This article needs to be updated.(August 2017) |
Languages of Iran | |
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Official | Persian |
Main | Persian 53%, Azerbaijani and other Turkic dialects 18% (e.g Afshar dialect, Chaharmahali Turkic, Khalaj, Khorasani Turkic, Qashqai, Sonqori dialect, Turkmen), Kurdish 10%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 7%, Luri 6%, Arabic 2%, Balochi 2%, and other languages (Tati, Talysh, Armenian, Georgian, Assyrian, Circassian) 1% [1] |
Minority | Armenian, Georgian, Circassian, Hebrew, and Assyrian |
Foreign | English, Russian |
Signed | Persian Sign Language |
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Culture of Iran |
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Iranportal |
Iran's ethnic diversity means that the languages of Iran come from a number of linguistic origins, although the primary language spoken and used is Persian. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran asserts that the Persian language alone must be used for schooling and for all official government communications. The constitution also recognizes Arabic as the language of Islam, and assigns it formal status as the language of religion. Although multilingualism is not encouraged, the use of minority languages is permitted in the course of teaching minority-language literature. Different publications have reported different statistics for the languages of Iran; however, the top three languages spoken are consistently reported as Persian, Azeri and Kurdish.
The current language policy of Iran is addressed in Chapter Two of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Articles 15 & 16). [2] It asserts that the Persian language is the lingua franca of the Iranian nation and as such, required for the school system and for all official government communications. In addition, the constitution recognizes the Arabic language as the language of Islam, giving it formal status as the language of religion and regulating its spread within the Iranian national curriculum.
Due to the nation's social and ethnic diversity, [3] [4] the constitution also acknowledges and permits the use of minority languages in the mass media as well as within the schools, in order to teach minority-language literature. The minority languages of Iran do not receive formal status and are not officially regulated by the authorities. [5]
The first legislation which granted the Persian language its status was initiated by Qajar dynasty in 1906, as part of an electoral law that positioned it as the official language of the state of Iran, its government, its political institutions and its legal system. Over time, this enactment was followed by others, which eventually led to a monolingual policy by the Iranian regime.
Perceiving multilingualism as a threat to the nation's unity and territorial integrity, and seeing the need to restrict minority languages’ use and to advance the Persian language's hegemony, Iran's language policy consists of a non-translation outline as well: all government, administration and educational settings are obliged to use only Persian for any written communication. This applies to political institutions (i.e. the Iranian Parliament), official bureaucratic communication (forms, signage etc.) and schooling (all children from the age of six are exposed only to Persian as the language of teaching and learning and of textbooks within the public school system). In other words, the Iranian authorities hold that minorities need to learn the Iranian vernacular to an extent that will allow them to communicate with state institutions. [6]
Among the institutions accountable for advancing Iranian Language Planning (e.g. Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science, Research and Technology) is the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, which was established on 1935, under Reza Shah Pahlavi. Constantly seeking to revise and elaborate the nation's official language, this institute focuses on the linguistics of the Persian language and on the internal aspects of Language Planning, rather than on the use of minority languages within Iranian society. Other Language Planning aspects (e.g. sociolinguistic or functional literacy) have not been assigned to a formal institute and are currently handled free of any official master plan by the educational ministries. [5]
Different publications have reported different statistics for the languages of Iran . There have been some limited censuses taken in Iran in 2001, 1991, 1986 and 1949–1954. [7] [8] The following are the languages with the greatest number of speakers (data from the CIA World Factbook): [1]
Classification categories of the spoken languages:
A census was taken in the Iranian month of Mordad (July 21 – August 21) in 1991. In this census, all 49,588 mothers who gave birth in the country were issued birth certificates and asked about their mother-tongue. [9] They reported: 50.2% Persian, 20.6% Azerbaijani, 10% Kurdish, 8.9% Luri, 7.2% Gilaki and Mazandarani, 3.5% Arabic, 2.7% Baluchi, 0.6% Turkmen, 0.1% Armenian, and 0.2% Others (e.g. Circassian, Georgian, etc.). The local dialect of Arabic spoken in Iran is Khuzestani Arabic, but the varieties of Arabic taught across Iran to students in secondary schools, regardless of their ethnic or linguistic background, are Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, the latter a liturgical language of Islam.
In 1986, a nationwide census was undertaken to determine the percentage of Iranians that know Persian, those who do not know, and those who know it fluently. [10]
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.
Bushehr province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the south of the country, with a long coastline on the Persian Gulf. Its capital is the city of Bushehr.
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Shahr-e Kord. The province lies in the southwest of the country, with an area of 16,332 square kilometers.
The Tat people or Transcaucasian Persians are an Iranian people presently living within Azerbaijan and Russia. The Tats are part of the indigenous peoples of Iranian origin in the Caucasus.
This article focuses on the status of ethnic minorities in contemporary Iran.
Old Azeri is the extinct Iranian language that was once spoken in the northwestern Iranian historic region of Azerbaijan before the Turkification of the region. Some linguists believe the southern Tati varieties of Iranian Azerbaijan around Takestan such as the Harzandi and Karingani dialects to be remnants of Old Azeri. Along with Tat dialects, Old Azeri is known to have strong affinities with Talysh and Zaza language and Zaza and Talysh are considered to be remnants of old Azeri. Iranologist linguist W. B Henning demonstrated that Harzandi has many common linguistic features with both Talysh and Zaza and positioned Harzandi between the Talysh and Zaza.
Bakhtiari dialect is a distinct dialect of Southern Luri spoken by Bakhtiari people in Chaharmahal-o-Bakhtiari, Bushehr, eastern Khuzestan and parts of Isfahan and Lorestan provinces. It is closely related to the Boir-Ahamadi, Kohgiluyeh, and Mamasani dialects in northwestern Fars. These dialects, together with the Lori dialects of Lorestan, are referred to as the “Perside” southern Zagros group, or Lori dialects. Luri and Bakhtiari are much more closely related to Persian than Luri." Dialects of Persian spoken in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province are mutually intelligible with Bakhtiari.
Afghanistan is a linguistically diverse nation, with upwards of 40 distinct languages. However, Dari and Pashto are two of the most prominent languages in the country, and have shared official status under various governments of Afghanistan. Dari, as a shared language between multiple ethnic groups in the country, has served as a historical lingua franca between different linguistic groups in the region and is the most widely understood language in the country. Pashto is also widely spoken in the region; but the language does not have a diverse multi-ethnic population like Persian, and the language is not as commonly spoken by non-Pashtuns. Persian and Pashto are also "relatives", as both are Iranian languages.
Junqan is a city in, and the capital of, Junqan District of Farsan County, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran.
Rudbar-e Alamut-e Gharbi District is in Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Razmian.
"Begoo be baran", is a single by Iranian singer-songwriter Mohsen Namjoo. The poem is by Iranian famous poet Shafiei Kadkani and the whole song is a dialogue with the rain, and its music video is acted by another Iranian musician named Parham Alizadeh. The song is dedicated to Hossein Alizâdeh and Mohammad-Reza Shafiei Kadkani.
Fathollah Mojtabaei is an Iranian author and historian. He is a permanent member of Academy of Persian Language and Literature and a member of the faculty of the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia.
The intellectual and political life of Shia Imams is the name of a book by Rasul Jafarian that has been written with the aim of investigating the political and intellectual aspects of the life of the Shiite twelve Imams. The content of this book was first published as a series of articles in Noor-e Elm magazine and then became an independent book. The book has also been translated into Arabic and Urdu. In 2011, the book was published again with many corrections. Excerpt and summary of this book in 400 pages has been selected by the Research deputy of Islamic Maaref University as a textbook in universities of Iran for history of Imamate course.
Chaharmahali Turkic is a proposed Oghuz Turkic variety spoken in Iran's Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, and western Isfahan province, where it is described as "Esfahan Province Turkic" by linguists. It is an understudied and generally unclassified variety of Oghuz Turkic distinct from Azerbaijani and Qashqai, being closer to the latter. Chaharmahali Turkic is not to be confused with "Chārmāhāli," a Persian dialect spoken in the same region.
Garmsiri or Bandari is a Persian and Southwestern Iranian language spoken in the southeast of Iran in Hormozgan and Kerman. It consists of closely related dialects extending from the Halilrud river valley in the north down to the Strait of Hormuz in the south. The language is closely related to Bashkardi, Larestani and Kumzari. It forms a transitional dialect group to northwestern Iranian Balochi, due to intense areal contact.
The online Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI) is a collection of interactive language distribution maps and linguistic maps of the languages spoken across Iran. The atlas is developed and maintained at the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Center (GCRC) at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. The maps on the atlas are searchable and illustrate patterns in the phonology, morphosyntax, and lexicon of languages spoken in Iran. As the atlas is interactive, users are free to access the data and information represented on the maps, and they are encouraged to contribute and comment on the language data for each location.
Erik John Anonby is a Canadian linguist and professor at Carleton University. Along with his role as editor-in-chief of the Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI), he is author of a number of books. He has published in journals such as Science, Linguistics, Iranian Studies, Journal of Semitic Studies, Journal of the International Phonetic Association, Journal of Linguistic Geography, and Journal of Ethnobiology.
The Bandari dialect is one of the dialects of the Persian language spoken in Iran's Hormozgan province.
The Kermanshahi dialect is a dialect of the Persian language spoken in the city of Kermanshah, Eslamabad-e Gharb and Kangavar. A prominent feature of the Kermanshahi Persian dialect is the use of a number of Kurdish words and verbs, which can be seen in transformed and paid forms in the Kermanshahi Persian sentences. There are phonetic, lexical, and syntactic differences between Kermanshahi Persian and standard Persian, which arose due to the influence of Kermanshahi Kurdish. The Persian dialect of Kermanshah is considered the most western dialect of the Persian language.