Luri ( lrc, لٛۏری, Łôrī, luz, لُرِی, Lorī) is a Southwestern
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
language continuum spoken by the
Lur people
Lurs () are an Iranian people living in the mountains of western Iran. The four Luri branches are the Bakhtiari, Mamasani, Kohgiluyeh and Lur proper, who are principally linked by the Luri language.
Lorestan Province is named after the Lurs ...
, an
Iranian people native to
Western Asia
Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...
. The Luri dialects are descended from
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
and are Central Luri,
Bakhtiari,
[G. R. Fazel, 'Lur', in Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey, ed. R. V. Weekes (Westport, 1984), pp. 446–447] and Southern Luri.
This language is spoken mainly by the
Bakhtiari and Southern Lurs (
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad,
Mamasani,
Sepidan,
Bandar Ganaveh
Bandar or Bunder may refer to:
Places
* Bandar, Afghanistan
* Bandar, Narayanganj, Bangladesh
* Bandar, Isfahan, Iran
* Bandar, Kermanshah, Iran
* Bandar, Yazd, Iran
* Banda Aceh, Indonesia
* Bandar Lampung, Indonesia
* Bandar Seri Begawan, ...
,
Bandar Deylam
, settlement_type = City
, pushpin_map = Iran
, mapsize =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Bushehr
, subdivision_ty ...
) in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
.
History
Luri is the closest living language to Archaic and Middle Persian. The language descends from
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
(Parsig).
It belongs to the ''Persid'' or ''Southern Zagros group'', and is lexically similar to modern Persian, differing mainly in phonology.
According to the ''
Encyclopædia Iranica
''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times.
Scope
The ''Encycl ...
'', "All Lori dialects closely resemble standard Persian and probably developed from a stage of Persian similar to that represented in Early New Persian texts written in Perso-Arabic script. The sole typical Lori feature not known in early New Persian or derivable from it is the inchoative marker (see below), though even this is found in Judeo-Persian texts".
The
Bakhtiāri dialect
Bakhtiari dialect is a distinct dialect of Southern Luri spoken by Bakhtiari people in Chaharmahal-o-Bakhtiari, Bushehr, eastern Khuzestan and parts of Isfahan and Lorestan provinces. It is closely related to the Boir-Aḥmadī, Kohgīlūy ...
may be closer to Persian. There are two distinct languages, Greater Luri (''Lor-e bozorg''), Southern Luri (including Bakhtiari dialect), and Lesser Luri (''Lor-e kuček''), Northern Luri.
Geography
Northern Luri
Luri dialects (Northern Luri (or Central Luri), Shuhani and Hinimini) are as a group the second largest language in
Ilam province (around of the population), mostly spoken in villages in the southern parts of the province. Around of
Hamadan province speak Northern Luri.
Bakhtiari
The Bakhtiari dialect is the main first language in the province of
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari (around ), except around
Sharekord,
Borujen
Boroujen ( fa, بروجن, also Romanized as Borojen, ''Borūjen'', ''Boroojen'', ''Broojen''; also known as ''Urjen'', or ''Oorjen'') is a city and capital of Borujen County, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its po ...
,
Ben
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right.
Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...
and
Saman counties, where Persian,
Turkic and Chaharmahali dialect predominate. Around of
Isfahan province speak Bakhtiari.
Statistics
Internal classification
The language consists of Central Luri,
Bakhtiari, and Southern Luri.
Central Luri is spoken in northern parts of
Luri
Luri may refer to:
* Luri people or Lurs, an Iranian people
* Luri language, Western Iranian language continuum spoken by the Lurs
* Luri language (Nigeria), dialect of the Afro-Asiatic language Polci
* Luri, Haute-Corse, commune in France
* Luri ...
communities including eastern, central and northern parts of
Luristan province, southern parts of
Hamadan
Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') ( Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ha ...
province mainly in
Malayer
Malayer ( fa, ملایر, Malāyer), formerly Dowlatabad ( fa, دولتآباد, Doulatābād, also Romanized as Dowlatābād and Daūlatābād), is a city and capital of Malayer County, Hamadan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its populati ...
,
Nahavand
Nahavand ( fa, نهاوند, translit=Nahāvand / Nehāvend) is a city in Hamadan Province, Iran. It is the capital of Nahavand County. At the time of the 2006 census, its population was 72,218, in 19,419 families. It is located south of the ci ...
and
Tuyserkan
Tuyserkan ( fa, تويسركان, also Romanized as Tūyserkān, Tooyserkan, Tūīsarkān, and Tūysarkān) is a city and capital of Tuyserkan County, Hamadan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 50,455, in 16,291 families.
T ...
counties, southern regions of
Ilam province and southeastern parts of
Markazi province. Bakhtiari is used by
Bakhtiari people
The Bakhtiari (also spelled Bakhtiyari; fa, بختیاری) are a Lur tribe from Iran. They speak the Bakhtiari dialect of the Luri language.
Bakhtiaris primarily inhabit Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari and eastern Khuzestan, Lorestan, Bushehr, a ...
in South
Luristan,
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, significant regions in north and east of
Khouzestan and western regions of
Isfahan province. Finally, Southern Luri is spoken throughout
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, and in western and central regions in
Fars province, northern and western parts of
Bushehr province and southeastern regions of
Khouzestan. Several Luri communities are spread sporadically across the
Iranian Plateau
The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature in Western Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia. It comprises part of the Eurasian Plate and is wedged between the Arabian Plate and the Indian Plate; situated between the Zagros ...
e.g.
Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
* Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
(Beyranvand and Bakhtiari Luri descendants),
Kerman
Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanization of Persian, romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,394, in ...
,
Guilan and
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
provinces.
Phonology
Vowels
# // may also range to a higher // in the Northern dialect.
* Vowels /, / may also be realized as more close
within diphthongs or before glide sounds.
* /, / can also be heard as higher [] in Southern Luri.
* // can also be raised as [] or [] before semivowels.
Consonants
# // occurs in Northern Luri.
# Velar fricatives /, / as equivalent to uvular fricatives /, /, occur in Northern Luri.
# // occurs in Southern Luri.
# // occurs in Northern Luri, as well as in words borrowed from Persian.
# // can also be heard as a trill [] in Southern Luri.
* // also occurs as a glide to elongate short vowels (eg. /oh/; ).
*
occur as allophones of a labiodental approximant //.
Vocabulary
In comparison with other
Iranian languages
The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau.
The Iranian languages are grouped ...
, Luri has been less affected by foreign languages such as
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and
Turkic. Nowadays, many ancient Iranian language characteristics are preserved and can be observed in Luri grammar and vocabulary. According to diverse regional and socio-ecological conditions and due to longtime social interrelations with adjacent ethnic groups especially
Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...
and
Persian people
The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian.
...
, different dialects of Luri, despite mainly common characteristics, have significant differences. The northern dialect tends to have more
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
loanwords inside and southern dialects (
Bakhtiari and Southern Luri) have been more exposed to
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
loanwords.
See also
*
Bakhtiari dialect
Bakhtiari dialect is a distinct dialect of Southern Luri spoken by Bakhtiari people in Chaharmahal-o-Bakhtiari, Bushehr, eastern Khuzestan and parts of Isfahan and Lorestan provinces. It is closely related to the Boir-Aḥmadī, Kohgīlūy ...
*
Borujerdi dialect
The Borujerdi dialect (Persian language, Persian: گویش بروجردی) is a dialect of Luri language spoken in Borujerd city and its surrounding areas in the province of Lorestan in Iran. Borujerdi is more similar to Northern Luri than the ...
*
Dialects of Fars
Dialects of Pars ''(Persia)'' are a group of southwestern and northwestern Persian dialects spoken in the central Pars province. The southwestern dialects can be divided into three families of dialects according to geographical distribution and lo ...
References
Further reading
*Freidl, Erika. 2015. ''Warm Hearts and Sharp Tongues: Life in 555 Proverbs from the Zagros Mountains of Iran.'' Vienna: New Academic Press.
* F. Vahman and G. Asatrian, ''Poetry of the Baxtiārīs: Love Poems, Wedding Songs, Lullabies, Laments'', Copenhagen, 199
External links
*
*
Bakhtiari tribeLori dialect
Encyclopædia Iranica
Luri language: How many languages? - By Erik John Anonby - The Royal Asiatic Society, 2003 - Printed in the UK
{{Authority control
Languages of Iran
Southwestern Iranian languages