Azerbaijani language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Azeri language" redirects here. For the Iranian language of the same name, see Old Azeri language.
Azerbaijani turkic
Azərbaycan dili, آذربایجان دیلی
Pronunciation [ɑzærbɑjdʒɑn dili]
Native to
Ethnicity Azerbaijani
Native speakers
26 million  (1997–2010)[1]
  • Oghuz
    • Western Oghuz
      • Azerbaijani
Official status
Official language in
Regulated by Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
Language codes
ISO 639-1 az
ISO 639-2 aze
ISO 639-3 azeinclusive code
Individual codes:
azj – North Azerbaijani
azb – South Azerbaijani
slq – Salchuq
qxq – Qashqai
Glottolog azer1255  (North Azeri–Salchuq)[2]
sout2696  (South Azeri–Qashqa'i)[3]
Linguasphere part of 44-AAB-a
Location of Azerbaijani speakers in the Caucasus
  regions where Azerbaijani is the language of the majority
  regions where Azerbaijani is the language of a significant minority

Azerbaijani (/ˌzərbˈɑːni/, /-ˈʒɑːni/)[4] or Azeri (/ˈzɛəri/, /əˈ-/), also known as Azerbaijani Turkish or Azeri Turkish ([ɑzærbɑjdʒɑn dili]), is a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Azerbaijani people, who are concentrated mainly in the South Caucasus geographical region. There are two areas where Azerbaijani speakers are concentrated. One is the Republic of Azerbaijan, where Azerbaijani is the official language. The other is Iran (especially Iranian Azerbaijan), where there are more native speakers than in Azerbaijan, though the language does not have any official status. The language has official status also in Dagestan (a federal subject of Russia), and is also spoken to lesser varying degrees in Georgia, Iraq, and Turkey.

Azerbaijani is a member of the Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages. It has two primary divisions, North Azerbaijani and South Azerbaijani, and is closely related to Turkish, Qashqai, Turkmen and Crimean Tatar, sharing mutual intelligibility with each of those languages to some extent.[5]


Azerbaijani people in Azerbaijan and Iranian Azerbaijan (and the rest of Iran) refer to their language as Türki which literally means Turkish. In 1992–1993, when Azerbaijan Popular Front Party was in power in Azerbaijan, the official language of Azerbaijan was renamed by the parliament as Türk dili ("Turkish"). However, since 1994 the Soviet-era name of the language, Azərbaycan dili ("Azerbaijani"), has been re-established and reflected in the Constitution because of the political reasons. Varlıq, the most important literary Azerbaijani magazine published in Iran, uses the term Türki ("Turkish" in English or "Torki" in Persian) to refer to the Azerbaijani language. Azeris in Iran often refer to the language as Türki, distinguishing it from İstanbul Türki ("Istanbul Turkish"), the official language of Turkey. Some people also consider Azerbaijani to be a dialect of a greater Turkish language and call it Azərbaycan Türkcəsi ("Azerbaijani Turkish or Turkish of Azerbaijan"), and scholars such as Vladimir Minorsky used this definition in their works. ISO encodes its two varieties, North Azerbaijani and South Azerbaijani, as distinct languages. According to the Linguasphere Observatory, all Oghuz languages form part of a single "outer language" of which North and South Azerbaijani are "inner languages".

History and evolution[edit]

Old Azerbaijani text - Divan (Azərbaycan dilində) əlyazması, Azərbaycan Tarix Muzeyi

Today′s Azerbaijani languages evolved from the Eastern Oghuz branch of Western (Oghuz) Turkic[6] which spread to the Caucasus, in Eastern Europe,[7][8] and northern Iran, in Western Asia, during the medieval Turkic migrations, and has been heavily influenced by Persian.[9] Arabic also influenced the language, but Arabic words were mainly transmitted through the intermediary of literary Persian.[10]

Garden of Pleasures by Fuzûlî in Azerbaijani. Early 19th century. There is Shaki khan's seal on it. Museum of History of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani gradually supplanted the Iranian languages in what is now northern Iran, and a variety of Caucasian languages and Iranian languages in the Caucasus, particularly Udi and Old Azari. By the beginning of the 16th century, it had become the dominant language of the region, and was a spoken language in the court of the Safavid Empire.


Between c. 1900 and 1930, there were several competing approaches to the unification of the national language in Azerbaijan popularized by the literati, such as Hasan bey Zardabi and Mammad agha Shahtakhtinski. Despite major differences, they all aimed primarily at making it easy for semi-literate masses to read and understand literature. They all criticized the overuse of Persian, Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, and other foreign (mainly Russian) elements in both colloquial and literary language and called for a simpler and more popular style.

The Russian conquest of the South Caucasus in the 19th century split the language community across two states; the Soviet Union promoted development of the language, but set it back considerably with two successive script changes[11] – from Perso-Arabic script to Latin and then to Cyrillic – while Iranian Azerbaijanis continued to use the Perso-Arabic script as they always had. Despite the wide use of Azerbaijani in Azerbaijan during the Soviet era, it became the official language of Azerbaijan only in 1956.[12] After independence, Azerbaijan decided to switch back to the Latin script.


Classical literature in Azerbaijani was formed in the fifteenth century[13] based on the various Early Middle Ages dialects of Tabriz and Shirvan (these dialects were used by classical Azerbaijani writers Nasimi, Fuzuli, and Khatai). Modern literature in Azerbaijan is based on the Shirvani dialect mainly, while in Iran it is based on the Tabrizi one. The first newspaper in Azerbaijani, Əkinçi was published in 1875.

In mid-19th century it was taught in the schools of Baku, Ganja, Shaki, Tbilisi, and Yerevan. Since 1845, it has also been taught in the University of St. Petersburg in Russia.

Lingua franca[edit]

Azerbaijani-language road sign.

Azerbaijani served as a lingua franca throughout most parts of Transcaucasia (except the Black Sea coast), in Southern Dagestan,[14][15][16] Eastern Turkey, and Iranian Azerbaijan from the 16th century to the early 20th century,[17][18] alongside the cultural, administrative, court literature, and most importantly official language of all these regions, namely Persian.[19] From the early 16th century up to the course of the 19th century, these regions and territories were all ruled by the Iranian Safavids, Afsharids and Qajars, until the cession of Transcaucasia proper and Dagestan by Qajar Iran to Imperial Russia per the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan and the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay. Per the 1829 Caucasus School Statute, Azerbaijani was to be taught in all district schools of Ganja, Shusha, Nukha (present-day Shaki), Shamakhy, Guba, Baku, Derbent, Erivan, Nakhchivan, Akhaltsikhe, and Lankaran. Beginning in 1834, it was introduced as a language of study in Kutaisi instead of Armenian. In 1853, Azerbaijani became a compulsory language for students of all backgrounds in all of the South Caucasus with the exception of the Tiflis Governorate.[20]


Azerbaijani language is considered to be a variety of Turkish language. Azerbaijani is sometimes classified as two languages or dialects, North Azerbaijani and South Azerbaijani. Although there is a very high degree of mutual intelligibility between them, there are also morphological and phonological differences. Four varieties have been accorded ISO 639-3 codes: North Azerbaijani, South Azerbaijani, Salchuq, and Qashqai. Glottolog, based on Johanson (2006) and Pakendorf (2007), classifies North Azeri with Salchuq in one branch of the Oghuz languages, and South Azeri with Qashqai in another.

North Azerbaijani[edit]

North Azerbaijani,[21] or North Azeri, is the official language of Azerbaijan. It is closely related to the modern Turkish due to the fact that Azerbaijani language is a Turkic language. It is also spoken in southern Dagestan, along the Caspian coast in the southern Caucasus Mountains, and scattered through Central Asia. There are some 7.3 million native speakers, and about 8 million second-language speakers.

The Shirvan dialect is the basis of Standard Azerbaijani. Since 1992, it has been officially written with a Latin/Roman script in Azerbaijan, but the older Cyrillic script was still widely used in the late 1990s.[22]

South Azerbaijani[edit]

South Azerbaijani,[23] or South Azeri, is widely spoken in northwestern Iran (Iranian Azerbaijan) and to a lesser extent in neighboring regions of Iraq and Turkey, with smaller communities in Syria. In Iran, the Persian word for Azerbaijani is Torki,[24] which literally means Turkish; in Azerbaijani it is usually pronounced as Türki. In Iran, it is spoken in East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Zanjan, and parts of Kurdistan, Hamadan, Markazi, Qazvin and Gilan. It is also widely spoken in Tehran and across Tehran Province, as ethnic Azeris form by far the largest minority in the city and the wider province,[25] comprising about 25%[26] to 1/3,[27][28] of its total population. The CIA World Factbook reports the percentage of South Azerbaijani speakers at around 16 percent of the Iranian population, or approximately 16.9 million people worldwide,[29] and ethnic Azerbaijanis form by far the second largest ethnic group in Iran, thus making the language also the second most spoken language in the nation.[30]



Consonant phonemes of Standard Azerbaijani
Labial Dental/
Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m
Plosive p b t͡ʃ d͡ʒ c ɟ k ɡ
Fricative f v ʃ ʒ x ɣ h
Approximant l j
Tap ɾ
  2. In most dialects of Azerbaijani, /c/ is realized as [ç] when it is found in the coda position or is preceded by a voiceless consonant (as in çörək [t͡ʃøˈɾæç] – "bread"; səksən [sæçˈsæn] – "eighty").
  6. In the colloquial language, /x/ is usually pronounced as [χ]


Front Back
Unr. Rnd. Unr. Rnd.
Close i y ɯ u
Mid e ø o
Open æ ɑ


Writing Systems[edit]

Main article: Azerbaijani alphabet

Before 1929, Azerbaijani was written only in the Perso-Arabic script. In 1929–1938 a Latin alphabet was in use for North Azerbaijani (although it was different from the one used now), from 1938 to 1991 the Cyrillic script was used, and in 1991 the current Latin alphabet was introduced, although the transition to it has been rather slow. In Iran, Azerbaijani is still written in Perso-Arabic script.

Perso-Arabic and Cyrillic alphabets do not have marked vowels[citation needed] making it hard to write proper Azerbaijani sounds. Perso-Arabic and Cyrillic alphabets and letters are not fitting the Azerbaijani pronunciation[citation needed] and the Latin alphabet needed some extra adaptations such as ğ and ı. The Azerbaijani Latin alphabet is based on the Turkish Latin alphabet because of their linguistic connections and mutual intelligibility. Әə, Xx, and Qq, the letters are available only in Azerbaijani for sounds which do not exist as separate phonemes in Turkish. Keep in mind that the letter "c" in Azerbaijani and Turkish pronounced like English j in the word jam, "j" pronounced like English s in the word measure, and "ç" is pronounced like English ch in the word chat.

The following letters are in Latin (Azerbaijan since 1991) & Perso-Arabic (Iran; Azerbaijan until 1922).

Aa ﺍ 
- short as in 'along' or long as in 'army'.
Bb ﺏ 
- pronounced like 'b' in 'bell'.
Cc ﺝ 
- pronounced like 'J' in Japan.
Çç چ 
- pronounced like 'ch' in chat..
Dd ﺩ 
- pronounced like 'd' in dog; otherwise, like 'th' in 'the'.
Ee ﻩ 
- pronounced like soft 'e' in Embassy. This can be long as in 'bate'.
Əə ع 
- pronounced like 'a' in fat. (This letter was represented by Ää from 1991-1992). This is long as in 'bate' or 'cape'.
Ff ﻑ 
- pronounced like 'f' in 'fold'.
Gg گ 
- pronounced like hard 'g' in goal.
Ğğ ﻍ 
- pronounced at the back of throat like the French 'r'
Hh ﺡ / ﻩ 
- pronounced like 'h' in 'hat'.
Xx ﺥ 
- pronounced like 'ıSpanish j' (or 'Persian kh').
Iı ی 
- pronounced like 'e' in 'butter' or 'Sutton'.
İi ی 
- pronounced like 'i' in 'pit'. This can be 'ee' as in 'meet'.
Jj ژ 
- pronounced like 'j' (or 'zh') in déjà vu.
Kk ک 
- pronounced like 'k' in 'kill'.
Qq ﻕ 
- pronounced like 'q' in 'Qatar'; usually a slide between 'g' in 'goal' and 'k' in 'kill'.
Ll ﻝ 
- pronounced like 'l' in 'Lauren'
Mm ﻡ 
- pronounced like 'm' in 'Mom'.
Nn ﻥ 
- pronounced like 'n' in 'noon'.
Oo ﻭ 
- pronounced like 'o' in note.
Öö ﻭ 
- same as in 'German Ö' and 'Turkish Ö'.
Pp پ 
- pronounced like 'p' in Police.
Rr ﺭ 
- Roll you r's!
Ss ﺙ / ﺱ / ﺹ 
- pronounced like 's' in sizzle.
Şş ﺵ 
- pronounced like 'sh' in shape.
Tt ﺕ / ﻁ 
- pronounced like 't' in tape.
Uu ﻭ 
- pronounced like 'u' in put.
Üü ﻭ 
- pronounced like 'Turkish Ü'.
Vv ﻭ 
- pronounced like 'v' in 'van'; otherwise, like 'w' in 'world'.
Yy ی 
- pronounced like 'y' in year.
Zz ﺫ / ﺯ / ﺽ / ﻅ 
- pronounced like 'z' in zebra, same as 's' in 'nose' or 'his'.



Category English Azerbaijani
Basic expressions yes hə /hæ/
no yox /jox/
hello salam /sɑlɑm/
goodbye sağ ol /ˈsɑɣ ol/
sağ olun /ˈsɑɣ olun/ (formal)
good morning sabahınız xeyir /sɑbɑhı(nı)z xejiɾ/
good afternoon günortanız xeyir /ɟynoɾt(ɯn)ɯz xejiɾ/
good evening axşamın xeyir /ɑxʃɑmɯn xejiɾ/
axşamınız xeyir /ɑxʃɑmɯ(nɯ)z xejiɾ/
Colours black qara /gɑɾɑ/
blue göy /ɟœj/
cyan mavi /mɑːvi/
brown qəhvəyi/qonur
grey boz /boz/
green yaşıl /jaʃɯl/
orange narıncı /nɑɾɯnd͡ʒɯ/
pink çəhrayı
purple bənövşəyi
red qırmızı /gɯɾmɯzɯ/
white ağ /ɑɣ/
yellow sarı /sɑɾɯ/


Number Word
0 sıfır /ˈsɯfɯɾ/
1 bir /biɾ/
2 iki /ici/
3 üç /yt͡ʃ/
4 dörd /dœɾd/
5 beş /beʃ/
6 altı /ɑltɯ/
7 yeddi /jetti/
8 səkkiz /sæcciz/
9 doqquz /dokkuz/
10 on /on/


Number Word
20 iyirmi /ijiɾmi/
30 otuz /otuz/
40 qırx /gɯɾx/
50 əlli /ælli/

See also[edit]



  1. ^ Azerbaijani at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    North Azerbaijani at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    South Azerbaijani at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Salchuq at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Qashqai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "North Azeri–Salchuq". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. 
  3. ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "South Azeri–Qashqa'i". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. 
  9. ^ L. Johanson, "AZERBAIJAN ix. Iranian Elements in Azeri Turkish" in Encyclopædia Iranica [1].
  11. ^ "Alphabet Changes in Azerbaijan in the 20th Century". Azerbaijan International. Spring 2000. Retrieved 21 July 2013. 
  12. ^ Language Commission Suggested to Be Established in National Assembly. 25 January 2011.
  16. ^ Lenore A. Grenoble (2003) Language Policy in the Soviet Union, p. 131 ISBN 1-4020-1298-5 [3]
  21. ^ "Azerbaijani, North – A language of Azerbaijan" Ethnologue, accessed 8 December 2008
  22. ^ Schönig (1998), pg. 248.
  23. ^ "Azerbaijani, South – A language of Iran" Ethnologue, accessed 8 December 2008
  24. ^ "Azerbaijani, South". Ethnologue. 1999-02-19. Retrieved 2013-07-13. 
  26. ^ "Tehran". Looklex Encyclopaedia. Retrieved 2013-07-04. 
  29. ^ "The World Factbook". Retrieved 2013-07-13. 
  30. ^ Brenda Shaffer. The Limits of Culture: Islam and Foreign Policy MIT Press, 2006 ISBN 0262195291 p 229
  31. ^ Persian Studies in North America by Mohammad Ali Jazayeri
  32. ^ Shiraliyev, Mammadagha. The Baku Dialect. Azerbaijan SSR Academy of Sciences Publ.: Baku, 1957; p. 41

External links[edit]