Iranian Languages and Literatures (CAIS)

Iranian (Aryan) languages are spoken in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Arran (republic of Azerbaijan), Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, China, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Russia and other scattered areas of the Caucasus Mountains.

Old Iranian, which is closely related to Sanskrit is known from the Avesta (the sacred book of Zoroastrians) and from Old Persian cuneiform inscriptions of the Achaemenid Emperors.

The Middle Iranian stage (3rd century BCE to 8th-10th century CE) was characterized by a significant simplification of the verbal system and, in some areas, by reductions in noun inflection as well. Among the most important representatives of Middle Iranian are Parthian, Pahlavi, and Sogdian.

Major modern Iranian languages are New Persian, Kordi (Kurdish) and Pashto (Persian-Pashto), an official language of Afghanistan; and Tajik (Persian-Tajik), spoken in Tajikistan.

All Iranian languages currently spoken show a simplification of the earlier sound systems and a preference for the use of auxiliary verbs in place of the complex verb conjugations of the ancient Iranian languages.

Iranian Speaking World

Orange: Western-Iranian Languages Red: Eastern-Iranian Languages

OLD-IRANIAN LANGUAGES

WESTERN IRANIAN LANGUAGES		EASTERN IRANIAN LANGUAGES
Name of the Language	Today Spoken in Modern Country(ies) of:	Name of the Language	Today Spoken in Modern Country(ies) of:
Aryan (Old Persian)	Extinct	Avestan	Extinct
Median	Extinct	Scythian	Extinct

MIDDLE-IRANIAN LANGUAGES

WESTERN IRANIAN LANGUAGES		EASTERN IRANIAN LANGUAGES
Name of the Language	Today Spoken in Modern Country(ies) of:	Name of the Language	Today Spoken in Modern Country(ies) of:
(Parthian-Pahlavi)	Extinct	Sacian	Extinct
Middle Persian (Sasanian-Pahlavi)	Extinct	Bactrian	Extinct
		Sogdian	Extinct
		Khwâresmian	Extinct
		Khotanese	Extinct
		Ossetic	Georgia & Russia (Chechnya)

NEW-IRANIAN LANGUAGES

WESTERN IRANIAN LANGUAGES		EASTERN IRANIAN LANGUAGES
Name of the Language	Today Spoken in Modern Country(ies) of:	Name of the Language	Today Spoken in Modern Country(ies) of:
Alviri/Vidâri	Iran	Bartangi	Central Asia
Âshtiâni	Iran	Hindukush Group (Several)	please see the list
Balochi	Iran, Pakistan, UAE, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan & Afghanistan	Ishkashmi	Afghanistan
Bashkardi	Iran	Karakoram Group (Several)	Pakistan, Afghanistan, China
Dari (Persian Dari)	Afghanistan	Khufi	Tajikistan & Afghanistan
Gillani	Afghanistan	Munji	Afghanistan
Gurani	Iran & Iraq	Oroshori	Central Asia
Kermanji	Iran & Iraq	Ossetic	Georgia & Russia (Chechnya)
Kordi (Kurdish)	Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Arran (Azerbaijan)	Parâchi	Afghanistan
Lori & Backhtiari	Iran	Pashto	Afghanistan & Pakistan
Kumzâri	UAE & Lower Persian-Gulf	Pamir languages (Several)	Tajikistan
Mâzandarâni	Iran	Roshni/Roshani	Tajikistan & Afghanistan
Ormuri	Afghanistan	Sarikoli	China
Sangsar	Iran	Shughni	Tajikistan & Afghanistan
Persian (New Persian)	Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan	Wakhi	China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan & Pakistan
Tâleshi	Iran & Arran (Republic of Azerbaijan)	Yaghnobi	Tajikistan
Tâti	Iran & Arran (R. Azerbaijan)	Yidghâ	Pakistan
Vafsi	Iran	Yazgulami	Tajikistan
Zâzâ / Zâzâki	Turkey