Mazanderani language
Spoken in
- Indo-European languages Indo-Iranian languages Iranian languages Westiranisch Northwest Iranian Masanderanische language
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Mzn
Mazandarani or Tabari is a Northwestern Iranian language spoken in the province of Mazandaran in the north- western Iran. The southwest Iranian Persian Mazandarani is related only indirectly. Both languages are not mutually intelligible.
According to Ethnologue, there were 1993, more than 3 million native speakers of Mazandarani. The language can be divided into dialects Mazanderani and Gorgani; possibly Qadikolahi ( Ghadikolahi ) and Palani.
Among the living Iranian languages Mazandarani has one of the oldest written traditions from the 10th to the 15th century. The rich literature of this language includes books like Marzban Nameh (later in the Persian translated) and the seals of Amir Pazevari. The use of Mazandarani, however, is decreasing. The importance of literature and administration was lost to the Persian, long before the Mazandaran province has been integrated into the national administration of the early 17th century. The majority of the population in the province is bilingual today.
The Mazandarani language is closely related to Gilaki. The two languages are similar in their vocabulary. Notably, the language is not come under the influence of other languages such as Arabic or Turkish.