Tajik or Tadjik (тоҷикӣ, تاجیکی, tojikí) is a descendant of the Persian language spoken in Central Asia. It is an Indo-European language, more specifically part of the Iranian language group. Speakers of Tajik live mostly in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and western Pakistan (the "Tajik" language spoken by approximately 30,000 people near the Tajikistan border in China is in fact a quite different Pamir language also called Sarikoli). Tajik is the official language of Tajikistan. See also: Asian and Eurasian World map showing Asia. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... The Indo-European languages are a group of several hundred languages and dialects (specifically 443 according to the SIL estimate), including most of the major language families of Europe, as well as many languages of Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. ... The Indo-Iranian languages are the language links between India and Iran. ... Persian (known variously as: فارسی Fârsi, local name in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, پارسی Pârsi, older, local name still used by some speakers, Tajik, a Central Asian dialect, or Dari, another local name in Tajikistan and Afghanistan) is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia... A writing system, also called a script, is a type of symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in language. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing in the Arabic language. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first two 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. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... Persian (known variously as: فارسی Fârsi, local name in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, پارسی Pârsi, older, local name still used by some speakers, Tajik, a Central Asian dialect, or Dari, another local name in Tajikistan and Afghanistan) is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Indo-European is originally a linguistic term, referring to the Indo-European language family. ... The Pamir languages of the Pamir Mountains of Central Asia are Shughni, Sarikoli, Yazgulyam, Munji, Sanglechi-Ishkashimi, Wakhi, and Yidgha. ...

Tajik is an offspring of the Persian language, so close that some consider it a dialect of Persian. Historically, it was considered the local dialect of Persian spoken by the Tajik ethnic group in Central Asia; when the Soviet Union imposed the use of the Latin script in 1928, and later the Cyrillic script, it came to be considered a separate language in Tajikistan, partly for political reasons. (In Afghanistan, Tajiks continued to use the Arabic script.) The language has diverged somewhat from Persian as spoken in Afghanistan and Iran, because of political borders and the influence of Russian; however, a transcribed Tajik text can in general easily be read and understood by an Afghan or Iranian Persian speaker, and vice versa. The common origin of the two languages is underscored by the Tajiks' claim to such famous writers as Omar Khayyám, Firdausi, and Alisher Navoi. Persian (known variously as: فارسی Fârsi, local name in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, پارسی Pârsi, older, local name still used by some speakers, Tajik, a Central Asian dialect, or Dari, another local name in Tajikistan and Afghanistan) is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia... The Tajiks are one of the principal ethnic groups of Central Asia, and are primarily found in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan, and the Xinjiang province of China. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 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. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (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. ... Tomb of Omar Khayyám, Nishapur, Iran. ... فردوسی Ferdowsi Ferdowsi Ferdowsi Tousi (فردوسی طوسی in Persian) (more commonly transliterated Firdausi) (935–1020) is considered to be one of the greatest Persian poets to have ever lived. ... Nizamiddin Mir Alisher Navoi (1441-1501) Alisher Navoi (also known as Navoiy, Ali Sher Navai, Ali Åžir Nevai (Turkish), Nawoi; 1441-1501) was a Central Asian poet who lived in Herat during the 15th century. ...

The most important Tajik-speaking cities of Central Asia, Samarkand and Bukhara, are in present-day Uzbekistan. There have been claims that the speakers of the language have been oppressed by the Uzbekistan's government, and were forced to speak in Uzbek in public, or otherwise would be fined. Colour photograph of Ulugh Beg Madrasa taken in Samarkand ca. ... Bukhara (Buxoro or Бухоро in Uzbek (the Cyrillic alphabet was officially phased out for Uzbek after independence); بُخارا /Bukhârâ/ in Persian, Buhe/Puhe Tang Chinese, Бухара in Russian; also Boxara in Tatar) is one of...

In western Pakistan there are between 500,000 and upwards of a million ethnic Tajiks, most of whom are Afghan refugees in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. There are also many thousands who are native to the Northern Areas, Pakistan region such as Chitral (near Jalalabad, Afghanistan) and Hunza overall (specifically there is a large population of native Wakhi who are often called "Mountain Tajiks" who inhabit the area as well. North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is geographically the smallest of the four provinces of Pakistan. ... The Northern Areas is the northernmost region of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. ... Chitral, or Chitrāl, is the name of a town (35° 53 N; 71° 48 E), valley, river, district, and former princely state in the Malakand Division of the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. ... This page is about the town of Hunza in northern Kashmir. ... The Wakhi Tajiki language is an Iranian language in the subbranch of Southeastern Iranian languages (see Pamir languages). ...

In China, Tajik has no official written form. Most Chinese "Tajik" speakers actually speak the Sariqul (or Sariköli) language, which, though called "Tajik", is no more closely related to Tajik than the other Pamir languages, and use Uyghur and Chinese to communicate with people of other nationalities in the area. The Pamir languages of the Pamir Mountains of Central Asia are Shughni, Sarikoli, Yazgulyam, Munji, Sanglechi-Ishkashimi, Wakhi, and Yidgha. ... Uyghur (in Uyghur: ئۇيغۇرچه, new spelling: UyÆ£urqÉ™ or ئۇيغۇر تىلى, UyÆ£ur tili; in Chinese: 维吾尔语 WéiwúěryÇ”) is a Turkic language spoken by the Uyghur people in Xinjiang (also called East Turkestan or Uyghuristan), China. ...

See also

• Bukhori
• Tajiks
• Afghan people
• Persian language
• Dari (Afghanistan)

Bukhori, also known as Bukharic or Bukharan, is an Indo-Iranian language. ... The Tajiks are one of the principal ethnic groups of Central Asia, and are primarily found in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan, and the Xinjiang province of China. ... An Afghan or an Afghani is the name used to describe a person from the country of Afghanistan. ... Persian (known variously as: فارسی Fârsi, local name in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, پارسی Pârsi, older, local name still used by some speakers, Tajik, a Central Asian dialect, or Dari, another local name in Tajikistan and Afghanistan) is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia... Dari is the local written name for the Persian language in Afghanistan used mainly in official papers. ...

External links

Tajik language edition of Wikipedia

• Ethnologue report for Tajik