Semnani languages

Semnani
Geographic
distribution:		 Iran
Linguistic classification:

Indo-European

Subdivisions:
Glottolog: semn1240[1]

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Caspian and Semnani languages (lower right)

The Semnani languages are a group of Northwestern Iranian languages,[2] spoken in Semnan province of Iran that share many linguistic features and structures with Caspian languages. These languages are also called "dialects" in some sources.[3]

There are six Semnani languages named in the literature. Some may be dialects, but there is little published work on their relationships.[4]

Cognate sets[5]

English Sorkhei Lasgerdi Sangsari Aftari Biyabunaki
dog esbā esbe esbe espa esba
girl dukkey dot döt dut dut
blood xün xün
large masīn masīn mas/yale masīn
nose ven vinī xunī vinī vēnī
snow vār var varf var
serpent mohur mahar
moon mūng māye
woman žiki žaki žekeyn džek džinakā

Notes

  1. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Semnanic". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  2. ↑ Ethnologue lising for Semnani languages
  3. ↑ Lecoq, pg. 297
  4. ↑ C.F. & F.M. Voegelin, Classification and Index of the World's Languages (1977) lists them as dialects of Persian (pg. 185).
    Lecoq, pg. 297 lists them as "dialects" as well.
    Ethnologue lists Semnani, Sorkhei, Lasgerdi, and Sangsari as languages with Biyabunaki as a possible dialect of Semnani and Aftari as a dialect of Sorkhei.
    Linguasphere lists them together in an outer language called Semnani+Sangisari [58-AAC-f] with Semnani and Sangisari listed as inner languages.
    Merritt Ruhlen, A Guide to the World's Languages, Volume 1: Classification (1991) lists Semnani and Sangisari as languages in the Semnani subgroup.
  5. ↑ Lecoq, pg. 310.

Bibliography