| Semnani | |
| Nativename: | سمنی زفون Semani zefön |
| Region: | Iran |
| Date: | 2021 |
| Ref: | e26 |
| Ethnicity: | Semnani |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Indo-Iranian |
| Fam3: | Iranian |
| Fam4: | Western Iranian |
| Fam5: | Northwestern |
| Fam6: | Semnani |
| Dia1: | Biyabanaki |
| Iso3: | smy |
| Glotto: | semn1249 |
| Glottorefname: | Semnani-Biyabuneki |
Semnani (سمنی زفون, Semani zefön) (known also as Komisenian languages) is one of the local languages of the Semnan Province of Iran. Despite the common misconception that Semnani is a Persian dialect, the language belongs to the Northwestern branch of the Western Iranian languages. Like other Caspian languages, it bears some resemblance to the Old Iranian Median language and was influenced by Parthian in a later process.[1]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /m/ | pronounced as /n/ | pronounced as /(ŋ)/ | ||||||
| Plosive | pronounced as /p b/ | pronounced as /t d/ | pronounced as /k ɡ/ | pronounced as /q/ | pronounced as /ʔ/ | ||||
| Affricate | pronounced as /tʃ dʒ/ | ||||||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /f v/ | pronounced as /θ/ | pronounced as /s z/ | pronounced as /ʃ ʒ/ | pronounced as /x ɣ/ | pronounced as /h/ | |||
| Tap | pronounced as /ɾ/ | ||||||||
| Trill | pronounced as /(r)/ | ||||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /l/ | pronounced as /j/ | pronounced as /w/ |
Subjects in Semnani must have gender agreement with the verb in their immediate clause.[2]
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.