The Azerbaijanian language, also called Azeri, Azari, Azeri Turkish, or Azerbaijanian Turkish, is the official language of Republic of Azerbaijan. It's called az ərbaycanca in Azerbaijani. Some dialects of the language are spoken in many parts of Iran (but most notably in the northwestern areas, known as the Iranian Azarbaijan), where it is the most popular minority language and there are more speakers than any other country in the world. The language is also spoken in Russia's Republic of Dagestan, south-eastern Georgia, northern Iraq, and eastern Turkey. This article is about the alphabet officially used in linguistics. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word phone = sound/voice) is the study of speech sounds (voice). ... In computing, Unicode is the international standard whose goal is to provide the means to encode the text of every document people want to store in computers. ... Technical Note: Most IPA symbols are not included in Times New Roman, the default font for Latin scripts in Internet Explorer for Windows. ... An official language is something that is given a unique status in the countries, states, and other territories. ... Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan) is a country in the Caucasus with an east coast on the Caspian Sea. ... Iran ( Persia: ایران) is a Middle Eastern country located in southwestern Asia that until 1935 was referred to in the West as Persia. ... The Iranian Azerbaijan or Iranian Azarbaijan (Persian: آذربایجان ایران; Āzarbāyjān-e Irān) is a region in the northwest of Iran, approximately consisting of the provinces of Ardabil, East Azarbaijan, and West Azarbaijan. ... A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a country. ... The Republic of Dagestan (Russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н) is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). ... Georgia ( Georgian: საქართველო Sakartvelo), known from 1991 to 1995 as the Republic of Georgia, is a country to the east of the Black Sea in the southern Caucasus. ... The Republic of Iraq is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern Asia encompassing the ancient region of Mesopotamia. ...

There are approximately between 22 and 50 million native Azerbaijanian speakers. It is a Turkic language of Oghuz branch, closely related to Turkish and also historically influenced by Persian and Arabic languages. The Turkic languages are a group of closely related languages that are spoken by a variety of people distributed across a vast area from Eastern Europe to Siberia and Western China. ... Turkish (Türkçe or Türk dili) is a Turkic language, spoken natively by over 100 million speakers in Turkey, Cyprus, and worldwide. ... Persia or Persian most often refer to: Persia The Persians, an ethnic group, also called Tajiks Persian language Persian (Pokémon) See also Iranian, Iranian peoples, Iranian languages and Aryan. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ...

Nomenclature

During the initial period of the Republic of Azerbaijan's independence, the official language of Azerbaijan was called "Türk dili" ("Turkish"), but since 1994 the older name of the language, "Azərbaycan dili" ("Azerbaijanian"), has been re-established. The most important literary magazine of the language published in Iran, Varliq, uses the English term "Turkish" and the Persian term "torki" for the language. Most Iranians casually call the language turki or torki, distinguishing it from the Turkey's official language, Turkish, by calling the latter a term which can be translated as Istanbul Turkish. Some people also consider "Azerbaijanian" a dialect of a greater "Turkish" language and call it "Azerbaijanian-Turkish". ISO and the Unicode Consortium, call the language "Azerbaijani". 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Iran ( Persia: ایران) is a Middle Eastern country located in southwestern Asia that until 1935 was referred to in the West as Persia. ... Iso (iso-) is a prefix indicating similarity or equality. ... In computing, Unicode is the international standard whose goal is to provide the means to encode the text of every document people want to store in computers. ...

Some sources like Gholamhossein Mosahab's The Persian Encyclopedia consider Azari/Azeri to be a different language, an older Iranian Tati language which was spoken in the region before the spread of Turkic languages, but now only spoken by different rural communities in Iran's Azerbaijan (such as villages in Harzanabad area, villages around Khalkhal and Ardebil, and also in Zanjan and Qazvin area). There are serious supporters and opposers of the theory (and even some who consider it offensive), which was originally published by Ahmad Kasravi in modern times, an ethnic Azerbaijanian and a native of Iran. Some of the people who disagree with Kasravi's theory prefer not to call themselves or their language Azeri or Azari because of the relation to the theory. Common usage of the terms in the English language is against this distinction. Gholamhossein Mosahab (غلامحسین مصاحب in Persian), (1910-1979) was the author of Mosahab Persian Encyclopedia, the only authoritative Persian encyclopedia published in Iran. ... Categories: Literature stubs | Encyclopedias | Iran ... Tati can refer to: An alternative romanization of the Japanese word tachi. ... Ardebil is a historical city in north-western Iran. ... Zanjan Province ... Qazvin may refer to: Qazvin (city) Qazvin province Note: Qazvin province was created in 1996; older references to Qazvin are invariably to the city. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Documentation in support of the theory however is ample:

History and Evolution

The medieval author Ibn al-Nadim, in his book Al-fihrist, however, mentions that all the Median and Persian lands of antiquity (including what is today known as Azerbaijan ) spoke one language. There, he quotes the great scholar Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa as such: The Shiite scholar Ibn al-Nadim (Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq, died September 17, 995 or 998) was the author of the Kitab al-Fihrist, a bibliographic index of Arabic books, which he says he completed in 987-8CE. Of his life so little... Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan) is a country in the Caucasus, in the crossroads of Europe and Southwest Asia, with an east coast on the Caspian Sea. ... Abdullah Ibn Dhadawayh, also known as Ibn al-Muqaffa (d. ...

"The Iranian languages are Fahlavi (Pahlavi), Dari, Khuzi, Farsi (Persian), and Seryani. But Fahlavi comes from the word Fahleh. And Fahleh is a name that refers to 5 regions: Isfahan, Ray, Hamedan, Mah-Nahavand, and Azerbaijan."

He then reports that Dari is the official language of the royal courts, and is from Khorasan and Balkh and eastern Iran; Parsi is the language of the Zoroastrian Moobeds, and is from Fars; Khuzi is the unofficial language of the royalty and is from Khuzestan ; and Seryani originates from Mesopotamia. Isfahan or Esfahan can refer to either a city or a province in Iran: Isfahan (city) Isfahan (province) Isfahan (rugs) Ispahan a kind of rose and an older pronounciation of the citys name. ... Ray has several meanings. ... This page is about city of Hamedan. ... Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan) is a country in the Caucasus, in the crossroads of Europe and Southwest Asia, with an east coast on the Caspian Sea. ... Khorasan (also spelled Khurasan and Khorassan; خراسان in Persian) is an area, located in eastern and northeastern Iran. ... Balkh is now a small town in the Province of Balkh, Afghanistan, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital. ... Zoroastrianism was adapted from an earlier, polytheistic faith by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) in Persia very roughly around 1000 BC (although, in the absence of written records, some scholars estimates are as late as 600 BC). ... External links Official website of Fars Governorship Categories: Iran geography stubs | Provinces of Iran ... External links Official website of Khuzestan Governorship Categories: Iran geography stubs | Provinces of Iran ...

This has also been reported by reputed medieval historians such as Al-Tabari, Ebne Hoghel, Istakhri, Moqaddasi, Yaghubi, Masudi, and Mostowfi Qazvini as well. Al-Khwarizmi also mentions this in chapter 6, vol 6, of his book Mafatih-ol-Olum. The name al-Tabari means simply from Tabaristan, thus more than one Muslim scholar is known by this designation: Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari, Ali the scholar from Tabiristan (838-870 A.D.) was the writer of a medical encyclopedia and the teacher of the scholar physician Zakariya al... Abd al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn Masudi (d. ... Tomb of Hamdollah Mostowfi, Qazvin, Iran. ... Soviet postage stamp commemorating the 1200th anniversary of Muhammad al‑Khwarizmi in 1983. ...

Etymological studies also further indicate that current dialects spoken from Baku to Khalkhal to Semnan, all originated from a common source. In other words, the people of ancient Azerbaijan spoke the same language spoken by the Medes. (see UCLA's distinguished professor Ehsan Yarshater's report in: Majjaleh-ye Daaneshkadehye Adabiyaat, 5, No 1-2, p35-37) Baku (or Bakı (Baky) pronounced ba-KEY, Баку or Bakı in Azeri, باکو (Baku) in Persian) is the capital of Azerbaijan Republic. ... Semnan may refer to: Semnan province Semnan (city) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Medes were an Iranian people of Aryan origin who lived in the western and north-western portion of present-day Iran. ... The University of California, Los Angeles, popularly known as UCLA, is a public, coeducational university situated in the neighborhood of Westwood within the city of Los Angeles. ... Ehsan Yarshater, of Columbia University, is one of the worlds leading Iranologists. ...

The medieval historian Yaqut al-Hamawi also used the phrase Al-ajam-ol-Azariyah ("The Azeri Iranian") in his books Mo'ajjem ol-Odabaa and Mo'jem ol Baladaan. In other sources such as Surat-ol-Arz by Ebne Hoghel, Ahsan ol-Taqaaseem by Moqaddasi, and Masaalik va Mamaalik by Istakhri, the people of Azerbaijan are recorded to be speaking Iranian languages. Obviously, this was before the Turkic cultural arrival. And Tabari in 235 A.H. also mentions that poets in Maragheh recited poetry in Pahlavi. Some Azerbaijani poets however, such as Qatran Tabrizi (d465 A.H.), used the word "Persian" and "Pahlavi" interchangeably to describe their native language. Yaqut (Yaqut ibn-Abdullah al-Hamawi) (1179 - 1229) was an Arab biographer and geographer. ... Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari (AD 838-AD 923), Iranian historian and theologian, was born in Amol, Tabaristan (south of the Caspian), and studied in Ray (Rages) , Baghdad, and in Syria and Egypt. ... Maragheh or Maraghah is a town in the province of Azerbaijan in Iran, on the Safi River. ...

The historian Hamdollah Mostowfi even goes as far as describing variants of "pahlavi" spoken in different areas of Azerbaijan. In his book Tarikh Gozideh, he describes 8 poets from Azerbaijan, calling them "Ahl-ol She'r Men-al-Ajam" (Iranian poets), all Persian by tongue. By now of course, Dari and Pahlavi had merged into one, as successive dynasties moved from east to west, bringing with them the Dari version of the Iranian language. Tomb of Hamdollah Mostowfi, Qazvin, Iran. ...

Suffice to say that the number of records and documents from Azerbaijan in Pahlavi language are so numerous that it has left little doubt that this was indeed the native tongue of Azerbaijan before the arrival of the Turks. Many words in the current Azeri vocabulary in fact are of Pahlavi origin. (see studies in Nashriyeh Adabiyaat of Tabriz University, by Dr Mahyar Navabi, 5,6. Also see Farhang e Kamaleddin Teflisi, Ajayeb ol-Makhluqaat by Najibeddin Hamadani, and also the books: Majmal-ol-Tavarikh, Al-qasas, Iskandar-Nameh e Qadeem, and others for lists of words) External links Official website of University of Tabriz List of chancellors of University of tabriz Categories: University stubs | Iranian universities ...

It is agreed that the current Turkic form of the Azeri language supplanted and replaced Pahlavi in Azerbaijan before the Safavid dynasty, perhaps starting with the arrival of Seljukian Turks, and during a gradual course. But some historians report of pahlavi being spoken in Tabriz as late as the 17th century. (see Rowdhat ul-Jinan by Hafez Hosein Tabrizi (d997 A.H.), and Risaleh ye Anarjani written in 985 AH). Even the Ottoman Turkish explorer Evliya Celebi (1611-1682), mentions this in his Seyahatname. He also reports that the elite and learned people of Nakhichevan and Maragheh spoke Pahlavi, during his tours of the region. The Safavids were a long-lasting Turkic-speaking Iranian dynasty that ruled from 1501 to 1736 and first established Shiite Islam as Persias official religion. ... Tabriz City Hall, built in 1895, by Arfaol molk, with the aid of German engineers. ... Evliya Celebi (also known as Dervis Mehmed Zilli) was one of the most famous Ottoman travelers, who traveled throughout the territories of the Ottoman Empire and the neighbouring lands over a period of 40 years. ... Map of Azerbaijan, showing Naxçıvan to the bottom-left Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (or Naxçıvan Muxtar Respublikası) is an exclave of Azerbaijan. ... Maragheh or Maraghah is a town in the province of Azerbaijan in Iran, on the Safi River. ...

Literature

Main article: Azerbaijani literature This article needs cleanup. ...

Classical literature in Azerbaijanian was formed in 11th century based on Tabrizi and Shervani dialects (these dialects were used by classical Azerbaijani writers Nasimi, Fizuli, and Khatai). Modern literature in the Republic of Azerbaijan is based on the Shervani dialect only, while in Iran it is based on the Tabrizi one. The first newspaper in Azerbaijani, Əkinçi was published in 1875. During the Soviet Union period, Azerbaijani was often used as a lingua-franca between the Turkic people of the Union. (10th century - 11th century - 12th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... Tabriz City Hall, built in 1895, by Arfaol molk, with the aid of German engineers. ... Shervan or Shirvan was a former Persian province in Caucasus, a state ruled by the Shervanshahs and the birthplace of the Persian poet Khaqani. ... 1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) .( Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик (СССР)  listen?; tr. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ...

In mid-19th century it was taught in schools of Baku, Ganja, Sheki, Tbilisi, and Yerevan. Since 1845, it has also been taught in the University of St. Petersburg in Russia. Baku (or Bakı (Baky) pronounced ba-KEY, Баку or Bakı in Azeri, باکو (Baku) in Persian) is the capital of Azerbaijan Republic. ... Ganja (Gəncə or Ҝәнҹә) is an ancient town now in the Republic of Azerbaijan. ... General Outline One of the most ancient settlements and cultural centres of Azerbaijan, Sheki was founded more than 2700 years ago at the southern slopes of the Major Caucasus Mountains Chain (370 kilometres to the north-west from Baku). ... View of Tiflis from the Grounds of Saint David Church, ca. ... Yerevan (Armenian: Երեվան or Երևան; sometimes written as Erevan; former names include Erivan and Erebuni) (population: 1,201,539 (1989 census); 1,088,300 (2004 estimate)[1]) is the largest city and capital of Armenia. ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Categories: Russia-related stubs | Universities and colleges in Russia | Saint Petersburg ...

Famous literacy works in Azerbaijani are The book of Dede Qorqud (which UNESCO celebrated its 1300th anniversary in 1998, written in an early Oghuz Turkic dialect), Koroğlu, Leyli and Mejnun, and Heydar Babaya Salam. Important poets and writers of the Azerbaijani language include Imadedin Nesimi, Muhammad Suleymanoglu Fuzuli (the first writer to write extensively in Azerbaijani, but also in Persian), Hesenoglu Izedin, Ismail I (the Azeri king), Bakhtiar Vahabzada, Khurshudbanu Natavan (female poet), Mirza Fatali Akhundov, Mirza Sabir (satirist), and Mohammad Hossein Shahriar (who has more poems in Persian than in Azerbaijani). UNESCO logo The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, commonly known as UNESCO, is a specialized agency of the United Nations system established in 1946. ... For all Turkic groupings and Turkic history, see Turkic peoples. ... Shahryar,The Poet, ( 1905 - 1988 ) Eng. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Azeri can refer to: Azerbaijanis - a Turkic-speaking people of Azerbaijan Azerbaijani language - a Turkic language Azari - an alternative name for the ethnic language in Azerbaijan, most commonly referred as Tati, also spoken in many places in north-western Iran today. ... Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Behjat-Tabrizi (Persian: سید محمدحسین بهجت تبریزی)‎ (1906-September 18, 1988), chiefly known by his pen name as Shahriar (شهریار), was an Iranian poet, writing in Persian and Azerbaijani. ...

Phonology

Based on information at [1]  (http://www.azeri.org/Azeri/az_learn/latin_az_sounds.html), Azerbaijani phonology appears to be: Phonology (Greek phone = voice/sound and logos = word/speech) is a subfield of grammar (see also linguistics). ...

Consonants

See also consonance in music. ...

Vowels

Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ...

Alphabets

Officially, Azerbaijani now uses Latin alphabet, but the "Soviet" Cyrillic alphabet is still in wide use: see Azerbaijani alphabet. There is a one-to-one correspondence between the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets for Azerbaijani (although the Cyrillic alphabet has a different order): The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world, the standard script of the English language and most of the languages of western and central Europe, and of those areas settled by Europeans. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first letters) is an alphabet used to write six natural Slavic languages ( Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... Two Alphabets Latin Alphabet Used officially since 1991. ...

(Aa Аа), (Əə Әә), (Bb Бб), (Cc Ҹҹ), (Çç Чч), (Dd Дд), (Ee Ее), (Ff Фф), (Gg Ҝҝ), (Ğğ Ғғ), (Hh Һһ), (Xx Хх), (Iı Ыы), (İi Ии), (Jj Жж), (Kk Кк), (Qq Гг), (Ll Лл), (Mm Мм), (Nn Нн), (Oo Оо), (Öö Өө), (Pp Пп), (Rr Рр), (Ss Сс), (Şş Шш), (Tt Тт), (Uu Уу), (Üü Үү), (Vv Вв), (Yy Јј), (Zz Зз).

Before 1929, Azerbaijani was only written in the Arabic alphabet. In 1929–1938 a Latin alphabet was in use (although it was different from the one used now), from 1938 to 1991 the Cyrillic alphabet was used, and in 1991 the current Latin alphabet was introduced, although the transition to it has been rather slow. The Azerbaijani speakers in Iran have always continued to use the Arabic alphabet, although the spelling and orthography is not yet standardized. The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language, which is the language of the Quran, the holy book of Islam. ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world, the standard script of the English language and most of the languages of western and central Europe, and of those areas settled by Europeans. ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first letters) is an alphabet used to write six natural Slavic languages ( Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world, the standard script of the English language and most of the languages of western and central Europe, and of those areas settled by Europeans. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language, which is the language of the Quran, the holy book of Islam. ...

The Azerbaijani language, if written in Latin, transliterates all foreign words to its own spelling. For example, "Bush" becomes "Buş", and "Schröder" becomes "Şröder".

See also

• Historical linguistics
• Language families and languages

Historical linguistics (also diachronic linguistics or comparative linguistics) is primarily the study of the ways in which languages change over time, by means of examining languages which are recognizably related through similarities such as vocabulary, word formation, and syntax, as well as the surviving records of ancient languages. ... Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families (families hereforth). ...

External links

• Azari, an Iranian language (http://www.azargoshnasp.net/~iran/languages/Azari/azarimain.htm)
• azeri.org (http://www.azeri.org)