language documentation

Markazi province is located in the center of Iran with 1.8% of the area of Iran and approximately 1% of the Iran population. In this research, based on the instructions of the “Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI)”, the language distribution and the approximate percentage of the speakers of Markazi province were obtained. The results show that the local Persian language (Persian with an accent, for example, Araki Persian), standard Persian, Turkish group, Luri, Raji, Khalaji group and South Tati language group (including: Vafsi, Alviri, Kahaki, Vidari), Lakki and Kurdish have the most speakers in the province respectively. Vafsi, Kohki, Amrei, Raji, Alviri, Vidari languages are among the most endangered languages. Laki, Kurdish and Lori languages are local languages whose speakers have migrated to this province from other regions of the country, due to the industrial hub of Markazi Province. Statistical results of the research show that in Markazi province, speakers of the local Persian varieties include around 42.33%, speakers of standard Persian include around 33.11%, speakers of Turkish group around 14.36%, speakers of Lori group around 4.49%, speakers of mixed languages around 3.06%, speakers of Raji around 1.81%, speakers of Khalaji around 0.450%, speakers of South Tati language around 0.287 %, speakers of Laki of Kermanshah around 0.10%, and speakers of Kurdish around 0.003%, of the population of the province.

Iran is home to a treasury of languages representing diverse language families: Iranic, Turkic, Semitic, Indic, Dravidian, Armenian, and Kartvelian, as well as sign languages. Despite valuable research carried out by Iranian and western scholars, there is still no comprehensive publication depicting the geographic distribution and linguistic status of language varieties in Iran. In order to work toward this goal, the Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI) (www.iranatlas.net) was officially launched in 2015 as an international, online research programme. The present study opens with a historical overview of the research context and underlines the ongoing necessity of constructing such an atlas for the languages of Iran. The article then outlines the design of the Atlas, the methodology necessary to guide and organize the research project, and the results which are being generated. Specifically, we look at the Atlas bibliography, classification of Iran’s languages, the design of a set of linguistic data questionnaires, and findings from fieldwork. Selected initial research results from fieldwork in Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiari and Hormozgan Provinces, where the research process is most advanced, are provided in the form of linguistic data maps.

Endangered languages and dialects, as a mirror of cultural and civilizational history, constitute a major part of spiritual heritage and national identity of a country. “Dialectology” is a methodological measure. In Iran, this field of study lacks a rich literature since the only core of reference is the few graduate theses done in the area of linguistic research and some other few relevant academic fields. While the studies of dialectology have been carried out in Iran since 1961, no general or determined university unit of study has been assigned to “dialectology” in academic curricula. Consequently, no specific textbook has been developed to better organize and cover this subject. In this article, the internationally oriented attention paid to this field of study is reviewed and the existing national Iranian dialects with their branches have been listed. Besides, a sort of complete portrait of all the national researches concerning “dialectology” has been presented to the readers to make available better studies. Finally, after the explanation of the existing models, the apt path of developing the needed material to this end is mapped while the possible obstacles of specifying an independent university course unit of study have been introduced and discussed. Inclusion of a “dialectology” unit in the curricula of the relevant fields is impressively advised to pave the way for the purposeful composition and presentation of textbooks for This subject.