Yaghnobi language

Yaghnobi
Yaghnobi
Яғнобӣ зивок; Yaghnobī zivok
Native to	Tajikistan
Region	originally from Yaghnob Valley, in 1970s relocated to Zafarobod, in 1990s some speakers returned to Yaghnob
Ethnicity	Yaghnobi people
Native speakers	12,000 (2004)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Eastern Northern Yaghnobi; ; ; ; ;
Early form	Sogdian
Dialects	Eastern Yaghnobi; Western Yaghnobi;
Writing system	Cyrillic script; Latin script; Perso-Arabic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	yai
Glottolog	yagn1238
ELP	Yaghnobi
Linguasphere	58-ABC-a
	Yaghnobi-speaking areas and enclaves of Yaghnobi-speakers among a Tajik majority
	Yaghnobi is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Yaghnobi^[a]^[b] is an Eastern Iranian language spoken in the upper valley of the Yaghnob River in the Zarafshan area of Tajikistan by the Yaghnobi people. It is considered to be a direct descendant of Sogdian and has sometimes been called Neo-Sogdian in academic literature.^[5] There are some 12,500 Yaghnobi speakers, divided into several communities. The principal group lives in the Zafarobod area. There are also resettlers in the Yaghnob Valley. Some communities live in the villages of Zumand and Kůkteppa and in Dushanbe or its vicinity.

Most Yaghnobi speakers are bilingual in Tajik.^[6] Yaghnobi is mostly used for daily family communication, and Tajik is used by Yaghnobi-speakers for business and formal transactions. A Russian ethnographer was told by nearby Tajiks, long hostile to the Yaghnobis, who were late to adopt Islam, that the Yaghnobis used their language as a "secret" mode of communication to confuse the Tajiks. The account led to the belief by some that Yaghnobi or some derivative of it was used as a secret code.^[7]

The language is taught in elementary school within the ethnic community, and Tajikistan has also enacted legislation to support education in minority languages, including Yaghnobi.^[8]

There are two main dialects: a western and an eastern one. They differ primarily in phonetics. For example, historical *θ corresponds to t in the western dialects and s in the eastern: met – mes 'day' from Sogdian mēθ ⟨myθ⟩. Western ay corresponds to Eastern e: wayš – weš 'grass' from Sogdian wayš or wēš ⟨wyš⟩. The early Sogdian group θr (later ṣ̌) is reflected as sar in the east but tir in the west: saráy – tiráy 'three' from Sogdian θrē/θray or ṣ̌ē/ṣ̌ay ⟨δry⟩. There are also some differences in verbal endings and the lexicon. In between the two main dialects is a transitional dialect that shares some features of both other dialects.

^ Yaghnobi at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020)
^ Gernot Windfuhr, 2009, "Dialectology and Topics", The Iranian Languages, Routledge
^ Paul Bergne (15 June 2007). The Birth of Tajikistan: National Identity and the Origins of the Republic. I.B.Tauris. pp. 6–. ISBN 978-1-84511-283-7.
^ "Atlas of the world's languages in danger". unesdoc.unesco.org. p. 40. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
^ Bielmeier. R. Yaghnobi in Encyclopedia Iranica
^ Kazakevich, Olga; Kibrik, Aleksandr (2007). "Language Endangerment in the CIS". In Brenzinger, Matthias (ed.). Language Diversity Endangered. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter Mouton. p. 238. doi:10.1515/9783110197129.233.
^ See С. И. Климчицкий: Секретный язык у ягнобцев и язгулёмцев. In: Академия наук СССР – Труды Таджикистанской базы, т. IX – 1938 – История – язык – литература. Akademijaji Fanho SSSR: Asarhoji ʙazaji Toçikiston, çildi IX – Tarix – zaʙon – adaʙijot. Москва – Ленинград (: Издательство Академии наук СССР), 1940. 104–117.
^ The two deportations of Yaghnob

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[e23-1] Yaghnobi at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020)

[2] Gernot Windfuhr, 2009, "Dialectology and Topics", The Iranian Languages, Routledge

[3] Paul Bergne (15 June 2007). The Birth of Tajikistan: National Identity and the Origins of the Republic. I.B.Tauris. pp. 6–. ISBN 978-1-84511-283-7.

[4] "Atlas of the world's languages in danger". unesdoc.unesco.org. p. 40. Retrieved 2023-03-02.

[7] Bielmeier. R. Yaghnobi in Encyclopedia Iranica

[8] Kazakevich, Olga; Kibrik, Aleksandr (2007). "Language Endangerment in the CIS". In Brenzinger, Matthias (ed.). Language Diversity Endangered. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter Mouton. p. 238. doi:10.1515/9783110197129.233.

[9] See С. И. Климчицкий: Секретный язык у ягнобцев и язгулёмцев. In: Академия наук СССР – Труды Таджикистанской базы, т. IX – 1938 – История – язык – литература. Akademijaji Fanho SSSR: Asarhoji ʙazaji Toçikiston, çildi IX – Tarix – zaʙon – adaʙijot. Москва – Ленинград (: Издательство Академии наук СССР), 1940. 104–117.

[10] The two deportations of Yaghnob

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[2]

[3]

[4]

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[b]

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Yaghnobi
Яғнобӣ зивок Yaghnobī zivok
Native to	Tajikistan
Region	originally from Yaghnob Valley, in 1970s relocated to Zafarobod, in 1990s some speakers returned to Yaghnob
Ethnicity	Yaghnobi people
Native speakers	12,000 (2004)^[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Eastern Northern^[2] Yaghnobi
Early form	Sogdian^[3]
Dialects	Eastern Yaghnobi Western Yaghnobi
Writing system	Cyrillic script Latin script Perso-Arabic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`yai`
Glottolog	`yagn1238`
ELP	Yaghnobi
Linguasphere	`58-ABC-a`
Yaghnobi-speaking areas and enclaves of Yaghnobi-speakers among a Tajik majority
Yaghnobi is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)^[4]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.