The Western Iranic languages are a branch of the Iranic languages, attested from the time of

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ( ...

(6th century BC) and

Median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic f ...

Languages

The traditional Northwestern branch is a convention for non-Southwestern languages, rather than a genetic group. The languages are as follows:Erik Anonby, Mortaza Taheri-Ardali & Amos Hayes (2019) ''The Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI)''. Iranian Studies 52
A Working Classification
/ref>

Old Iranian period

* Southwest:

†, etc. * Northwest:

†, etc.

Middle Iranian period

* Southwest:

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 P ...

†, etc * Northwest: Parthian†, etc.

Modern period (Neo-Iranian)

* Northwestern Iranian ** Balochi (incl. Koroshi) ** Caspian *** Gilaki (incl. Rudbari, Taleqani) *** Mazandarani (incl. Tabari, Shahmirzadi) *** Gorgani† ** Semnani *** Semnani *** Sangisari *** Lasgerdi- Sorkhei (incl. Aftari) **

Kurdic Kurdish (, ) is a language or a group of languages spoken by Kurds in the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Kurdish constitutes a dialect continuum, belonging to Western Iranian languages in the Indo-European language ...

(acc. Anonby) *** Kurdish ****

Northern Kurdish Kurmanji ( ku, کورمانجی, lit=Kurdish, translit=Kurmancî, also termed Northern Kurdish, is the northern dialect of the Kurdish languages, spoken predominantly in southeast Turkey, northwest and northeast Iran, northern Iraq, northern Sy ...

(Kurmanji) ****

Central Kurdish Central Kurdish (), also called Sorani (), is a Kurdish dialect or a language that is spoken in Iraq, mainly in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan in western Iran. Sorani is one of the two ...

(Sorani) ****

Southern Kurdish Southern Kurdish ( ku, کوردی باشووری ,کوردی خوارگ, Kurdî Başûrî, Kurdî Xwarig) is one of the dialects of the Kurdish language, spoken predominantly in northeastern Iraq and western Iran. The Southern Kurdish-speaking r ...

(incl. Laki and Kurdali) *** Zaza-Gorani ****

Zazaki Zaza or Zazaki (), is an Iranian language spoken primarily in eastern Turkey by the Zazas. The language is a part of the Zaza–Gorani language group of the northwestern group of the Iranian branch. The glossonym Zaza originated as a pejorativ ...

**** Gorani (incl. Hawrami, Sarli,

Shabaki Shabaki is an Indo-Iranian language and belongs to the subgroup Zaza-Gorani of the Northwestern Iranian languages. The Shabaki language is spoken by the Shabak people in the Mosul region of northern Iraq. It has similarities with the Northwester ...

, Bajalani) ** Adharic *** Old Adhari† **** Tatic ***** Talysh (north-central) ***** Gozarkhani (Alamuti) *****North: Harzandi, Karingani (Kalasuri, Khoynarudi) ***** Kho'ini *****South ****** Alviri-Vidari (Alviri, Vidari) ****** Ashtiani (Amora’i, Kahaki, Tafreshi),

Vafsi Vafsi ( Tati: , ''Vowsi'') is a dialect of the Tati language spoken in the Vafs village and surrounding area in the Markazi province of Iran. The dialects of the Tafresh region share many features with the Central Plateau dialects. Grammar V ...

****** Razajerdi, Eshtehardi, Takestani (Ramandi, Kharaqani) ****Central *****Khalkhalic: Kajali, Koresh-e Rostam (Karani), Shahrudi (incl. southern Talysh) ***** Maraghei ***** Upper Taromi, Kabatei ** Khuri (Kavir) **Central Plateau (Kermanic) *** Sivandi *** Judeo-Hamadani, Judeo-Borujerdi *** NW = Khunsari (Judeo-Khunsari, Judeo-Khomeini, Vanishani, Mahallati, Vanishani,

Judeo-Golpaygani Judæo-Golpaygani was a language spoken by the Jewish community living in Golpaygan, in western Isfahan, western Iran. The first records of Jewish communities in this region date to approximately 750 BC. Like most Jewish languages, Judæo-Golpa ...

, etc.) *** NE = Kashanic: Soi (incl. Abuzaydabadi), Natanzi *** SW =

Gazi A ''ghazi'' ( ar, غازي, , plural ''ġuzāt'') is an individual who participated in ''ghazw'' (, '' ''), meaning military expeditions or raiding. The latter term was applied in early Islamic literature to expeditions led by the Islamic prophe ...

(many dialects) *** Southeastern: Zoroastrian Dari (Zoroastrian Yazdi, Judeo-Kermani), Nayini * Southwestern Iranian ** Bashkardi (Southern Bashkardi) ** Garmsiri (Northern Bashkardi, Bandari, Minabi/Minowi–Hormozi: Hormozgan) ** Kumzari **

Achomi Achomi ( fa, اچُمی), also known as Larestani and Khodmooni, is a Southwestern Iranian Persian language spoken by people in southern Fars and western Hormozgan and by significant numbers of immigrant groups in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, ...

(Larestani) **Caucasian Tat (SW Tat): Tat,

Judeo-Tat Judeo-Tat or Juhuri (''cuhuri'', , ) is the traditional language of the Mountain Jews of the eastern Caucasus Mountains, especially Azerbaijan and Dagestan, now mainly spoken in Israel. The language is a dialect of Persian which belongs to the ...

** Persian (dialects:

Iranian Persian Iranian Persian, Western Persian or Western Farsi, natively simply known as Persian (, ), refers to the varieties of the modern Persian language spoken in Iran and by minorities in neighboring countries, as well as by Iranian communities th ...

Judeo-Persian Judeo-Persian refers to both a group of Jewish dialects spoken by the Jews living in Iran and Judeo-Persian texts (written in Hebrew alphabet). As a collective term, Judeo-Persian refers to a number of Judeo-Iranian languages spoken by Jewish com ...

Dari Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī ...

(incl. Madaglashti), Tajik &

Judeo-Bukharic Bukharian (autonym: Bukhori, Hebrew script: בוכארי, Cyrillic: бухорӣ, Latin: ''Buxorī'') is a Judeo-Persian dialect historically spoken by Bukharan Jews of Central Asia. It is a Jewish dialect derived from —and largely mutually in ...

, Hazaragi, Aimaq, Sistani, Pahlavani Persian†) ** Persid *** Shushtari– Dezfuli *** Luri (incl. Bakhtiari) *** Kuhmareyi (incl. Davani) *** (see also

Persid dialects of Khuzestan Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it cov ...

) ** Fars (numerous SW Fars dialects: Heshnizi, Gavbandi, Dashtini, Kangani, Jami, Bardesuni (Bardestani), Khenesiri, Bordekhuni, Dashtiyati (Dashti), Tangesiri (incl. Delvari), Khormuji, Khayizi, Ahrami, Bushehri, Bandar Rig (Fars of Bandar Rig), Genaveyi, Deylami (Liravi)†, Dashtesuni (Dashtestani),

Judeo-Shirazi Judeo-Shirazi is a dialect of Fars. It is spoken mostly by Persian Jews living in Shiraz and surrounding areas of the Fars Province in Iran. Vocabulary The following list of words indicates a few isoglosses distinguishing Judeo-Shirazi from t ...

, etc.) There is also a recently described, and as yet unclassified, Batu'i language that is presumably Western Iranian. Extinct Deilami is sometimes classified in the Caspian branch. An Iranian Khalaj language has been claimed, but does not exist; the Khalaj speak a Turkic language. Many of the languages and dialects spoken in Markazi and Isfahan provinces are giving way to Persian in the younger generations.Central dialects
Gernot Windfuhr, Encyclopedia Iranica It is to note that the Caspian languages (incl. Adharic), the central dialects, and the Zaza-Gorani languages are likely descended from a later form of

with varying amounts of Parthian substrata, whereas the

Semnani languages The Semnani languages or Komisenian languages are a group of Northwestern Iranian languages, spoken in Semnan province (only 68,700 native speakers in 2019) of Iran that share many linguistic features and structures with Iranian languages. These ...

were likely descended from Parthian. 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, p. 297

References

Bibliography

* Pierre Lecoq. 1989. "Les dialectes caspiens et les dialectes du nord-ouest de l'Iran," ''Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum'', ed. Rüdiger Schmitt. Wiesbaden: L. Reichert Verlag, 1989; p. 99.