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Caspian languages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with the Northeast Caucasian languages, also referred to as "Caspian languages". For other uses, see Caspian.
Caspian
Geographic
distribution		South coast of the Caspian Sea
Linguistic classificationIndo-European
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologcasp1236
BERJAYA
The Caspian languages

The Caspian languages are a key branch of North-Western Iranian languages spoken in Iran and parts of the Azerbaijan Republic, south and west of the Caspian Sea. They are also unique in sharing some typological features with the Kartvelian languages.[2][3][4][5] Although spoken on the southern and western Caspian coasts, the Caspian languages and dialects share significant linguistic similarities with the Zaza language, spoken in Anatolia.[6][7]

Classification

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Glottolog lists the Caspian languages as Gilaki-Rudbari, Mazanderani-Shahmirzadi and Gorgani.[8] Similarly, according to Ethnologue, the Caspian languages consist of Gilaki, Mazanderani and Shahmirzadi.[9]

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Languages such as Zaza, Talysh, Tati, Gorani and Balochi are closely related to the Caspian languages. Although not spoken in the Caspian region today, according to the long-standing theories the Zaza, Balochi, and Gurani languages originated in the Caspian region and Zazas, Balochis and Gurans migrated from the Caspian region to their present-day settlements.[10][6][7][11][12][13][14]

Languages

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The Caspian subgroup includes the languages listed below:[8]

References

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  1. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Caspian". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. ↑ Nasidze, I; Quinque, D; Rahmani, M; Alemohamad, SA; Stoneking, M (April 2006). "Concomitant Replacement of Language and mtDNA in South Caspian Populations of Iran". Curr. Biol. 16 (7): 668–73. Bibcode:2006CBio...16..668N. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2006.02.021. PMID 16581511. S2CID 7883334.
  3. ↑ Academic American Encyclopedia By Grolier Incorporated, page 294
  4. ↑ The Tati language group in the sociolinguistic context of Northwestern Iran and Transcaucasia By D.Stilo, pages 137-185
  5. ↑ Borjian H. The Mazandarani Dialect of Kalijān Rostāq. Iranian Studies. 2019;52(3-4):551-573. doi:10.1080/00210862.2019.1611371
  6. 1 2 Asatrian, Garnik (1995), "DIMLĪ", Encyclopædia Iranica, VI (5): 405–411, retrieved 7 June 2020
  7. 1 2 Paul, Ludwig (1998). "The Pozition of Zazaki the West Iranian Languages" (PDF). Iran Chamber. Open Publishing. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
  8. 1 2 Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Caspian". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  9. ↑ "Caspian". Ethnologue. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  10. ↑ Elfenbein, Josef (1988), "BALUCHISTAN iii. Baluchi Language and Literature", Encyclopædia Iranica, III (6): 633–644, retrieved 4 April 2026
  11. ↑ Minorsky, Vladimir (1943). "The Gūrān". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 11 (1): 86–88. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  12. ↑ Blau, Joyce (1989). "Gurânî et Zâzâ". In Schmitt, Rüdiger (ed.). Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Wiesbaden: Reichert. p. 336. ISBN 3-88226-413-6.
  13. ↑ Werner, Eberhard (2017). Rivers and Mountains: A Historical, Applied Anthropological and Linguistical Study of the Zaza People of Turkey Including an Introduction to Applied Cultural Anthropology. Nuremberg: Verlag Fur Theologie Und Religionswissenschaft. pp. 97–104. ISBN 978-3957760654.
  14. ↑ MacKenzie, David Neil (2002). "GURĀNI". Encyclopædia Iranica. Archived from the original on 12 June 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
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