2013 Monographs

Is there Continuity between Persian and Caspian? Linguistic Relationships in South-Central Alborz

Borjian, Habib

South-central Alborz is a language transition zone bounded by the Caspian, Persian, and Tatic language groups. In the upper valleys of the Jajrud and Karaj rivers, separated from both Tehran and Mazandaran by mountains, rest dozens of villages with vanishing dialects that show various degrees of affinity with the neighboring languages. The dialectological position of this area in relation to the rest of West Iranian has not been identified, nor is the intra-dialectal relationships of the area explored. The objective of this study is to categorize the relationships among the dialects by making explicit the areal distribution of major linguistic differences in phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon. The analysis is based on 48 isoglosses from 35 localities spread out throughout the region. Due attention is paid to historical, socio-economic, and migrational factors.

Keywords: Rudbar-e Qasran, Jajrud and Karaj rivers, Shemiran, Tabari (Mazandarani), Persian, Central Caspian dialects, typology, areal distribution, language convergence