The sounds of the letters on every row, pronounced in each language, may not correspond fully.

Monophthongs
Sound (in IPA)	1929-1938	Perso-Arabic script	Azeri Latin	Cyrillic	Other Romanization	Example(s)
ɒ:	a	آ , ا	a	a	â	âv
æ	a	َ , اَ	-	а	a, ä	asta
ə	ә	ِ , اِ or َ , اَ	ə	ə	e, a	esa
e:	e	ِ , اِ	e	e	e	nemek
o	o	ا , ُ , و	o	о	o	šalvo
u	u	او , و	u	y	u	udmi
y	u	او , و	ü	y	ü	salü, kü, düri, Imrü
i	ъ	ای, ی	I	ы	i	bila
i:	i	ای, ی	i	и	i, ị	neči, xist

[edit] phonological divergence regarding Persian

The general phonological differences of some Talyshi dialects with respect to standard Persian is as follows ^[5]:

phonological change	Taleshdulabi / Khushabari Example	Persian		English
u → â	duna	dâne		seed
i → starting "e"	insân	ensân		human being
e → u	tarâze	terâzu		balance (the apparatus)
e → o	xerâk	xorâk		food
"a" in compound words → "eliminated"	mâng-a-tâv	mah-tâb		moonlight

[edit] Diphthongs

Diphthongs
Sound (in IPA)	Perso-Arabic script	Azeri Latin	Cyrillic	Other Romanization	Example(s)
ɒ:ɪ	آی , ای			âi, ây	bâyl, dây
aʊ	اَو			aw	dawlat
æɪ	اَی			ai, ay	ayvona, ayr
oʊ	اُو			ow, au	kow
eɪ	اِی			ey, ei, ay, ai	keybânu
æ:ɐ	اَ			ah	zuah, soahvona, buah, yuahnd, kuah, kuahj
e:ɐ	اِ			eh	âdueh, sueh, danue'eh
ɔʏ	اُی			oy	doym, doymlavar

[edit] Consonants

Sound (in IPA)	1929-1938	Perso-Arabic script	Azeri Latin	Cyrillic	Other Romanization	Example(s)
p	p	پ	p	п	p	pitâr
b	в	ب	b	б	b	bejâr
t	t	ت , ط	t	т	t	tiž
d	d	د	d	д	d	debla
k	k	ک	k	к	k	kel
ɡ	g	گ	g	г	g	gaf
ʔ	-	ء , ع	-	-	' , Ø	amal
tʃ	c, ç	چ	ç	ч	ch, č, c	čâki
dʒ	j	ج	c	ҹ	j, ĵ	jâr
f	f	ف	f	ф	f	fel
v	v	و	v	в	v	vaj
s	s	س , ص, ث	s	с	s	savz
z	z	ز , ذ , ض , ظ	z	з	z	zeng
ʃ	ş	ش	ş	ш	sh, š	šav
ʒ	ƶ	ژ	j	ж	zh, ž	ža
x	x	خ	x	x	kh, x	xâsta
ɣ	ƣ	غ	ğ	ғ	gh, q	quša
q	q	ق	q	г	gh, q	qarz
h	h	ه , ح	h	һ	h	haka
m	m	م	m	м	m	muža
n	n	ن	n	н	n	nân
l	l	ل	l	л	l	lar
L mixed with i (probably ʎ[dubious – discuss])	l	ل	l	л	l	xâlâ, avâla, dalâ, domlavar, dalaza
ɾ	r	ر	r	р	r	raz
j	y	ی	y	ј	y, j	yânza

[edit] phonological divergence regarding Persian

And some differences with Persian^[5]:

phonological change	Taleshdulabi / Khushabari Example	Persian		English
v → b	âv	âb		water
f → b	sif	sib		apple
x → h	xâsta	âheste		slow
t → d	tert	tord		brittle
j → ž	mija	može		eyelash
m → n	šamba	šanbe		saturday
"eliminated" → "middle h"	mēra	mohre		bead
"eliminated" → "ending h"	ku	kuh		mountain

[edit] Grammar

Talyshi has a Subject Object Verb word order. In some situations the case marker, 'i' or 'e' attaches to the accusative noun phrase. There is no definite article, and the indefinite one is "i". The plural is marked by the suffixes "un", "ēn" and also "yēn" for nouns ending with vowels. Unlike oftener cases in Persian, modifiers are preceded by nouns, for example: "maryami kitav" (Mary's book) and "kava daryâ" (livid sea). Like the most other Iranian dialects there are two categories of inflection, subject and object cases. The "present stem" is used for the imperfect and the "past stem" for the present in the verbal system. That differentiantes Talyshi from most other Western Iranian dialects. In the present tense, verbal affixes cause a rearranging of the elements of conjugation in some dialects like Tâlešdulâbi, e.g for expressing the negation of b-a-dašt-im (I sew), "ni" is used in the following form: ni-m-a-dašt (I don't sew)."m" is first person singular marker, "a" denotes duration and "dašt" is the past stem.

[edit] Pronouns

Talyshi is a null-subject, so nominal pronouns (eg. I, he, she) are optional. For first person singular, both "az" and "men" are used. Person suffixes are not added to stems for "men"^[5]. Examples:

• men xanda. (I read.), az bexun-em (Should I read ...)
• men daxun! (Call me!), az-daxun-em (Should I call ...)

Normal Forms
Person	Singular	Plural
1st	az/âz, men	ama
2nd	te	šema
3rd	ay	ayēn

There are three prefixes in Talyshi and Tati added to normal forms making possessive pronouns. They are: "če / ča" and "eš / še":

Possessive Pronouns
Person	Singular	Plural
1st	če-men, če-mi	ča-ma
2nd	eš-te	še-ma
3rd	ča-y, ča	čai:mun

[edit] Verbs

• preverbs: â/o, da, vi/i/ē/â, pē/pi
• Negative Markers: ne, nē, ni
• Subjunctive/Imperative prefix: be
• Durative markers: a, ba, da

The follwoing Person Suffixes are used in different dialetcs and for different verbs.^[5]

Person Suffixes
Person	Singular	Plural
1st	-em, -ema, -emē, -ima, -um, -m	-am, -emun(a), -emun(ē), -imuna, -imun
2nd	-i, -er(a), -eyē, -išaو -š	-a, -erun(a), -eyunē, -iruna, -iyun
3rd	-e, -eš(a), -eš(ē), -a, -ē, -u	-en, -ešun(a), -ešun(ē), -ina, -un

[edit] Conjugations

The past stem is inflected by removing the infinitive marker (ē), however the present stem and jussive mood are not so simple in many cases and are irregular. For some verbs, present and past stems are identical. The "be" imperative marker is not added situationally.^[11] The following tables show the conjugations for first-person singular of "sew" in some dialects of the three dialectical categouries^[5]:

[edit] Stems and imperative mood

Stems and Imperative mood
	Northern (Lavandavili)	Central (Taleshdulabi)	Southern (Khushabari)	Tati (Kelori)
Infinitive	dut-ē	dašt-ē	dēšt-ē	dut-an
Past stem	dut	dašt	dēšt	dut
Present stem	dut	dērz	dērz	duj
Imperative	be-dut	be-dērz	be-dērz	be-duj

[edit] Active voice

Active Voice
Form	Tense	Northern (Lavandavili)	Central (Taleshdulabi)	Southern (Khushabari)	Tati (Kelori)
Infinitive	-	dut-ē	dašt-ē	dēšt-ē	dut-an
Indicative	Present	dute-da-m	ba-dašt-im	dērz-em	dujem
„	Preterite	dut-emē	dašt-em	dēšt-em	bedutem
„	Perfect	dutamē	dašta ma	dēšt-a-ma	dute mē
„	Imperfective perfect	dute-aymē	adērz-ima	dērz-ima	dujisēym
„	Pluperfect	dut-am bē	dašt-am-ba	dēšt-am-ba	dut-am-bē
„	Future	pima dutē	pima daštē	pima dēštē	xâm dutan
„	Present progressive	dute da-m	kâr-im daštē	kâra dērz-em	kerâ dujem
„	Preterite progressive	dut dab-im	kârb-im daštē	kârb-im dēštē	kerâ dujisēym
Subjunctive	Present	be-dut-em	be-dērz-em	be-dērz-em	be-duj-em
„	Preterite	dut-am-bu	dašt-am-bâ	dēšt-am-bu	dutam-bâ
Conditional	preterite	dutam ban	ba-dērzim	be-dērzim	bedujim

[edit] Passive voice

Passive Voice
Form	Tense	Northern (Lavandavili)	Central (Taleshdulabi)	Southern (Khushabari)	Tati (Kelori)
Infinitive	-	dut-ē	dašt-ē	dēšt-ē	dut-an
Indicative	Present	duta bē dam	dašta babim	dēšta bum	duta bum
„	Preterite	duta bēm	dašta bima	dēšta bima	bedujisim
„	Imperfective preterite	duta be-am be	dašta abima	dēšta bistēm	duta bisim
„	Perfect	duta beam	dašta baima	dērzistaima	dujisim
„	Pluperfect	duta beam bē	dērzista bim	dērzista bim	dujisa bim
„	Present progressive	duta bē dam	kâra dašta babima	kšra dēšta bum	kerâ duta bum
„	Preterite progressive	duta bēdabim	kâra dašta abima	kâra dēšta bistēymun	kerâ duta bisim
Subjunctive	Present	duta bebum	dašta bebum	dēšta bebum	duta bebum
„	Preterite	duta beabum	dašta babâm	dēšta babâm	dujisa biya-bâm

[edit] Case markers and prepositions

There are four "cases" in Talyshi, the nominative (unmarked), the genitive, the (definite) accusative and ergative. The accusative form is often used to express the simple indirect object in addition to the direct object. These "cases" are in origin actually just particles, similar to Persian prepositions like "râ".

Case markers and prepositions
Case	Marker	Example(s)		English
Nominative	-	sepa ve davaxa.		The dog barked much.
Accusative	-i	gerd-i âda ba men		Give them all to me!
„	-e	âv-e-m barda		I took the water.
Genitive	-kâ, -ku (from)	ba-i-kâ-r če bapi		What do you want from him?
„	-ka, -anda (in)	âstâra-ka tâleši gaf bažēn		They talk Talyshi in Astara.
„	-na (with)	âtaši-na mezâ maka		Don't play with fire!
„	-râ, -ru (for)	me-râ kâr baka te-râ yâdbigē		Work for me, learn for yourself.
„	-ken (of)	ha-ken hēsta ča (čečiya)		What is of which is left?
„	ba (to)	ba em denyâ del mabēnd		Don't take the world dear to your heart!
Ergative	-i	a palang-i do lorzon-i (Aorist)		That leopard shook the tree.

[edit] Vocabulary

English		Northern (Lavandavili / Lankaroni)	Central (Taleshdulabi)	Southern (Khushabari / Shandermani)	Tati (Kelori / Geluzani)	Persian
big		yul	yâl	yâl	pilla	bozorg, gat, (yal, pil)
boy, son		zoa, zua	zôa , zue	zu'a, zoa	zâ	Pesar
bride		vayü	vayu	gēša, veyb	vayu, vēi	arus
cat		kete, pišik, piš	peču	peču, pešu, piši	pešu	gorbe, piši
cry (v)		bamē	beramestē	beramē	beramesan	geristan
daughter, girl (little)		kina, kela	kilu, kela	kina, kel(l)a	kille, kilik	doxtar
day		rüž, ruj	ruz	ruz, roz	ruz	ruz
eat (v)		hardē	hardē	hardē	hardan	xordan
egg		uva, muqna, uya	âgla	merqona	xâ, merqowna	toxme morq
eye		čâš	čaš, čam	čēm	čašm	čašm
father		dada, piya, biya	dada	?	pē	pedar
fear (v)		purnē, târsē	târsinē, tarsestē	tarsē	tarsesan	tarsidan
flag		filak	parčam	?	?	parčam, derafš
food		xerâk	xerâk	xerâk	xuruk	xorâk
house/room		ka	ka	ka	ka	xâne
language; tongue		zivon	zun	zavon	zuân	zabân
moon		mâng, uvešim	mâng	mang	mung, meng	mâh
mother		mua, mu, nana	nana	?	mâ, dēdē, nana	mâdar, nane
mouth		qav, gav	ga, gav, ga(f)	qar	gar	dahân, kak
night		šav	šaw	šav	šav	šab
north		kubasu	šimâl	?	?	šemâl
rice		berz	berz	berj	berenj	berenj
say (v)		votē	vâtē	vâtē	vâtan	goftan
sister		huva, hova, ho	xâlâ, xolo	xâ	xâv, xâ	xâhar
small		ruk, gada	ruk	ruk	velle, xš	kučak
sunset		šânga	maqrib	?	?	maqreb
sunshine		haši	âftâv	?	?	âftâb
water		uv, ôv	âv	âv	âv	âb
woman, wife		žēn	žēn, žen	yen, žen	zanle, zan	zan
yesterday		zina	zir, izer	zir, zer	zir	diruz, di

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Asatrian, G., and Habib Borjian, “Talish: people and language: The state of research,” Iran and the Caucasus 9/1, 2005, pp. 43-72 (published by Brill).
• Bazin, M., 1974. Le Tâlech et les tâlechi: Ethnic et region dans le nord-ouest de l’Iran, Bulletin de l’Association de Geographes Français, no. 417-418, 161-170.
• Bazin, M., 1979. Recherche des papports entre diversité dialectale et geographie humaine: l’example du Tâleš, G. Schweizer, (ed.), Interdisciplinäre Iran-Forschung: Beiträge aus Kulturgeographie, Ethnologie, Soziologie und Neuerer Geschichte, Wiesbaden, 1-15.
• Bazin, M., 1981. Quelque échantillons des variations dialectales du tâleši, Studia Iranica 10, 111-124, 269-277.
• Yarshater, E., 1996. The Taleshi of Asalem. Studia Iranica, 25, New York.
• Yarshater, E., "Tâlish". Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., vol. 10.

[edit] External links

• TolishRadio
• Ethnologue report for Talysh
• Positive Orientation Towards the Vernacular among the Talysh of Sumgayit
• Example of Talyshi Language
• B. Miller. Talysh language and the languages of Azeri. (In Russian)
• A. Mamedov, k.f.n. Talishes as carriers of the ancient language of Azerbaijan. (In Russian)

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