš anqiştə changol, mordâneg, lenkutk angus əngüşt kelek angošt angust dišti- ængwyldz
fire adır agir/awir, ahir,ayer agir wōr (ōr) taš otaş âch, atesh, âs taş taş ataş taş, gor ātaš, āzar âdur, âtaxsh ādur âç- âtre-/aêsma- art
fish mase masî masî kəb mâyi moy māhi, māhig mæii mâhî mahi māhi māhi māhig māsyāg masya kæsag
go şiayene çûn, řoştin, řoyiştin, çün (Pehlewanî) çûn tləl šiyen, bišiyan şe shoten şown şunen / burden raftən ro ro/şo şow/row ay- ai- ay-, fra-vaz cæwyn
God Homa/Huma/Oma Yezdan, Xwedê, Xuda, Xodê, Xwa(y) Xwedê, Xweda, Xudê Xwədāi Xədâ Xıdo Xoda, Hwdâ Xuda Xedâ Xuda xodā Xodā, Izad, Yazdān, Baq Xudā/Yazdān baga- baya- xwycaw
good hewl, rınd, weş baş, çak, xas baş, rind x̌ə (š̥ə) xâr, xojir çok zabr, sharr, jowain xujir, xojir, xorum xâr, xeş, xojir xub, xas xu xub, nīkū, beh xūb, nêkog, beh vahu- vohu, vaŋhu- xorz
grass vaş giya/gya giya, çêre wāx̌ə (wāš̥ə) vâš alaf rem, sabzag vaş vâş güyo sozi, çame sabzeh, giyāh giyâ giya viş urvarâ kærdæg
great gırd/gırs, pil gewre,mezin mezin, gir lōy, stər pilla yol, yal, vaz, dıjd mastar, mazan,tuh pila, pile gat, pilla kələ gap bozorg wuzurg, pīl, yal vazraka- uta-, avañt styr
hand dest dest, des dest lās bâl dast dast das, bâl das, bāl dəs das dast dast dast dasta- zasta- k'ux / arm
head ser ser ser sər kalla sə, sər sar, sarag, saghar kalle, sər kalle, sar sər sar sar sar kalli sairi sær
heart zerri/zerre dil/dił/dir(Erbil)/zil dil zṛə dəl dıl dil, hatyr dil del, zel, zil dül del del dil dil aηhuš zærdæ
horse estor/ostor/astor asp/hesp/esp, hês(t)ir hesp ās [male], aspa [female] asb, astar asp asp asb, asp asp, as əs asb asb asp, stōr asp, stōr aspa aspa- bæx
house key/çê mał, xanû, xanig, ghat xanî, mal kor kiya ka ges, dawâr, log sere, xowne sere, xene xunə huna xāne xânag demâna-, nmâna- xædzar
hungry vêşan/veyşan birsî, wirsî (Pehlewanî) birçî, birsî (behdînî) lwəga vašnâ, vešir, gesnâ vahşian shudig, shud vəşna, vişta veşnâ gisnə gosna gorosne, goşne gursag, shuy veşnâg
language (also tongue) zıwan, zon, zuan, zuon, juan, jüan ziman, zuwan ziman žəba zobun, zəvân zivon zewān, zobān zəvon, zəvân zivun, zebun zuhun zevu zabān zuwān izβān hazâna- hizvā- ævzag
laugh huyayene kenîn/pêkenîn, kenîn,xende,xene kenîn xandəl/xənda xurəsen, xandastan sıre hendag, xandag purxe, xənde rîk, baxendesten xəndə xana xande xande, xand karta Syaoθnâvareza- xudyn
life cuye, weşiye jiyan, jîn jiyan žwəndūn, žwənd zindәgi jimon zendegih, zind ziviş, zindegi zindegî, jan həyat zeŋei zendegi, jan zīndagīh, zīwišnīh žīwahr, žīw- gaêm, gaya- card
man mêrdek, camêrd/cüamêrd mêrd, pîyaw, cuwamêr mêr, camêr səṛay, mēṛə mardak, miarda merd merd mərd mard(î) mərd piyā mard mard mard martiya- mašîm, mašya adæjmag
moon aşme, menge (for month) mang, heyv meh, heyv spūgməi (spōẓ̌məi) mâng mang, owşum máh alâtiti, mâ

, ,âma

ma, munek ma māh mâh, mâng, mânk māh māh mâh- måŋha- mæj
mother may, mar dayik, dayig dayik, dê mōr mâr, mâya, nana moa, ma, ina mât, mâs mâr, mær mâr may dā(ya), dāle(ka) mâdar mâdar dayek mâtar mâtar- mad
mouth fek dem dev xūla (xʷəla) duxun, dâ:ân gəv dap dəhən dâhun, lâmîze duhun dam dahân dahân, rumb åŋhânô, âh, åñh dzyx
name name naw, nêw nav nūm num nom nâm nowm num num num nâm nâm nâman nãman nom
night şew şew şev špa šö, šav şav šap, shaw şow şow şöü şo shab shab xšap- xšap- æxsæv
open (v) akerdene kirdinewe, wazkirdin (Kelhorî) vekirin prānistəl vâz-kardan okarde pāch, pabozag va-gudən/kudən vâ-hekârden vakardən vākerde(n) bâz-kardan, va-kardan abâz-kardan, višādag būxtaka- būxta- gom kænyn
peace haşti/aşti aştî, aramî aştî, aramî rōɣa, t͡sōkāləi dinj aşiş ârâm aşt âştî salaməti, dinci āş(t)i âshti, ârâmeš, ârâmî, sâzish âštih, râmīšn râm, râmīšn šiyâti- râma- fidyddzinad
pig xoz/xonz, xınzır beraz,goraz beraz soḍər, xənd͡zir (Arabic), xug xu, xuyi, xug xug khug, huk xi xug xuk xūk xūk xwy
place ca cê(cêga), ga, şwên, şwîn (Pehlewanî) cih, geh d͡zāi yâga vira ja, jaygah, hend jiga, jige cigə, cə jâh/gâh gâh gâh gâθu- gâtu-, gâtav- ran
read wendene xwendin/xwêndin, xwenistin xwendin lwastəl, kōtəl baxânden hande, xwande wánag, wānten xowndən baxinden, baxundesten xundən vane(n) xândan xwândan kæsyn
say vatene gutin, witin gotin wayəl vâten, baguten vote gushag, guashten gutən, guftən baowten guftirən, gaf saxtən gute(n) goftan, gap(-zadan) guftan, gōw-, wâxtan gōw- gaub- mrû- dzuryn
sister waye xweh, xweşk, xoşk, xuşk, xoyşk xwîşk xōr (xʷōr) xâke, xâv, xâxor, xuâr hova gwhâr xâxur, xâxer xâxer xuvar xuar xâhar/xwâhar xwahar x ̌aŋhar- "sister" xo
small qıc/qıyt, wırd/werdi giçke, qicik, hûr, biçûk, büçik (Kelhorî) biçûk, hûr kūčnay, waṛ(ū)kay qijel, ruk hırd gwand, hurd kuçe, kuçi, kuji peçik, biçuk, xurd küçük, küşkin, kişgələ, kəm koçek kuchak, kam, xurd, rîz kam, rangas kam kamna- kamna- chysyl
son lac, laj law/kuř kur, law d͡zoy (zoy) pur, zâ zoə, zurə possag, baç vaçe, rika, rike, pisər piser/rîkâ kuk kor pesar, pur pur, pusar puhr puça pūθra- fyrt
soul roh, gan can, giyan, rewan, revan reh, can rəvân con rawân jown ro, jân can ravân, jân rūwân, jyân rūwân, jyân urvan- ud
spring wesar/usar behar, wehar bihar, behar spərlay vâ:âr əvəsor, bahar bārgāh vəhâr, bâhâr vehâr vasal behār, vehār bahâr wahâr vâhara- θūravâhara-
tall berz bilind/berz bilind/berz lwəṛ, ǰəg pilla barz, bılınd borz, bwrz bulənd, bələnd bilen(d) bülünd beleŋ boland / bârz buland, borz bârež barez- bærzond
ten des deh/de deh ləs da da dah da da da dah dah datha dasa dæs
three hirê/hiri drē so, se se, he sey su, se se se se hrē çi- θri- ærtæ
village dewe gund, dêhat, dê, awayî gund kəlay döh, da di dehāt, helk, kallag, dê dih, male, kola di de deh, wis wiž dahyu- vîs-, dahyu- vîs qæw
want waştene xwastin, wîstin, twastin (Pehlewanî) xwestin ɣ(ʷ)ux̌təl begovastan, jovastan piye loath, loteten xæsən, xæstən bexâsten xastən, vayistən hāse xâstan xwâstan fændyn
water awe/awk, owe, ou aw av obə/ūbə âv, ö ov, wat(orandian dialect) âp ow, âv ow ou ow âb âb/aw aw âpi avô- don
when key key, kengî(Hewlêrî) kengê, kîngê kəla key keyna kadi, ked ken ke key, çüvəxti ke key kay ka čim- kæd
wind va ba, wa (Pehlewanî) ba siləi vo gwáth var bād bâd wâd wa vâta- dymgæ / wad
wolf verg gurg, gur lewə, šarmux̌ (šarmuš̥) varg varg gurk vərg verg gürg gorg gorg gurg varka- vehrka birægh
woman cıni/ceni jin, afret, zindage,gyian jin x̌əd͡za (š̥əd͡za) zeyniye, zenak jen, jiyan jan, jinik zan zan zən zena zan zan žan gǝnā, γnā, ǰaini-, sylgojmag / us
year serre sal/sał sal kāl sâl sor, sal sâl sâl sâl sal sāl sâl sâl θard ýâre, sarәd az
yes / no ya, heya, ê / nê, ney, ni bełê, a, erê / ne, nexêr erê, belê, a / na Hao, ao, wō / na, ya ahan / na ha / ne, na ere, hān / na âhâ,æhæ/na are / nâ həri, hə / nə a, ā / na baleh, ârē, hā / na, née ōhāy / ne hâ / ney yâ / nay, mâ yâ / noit, mâ o / næ
yesterday vızêr dwênê, dwêke duho parūn azira, zira, diru zir, zinə diru dîruz deydi diru diruz dêrûž diya(ka) zyō znon
English Zaza Sorani Kurmanji Pashto Tati Talyshi Balochi Gilaki Mazandarani Tat Luri Persian Middle Persian Parthian Old Persian Avestan Ossetian

References

  1. Johannes Bechert; Giuliano Bernini; Claude Buridant (1990). Toward a Typology of European Languages. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-012108-7.
  2. Gernot Windfuhr (1979). Persian Grammar: History and State of Its Study. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-90-279-7774-8.
  3. Windfuhr, Gernot. The Iranian languages. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group.
  4. "Ethnologue report for Iranian". Ethnologue.com.
  5. Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005). "Report for Iranian languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Fifteenth ed.). Dallas: SIL International. {{cite journal}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  6. Cardona, George. "Indo-Iranian languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  7. (Skjærvø 2006)
  8. John R. Perry Iranian Studies Vol. 31, No. 3/4, A Review of the "Encyclopaedia Iranica" (Summer - Autumn, 1998), pp. 517-525
  9. Lassen, Christian. 1936. Die altpersischen Keil-Inschriften von Persepolis. Entzifferung des Alphabets und Erklärung des Inhalts. Bonn: Weber. S. 182.
    This was followed by Wilhelm Geiger in his Grundriss der Iranischen Philologie (1895). Friedrich von Spiegel (1859), Avesta, Engelmann (p. vii) used the spelling Eranian.
  10. Cust, Robert Needham. 1878. A sketch of the modern languages of the East Indies. London: Trübner.
  11. Dani, Ahmad Hasan. 1989. History of northern areas of Pakistan. Historical studies (Pakistan) series. National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research.
    "We distinguish between the Aryan languages of Iran, or Irano-Aryan, and the Aryan languages of India, or Indo-Aryan. For the sake of brevity, Iranian is commonly used instead of Irano-Aryan".
  12. Lazard, Gilbert. 1977. Preface in: Oranskij, Iosif M. Les langues iraniennes. Traduit par Joyce Blau.
  13. Schmitt, Rüdiger. 1994. Sprachzeugnisse alt- und mitteliranischer Sprachen in Afghanistan in: Indogermanica et Caucasica. Festschrift für Karl Horst Schmidt zum 65. Geburtstag. Bielmeier, Robert und Reinhard Stempel (Hrg.). De Gruyter. S. 168–196.
  14. Lazard, Gilbert. 1998. Actancy. Empirical approaches to language typology. Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-015670-9, ISBN 978-3-11-015670-6
  15. Encyclopaedia Iranica: EASTERN IRANIAN LANGUAGES. By Nicholas Sims-Williams
  16. Michael Witzel (2001): Autochthonous Aryans? The evidence from Old Indian and Iranian texts. Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies 7(3): 1–115.
  17. Roland G. Kent: "Old Persion: Grammar Texts Lexicon". Part I, Chapter I: The Linguistic Setting of Old Persian. American Oriental Society, 1953.
  18. (Skjaervo 2006) vi(2). Documentation.
  19. Nicholas Sims-Williams, Iranica, under entry: Eastern Iranian languages
  20. Windfuhr, Gernot (2009). "Dialectology and Topics". The Iranian Languages. Routledge. pp. 18–21.
  21. Mary Boyce. 1975. A Reader in Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian, p. 14.
  22. Brzezinski, Richard; Mielczarek, Mariusz (2002). The Sarmatians, 600 BC-AD 450. Osprey Publishing. p. 39. (..) Indeed, it is now accepted that the Sarmatians merged in with pre-Slavic populations.
  23. Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 523. (..) In their Ukrainian and Polish homeland the Slavs were intermixed and at times overlain by Germanic speakers (the Goths) and by Iranian speakers (Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans) in a shifting array of tribal and national configurations.
  24. Atkinson, Dorothy; et al. (1977). Women in Russia. Stanford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780804709101. (..) Ancient accounts link the Amazons with the Scythians and the Sarmatians, who successively dominated the south of Russia for a millennium extending back to the seventh century B.C. The descendants of these peoples were absorbed by the Slavs who came to be known as Russians.
  25. Slovene Studies. Vol. 9–11. Society for Slovene Studies. 1987. p. 36. (..) For example, the ancient Scythians, Sarmatians (amongst others), and many other attested but now extinct peoples were assimilated in the course of history by Proto-Slavs.

Bibliography

  • Bailey, H. W. (1979). Dictionary of Khotan Saka. Cambridge University Press. 1979. 1st Paperback edition 2010. ISBN 978-0-521-14250-2.
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  • Delshad, Farshid (2010). Georgica et Irano-Semitica (PDF). Ars Poetica. Deutscher Wissenschaftsverlag DWV. ISBN 978-3-86888-004-5.
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Further reading

  • Sokolova, V. S. "New information on the phonetics of Iranic languages." Trudy Instituta jazykoznanija NN SSR (Moskva) 1 (1952): 178-192.
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