Daylami language
| Daylami | |
|---|---|
| Daylamite, Deylami, Dailamite, Deilami | |
| ديلمی | |
| Native to | Iran |
| Region | South Caspian Sea, Daylam |
| Ethnicity | Daylamites |
| Era | 900–1300 AD[1] |
| Dialects | |
| Persian alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
Daylami, also known as Daylamite, Deilami, Dailamite, or Deylami (Persian: دیلمی, from the name of the Daylam region), is an extinct language that was one of the northwestern branch of the Iranian languages. It was spoken in northern Iran, specifically in the mountainous area in Gīlān. The ALI states that the term "Deylami" is most closely associated with the South Alborz varieties spoken in the historical region of Daylam, even though it is sometimes applied to Galeshi and, by extension, Eastern Gilaki as a whole.[2] This implies that contemporary South Alborz varieties might be direct descendants or especially close relatives of medieval Daylami.
Parviz Natel Khanlari listed this language as one of Iranian dialects spoken between the 9th and 13th centuries. Istakhri, a medieval Iranian geographer, has written about this language, as did Al-Muqaddasi, a medieval Arab geographer, who wrote "they have an obscure language and they use the phoneme khe /x/ a lot."[1] Abū Esḥāq Ṣābī had a similar report on people in the Deylam highlands who spoke a distinct language.[3]
According to Wilfered Madelung, in the early Islamic period the language of the Deylamites was a northwestern Iranian language. One of the characteristics of this language was an added ī sound between consonants and ā (Lāhījān=Līāhījān, Amīrkā=Amīrkīā).[4]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b Mehdi Marashi, Mohammad Ali Jazayery, Persian studies in North America: studies in honor of Mohammad Ali Jazayery, Ibex Publishers, Inc., 1994, ISBN 0-936347-35-X, 9780936347356, p. 269.
- ^ a b "Although the term “Deylami” is most closely associated with South Alborz varieties spoken in the region known as Deylam in the early Islamic Period, which stretched across a mountainous area from present-day south-east Gilan to Komis or Qumes (present-day Semnan Province), it is also still sometimes used to refer to Gālesh Gilaki varieties at the western end of this region, and by extension, Eastern Gilaki as a whole." Atlas of the Languages of Iran. Retrieved 04-03-2026
- ^ Wilferd Madelung. Abū Isḥāq al-Ṣābī on the Alids of Tabaristān and Gīlān. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Jan., 1967), pp. 17-57, University of Chicago Press.
- ^ Wilferd Maelung, Deylamites Encyclopedia Iranica.
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