Semnani languages explained

Semnani
Region:	Iran
Familycolor:	Indo-European
Fam2:	Indo-Iranian
Fam3:	Iranian
Fam4:	Western Iranian
Child1:	Aftari
Child2:	Biyabunaki
Child3:	Lasgerdi
Child4:	Sangsari
Child5:	Semnani
Child6:	Sorkhei
Glotto:	semn1249
Glottoname:	Semnani - Biyabuneki
Glotto2:	komi1276
Glottoname2:	Komisenian

The Semnani languages or Komisenian languages are a group of Northwestern Iranian languages,^[1] spoken in Semnan province (only 68,700 native speakers in 2019^[2]) of Iran that share many linguistic features and structures with Iranian languages. These languages are also called "dialects" in some sources. The Semnani languages are descendants of the extinct Parthian whereas the Caspian languages are descended from the extinct Median.^[3]

There are six Semnani languages named in the literature. Some may be dialects, but there is little published work on their relationships.^[4]

• Semnani (incl. one of several dialects termed 'Biyabunaki')
• Sangsari
• Sorkhei
• Aftari
• Lasgerdi

Cognate sets^[5]

English	Sorkhei	Lasgerdi	Sangsari	Aftari	Biyabunaki
horse	esbā	esbe	esbe	espa	esba
girl	dukkey	dot	döt	dut	dut
blood	xün				xün
large	masīn	masīn	mas/yale	masīn
nose	ven	vinī	xunī	vinī	vēnī
snow	vār	var	varf		var
serpent			mohur		mahar
moon			mūng		māye
woman	žiki	žaki	žekeyn	džek	džinakā

Bibliography

• Habib . Borjian . 2008 . The Komisenian Dialect of Aftar . Archiv Orientální . 76 . 379–416 . 10.7916/D8N02H9X.
• Book: Lecoq, Pierre . 1989 . Les dialectes caspiens et les dialectes du nord-ouest de l'Iran . Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum . Rüdiger . Schmitt . Wiesbaden . Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag . 296–314.

Notes and References

1. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=1712-16 Ethnologue listing for Semnani languages
2. Web site: Semnani Ethnologue.
3. Lecoq, pg. 297
4. C.F. & F.M. Voegelin, Classification and Index of the World's Languages (1977) lists them as dialects of Persian (pg. 185).
   Lecoq, pg. 297 lists them as "dialects" as well.
   Ethnologue lists Semnani, Sorkhei, Lasgerdi, and Sangsari as languages with Biyabunaki as a possible dialect of Semnani and Aftari as a dialect of Sorkhei.
   Linguasphere lists them together in an outer language called Semnani+Sangisari [58-AAC-f] with Semnani and Sangisari listed as inner languages.
   Merritt Ruhlen, A Guide to the World's Languages, Volume 1: Classification (1991) lists Semnani and Sangisari as languages in the Semnani subgroup.
5. Lecoq, pg. 310.