AZERBAIJANI, SOUTH (Iran)

Family
Western-(Oghuz)-Turkic languages

Country
Iran

Language code
AZB

Continent
Southwest Asia

Alternate language names
AZERI

Dialect names
AYNALLU (INALLU, INANLU), KARAPA- PAKH, TABRIZ, AFSHARI (AFSHAR, AFSAR), SHAHSAVANI (SHAHSEVEN), MOQADDAM, BAHARLU (KAMESH), NAFAR, QARAGOZLU, PISHAGCHI, BAYAT, QAJAR

Genetic affiliation
Altaic, Turkic, Southern, Azerbaijani

Geographical region
East and west Azerbaijan, Zanjan, and part of central provinces. Many in a few districts of Tehran. Some Azerbaijani-speaking groups are in Fars Pro- vince and other parts of Iran. Also in Jordan and USA

Population
13,000,000 or more in Iran (1991), over 20% of the population (1991), including 290,000 Afshar, 5,000 Aynallu, 7,500 Baharlu, 1,000 Moqaddam, 3,500 Nafar 1,000 Pishagchi, 3,000 Qajar, 2,000 Qaragozlu, 65,000 Shahsav- ani (1978 MARC); 5,000 or fewer in Afghanistan; 300,000 to 900,000 or more inIraq; 30,000 in Syria (1961); 530,000 or more in Turkey; 13,865,000 total or more

Status
Work in progress

Remarks
People called 'Turki' (Turks). In general not written, but occasionally with Arabo-Persian script in Iran. Distinctive dialect differences between the Azerbaijani of the former USSR (North) and Iranian Azerbaijani (South) in phonology, lexicon, morphology, and syntax. Teimurtash (7,000 in Mazandaran; possibly the same as Teimuri, Timuri, Taimouri) and Salchug (in Kerman Province) may be dialects. Qashqai is probably a dialect

Subsistence type
Agriculturalists, pastoralists

Total speakers
13,865,000

Religion
Shi'a Muslim

Also in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Jor- dan, USA