Dialects of Iran

Tati
An Iranian dialect spoken by the Tat people of the Republic of Azarbaijan, the Iranian Azarbaijan, and the Caucasus region of Daghestan. In the Iranian side, it is popular in the Arasbaran district. Grammatically, Tati is very close to Persian. Tati is the remnant of the old Azari language of Azarbaijan which a few centuries ago was replaced by Turkish. This dialect is usually divided into two branches:

1. Azarbaijani
2. Jewish

The Jewish Tati is spoken by Jews who mostly reside in the mountainous regions of Daghestan. Except for the the Tats of Daghestan who have acquired written literature, Tati is not written. Below is a sample of Tati in transcription:

Translation:
"Once upon a time, in the country of Yemen, there was a king who was sixty years old but had no children. The king had three wives. Of these wives ..."

Taleshi
Taleshi is spoken in the Lankaran Valley as well as with the mountainous region of Azarbaijan, and the western coast of the Caspian sea. This dialect belongs to the northwestern branch of the Iranian dialects. There have been verses of poetry discovered in the city of Ardabil, Iran belonging to the 16th century AD, in a language very close to Taleshi. Taleshi has preserved some of grammatical characteristics of ancient Iranian. Below is a sample of Taleshi in transcription:

Translation:
"I too went and rounded up the oxen, tied them to the cart and on to the forest we went".

Gilaki
Gilaki, as the name indicates, refers to the western new Iranian dialect spoken in the Caspian sea coastal province of Gilan. This dialect is related to other Caspian area languages, such as, Mazadarani, Gorgani and Taleshi. All dialects of the Caspian coastal area are the continuation of northwestern Iranian dialects. None of these dialects are written. One characteristic of Gilaki, as well as Mazandarani, is that the adjective occurs before the noun, e.g., zrd- gav (yellow cow).

Translation:
"It was ten o'clock when we reached our village".

Mazandarani
Mazandarani, is the dialect of the Caspian sea coastal province of Mazandaran. It is also called Saravi or the dialect of Sari the capitol of the province. This dialect belongs to the northwestern New Iranian group. Mazandaran has an ancient history. It was called Tapurestan or Tabarestan during the Sasanian era. Sari is one of the oldest towns of Mazandaran situated close to the Caspian shore and north of the Alborz mountains. It has around 200,000 inhabitants.

The Mazandarani vowels and consonants are identical to standard Persian. There are also 3 semivowels: au, ay, and ou. Below is a sample of the dialect of Mazandaran:

Translation:
"Our forefathers fought like brave men, that is why they were never defeated".

Kelardashti
The Kelardasht area is situated in western Caspian sea coastal province of Mazandaran. It is part of the county of Nowshahr. Kelardasht is a mountainous region covered by lush forests. It has around 100,000 inhabitants and over 70 villages. One village is Rudbarak which has been the subject of linguistic research. Rudbarak has about 1,000 inhabitants who are constituted of Kurds, Taleqanis, and Mazandaranis. Initially, the dialects of the Caspian coastal regions were studied by European and especially, Russians starting as early as 1775. The involvement of Iranian researchers has been in the past century. Sadegh Kia is one such Iranian investigator who pioneered the efforts to study and collect these dialects.

The Kelardashti vowels are similar to conversational Persian, and the 23 consonants are identical to standard Persian. Below is a sample of the dialect of Rudbarak:

Translation:
"If you are good kids, I will give this to you".

Semnani
One of the dialects of central Iran is Semnani which is related to the old dialects around Tehran. A sample of Semnani is given below:

Translation:
"There was a man who was walking from the pond to his home".

Aftari
Aftar is a village located about 30 kilometers from Semnan on the road north to Mazandaran. It has around 1200 inhabitants. Aftari vowels and consonants are similar to Persian. Here is a sample of Aftari:

Translation:
"The sparrow sleeps in its own nest at night.

Lori
The province of Lorestan situated in western Iran is the domain of many dialects. The major dialect of this area is Lori. Other popular dialects are Leki and Köveli. One characteristic of Lori is the transformation of the Persian ending "-âb" as in xâb (sleep) to "-ow" as in xow. Another is the change of the Persian ending "-ân" as in nân (bread) and jân (life) to "-o" as in no and jo.

Here are few examples of Lori vocabulary and their equivalent English:

Bakhtyari
The dialect of the Bakhtyari people is similar to Lori . These dialects are spoken south of the Kurdish speaking regions. None of them have any alphabets. They have been studied by several Iranologists such as Oscar Mann. Below is a sample of of a Bakhtyari poem:

Translation:
"My blood has flowed down the mountain like rosewater
My whole being has caught fire and exploded like gunpowder".

Behdini
Behdini is a generic name for the dialect of the Iranian Zarathushtrians (or Zoroastrians). This dialect is also called "Dari" which is a misnomer. Since Dari refers to the new (or Dari) Persian language before the 11th century AD. Dari Persian has evolved into modern Persian. Behdini is divided into two major groups:

- Kermani (spoken in Kerman)
- Yazdi (spoken in Yazd)

The Behdini of Kerman was first studied and gathered by H. Schindler who introduced it to western linguists and orientalists. One of the characteristic differences between Kermani Behdini and Persian is in construction of the verbs. In Persian, verbs end in -tan or -dan, while in Behdini they end in -mun. For example, the Persian boridan (to cut) or porsidan (to ask) become boridmun and porsadmun in Behdini. Behdini has preserved many of the ancient Iranian words such as Hadish (summer residence) which is the exact Old Persian word meaning palace. Below is a sample of Behdini:

Translation:
"She said go away boy, and be regretful and remorseful".

Jewish Espahani
The dialect of the Jewish community belongs to the central new Iranian group and is not in any way related to Hebrew. It is spoken mainly in Espahan, but is also found in Hamadan, Kashan, Yazd, Boroojerd, and even in the Causasus, Samarkand, and Bokhara. Today there are probably around one thousand Jewish people left in Espahan. There are several theories regarding the history of the settlement of the Jews in Iran. One such theory dates their arrival back to the time of Cyrus the Great (circa 530 BC) after they were freed from bondage in Babylon. Another dates them back to the era of the Sasanian king Yazdgerd I (399 - 421 AD).

It is believed by some linguists that the dialect of the Jews of Espahan is the remnant of the old language or dialect spoken there. Below is a sample of the Jewish dialect of Espahan:

Translation:
"Tomorrow I am going, and my sister is going with me".

Delijani
Delijan (or Deligan) county is part of the central province of Iran. It is situated between the counties of Qom to the north, Espahan to the south, Kashan to the east, and Ashtian to the west. The Delijani dialect is also known as Raji. Below is a sample of Raji (or Delijani):

Translation:
"Take this fabric and make me a tunic. So the tailor took the fabric, made a tunic and gave it to him".

Shirazi
Shiraz is the capital of the province of Pars (or Persia) in south central Iran. The dialect of Shiraz and the towns such as Kazeroon and Dashtestan are related. The difference between these dialects and Persian is not significant. It is mainly in the pronunciation of the words. Below are examples of Shirazi words and their English equivalents:

Tengidan (to jump), Lov (lip), hombar (quiet)

Larestani
Larestan is a vast region situated between Shiraz in the north, the Persian Gulf in the south, Bandare Abbas in the east, and Karzin in the west. Many different dialects are spoken in Larestan. The major dialects that have been gathered belong to the following six towns and villages:

- Lar (the capital of Larestan)
- Gerash
- Evaz
- Khonj
- Bastak
- Bikha

Larestani dialects contain ten different vowels: a, ā, â, e, ē, i, o, ö, u, ü, as opposed to only six in Persian. The consonants are almost identical to Persian. Below is a sample of Larestani dialect (excerpt from an 18th century letter):

Translation:
"If grandmother is still alive give her my greetings, and tell her that hopefully I will see her when I return from my trip".

Khorasani
Khorasan is an ancient province situated in eastern Iran, bordering Afghanistan to the east and Turkmenistan in the north. It is home to many different dialects. Some of these dialects are:

- Birjandi
- Taleqani
- Mashadi
- Nishapuri
- Sabzevari

and several others. The study of the Khorasani dialects is important since Khorasan is the birthplace of Dari Persian. Therefore, one can learn a great deal about the development of the Persian language by inquiring into these dialects. There are many old words now forgotten in Persian that are still in use in Khorasani dialects. The dialects of Khorasan, as well as other regions, can help restore the vocabulary of the Persian language by reducing the number of foreign loan words.

Below is a sample of Khorasani words:

Birjandi
The county of Birjand, with the town of Birjand as its center, is located in the Khorasan province near the border with Afghanistan. The Birjandi dialect is characterized by ten vowels: a, ā, â, e, ,ē, i, o, ō, u, and two semivowels: ow, ey. The consonants are similar to Persian. Below is a sample of Birjandi:

Translation:
"I gave the plums and obtained shoes which I wore".