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.[2]
| Semnani | |
|---|---|
| سمنی زفون Semani zefön | |
| Region | Iran |
| Ethnicity | Semnani |
Native speakers | 70,000 (2021)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | smy |
| Glottolog | semn1249 |
| ELP | Semnani |
Phonology
editConsonants
edit| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | (ŋ) | |||||
| Plosive | p b | t d | k ɡ | q | ʔ | |||
| Affricate | tʃ dʒ | |||||||
| Fricative | f v | θ | s z | ʃ ʒ | x ɣ | h | ||
| Tap | ɾ | |||||||
| Trill | (r) | |||||||
| Approximant | l | j | w |
(Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant. Allophones are in parentheses.)
Grammar
editSyntax
editSubjects in Semnani must have gender agreement with the verb in their immediate clause.[3]
Notes
edit- ^ Semnani at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- ^ Habib Borjian: . In: . Nr. 2. Brill, 2009
- ^ Rezapour, Ebrahim (2015). "Word order in Semnani language based on language typology". IQBQ. 6 (5): 169–190.
Bibliography
editPierre 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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