Wikipedia

Achomi language

(Redirected from Ajami language)
See also: Achomi people

Achomi (Persian: اچُمی), also known as Khodmooni[3] and Larestani,[4] is a Persian and Southwestern Iranian language spoken by people in southern Fars and western Hormozgan and by significant numbers of Ajam citizens in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and other neighbouring countries.[5][6]

Achomi
Larestani, Khodmooni
اچُمی ,𐬀𐬗𐬊𐬨𐬉 ,خودمونی
Native to
RegionFars, Hormozgan, Bushehr, Kerman, Dubai[1]
EthnicityAchomi Persians, Ajam
Native speakers
120,000 (2021)[2]
Early form
Dialects
  • Lari
  • Gerashi
  • Evazi
  • Khonji
  • Aheli
  • Galedari
  • Ashkanani
  • Lengeyi
  • Ashnezi
  • Ruydari
  • Bastaki
Pahlavi scripts, Persian alphabet (Nastaʿlīq)[2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3lrl
Glottologlari1253
ELPLari
Achomi is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

It is the predominant language of Gerash, Larestan, Lamerd, Khonj, and Evaz counties in Fars and Bastak County and Ruydar in Hormozgan Province.[5][6]

Moreover, many cities, towns, and villages in Iran have their own particular dialect, such as Larestan, Khonj, Gerash, and Banaruiyeh. The majority of Achomi speakers are Sunni Muslims, with a minority being Shia Muslims.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

Etymology and name of the language

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There are different ways to refer to this language.

  • Achomi: Native speakers often refer to their language as "ačomī", which means "I go" in the language.[15] Other explanations for this name are the language's frequent usage of the [tʃ] consonant, and that Arabs, with whom these people traded, called them 'Ajam', which means non-Arab.[16]
  • Khodmooni: In GCC states surrounding the Persian Gulf, Achomis are referred to as Khodmooni'.[3] This translates to "of our own kind".[3][5][6]
  • Lari: This language is sometimes called Lari.[17] To reiterate, 'Lar' originates from 'Lad' which means "the origin of everything".[18] It is also important to note that Lari can be used to refer to a dialect or a language.[15]

History

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The Achomi language can be considered a descendant of the Sassanid Persian language or Middle Persian.[19]

Achomi language and its various local dialects such as Lari, Evazi, Khonji, Gerashi, Bastaki, etc., is the branch of the Middle Persian (Pahlavi) language of the Sassanid Empire.[20]

Today, the language is known as an endangered language.[17] In particular, UNESCO refers to it as a "definitely endangered" language with approximately 1,180,000 speakers.[17] It also does not have official language status in Iran. This is because Iran only recognizes standard Persian as an official language. However, Iran allows the use of minority languages, such as Achomi, in the media and the education system (alongside Persian).[21] Nevertheless, Achomi remains an endangered language with many dialectal differences gradually disappearing because of the domination of Persian.[17][22]

Many Iranians moved to GCC States in order to pursue better economic opportunities.[23] This included Achomis.[3] These Achomis are often multilingual.[3] Achomi migrants still speak this language in their homes, however, this variety has been influenced by the Arabic language a little but is mutually intelligible with standard Persian.[20]

Classification

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The language is a branch of the Pahlavi language.[18] This means that it shares the ergative structure of Pahlavi.[18] It is also an analytical language.[15] This can be linked back to its membership in the southwestern branch of Middle-Iranian languages.[15][18]

Except for the regional accent, pronunciation of certain words, and a slight variation in grammar, this old language has been the common language of the Southwestern Pars Province and parts of Hormozgan Province for nearly 1,800 years despite the various conquests of the region since the fall of the Sassanid Empire.[24]

Dialects

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Achomi has many dialects.[22][16][18] These dialects correspond to Larestan's different towns.[18] Examples of these dialects include Lari, Evazi, Gerashi, Khonji and Bastaki.[22]These dialectical variations may present themselves through pronunciation.[18][16] There may also be grammatical and word differences between the dialects.[22] Hence, if the speaker is from Evaz, they are referred as speaking Evazi, and if they are from Bastak their dialect is known as Bastaki.[3]

An example of a dialectal variation: in some particular regions, Achomi people say raftom for "I went" (very similar to the Persian raftam), but in some other regions, just as Lar people, they say chedem (Kurdish: dichim or dechim) instead.

Samples

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Vocabulary

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Pronouns
English Achomi Kurdish New Persian
I/me اُم, om Kurmanji: mi / min Standard Farsi: من, romanized: man

Bushehri Farsi: مو, romanized: mo

You اُت, ot Kurmanji: tu / te Standard Farsi: تو, romanized: toe
He/she اُش, osh Kurmanji: wi Standard Farsi: او, romanized: ou
We مُ, mo Kurmanji: me Standard Farsi: ما, romanized: ma
You (plural) تُ, to Kurmanji: we Standard Farsi: شما, romanized: shoma
They شُ, sho Kurmanji: wan Standard Farsi: آنها, romanized: aneha

Tehrani/Iranian Farsi: اینا, romanized: ena

Grammatical features

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Past tense verbs

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First type
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To make simple past verbs

The ids (om / ot / osh / mo / to / sho) + The simple past root of the first type.

Example:

English Achomi Kurdish New Persian
I told اُم گُت, om got Kurmanji: مِن گُت, romanized: Min got

Sorani: گوتم, romanized: got am

Standard Farsi: گفتم/من گفتَم, romanized: goftam/man goftam
He/she won اُش بو, Osh bu Kurmanji: Wî/wê qezenc kir

Sorani: ئەو سەرکەوت, romanized: iew serkewt

Standard Farsi: او برنده شد, romanized: o barandeh shod
You ate (plural) تُ خا, To kha Kurmanji: تی خوار, romanized: Te xwar

Sorani: تون خوارن, romanized: to xwardnt xward

Standard Farsi: شما خورده اید, romanized: shma khordeh id

Tehrani/Iranian Farsi: شما خوردین, romanized: shoma khorden

Second type
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The root of the past simple second type + ids (em / esh / ruleless / am / ee / en)

Example:

English Achomi Kurdish New Persian
Went (I) چِد اِم, Ched em Kurmanji: çûm Standard Farsi: رفته‌ام, romanized: raftah-am

Tehrani/Iranian Farsi: رفتَم, romanized: raftam

Bushehri Farsi: رفتُم, romanized: raftom

Went (you) چِد اِش, Ched esh Kurmanji: çûyî Standard Farsi: رفتی, romanized: rafti
Went (she/he) چو, Chu Kurmanji: çû Standard Farsi: رفت, romanized: raft
Went (we) چِد اَم, Ched am Kurmanji: çûn Standard Farsi: رفتیم, romanized: raftim
Went (you-plural) چِد ای, Ched ee Kurmanji: çûyî Standard Farsi: رفته اید, romanized: rafteh id

Tehrani/Iranian Farsi: رفتین, romanized: rafteen

Went (they) چِد اِن, Ched en Kurmanji: çûn Standard Farsi: رفتند, romanized: raftand

Tehrani/Iranian Farsi: رفتن, romanized: raftan

And...

Ergativity

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To create an ergative verb in past tense we can use the verb root plus its proper prefix.

For example, in Achomi, the root for the verb "to tell" is "got" (gota equals "tell").

English Achomi Kurdish New Persian
I told اُم گُت, om got Kurmanji: mi/min got Standard Farsi: گفتم/من گفتم, romanized: goftam/man goftam
You told اُت گُت, ot got Kurmanji: tu/te got Standard Farsi: شما گفتید, romanized: shma goftid

Tehrani/Iranian Farsi: تو گفتی, romanized: to gofti

He/she told اُش گُت, osh got Kurmanji: wi got Standard Farsi: او گفت, romanized: o goft
We told مُ گُت, mo got Kurmanji: me got Standard Farsi: گفتیم/ما گفتیم, romanized: goftim/ma goftim
You (plural) told تُ گُت, to got Kurmanji: we got Standard Farsi: شما گفتید, romanized: shoma goftid

Tehrani/Iranian Farsi: شما گفتید, romanized: shoma gofteen

They told شُ گُت, sho got Kurmanji: wan got Standard Farsi: گفتند/آنها گفتند, romanized: goftand/aneya goftand

Tehrani/Iranian Farsi: گفتن/اینا گفتن, romanized: goftan/ena goftan

Another example: "deda" means "see," and "dee" Kurdish (Deed or dee) is the root verb. So:

English Achomi Kurdish New Persian
I saw اُم دِی, om dee Kurmanji: mi/min deed/dee Standard Farsi: دیدم/من دیدم, romanized: didam/man didam
You saw اُت دِی, ot dee Kurmanji: tu/te dee Standard Farsi: دیدی/شما دیدید, romanized: didi/shoma didid
He/she saw اُش دِی, osh dee Kurmanji: wi dee
We saw مُ دِی, mo dee Kurmanji: me dee
You (plural) saw تُ دِی, to dee Kurmanji: we dee
They saw شُ دِی, sho dee Kurmanji: wan dee

Simple present

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To create a simple present or continued present tense of a transitive verb, here's another example:

English Achomi Kurdish (Karmanji) New Persian
I am telling... اَ گُت اِم, a got a'em Ez dibêjim... Standard Farsi: دارم میگم..., romanized: daram migam
You are telling... اَ گُت اِش, a got a'esh Tu dibêjî... Standard Farsi: تو داری میگی..., romanized: to dari migi
He/she is telling... اَ گُت اَی, a got ay Ew dibêje ... Standard Farsi: داره میگه..., romanized: dareh migeh...

Bushehri Farsi: هاسی میگه..., romanized: hasey migah

We are telling اَ گُت اَم, a got a'am Em dibêjin Standard Farsi: داریم می گوییم, romanized: darim mi guyim

Tehrani/Iranian Farsi: داریم میگیم, romanized: darim mi gim

Bushehri Farsi: هاسی/هاسیم میگیم..., romanized: hasey\hasim migim

You (pl) are telling... اَ گُت اِی, a got ee Tu dibêjî Standard Farsi: شما می گویید, romanized: shma mi guyid

Tehrani/Iranian Farsi: شما میگین, romanized: shma migin

They are telling... اَ گُت اِن, a got a'en Ew dibêjin ... Standard Farsi: دارند می گویند, romanized: darand mi guyand

Tehrani/Iranian Farsi: دارن میگن, romanized: daran mi gan

For the verb "see" ("deda"):

adead'em, adeda'esh, adeaday,...

Sentences

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Source Material
English Achomi New Persian
The fox said: I don’t need it, I have a home already. ریبای اُش گُت: مَم نای خونَه مِن فارسی (معیار): روباه گفت: من نیازی ندارم، من خانه‌ای دارم.

فارسی (بوشهری): روباه گفت: مو نیازی ندارُم، مو خونه‌ای دارُم.

فارسی (تهرانی): روباه گفت: من نیازی ندارم، خونه دارم.

He didn’t know what to do, he thought he could go to the aunt camel’s house. اُشنا فَمی چُنگ بُکُن اِران فِک کَت اُچی اَ خونَه‌ی دامونِ اُشتُری فارسی (معیار): او نمی‌دانست چه کار کند، فکر کرد می‌تواند برود به خانه‌ی خاله شتر

فارسی (تهرانی): اون نمی‌دونست چی کار کنه، فکر کرد می‌تونه بره خونه‌ی خاله شتر

The aunt camel opened the door, he/she said: where did you come from? دامون اُشتُری در واز اُشکی، اوی گُت: از کَ هُندش فارسی (معیار): خاله شتر در را باز کرد، او گفت: از کجا آمدی؟

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Larestan, Iran".
  2. ^ a b Achomi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)  
  3. ^ a b c d e f Halkias, Daphne; Adendorff, Christian (2016-04-22). Governance in Immigrant Family Businesses: Enterprise, Ethnicity and Family Dynamics. Routledge. p. 10. ISBN 9781317125952.
  4. ^ "Endangered Languages Project - Lari - larestani". www.endangeredlanguages.com. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  5. ^ a b c Mehran (2 March 2023). "كتاب تاريخ جنوب فارس لارستان وبستك" (in Arabic).
  6. ^ a b c khodo mania (27 April 2023). "كتاب تاريخ جنوب فارس لارستان وبستك". YouTube (in Arabic).
  7. ^ "Larestani, Lari in Iran".
  8. ^ "Larestani people of Iran". The Larestani people are predominantly Sunni Muslims.
  9. ^ "Larestani". While most people in Iran are Shi'ite Muslims, the Larestani are Sunnis.
  10. ^ Van Donzel, E. J., ed. (January 1994). Islamic Desk Reference. Brill. p. 225. ISBN 9004097384.
  11. ^ "Information of the people of Bushehr province". Archived from the original on 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  12. ^ "Bushehr Governor's Website". Archived from the original on 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  13. ^ "Bushehr Province Justice Website".[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Cyrus The Great International Open Academy".[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ a b c d Moridi, Behzad (2009). "The Dialects of Lar (The State of Research)". Iran & the Caucasus. 13 (2): 335–340. doi:10.1163/157338410X12625876281389. ISSN 1609-8498. JSTOR 25703812.
  16. ^ a b c Rahimi, Ali; Tayebeh Mansoori (2016). A Study of Personal Pronouns of Larestani Language as an Endangered Iranian Language. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.1342.0566.
  17. ^ a b c d "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g "ICEHM: International Centre of Economics, Humanities and Management" (PDF). icehm.org. doi:10.15242/icehm.ed0115115. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  19. ^ گويش مردم اوز. نسرين انصاف پور و محمد رفيع ضيايى 1396
  20. ^ a b Wikipedia, Source (2013). Southwestern Iranian Languages: Persian Dialects and Varieties, Persian Language, Tajik Language, Dari, Persianate Society, Tajik Alphabet, Old Persia. General Books. ISBN 9781230641287.
  21. ^ "Islamic Parliament of Iran - Constitution". en.parliran.ir. Archived from the original on 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  22. ^ a b c d Moridi, Behzad (2009). "The Dialects of Lar (The State of Research)". Iran & the Caucasus. 13 (2): 335–340. doi:10.1163/157338410X12625876281389. ISSN 1609-8498. JSTOR 25703812.
  23. ^ Worrall, James; Saleh, Alam (2019). "Persian Pride and Prejudice: Identity Maintenance and Interest Calculations among Iranians in the United Arab Emirates". International Migration Review. 54 (2): 496–526. doi:10.1177/0197918319860154. ISSN 0197-9183. S2CID 203427429.
  24. ^ "Iranian and Arab in the Gulf : endangered language, windtowers, and fish sauce".
 
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