Talysh (, , ) is a Northwestern Iranian language spoken in the northern regions of the Iranian provinces of Gilan and Ardabil and the southern regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Talysh people. The Talysh language is closely related to the Tati and Zaza languages and shares common isogloss and many linguistic features, structures and characteristic words with both Zaza and Tati. Talysh, along with Zaza and Tati, is located at the westernmost part of the Western Iranian languages.
Talysh has three main dialects; northern, central and southern and these dialects consist of numerous sub-dialects. The northern dialect of the language is spoken in Azerbaijan and Iran, the central and southern dialects are spoken in Iran. The number of Talysh speakers was estimated to be around 218.000 people in 2016.
Talysh is partially, but not fully, mutually intelligible with Persian. Talysh is classified as "vulnerable" by UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
History
The origin of the name Talysh is not clear but is likely to be quite old. The name of the people appears in early Arabic sources as Al-Taylasân and in Persian as Tâlišân and Tavâliš, which are plural forms of Tâliš. Northern Talysh (in the Republic of Azerbaijan) was historically known as Tâlish-i Guštâsbi. Talysh has always been mentioned with Gilan or Muqan. Writing in the 1330s AD, Hamdallah Mostowfi calls the language of Gushtaspi (covering the Caspian border region between Gilan to Shirvan) a Pahlavi language connected to the language of Gilan.مستوفی، حمدالله: «نزهةالقلوب، به كوشش محمد دبیرسیاقی، انتشارات طهوری، ۱۳۳۶. Mostawafi, Hamdallah, 1336 AP / 1957 AD. Nozhat al-Qolub. Edit by Muhammad Dabir Sayyaqi. Tahuri publishers. Although there are no confirmed records, the language called in Iranian linguistics as Azari can be the antecedent of both Talysh and Tati. Miller's (1953) hypothesis that the Âzari of Ardabil, as appears in the quatrains of Shaikh Safi, was a form of Talysh was confirmed by Henning (1954).Henning, W. B. 1954. The Ancient Language of Azerbaijan. Transactions of the Philological Society, London. p 157-177. Asatrian, G. and H. Borjian, 2005. Talish: people and language: The state of research. Iran and the Caucasus 9/1, p 43-72 In western literature the people and the language are sometimes referred to as Talishi, Taleshi or Tolashi. Generally speaking, written documents about Taleshi are rare.
The first information about the Talysh language in Russian can be found in Volume X of Strachevsky's "Encyclopedic Dictionary" ("Справочный энциклопедический словарь"), published in St. Petersburg in 1848, which says:
The second information about the Talysh language is provided by Ilya Berezin, a professor at Kazan University, in Russian, but not in Russian, but in French. In 1853, Berezin's book on Persian grammar was published in Kazan. In the same year, his book "Recherches sur les dialectes persans" was published in Kazan. Experts still refer to this work as the first work of Russian Iranians in the field of Iranian dialectology. He used the "Talysh" songs given in A. Khodzko's work. IN Berezin's work consists of two parts - a grammatical essay and songs from A. Khodzko's work. IN Berezin writes that he conducted his research on Iranian dialects on the basis of materials he personally collected and studied, but does not write anywhere with whom, when and in what area he collected them. In the work, Talysh words are distorted. IN Berezin writes about the quartets taken from the work of A. Khodzko:
"Here I present to the reader a new translation of the Talysh, Gilan and Mazandaran songs and accompany them with critical notes; the Talysh texts, if not in Khodzko, were restored by me on the basis of his transcription." However, the author writes that "grammatical rules are not strictly observed in the Talysh language, as the verb's news form is usually confused almost all the time, i.e. instead of the aorist preterit, the future time in the present tense, etc. is used. " Going even further, he writes: "In the Talysh language, the verb is the most difficult, the most confusing and the most dubious part."Грамматика персидского языка, составленная И. Березиным, профессором Казанского университета. - Казань : тип. Ун-та, 1853. - XVI, 480 с.; 23.
Geography
In the north of Iran, there are six cities where Talysh is spoken: Masal, Rezvanshar, Talesh, Fuman, Shaft, and Masuleh (in these cities some people speak Gilaki and Turkish as well). The only towns where Talysh is spoken exclusively are the townships of Masal and Masuleh. In other cities, in addition to Talysh, people speak Gilaki and Azerbaijani. In Azerbaijan there are eight cities where Talysh is spoken: Astara (98%), Lerik (90%), Lenkoran (90%), Masalli (36%).
Talysh has been under the influence of Gilaki, Azeri Turkic, and Persian. In the south (Taleshdula, Masal, Shanderman, and Fumanat) the Talysh and Gilaks live side by side; however, there is less evidence that a Talysh family replaces Gilaki with its own language. In this region, the relation is more of a contribution to each other's language. In the north of Gilan, on the other hand, Azeri Turkic has replaced Talysh in cities such as Astara after the migration of Turkic speakers to the region decades ago. However, the people around Lavandvil and its mountainous regions have retained Talysh. Behzad Behzadi, the author of "Azerbaijani Persian Dictionary" remarks that: "The inhabitants of Astara are Talyshis and in fifty years ago (about 1953) that I remember the elders of our family spoke in that language and the great majority of dwellers also conversed in Talyshi. In the surrounding villages, a few were familiar with Turkic".Behzadi, B, 1382 AP / 2003 AD. Farhange Azarbâyjani-Fârsi (Torki), p. 10. Publication: Farhange Moâser . In Persian: حقیقت تاریخی این است که آذربایجانی، ایرانی است و به زبان ترکی تکلم میکند. اینکه چگونه این زبان در بین مردم رایج شد، بحثی است که فرصت دیگر میخواهد. شاهد مثال زیر میتواند برای همه این گفتگوها پاسخ شایسته باشد. اهالی آستارا طالش هستند و تا پنجاه سال پیش که نگارنده به خاطر دارد پیران خانواده ما به این زبان تکلم میکردند و اکثریت عظیم اهالی نیز به زبان طالشی صحبت میکردند. در دهات اطراف شاید تعداد انگشتشماری ترکی بلد بودند. From around Lisar up to Hashtpar, Azeri and Talysh live side by side, with the latter mostly spoken in small villages. To the south of Asalem, the influence of Azeri is negligible and the tendency is towards Persian along with Talysh in cities. In the Azerbaijan republic, Talysh is less under the influence of Azeri and Russian than Talysh in Iran is affected by Persian.Abdoli, A. 1380 AP / 2001 AD. Farhange Tatbiqiye Tâleši-Tâti-Âzari (Comparative dictionary of Talyshi-Tati-Azari), p 31-35, Publication:Tehran, "šerkate Sahâmiye Entešâr" . Central Talysh has been considered the purest of all Talysh dialects. Classification and related languages
Talysh belongs to the Northwestern Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. The living language most closely related to Talysh is Tati. The Tati group of dialects is spoken across the Talysh range in the southwest (Kajal and Shahrud) and south (Tarom). This Tatic family should not be confused with another Tat family which is more related to Persian. Talysh also shares many features and structures with Zaza, now spoken in Turkey, and the Caspian languages and Semnani of Iran.
The Glottolog database proposes a detailed classification and classifies Talysh within the Adharic subgroup (related to Old Azeri), along with languages such as Zaza (spoken in Anatolia), Tati of Iran and its dialects such as Harzandi, Kajali and Kilit and Gorani. The Glottolog database proposes the following phylogenetic classification:
Northwestern Iranian Adharic Adhari (Old Azeri) Zaza (Zaza): Southern Zaza (Dumbuli, Hazzu, Kori, Motki, Sivereki), Northern Zaza (Tunceli, Varto) Tatic (Tati-Talysh): Alamuti, Central Tat: Khalkhali (Kajali, Karanic [Diz, Gandomabi, Hezarrudi Karan (Khoresh-e Rostam) Karnaq, Kelasi, Lerd, Nowkiani], Shahrudi -Southern Talysh ([Shali-Kolur, Shandermani, Southern Talysh, Massali Masulei]), Khoini, Maraghei [Dikini], North-Central Talysh (Central Talysh [Asalemi, Hashtpari], Northern Talysh [Astara, Lenkoran, Lerik], Taromic [Kabate, Kalasi, Upper Taromi], Northern Tatic: Harzandi-Kilit (Harzandi, Kilit), Karingani-Kalasuri-Khoynarudi (Karingani, Kalasuri-Khoynarudi), Southern Tatic: Alviri-Vidari (Alviri, Vidari), Vafsic (Ashtiani [Amorei, Kahaki, Nuclear Ashtiani, Tafresh], Vafsi), Ramand-Karaj: Eshtehardi, Razajerdi,Takestani (Khalkhal, Kharaqani, Ramandi, Tarom, Zanjan) Gorani (Gurani): Gurani, Shabaki-Bajelani (Bajelani, Chabak, Sarli)
Dialects
The Talysh language has three main dialects; northern, central and southern. The northern dialect of the language is spoken in Azerbaijan and Iran, the central dialect and southern dialects are spoken in Iran. Since the northern dialect of the language is influenced by Azerbaijani and the southern dialects are influenced by Gilaki, the central dialect of the language is considered the purest one.
The division of Talysh into three clusters is based on lexical, phonological and grammatical factors.Stilo, D. 1981. The Tati Group in the Sociolinguistic Context of Northwestern Iran. Iranian Studies XIV Northern Talysh distinguishes itself from Central and Southern Talysh not only geographically but culturally and linguistically as well. Speakers of Northern Talysh are found almost exclusively in the Republic of Azerbaijan but can also be found in the neighbouring regions of Iran, in the Province of Gilan. The varieties of Talysh spoken in the Republic of Azerbaijan are best described as speech varieties rather than dialects. Four speech varieties are generally identified on the basis of phonetic and lexical differences. These are labeled according to the four major political districts in the Talysh region: Astara, Lankaran, Lerik, and Masalli. The differences between the varieties are minimal at the phoneticMamedov, N., 1971. Šuvinskij governs talyšskogo yazyka (Talyshi dialect of Shuvi), PhD dissertation, Baku. and lexical level.Pirejko, L. A., 1976. Talyšsko-russkij slovar (Talyshi-Russian Dictionary), Moscow. Mamedov (1971) suggests a more useful dialectal distinction is one between the varieties spoken in the mountains and those spoken in the plains. The morphosyntax of Northern Talysh is characterized by a complicated split system which is based on the Northwest Iranian type of accusativity/ergativity dichotomy: it shows accusative features with present-stem-based transitive constructions, whereas past-stem-based constructions tend towards an ergative behavior.Schulze, W., 2000. Northern Talysh. Publisher: Lincom Europa. In distant regions such as Lavandevil and Masuleh, the dialects differ to such a degree that conversations begin to be difficult. In Iran, the northern dialect is in danger of extinction.
The major dialects of TalyshNorthern (in Azerbaijan Republic and in Iran (Ardabil and Gilan provinces) from Anbaran to Lavandevil) including:Central (in Iran (Gilan province) from Haviq to Taleshdula/Rezvanshahr district) Including:Southern (in Iran from Khushabar to Fumanat) including:Astara, Lankaran, Lerik, Masalli, Karaganrud/Khotbesara, LavandevilTaleshdula, Asalem, TularudKhushabar, Shanderman, Masuleh, Masal, Siahmazgar
Some Northern dialects' differences
The northern dialect has some salient differences from the central and southern dialects, e.g.:
TaleshdulaeiExampleLankaraniExampleMeaningâ âvaina u uvai:na mirror dâr du treea za â zârd yellowu/o morjena â mârjena antx xetē h htē to sleepj gij ž giž confused
Alignment variation
The durative marker "ba" in Taleshdulaei changes to "da" in Lankarani and shifts in between the stem and person suffixes: ba-žē-mun → žē-da-mun