Davani dialect

Davani
Spoken in	Iran
Region	Middle East
Native speakers	ca. 1000
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Iranian Southwestern Iranian Davani
Language codes
ISO 639-3	fay

The Davani dialect (Davani: devani;^[1] Persian: دوانی, UniPers: Davâni) is a southwestern iranian language^[2][3] or southwestern dialect of Fars, spoken in the village of Davan, 12 kilometers north of Kazerun city in Southern Iran. The number of speakers was estimated around 1000 in 2004.^[4]

Phonology

The transcription used here is only an approximation.^[5]

Vowels

short: â, a, e, i, o, u
long: â:, ā, ē, ī, ō, ū

Consonants

• voiced dental fricative: ð, generally after vowels, like in, 'bað' (bad).
• voiced velar fricative: γ, like in "γal'ati" (shroud).
• alveolar trill: like in 'borrâ' (flail).
• palatalization: inclination for 'g' and 'k' before front vowels, like in 'bega' (say).
• voiceless alveolar affricate: ts, like in 'tse' (what), and voiced dz, like in andzi (fig).

Grammar

Verbs

Davani is ergative in past transitive constructions. For example (Persian transliterations are in UniPers):

English: Hasan saw Ali in the garden.
Persian: Hasan,      Ali-râ tuye bâq did.
Davani:  hasan-eš   ali-a   tu    bâγ di.

Infinitive markers include -san, -tan, -dan, -ðan.

Nouns

The suffix -aku makes nouns definite. For example:

bard "stone" → bard-aku "the stone"

The plural is marked by the suffix -gal. -u is exceptionally used for "man". For example:

sēv "apple" → sēv-gal "apples"
merd "man" → merd-u "men"

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns ^[4]

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	ma	mu
2nd	to	shumu
3rd	u oy	unā ushu

Vocabulary

English Davani Persian (Unipers) beautiful ju, jônek zibâ, xoščehre blood xin xun bread nu, nen nân bring avâðan âvardan brother borâk, borâ barâdar come ameðan, aneðan âmadan cry gerīðan geristan dark târīk târik daughter dōt, dōðar doxtar day ru, rez ruz do kētan kardan door dar dar die mordan mordan donkey xar xar egg xoy toxme morq earth zimi zamin eye čiš čašm father bu, bâva, bova pedar fear ters tars fiancé numzâð nâmzad fine xoš xoš finger pinja, piling angošt fire tiš âtaš, âzar fish meyi mâhi food / eat xorâk/ xâtan qazâ, xorâk / xordan go šeðan raftan god xoðâ xodâ good xūv xub great got, γoč bozorg, gonde, gat hand das dast

English Davani Persian (Unipers) head tek, kalla, ser sar, kalle heart del del horse asp asb, astar house xuna xâne language/tongue zavu zabân laugh xanda kētan xandidan man merd mard moon mā mâh mother deyi, dey mâdar, mâmân mouth kap, kač dahân name num nâm night šô šab open vâkētan bâz kardan peace sōl âshti, ârâmeš, ârâmi place jo jâ read xondan xândan say gâ:tan goftan, gap zadan scratch kerniðan xârândan sister xāk, xā xâhar small xujak, kem, xordek, rēz, vahila kucak, kam, xord, riz son pos, keraku pesar, pur, bacce tall boland boland , bârez, derâz three so se water ô âb, ow weave vâtseriðan bâftan when ki key wind bâð bâd woman zan zan yesterday dig diruz

Example Sentences

English	Davani	Persian	Unipers
What is this?	i tsi-yen?	این چیست؟	In cist?
Where is Ali?	ali an kâ?	علی کجاست؟	Ali kojâst?
This horse is white.	i asp-e espe-hâ.	.این اسب سفید است	In asb sefid ast.
Go (and) chain Rostam's hand (and) bring him here, so that I give you the crown and the kingdom.	beða dass-e rostam huven-eš bâ injo ke-t ma tâj šâi hâðe.	.برو دست رستم را ببند، اینجا بیاور تا من تاج شاهی را به تو بدهم	Boro daste Rostam râ beband, injâ beyâvar, tâ man tâje šâhi râ be to bedaham.
They say he works 10 hours a day.	mege-yen rez-i dā sât kâr mēku.	.میگویند روزی ده ساعت کار میکند	Miguyand ruzi dah sâat kâr mikonad.
I have two small brothers and sisters.	dikko-m borô xey-e xord-ek he.	.دو برادر و خواهر کوچک دارم	Do barâdar va xâhare kucak dâram.
If you will go just once to their village, you won't forget the hospitality of its people.	agar hami akeš-a šesse-bi-ya velât-ešu hargese-tu meymu dâri-šu az yâð nemēšu.	.اگر تنها یکبار به ده آنها رفته باشی، مهمان‌نوازی مردم آنجا را هرگز از یاد نخواهی برد	Agar tanhâ yekbâr be dehe ânhâ rafte bâši, mehmânnavâziye mardome ânjâ râ hargez az yâd naxâhid bord.
Who called me?	ke-š čer-om ze?	چه کسی مرا صدا زد؟	Cekasi marâ sedâ zad?

See also

• Lari dialect
• Dialects of Fars
• Persian dialects and varieties
• Southwestern Iranian languages
• Iranian languages

References

1. ^ Encyclopedia Iranica article on Davani
2. ^ Payne, J.R. (1987). Bernard Comrie. ed. The World's Major Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 514. ISBN 978-0195065114. 
3. ^ Ethnologue report for southwestern iranian languages
4. ^ ^{a b} Salami, A., 1383 AP / 2004 AD. Ganjineye guyeššenâsiye Fârs (The treasury of the dialectology of Fars). First Volume, The academy of Persian language and literature. [1] ISBN 964-7531-32-X (in Persian)
5. ^ Mahamedi, H., 1982. The story of Rostam and Esfandiyâr in an Iranian dialect,Journal of the American Oriental Studies, 102.3, 451-459.

Further reading

• Morgenstierne, G., 1960. Stray notes on Persian dialects, II, Fârs Dialects-Davâni. Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, XIX, 123–129.
• Hasamzada-Haqiqi, C., 1970. Guyeše Davâni (Davani Dialect), in Proceedings of the First Congress of Iranian Studies. Tehran University, 77–98.
• Mahamedi, H., 1979. On the verbal system in three Iranian dialects of Fârs, in Studia Iranica, VIII, 2, 277–297.
• Salami, A., 1381 AP / 2002 AD. Farhange guyeše Davâni (The Dictionary of Davani dialect). The academy of Persian language and literature. [2] ISBN 964-7531-03-6 (in Persian).

External links

• Encyclopædia Iranica article on Davani
• Davani sayings