Indo-Iranian languages

Indo-Iranian
Geographic distribution:	Eastern Europe, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, South Asia
Linguistic classification:	Indo-European Indo-Iranian
Proto-language:	Proto-Indo-Iranian
Subdivisions:	Indo-Aryan Iranian Nuristani
ISO 639-5:	iir
The approximate present-day distribution of the Indo-European branches within their homelands of Europe and Asia:   Indo-Iranian

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.

Subdivisions

Indo-Aryan Group:

• Vedic Sanskrit
• Sanskrit
• Pāli
• Central Zone
  • Hindustani
    • Hindi
    • Urdu
  • Romani/Romany
• Eastern Zone (Magadhan Prakrit languages)
  • Angika
  • Assamese
  • Bengali
  • Bhojpuri
  • Magahi
  • Maithili
  • Oriya
• Northern Zone (Pahari languages)
  • Nepali
• Northwestern Zone
  • Dardic languages (sometimes still classified separately as a part of Iranian or Nuristani Group):
    • Dameli
    • Domaaki
    • Gawar-Bati
    • Kalasha-mun
    • Kashmiri
    • Khowar
    • Kohistani
    • Ningalami
    • Pashayi
    • Palula
    • Shina
    • Shumashti
  • Pahari-Potohari
  • Punjabi
  • Saraiki
  • Sindhi
  • Khojki
• Western Zone
  • Gujarati
  • Kutchi
  • Rajasthani
• Southern Zone
  • Konkani
  • Marathi
  • Dakhni
  • Nawayathi

Insular Indo-Aryan

• • Dhivehi
  • Sinhala

Iranian Group:

• Gathic (Old Avestan) (extinct 2nd millennium BC - the only remaining record is the Gathas of Zarathushtra)
• Eastern Iranian
  • Northeastern
    • Avestan (extinct)
    • Scythian (extinct)
      • Sakan (extinct)
      • Ossetian
    • Sogdian (extinct)
      • Yaghnobi
    • Bactrian (extinct)
  • Southeastern
    • Pashto
    • Pamiri
      • Sarikoli
    • Ormurri-Parachi
• Western Iranian
  • Northwestern
    • Dari language of Zoroastrians
    • Balochi
    • Mazanadarani
    • Gilaki
    • Deilami
    • Talysh
    • Kurdish
    • Laki
    • Parthian (extinct)
    • Tati (Iran)
    • Zazaki

• • Southwestern ("Persid")
    • Old Persian (extinct)
      • Middle Persian (extinct)
        • New Persian (Farsi; eastern & western dialects)
          • Tajik Persian
      • Luri / Bakhtiari
      • Tati (Caucasus)

Nuristani languages:

• Ashkunu (Ashkun)
• Kamkata-viri (Bashgali)
• Vasi-vari (Prasuni)
• Tregami
• Kalasha-ala (Waigali)

See also

• Language family

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

Look up Indo-Iranian Swadesh lists in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Swadesh lists of Indo-Iranian basic vocabulary words (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)

v d e Iran topics History Pre-Islamic Prehistory Proto-Elamite civilization BCE 3200– BCE 2800 Elamite dynasties BCE 2800– BCE 550 Bactria-Margiana Complex BCE 2200– BCE 1700 Kingdom of Mannai BCE 10th– BCE 7th cent. Median Empire BCE 728– BCE 550 Achaemenid Empire BCE 550– BCE 330 Seleucid Empire BCE 330– BCE 150 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom BCE 250– BCE 125 Parthian Empire BCE 248–CE 224 Kushan Empire CE 30–CE 275 Sassanid Empire CE 224–CE 651 Hephthalite Empire CE 425–CE 557 Kabul Shahi kingdom CE 565–CE 879 Islamic Patriarchal Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 819–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1055 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghori dynasty 1149–1212 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarezmid dynasty 1077–1231 Ilkhanate 1256–1335 Kartids dynasty 1231–1389 Ottoman Empire 1299–1923 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722 or 1736 Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1750 Zand Dynasty 1750–1794 Durrani Empire 1794–1826 Qajar Dynasty 1794–1925 Modern Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Interim Government of Iran 1979 Islamic Republic of Iran 1979–present See also Ancient Iran Iranian Cultural Continent Indo-Iranians (languages) Jiroft civilization Aryans Persian peoples Tajik people Iranian peoples Kings of Persia Military history Years in Iran Politics Government Intellectual movements Women's movement Elections Constitution Supreme Leader President Judicial system Assembly of Experts Parliament Guardian Council Expediency Discernment Council Supreme National Security Council City and Village Councils Human rights LGBT Officials Provincial governors Reformists Principlists United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 Ambassadors Foreign relations Ministry of Intelligence Terrorism Military Army Air Force Navy Censorship Nuclear program Allegations of state terrorism Iranian Green Revolution Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Operation Ajax White Revolution Iranian Revolution Embassy siege Iran-Iraq war Iran Air Flight 655 1987 massacre of Iranian pilgrims Chicago's Persian heritage crisis History of the Islamic Republic of Iran Iranian Presidential Election, 2009 Persian Constitutional Revolution Propaganda Demographics Iranian citizens abroad Religion Muslims Bahá'ís Christians Armenians Persian Jews Ethnic minorities Religious minorities Zoroastrians persecution Women Languages Persian language Iranian Languages Azerbaijani Language Armenian Language Indo-Iranian languages Geography Cities list Iranian Azerbaijan Iranian Balochistan Iranian Kurdistan Iranian Plateau Islands Mountains Provinces Earthquakes Wildlife Economy Economic history of Iran Agriculture Fruit Industry Water and sanitation Health care Central bank Companies automobile manufacturers Banks Research centers Brain drain Iran Electronics Industries (IEI) Military equipment IDRO National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) Space Milad Tower and complex Military exports Rial Tehran Stock Exchange Electronic banking Intellectual property International Oil Bourse Bonyad Asalouyeh industrial corridor Kish Island Free Trade Zone Chabahar Free Trade-Industrial Zone Labor and tax laws Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Mining Construction Privatization Foreign Direct Investment Supreme Audit Court Communications Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) Transport Railways Metro Airlines Iran Shipping Lines Energy Petroleum industry Nuclear program Tourism Environmental issues Economic Reform Plan Middle East economy List of major economic laws in Iran Iran and WTO Economic history of Iran Society Culture Iranian nationality Iranology Education Higher Science Scientists and scholars Universities Philosophy List of Iranians Literature Media News agencies student newspapers Architecture architects Achaemenid architecture Art modern/contemporary Persian gardens Cinema Cuisine Public holidays National symbols Opium consumption Music Ey Iran Heavy metal Persian traditional music Folk Pop Rap and hip-hop Rock and alternative Blogs Mythology Folklore Islam Islamization Scouting Sport Football Other topics Calendar Persian New Year Crown jewels Anti-Iranianism Persian names Tehrangeles International rankings of Iran Sorood-e Shahanshahi Iran Portal