Semnani (سمنی زفون, Semani zefön) (known also as Komisenian languages) is one of the local languages of the Semnan Province of Iran. Despite the common misconception that Semnani is a Persian dialect, the language belongs to the Northwestern branch of the Western Iranian languages. Like other Caspian languages, it bears some resemblance to the Old Iranian Median language and was influenced by Parthian in a later process.[2]

Semnani
سمنی زفون
Semani zefön
RegionIran
EthnicitySemnani
Native speakers
70,000 (2021)[1]
Dialects
  • Biyabanaki
Language codes
ISO 639-3smy
Glottologsemn1249
ELPSemnani
Map depicting areas where Semnani languages are spoken (alongside Caspian languages)

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n (ŋ)
Plosive p b t d k ɡ q ʔ
Affricate
Fricative f v θ s z ʃ ʒ x ɣ h
Tap ɾ
Trill (r)
Approximant l j w

(Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant. Allophones are in parentheses.)

Grammar

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Syntax

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Subjects in Semnani must have gender agreement with the verb in their immediate clause.[3]

Notes

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  1. ^ Semnani at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)  
  2. ^ Habib Borjian: . In: . Nr. 2. Brill, 2009
  3. ^ Rezapour, Ebrahim (2015). "Word order in Semnani language based on language typology". IQBQ. 6 (5): 169–190.

Bibliography

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Pierre Lecoq. 1989. "Les dialectes caspiens et les dialectes du nord-ouest de l'Iran," Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Ed. Rüdiger Schmitt. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. Pages 296-314.