- Indo-Iranian languages
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Indo-Iranian Geographic
distribution:Eastern Europe, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, South Asia Linguistic classification: Indo-European - Indo-Iranian
Proto-language: Proto-Indo-Iranian Subdivisions: ISO 639-5: iir The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages. It consists of three language groups: the Indo-Aryan, Iranian and Nuristani. The Indo-Iranian languages occasionally go by the term "Aryan languages."[1] The speakers of the Proto-Indo-Iranian language, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranians, are usually associated with the late 3rd millennium BC Andronovo and Sintashta-Petrovka cultures of Central Asia. Their expansion is believed to have been connected with the invention of the chariot.
The contemporary Indo-Iranian languages form the largest sub-branch of Indo-European, with more than one billion speakers in total, stretching from Europe (Romani) and the Caucasus (Ossetian) eastward to Xinjiang (Sarikoli) and Assam (Assamese) and south to Sri Lanka (Sinhalese). SIL in a 2005 estimate counts a total of 308 varieties, the largest in terms of native speakers being Hindustani (Hindi and Urdu, ca. 190-330 million), Bengali (ca. 190 million), Punjabi (ca. 88 million), Marathi (ca. 70 million), Persian (ca. 70 million), Pashto (ca. 50 million), Gujarati (ca. 46 million), Bhojpuri (ca. 35 million), Awadhi (ca. 35 million), Maithili (ca. 35 million), Oriya (ca. 32 million), Marwari (ca. 31 million), Sindhi (ca. 21 million), Rajasthani (ca. 20 million), Chhattisgarhi (ca. 17 million), Assamese (ca. 17 million), Kurdish (ca. 16 million), Sinhalese (ca. 16 million), and Rangpuri (ca. 15 million).
Indo-Iranian languages were once spoken across a still wider area. The Scythians were described by Roman writer Strabo as inhabiting the lands to the north of the Black Sea in present-day Ukraine, Moldova and Romania. The river-names Don, Dnieper, Danube etc. are possibly of Indo-Iranian origin. The so-called Migration Period saw Indo-Iranian languages disappear from Eastern Europe with the arrival of the Turkic-speaking Pechenegs and others by the eighth century AD.
The oldest attested Indo-Iranian languages are Vedic Sanskrit (ancient Indian), Avestan and Old Persian (two ancient Iranian languages). But there are written instances of a fourth language in Northern Mesopotamia (see Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni) which is considered to be Indo-Aryan. It is attested in documents from the ancient empire of Mitanni and the Hittites of Anatolia.
Contents
Subdivisions
- Vedic Sanskrit
- Sanskrit
- Pāli
- Central Zone
- Eastern Zone (Magadhan Prakrit languages)
- Northern Zone (Pahari languages)
- Northwestern Zone
- Dardic languages (sometimes still classified separately as a part of Iranian or Nuristani Group):
- Pahari-Potohari
- Punjabi
- Saraiki
- Sindhi
- Khojki
- Western Zone
- Southern Zone
Insular Indo-Aryan
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- Dhivehi
- Sinhala
- Gathic (Old Avestan) (extinct 2nd millennium BC - the only remaining record is the Gathas of Zarathushtra)
- Eastern Iranian
- Western Iranian
- Northwestern
- Southwestern ("Persid")
- Old Persian (extinct)
- Middle Persian (extinct)
- New Persian (Farsi; eastern & western dialects)
- Tajik Persian
- New Persian (Farsi; eastern & western dialects)
- Luri / Bakhtiari
- Tati (Caucasus)
- Middle Persian (extinct)
- Old Persian (extinct)
- Ashkunu (Ashkun)
- Kamkata-viri (Bashgali)
- Vasi-vari (Prasuni)
- Tregami
- Kalasha-ala (Waigali)
See also
References
Bibliography
- Chakrabarti,Byomkes (1994). A comparative study of Santali and Bengali. Calcutta: K.P. Bagchi & Co. ISBN 8170741289
- Premiumorange.com, abstract of the study of Minoan language and its link with Indo-Iranian (Hubert La Marle)
- Indo-Iranian Languages and Peoples, edited by Nicholas Sims-Williams. Published 2002 for the British Academy by Oxford University Press
External links
- Swadesh lists of Indo-Iranian basic vocabulary words (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)
Indo-Iranian languagesIndic (Indo-Aryan) Old · Middle Old Middle Abahatta · Apabhraṃśa · Dramatic Prakrits (Magadhi · Maharashtri · Shauraseni) · Elu · Gāndhārī · Jain · Paisaci · Pāli · PrakritModern Central Awadhi · Bagheli · Bambaiya Hindi · Brij Bhasha · Bundeli · Chhattisgarhi · Fiji Hindi · Haryanvi · Kannauji · Sansiboli · Sadhukaddi (early form)OthersEastern OthersAngika · Bhojpuri · Bishnupriya Manipuri · Chakma · Chittagonian · Halbi · Hajong · Kayort · Kharia Thar · Magahi · Maithili · Majhi · Mal Paharia · Nahari · Oriya · Rajbanshi · Rohingya · Sadri · SylhetiNorthern North
westernOthersSouthern Western OthersIranian Old · Middle Old WesternEasternMiddle WesternEasternModern Western South (Persid)NorthOld Azari · Balochi · Central Iran · Zoroastrian Dari · Fars · Gilaki · Gorani · Kurdic: (Kermanshahi · Kurmanji · Soranî) · Mazandarani · Semnani · Taleshi · Tati · ZazakiEastern OthersOther Indo-Iranian languages Dardic Nuristani OthersCategories:- Indo-Iranian languages
- Iranian peoples
- History of Iran
- Pre-Islamic history of Afghanistan
- Pre-Islamic heritage of Pakistan
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