Talysh language emerged from the group of ancient Iranian languages and is close to Kurdish, Tajik, Farsi, Baluchi. The self-name of a nation speaking this language is “tolysh” or “tolyshon”. In the scientific community, there are 2 versions about its origin. Some linguists consider it a descendant of the ancient Azerbaijani language, which existed before the era of Turkization, while others consider it, although akin to Azerbaijani, but unique in genealogy.
General characteristics and study history
Talysh is one of the languages of a large Caucasian group. The history of his study began not so long ago - from the 19th century. The first monograph was published in 1842 by the Russian Iranian A. Hadzkon. The development of this language is inextricably linked with the culture of Azerbaijan. Among linguists, there is an opinion that it is a “fragment” of the ancient Azerbaijani language of the Iranian branch. According to the vocabulary, he is one of the richest in the world.
Many researchers consider it unwritten. In Iran, Arabic script is used to transmit Talysh speech. In Azerbaijan, with the advent of Soviet power, in the late 1920s. Latin was introduced to write the letters of the Talysh alphabet, and in 1939 an attempt was made to translate it into Cyrillic.
In the 30s. XX century many textbooks and fiction were published in this language, his dialects were investigated. In recent years, interest in him has increased due to the growth of national identity of this nation.
Origin
Until the 17th century In the south of Azerbaijan there lived an ancient people who spoke Azeri, belonging to the north-western subgroup of Iranian languages. Starting from the 11th century the size of this nation began to decline gradually, and its language began to give way to Turkic dialects. By the end of the Mongol era, the indigenous Iranian population almost completely adopted the language of the Türks.
In addition to Turkic roots, the Talish component also contains a Median component. The Median language in ancient times was very close to Persian. Round dance songs in Talysh language - “Khalai” and “Hall” serve as evidence of the influence of the Medes culture. From ancient times they existed among women of this nationality. According to ancient legend, earlier men took part in them, dancing in one of the sides of the round dance. They were arranged in honor of Lo (or Lou, Lotani) - a dragon personifying the elements of fire and water. In ancient times, the Armenians called the Medes “dragonids”, descended from the clan of Azhdagak (from Persian “ajaga” - “dragon”). In the subsequent tradition to drive such round dances preserved in the Talysh wedding ceremony.
In the words of the Talysh language one can distinguish parallels with other languages: Arabic, Russian, Iranian, Persian.
Carriers
Information on the number of Talysh is contradictory. According to the official census of 2009, about 130 thousand live in Iran, and about 92 thousand people live in Azerbaijan (just over 1% of the population). The Azerbaijani government does not conduct special studies in this direction. The figures indicated by some researchers are considered underestimated, since Talysh are recorded as Azerbaijanis during the collection of demographic data. According to other estimates, the total number in both countries exceeds 1 million people.
The main group of speakers of this language lives in the south-west of the Caspian coast, in the border strip between Iran and Azerbaijan. Anthropologically, they belong to the southern type of Caucasians. In Azerbaijan, Talysh are concentrated in 4 regions with a mild subtropical climate:
- Lankaran (administrative center - Lankaran).
- Astara (Astara).
- Lerik (Lerik).
- Masallinsky (Massaly).
A rather large community of Talyshs exists in Baku and in the city of Sumgait, in which their number reaches 1/3 of the total population. In Iran, this ethnic group also lives in a compact group, in the low part of the Caspian coast (Gilan and Ardabil provinces).
Features
Talysh language features are the following archaic moments inherent in many Turkic languages:
- weak distinction between tenses and verb modality;
- low differentiation of moods;
- fuzzy time differentiation;
- lack of differences in pledges;
- polysemy of verbs;
- fuzzy distinction of singularity and multiplicity.
In this language, 4 dialects are distinguished by the name of the regions of Azerbaijan in which the Talysh live. Massalinsky is very close to Lenkoran. In these two dialects in the group of letters “st”, “t” disappears. The difference between the dialects also lies in the different phonetic appearance of the same-root words and in the formation of the negative form of verbs.
Current state
At present, the Talysh language is well studied, several dictionaries have been published, among which we can single out the 1976 edition authored by L. A. Pireiko. This dictionary has 6,600 words; proverbs and aphorisms are collected in the areas where the people live. In 2002, A. Abdoli’s book “Comparative Dictionary of Talysh, Tat, and Ancient Azeri” was also released, and in 2006, a Russian-Talysh dictionary with more than 140,000 words was published.
Despite this, this language is not widely used in the media of Azerbaijan. Several periodicals are issued. The language is taught in elementary grades and as an optional subject in schools, but it still remains more of a means for verbal communication in everyday life.