Semnani language

Semnani (Semnani: Semani zefön) is one of the local languages of the Semnan Province of Iran. The language belongs to the Northwestern Branch of the Western Iranian languages, and it is a descendant of the now extinct Parthian language. The Semnani language is often labeled as a dialect of Persian.[3]

Linguistic Map of Semnan province
Semnani
Semani zefön
RegionIran
EthnicitySemnani
Native speakers
60,000 (2007)[1]
Dialects
  • Biyabanaki
Language codes
ISO 639-3smy
Glottologsemn1249
ELPSemnani[2]

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal mn(ŋ)
Plosive p bt dk ɡqʔ
Affricate tʃ dʒ
Fricative f vθs zʃ ʒx ɣh
Tap ɾ
Trill (r)
Approximant ljw

(Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant. Allophones are in parentheses.)

Grammar

Syntax

Subjects in Semnani must have gender agreement with the verb in their immediate clause.[4]

Notes
  1. Semnani at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Semnani.
  3. Lecoq, pg. 297
  4. Rezapour, Ebrahim (2015). "Word order in Semnani language based on language typology". IQBQ. 6 (5): 169–190.

Bibliography

Pierre Lecoq. 1989. "Les dialectes caspiens et les dialectes du nord-ouest de l'Iran," Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Ed. Rüdiger Schmitt. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. Pages 296-314.


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