Iranian languages


The Iranian languages, or the Iranic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, mainly in the Iranian Plateau.
The Iranian languages are grouped in three stages: Old Iranian, Middle Iranian and New Iranian. The two directly attested Old Iranian languages are Old Persian and Old Avestan. Avesta predates Old Iranian language, Old Avestan and Younger Avestan. Of the Middle Iranian languages, the better understood and recorded ones are Middle Persian, Parthian, and Bactrian.

Number of speakers

In 2005, Ethnologue estimated that there are 86 languages in the group.

Terminology and grouping

Etymology

The term Iran derives directly from Middle Persian, first attested in a third-century inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam, with the accompanying Parthian inscription using the term, in reference to the Iranian peoples. The Middle-Iranian ērān and aryān are oblique plural forms of gentilic nouns ēr- and ary-, both deriving from Proto-Iranian language *arya-. In the Iranic languages spoken on the plateau, the gentilic is attested as a self-identifier, included in ancient inscriptions and the literature of the Avesta, and remains also in other Iranian ethnic names Alan and Iron.

Iranian vs. Iranic

When used as a linguistic term Iranian is applied to any language which descends from the ancestral Proto-Iranian language.
Some scholars such as John R. Perry prefer the term Iranic as the anthropological name for the linguistic family and ethnic groups of this category, and Iranian for anything about the modern country of Iran. He uses the same analogue as in differentiating German from Germanic, Finnish from Finnic, or differentiating Turkish and Turkic.
This use of the term for the Iranian language family was introduced in 1836 by Christian Lassen. Robert Needham Cust used the term Irano-Aryan in 1878, and Orientalists such as George Abraham Grierson and Max Müller contrasted Irano-Aryan and Indo-Aryan. Some recent scholarship, primarily in German, has revived this convention.

Grouping

The Iranian languages are divided into the following branches:
According to modern scholarship, the Avestan languages are not considered to fall under these categories, and are instead sometimes classified as Central Iranian, since they diverged from Proto-Iranian before the east–west division rose to prominence. It has traditionally been viewed as Eastern Iranian; however, it lacks a large number of Eastern Iranian features and thus is only "Eastern Iranian" in the sense that it is not Western.

Proto-Iranian

The Iranian languages all descend from a common ancestor: Proto-Iranian, which itself evolved from Proto-Indo-Iranian. This ancestor language is speculated to have origins in Central Asia, and the Andronovo culture of the Bronze Age is suggested as a candidate for the common Indo-Iranian culture around 2000 BCE.
The language was situated precisely in the western part of Central Asia that borders present-day Russia and Kazakhstan. It was thus in relative proximity to the other satem ethno-linguistic groups of the Indo-European family, such as Thracian, Balto-Slavic and others, and to common Indo-European's original homeland, according to the reconstructed linguistic relationships of common Indo-European.
Proto-Iranian thus dates to some time after the Proto-Indo-Iranian breakup, or the early-2nd millennium BCE, as the Old Iranian languages began to break off and evolve separately as the various Iranian tribes migrated and settled in vast areas of southeastern Europe, the Iranian Plateau, and Central Asia.
Proto-Iranian innovations compared to Proto-Indo-Iranian include: the turning of sibilant fricative *s into non-sibilant fricative glottal *h; the voiced aspirated plosives *bʰ, *dʰ, *gʰ yielding to the voiced unaspirated plosives *b, *d, *g resp.; the voiceless unaspirated stops *p, *t, *k before another consonant changing into fricatives *f, *θ, *x resp.; voiceless aspirated stops *pʰ, *tʰ, *kʰ turning into fricatives *f, *θ, *x, resp.

Old Iranian

The multitude of Middle Iranian languages and peoples indicate that great linguistic diversity must have existed among the ancient speakers of Iranian languages. Of that variety of languages/dialects, direct evidence of only two has survived. These are:
Indirectly attested Old Iranian languages are discussed below.
Old Persian was an Old Iranian dialect as it was spoken in southwestern Iran by the inhabitants of Parsa, Persia, or Persis who also gave their name to their region and language. Genuine Old Persian is best attested in one of the three languages of the Behistun inscription, composed, and which is the last inscription in which Old Persian is still grammatically correct. Later inscriptions are comparatively brief, and typically simply copies of words and phrases from earlier ones, often with grammatical errors, which suggests that by the 4th century BCE the transition from Old Persian to Middle Persian was already far advanced, but efforts were still being made to retain an "old" quality for official proclamations.
The other directly attested Old Iranian dialects are the two forms of Avestan, which take their name from their use in the Avesta, the liturgical texts of indigenous Iranian religion that now goes by the name of Zoroastrianism but in the Avesta itself is simply known as vohu daena. The language of the Avesta is subdivided into two dialects, conventionally known as "Old Avestan", and "Younger Avestan". These terms, which date to the 19th century, are slightly misleading since 'Younger Avestan' is not only much younger than 'Old Avestan', but also from a different geographic region. The Old Avestan dialect is very archaic, and at roughly the same stage of development as Rigvedic Sanskrit. On the other hand, Younger Avestan is at about the same linguistic stage as Old Persian, but by virtue of its use as a sacred language retained its "old" characteristics long after the Old Iranian languages had yielded to their Middle Iranian stage. Unlike Old Persian, which has Middle Persian as its known successor, Avestan has no clearly identifiable Middle Iranian stage.
In addition to Old Persian and Avestan, which are the only directly attested Old Iranian languages, all Middle Iranian languages must have had a predecessor "Old Iranian" form of that language, and thus can all be said to have had an "Old" form. Such hypothetical Old Iranian languages include Old Parthian. Additionally, the existence of unattested languages can sometimes be inferred from the impact they had on neighbouring languages. Such transfer is known to have occurred for Old Persian, which has a "Median" substrate in some of its vocabulary. Also, foreign references to languages can also provide a hint to the existence of otherwise unattested languages, for example through toponyms/ethnonyms or in the recording of vocabulary, as Herodotus did for what he called "Scythian" and in one instance, Median.

Isoglosses

Conventionally, Iranian languages are grouped into "western" and "eastern" branches. These terms have little meaning with respect to Old Avestan as that stage of the language may predate the settling of the Iranian peoples into western and eastern groups. The geographic terms also have little meaning when applied to Younger Avestan since it is not known where that dialect was spoken either. Certain is only that Avestan and Old Persian are distinct, and since Old Persian is "western", and Avestan was not Old Persian, Avestan acquired a default assignment to "eastern". Further confusing the issue is the introduction of a western Iranian substrate in later Avestan compositions and redactions undertaken at the centers of imperial power in western Iran.
Two of the earliest dialectal divisions among Iranian indeed happen to not follow the later division into Western and Eastern blocks. These concern the fate of the Proto-Indo-Iranian first-series palatal consonants, *ć and *dź:
  • Avestan and most other Iranian languages have deaffricated and depalatalized these consonants, and have *ć > s, *dź > z.
  • Old Persian, however, has fronted these consonants further: *ć > θ, *dź > *ð > d.
As a common intermediate stage, it is possible to reconstruct depalatalized affricates: *c, *dz. A further complication however concerns the consonant clusters *ćw and *dźw:
  • Avestan and most other Iranian languages have shifted these clusters to sp, zb.
  • In Old Persian, these clusters yield s, z, with loss of the glide *w, but without further fronting.
  • The Saka language, attested in the Middle Iranian period, and its modern relative Wakhi fail to fit into either group: in these, palatalization remains, and similar glide loss as in Old Persian occurs: *ćw > š, *dźw > ž.
A division of Iranian languages in at least three groups during the Old Iranian period is thus implied:
  • Persid
  • Sakan
  • Central Iranian
It is possible that other distinct dialect groups were already in existence during this period. Good candidates are the hypothetical ancestor languages of Alanian/Scytho-Sarmatian subgroup of Scythian in the far northwest; and the hypothetical "Old Parthian" in the near northwest, where original *dw > *b.

Middle Iranian

What is known in Iranian linguistic history as the "Middle Iranian" era is thought to begin around the 4th century BCE lasting through the 9th century. Linguistically the Middle Iranian languages are conventionally classified into two main groups, Western and Eastern.
The Western family includes Parthian and Middle Persian, while Bactrian, Sogdian, Khwarezmian, Saka, and Old Ossetic fall under the Eastern category. The two languages of the Western group were linguistically very close to each other, but quite distinct from their eastern counterparts. On the other hand, the Eastern group was an areal entity whose languages retained some similarity to Avestan. They were inscribed in various Aramaic-derived alphabets which had ultimately evolved from the Achaemenid Imperial Aramaic script, though Bactrian was written using an adapted Greek script.
Middle Persian was the official language under the Sasanian dynasty in Iran. It was in use from the 3rd century CE until the beginning of the 10th century. The script used for Middle Persian in this era underwent significant maturity. Middle Persian, Parthian, and Sogdian were also used as literary languages by the Manichaeans, whose texts also survive in various non-Iranian languages, from Latin to Chinese. Manichaean texts were written in a script closely akin to the Syriac script. The Achomi language is considered a surviving remains of Pahlavi Middle Persian, as well as Luri, with their respective dialects.

New Iranian

Following the Muslim conquest of Persia, there were essential changes in the role of the different dialects. The old prestige form of Middle Iranian, Pahlavi, which was associated with the western Sasanian provinces of Spahan and Pars, was replaced by a new variety as the official language of the court. In 875, the Saffarid dynasty was the first in a line of many dynasties to adopt the new prestige language officially.
West Iranian varieties from eastern regions may have had a significant impact on the development of the new standard, which served as the basis for a standardised New Persian. Medieval Iranian scholars such as ibn al-Muqaffa' and ibn al-Nadim associated the term Dari with the eastern province of Khorasan, Pahlavi for the dialects of the northwestern areas between the province of Isfahan and Azerbaijan, and Pârsi to describe the dialects of Fars.
These scholars also noted that the unofficial language of the royalty was Khuzi, associated with the western province of Khuzestan; it was likely a late variety of the Elamite language, a language isolate that previously was the official court language of Elam in that region.
The Islamic conquest also brought with it the adoption of the Arabic script for writing Persian and much later, Kurdish, Pashto and Balochi. All three were adapted to the writing by the addition of a few letters. This development probably occurred sometime during the second half of the 8th century, when the old middle Persian script began dwindling in usage. The Arabic script remains in use in contemporary modern Persian. The Tajik alphabet, used to write the Tajik language, was initially Romanized in the 1920s under the Soviet nationalities policy. This was shifted to a Cyrillic script in the 1930s.
The geographical regions in which Iranian languages were spoken were pushed back in several areas by newly neighbouring languages. Arabic spread into some parts of Western Iran, and Turkic languages spread through much of Central Asia, displacing various Eastern Iranian languages such as Sogdian and Bactrian in what is today Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. In Eastern Europe, in what is now Ukraine, southern European Russia, and parts of the Balkans, the core region of the Eastern Iranian-speaking Scythians, Sarmatians, and Alans, had been decisively Slavicised by the various Early Slavs of the region by the 6th century. This resulted in the displacement and extinction of the once predominant Scythian languages of the region. Sogdian's close relative, Yaghnobi, barely survives in a small area of the Zarafshan Range east of Samarkand, Wakhi is spoken by nomadic pastoralists from Afghanistan to China, and Saka survives as Ossetic in Ciscaucasia, which is the sole remnant of the once-predominant Scythian languages of the region. Minority Eastern Iranian languages survive in the Pamir Mountains; Pashto is the only widely-spoken Eastern Iranian language, with at least 90 million speakers.

Comparison table

EnglishZazaSorani KurdishKurmanji KurdishPashtoTatiTalyshiBalochiGilakiMazanderani TatLuriShughniPersianMiddle PersianParthianOld PersianAvestanOssetian
beautifulrınd, xasekciwan, nayabrind, delal, bedew, xweşikx̌kūlay, x̌āistaxojirghašangdorr, soherâ, mah rang, sharr, juwānxujīrçī/xujīrxoşgel, xojir, xejirqəşəng, şihidqəşaŋ, xoşgelxushrui, xagh
xigh		zibā/xuš-čehr/xoşgel/ghashanq/najibhučihr, hužihrhužihrnaibaxvaini, sraiia, srao-ræsughd
bloodgonixwênxwîn, xûnwīnaxevnxunhonxunxunxunxīxunxūnxōngōxanvohuna, vaŋhutāt̰tug
breadnan, nonnannanḍoḍəi, məṛəinunnunnān, nagannönnunnunnugarthanānnānnāntāiiūiri, drao-naŋh dzul
bringardenehanîn, hawerdin, hênananînwṛəlvârden, biyordonvardeâurten, yārag, āraghävərdən, härdən, ävərdən, bərdənbiyârdenavardənoerden,videuāwurdan, biyār āwurdan, āwāy-, āwar-, bar-āwāy-, āwar-, bar-bara-bara, bar-xæssyn
brotherbırabirabirawrorbərârbira, bolibrāt, brāsbərär, bərârberâr, berorbirarGagheværodbarādarbrād, brâdarbrād, brādarbrātarbrātar-æfsymær
comeameyenehatin, were, bew hatin, were,rā tləlbiyâmiyanomeāhag, āyag, hatinhəmän, ämön, hömänbiyamona, enen, biyâmuenamarənumaeyàāmadanāmadan, awarawar, čāmāy-, āgamāgam-cæwyn
crybermayenegiryan, girîn, gîristin girînžəṛəlbərmaberame, bamegreewag, grehtenburməbermegirəstəngerevesen, gerevanáugerīstan/gerīyegriy-, bram-barmâdansnuδ,kæwyn
darktaritarî/tarîktarîskəṇ, skaṇ, tyaraul, gur, târica, târektokitārzuləmât, täriktār, siyo, zolamâttarikitārīktoricetārīk, tārtārīg/ktārīg, tārēntārīksāmahe, sāmatar
daughterkeyne, çêne/çênekekîj, kiç, kenîşk, düêt, dwêt dot, keçlūrtitiye, dətarkinə, kiladohtir, duttaglâku, kör
dətər 		kîjâ, deter duxtərdoxterrezindoxtarduxtarduxt, duxtarduxδarčyzg, kizgæ
dayroce, roje, rozeřoj, rûj rojwrəd͡z revj, ruzrujroçruz, rujruz, rujruzruruzrūzrōzraucah-raocah-bon
dokerdenekirdinkirinkawəlkardan, kordankardekanag, kurtingudən, kudən, kördənhâkerden, hâkordensaxtənkerdechideukardankardankartankạrta-kәrәta-kænyn
doorber, keyber, çêberderge/derke, derga, qapî derîwər, dərwāzadarvâcabədar, gelo, darwāzagbərdar, loşdərdər, dardêvedardardar, barduvara-dvara-dwar
diemerdenemirdinmirinmrəlbamardenmardemireg, murtenmurdən, mərdənbamerdenmürdənmordemideumordanmurdanmạriya-mar-mælyn
donkeyherker, gwêdirêj, xer kerxərastar, xarhə, hərhar, her, karxərxarxərxərmarcabexarxarkaθβaxæræg
eatwerdenexwardinxwarinxwāṛə, xurāk / xwaṛəlhardenhardewarag, warâk, wārtenxördən, xöndənxerâk / baxârdenxardənhardexideuxordan / xurākparwarz / xwâr, xwardīgparwarz / xwârhareθra / CE-, at-xærinag
egghak, akkhêk/hêlke, tum, xaye, xa hêkhagəimerqâna, karxâmorqana, uyəheyg, heyk, ā morgmurqönə, murqänəmerqâne, tîm, balîxaykərgxā'atarmurxtoxm, xāya toxmag, xâyagtaoxmag, xâyagtaoxma-ajk
eartherdzemîn, zewî, ʿerz, erderd, zevîd͡zməka zeminzaminzemin, degārzəmi, gəl, bunəzamîn, benexarizemizimathzamīnzamīgzamīgzam-zãm, zam, zemzæxx
eveningşanêware, îware êvar, şevmāx̌ām nomâzyar, nomâšonshavbegáhşänsərnemâşunşangumevāravégabegáhēvāragêbêragarəzaŋhizær
eyeçımçaw/çaşçavstərgacoščaş,gelgancham, chemçumçəş, bəjçümtīya, çaşçemčashmčašmčašmčaša-čašman-cæst
fatherpi, pêrbawk, bab, babe, bawg bav, babplārpiyar, piya, dadapiya, lala, popet, pespérpîyer, pîyar, perpiyərbuatatpedar, bābāpidarpidpitarpitarfyd
fearterstirstirswēra, bēratârstarsturs, tersegtərstaşe-vaşe, tarstərsitershogetars, harāstarstarstạrsa-tares-tas
fiancéwaştidesgîran,xwşavestdergistîčənghol , čənghəla numzânomjanāmzādnömzətnumzenükürdəxîsmenznāmzād––para-dāta usag
fineweş, hewlxoşxweşx̌a, səmxojir, xarxoşwash, hoshxujīr, xurumxâr, xeş, xojirxuş, xas, xubxubashandxoš, xūb, behdārmagsrīraxorz, dzæbæx
fingerengışte/gışte, bêçıkeengust, pence,angus, pêncetilî, pêçîgwətaanqušanqiştəchangol, mordâneg, lenkutkənguşt, əngüştangusəngüştkelekangihtangoštangustaṇguštaængwyldz
fireadıragir/awir, ahir,ayeragirwōr tašotaşâch, atesh, âstəştaşataştaş, goryoçātaš, āzarâdur, âtaxshādurâç-ātre-/aēsma-art
fishmasemasîmasîkab mâyimoymāhi, māhigmäyimâhîmahimāhimoiemāhimāhigmāsyāgmasyakæsag
goşiayeneçûn, řoştin, řoyiştin, çün çûntləlšiyen, bišiyanşeshotenşönburden, bašiyenraftənrosà, tideuro/şoşow/roway-ai-ay-, fra-vazcæwyn
GodHoma/Huma/OmaYezdan, Xwedê, Xuda, Xodê, XwaXwedê, Xweda, XudêXodāy XədâXıdoXoda, HwdâXudaXedâXudaxodāXuthoiXodā, Izad, Yazdān, BaqXudā/Yazdānbaga-baya-xwycaw
goodhewl, rınd, weşbaş, çak, xasbaş, rindx̌ə xâr, xojirçokzabr, sharr, jowainxujīr, xurumxâr, xeş, xojirxub, xasxubashandxub, nīkū, behxūb, nêkog, behvahu-vohu, vaŋhu-xorz
grassvaşgiya/gyagiya, çêrewāx̌ə vâšalafrem, sabzagvâşvâşgüyosozi, çamewohsabzeh, giyāhgiyâgiyavişurvarākærdæg
greatgırd/gırs, pilgewre,mezinmezin, girlōy, stərpillayol, yal, vaz, dıjdmastar, mazan,tuhpilâ, pillə, pillegat, pillakələgapwazminbozorgwuzurg, pīl, yalvazraka-mazaṇt̰, masita, stūistyr
handdestdest, desdestlāsbâldastdastdəs, bâldas, bāldəsdasthustdastdastdastdasta-zasta-k'ux / arm
headsersersersərkallasə, sərsar, sarag, sagharkəlle, sərkalle, sarsərsarcile, calesarsarkallisairisær
heartzerri/zerredil/dił/dir/zildilzṛədəldıldil, hatyrdīl, dəl, qlfdel, zel, zildüldeldile, zorthdeldildilzaraŋh, zarəδiia, aηhušzærdæ
horseestor/ostor/astorasp/hesp/esp, hêsirhespās , aspa asb, astaraspaspəsb, əspasp, asəsasbvorgeasbasp, stōrasp, stōraspaaspa-bæx
housekey/çêmał, xanû, xanig, ghatxanî, malkorkiyakages, dawâr, logsərə, xönesere, kime, xenexunəhunachidexānexânagdemāna-, nmāna-xædzar
hungryvêşan/veyşanbirsî, wirsî birçî, birsî lwəǵa vašnâ, vešir, gesnâvahşianshudig, shudvəşnä, viştâveşnâ, veşnâsârgisnəgosnamaghzönchgorosne, goşnegursag, shuyveşnâgṣ̌uδ
language zıwan, zon, zuan, zuon, juan, jüanziman, zuwanzimanžəbazobun, zəvânzivonzewān, zobānzəvön, zuvön, zuvänzivun, zebun, tokzuhunzevuzivezabānzuwānizβānhazâna-hizvā-, zafana ævzag
laughhuyayenekenîn/pêkenîn, kenîn,xende,xenekenînxandəl/xəndaxurəsen, xandastansırehendag, xandagpurxə, xənde/ xəndəsənrîk, baxendesten, xannexəndəxanashinteuxandexande, xandkartaSyaoθnāvareza-xudyn
lifecuye, weşiyejiyan, jînjiyanžwəndzindәgijimonzendegih, zindzīndəgī, zīvəşzindegî, janhəyatzeŋeizindage, umrezendegi, janzīndagīh, zīwišnīhžīwahr, žīw-gaēm, gaya-card
manmêrdek, camêrd/cüamêrdmêrd, pîyaw, cuwamêrmêr, camêrsəṛay, mēṛəmardak, miardamerdmerdmərd, mərdönəmardîmərdpiyāchorice, mardinamardmardmardmartiya-mašīm, mašyaadæjmag
moonaşme, menge mang, heyvmeh, heyvspuǵməi mângmang, owşummáhmâng, məngma, munek, mong, rojâmamāhmêstmâh, mâng, mânkmāhmāhmâh-måŋha-mæj
mothermay, mardayik, dayigdayik, dêmormâr, mâya, nanamoa, ma, inamât, mâsmâr, märmâr, nenâmaydā, dālenanmâdarmâdardayekmâtarmātar-mad
mouthfekdemdevxula duxun, dâ:ângəvdapdəhəndâhun, lâmîze, loşeduhun, lušedamgêvedahândahân, rumbzafan, zafarə, åŋhānō, åñhdzyx
namenamenaw, nêwnavnūmnumnomnâmnömnumnumnumnömenâmnâmnâmannãmannom
nightşewşewşevšpašö, šavşavšap, shawşö, şöv, şəbşow, şuşöüşohabshabshabxšap-xšap-, naxtiæxsæv
open akerdenekirdinewe, wazkirdin vekirinprānistəlvâz-kardanokardepāch, pabozagvlätən, väzän, vâ-gudənvâ-hekârdenvakardənvākerdeët chideubâz-kardan, va-kardanabâz-kardan, višādagbūxtaka-būxta-gom kænyn
peacehaşti/aştiaştî, aramîaştî, aramîrōɣa, t͡sōkāləidinjaşişârâməştâştî, esketsalaməti, dinciāşisalömâshti, ârâmeš, ârâmî, sâzishâštih, râmīšnrâm, râmīšnšiyâti-rāma-fidyddzinad
pigxoz/xonz, xınzırberaz,gorazberazsoḍər, xənd͡zir, xugxu, xuyi, xugxugkhug, hukxukxîxugxukxugxūkxūkhū, varāza xwy
placecacê, ga, şwên, şwîn cih, gehd͡zāyyâgaviraja, jaygah, hendjâ, jigâ, jigəjâ, gâ, kolâcigə, cəjājoijâh/gâhgâhgâhgâθu-gātu-, gātav-ran
readwendenexwendin/xwêndin, xwenistinxwendinlwastəl, kōtəlbaxândenhande, xwandewánag, wāntenxöndən, xönəsənbaxenden, baxundestenxundənvaneheideuxândanxwândanpaiti-pǝrǝskæsyn
sayvatenegutin, witingotinwayəlvâten, bagutenvotegushag, guashtengutən, guftənbaowten, boten, bagotenguftirən, gaf saxtəngutelövdeugoftan, gapguftan, gōw-, wâxtangōw-gaub-vac, mrū-dzuryn
sisterwayexweh, xweşk, xoşk, xuşk, xoyşkxwîşkxōr xâke, xâv, xâxor, xuârhovagwhârxâxur, xâxərxâxer, xâxor, xoarxuvarxuaryàx, yàxbìçxâhar/xwâharxwaharxvaŋhar-xo
smallqıc/qıyt, wırd/werdigiçke, qicik, hûr, biçûk, büçik biçûk, hûr, qicikkūčnay, waṛkayqijel, rukhırdgwand, hurdkuçhī, kujī, kuştəpeçik, biçuk, xerdküçük, küşkin, kişgələ, kəmkoçekzulicekuchak, kam, xurd, rîzkam, rangaskamkamna-kasu, kamna-chysyl
sonlac, lajlaw/kuřkur, law, piszoypur, zâzoə, zurəpossag, baçvəçə, rikə, pəsər, rəypeser/rîkâkukkorpuçpesar, purpur, pusarpuhrpuçapūθra-fyrt
soulroh, gancan, giyan, rewan, revanreh, cansārəvânconrawânruh, jönro, jâncanjöneravân, jânrūwân, jyânrūwân, jyânurvan-ud
springwesar/usarbehar, weharbihar, beharspərlayvâ:ârəvəsor, baharbārgāhvəhâr, bâhârvehâr, behârvasalbehār, vehārbahorbahârwahârvâhara-vaŋhar
tallberzbilind/berzbilind/berzlwəṛ, ǰəgpillabarz, bılındborz, bwrzburz, bələndbelen, belendbülündbeleŋbelandboland / bârzbuland, borzbârežbərəzaṇt̰bærzond
tendesdeh/dedehləsdadadahdäda, datâdədathistedahdahdathadasadæs
threehirê/hirisêsêdrēso, sese, heseysu, səse, setâsəsearaisesêhrēçi-θri-ærtæ
villagedewegund, dêhat, dê, awayîgundkəlaydöh, dadidehāt, helk, kallag, dêmällə, məhällə, kəläyədih, male, kolâ, kandedideqishloqdeh, wiswiždahyu-vîs-, dahyu-vîsqæw
wantwaştenexwastin, wîstin, twastin xwestinɣux̌təl / ɣuxš̥təlbegovastan, jovastanpiyeloath, lotetenxäsən, xästənbexâsten, bexâstixastən, vayistənhāseforteuxâstanxwâstanūna, ainištifændyn
waterawe/awk, owe, ouawavobə/ubəâv, öov, watâpow, âvow, ou, uouowhaçâbâb/awawâpiavō-don
whenkeykey, kengîkengê, kîngêkəlakeykeynakadi, kedkén, kəyke, kemin, gederkey, çüvəxtikeçavaxtkeykaykacim-kæd
windvaba, wa basiləivâvogwáthvâvâvarbādhuzbâdwâdwavāta-dymgæ / wad
wolfverggurg,gurlewə, šarmux̌ vargvarggurkvərgverg, verkgürggorgurge/urjgorggurgvarka-vehrkabirægh
womancıni/cenijin, afret, zindage,gyianjinjənəi, njləi
x̌əd͡za/š̥əd͡za		zeyniye, zenakjen, jiyanjan, jinikzən, zənək, zunönəzenāzənzenaghenice/ghinice, caxoizanzanžangǝnā, γnā, ǰaini-,sylgojmag / us
yearserresal/sałsalkālsâlsor, salsâlsâlsâlsalsālsolsâlsâlθardýāre, sarәdaz
yes / noya, heya, ê / nê, ney, nibełê, a, erê / ne, nexêrerê, belê, a / naHao, ao, wō / na, yaahan / naha / ne, naere, hān / naəhâ/nä, nâare, ehe / nâ, nohəri, hə / nəa, ā / naön / nai, nåbaleh, ârē, hā / na, néeōhāy / nehâ / neyyâ / nay, mâyā / noit, māo / næ
yesterdayvızêrdwênê, dwêkeduhoparunazira, zira, diruzir, zinəzídîrudîruz, aruzdeydidirubiyordiruzdêrûždiyazyōznon
EnglishZazaSoraniKurmanjiPashtoTatiTalyshiBalochiGilakiMazandaraniTatLuriShughniPersianMiddle PersianParthianOld PersianAvestanOssetian