Iranian languages

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EthnicityIranian peoples
West Asia, Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia
Linguistic classificationIndo-European
ISO 639-2 / 5ira
Linguasphere58= (phylozone)

Countries and areas where an Iranian language has official status or is spoken by a majority

The Iranian or Iranic languages[2][3] are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples.

The Iranian languages are grouped in three stages: Old Iranian (until 400 BC), Middle Iranian (400 BC – 900 AD), and New Iranian (since 900 AD). The two directly attested Old Iranian languages are Old Persian (from the Achaemenid Empire) and Old Avestan (the language of the Avesta). Of the Middle Iranian languages, the better understood and recorded ones are Middle Persian (from the Sasanian Empire), Parthian (from the Parthian Empire), and Bactrian (from the Kushan and Hephthalite empires).

As of 2008, there were an estimated 150–200 million native speakers of the Iranian languages.[4] Ethnologue estimates that there are 86 Iranian languages,[5][6] the largest among them being Persian, Pashto, and the Kurdish dialect continuum.[7]


The term Iranian is applied to any language which descends from the ancestral Proto-Iranian language.[8]

Some scholars such as John Perry prefer the term Iranic as the anthropological name for the linguistic family and ethnic groups of this category (many of which exist outside Iran), while Iranian for anything about the country Iran. He uses the same analogue as in differentiating German from Germanic or differentiating Turkish and Turkic.[9]

This use of the term for the Iranian language family was introduced in 1836 by Christian Lassen.[10] Robert Needham Cust used the term Irano-Aryan in 1878,[11] and Orientalists such as George Abraham Grierson and Max Müller contrasted Irano-Aryan (Iranian) and Indo-Aryan (Indic). Some recent scholarship, primarily in German, has revived this convention.[12][13][14][15]

The Iranian languages are divided into the following branches:


Genetic division of Iranic languages
Historical distribution in 100 BC: shown are Sarmatia, Scythia, Bactria (Eastern Iranian, in orange); and the Parthian Empire (Western Iranian, in red)

The Iranian languages all descend from a common ancestor: Proto-Iranian which itself evolved from Proto-Indo-Iranian. This ancestor language is speculated to have origins in Central Asia, and the Andronovo Culture is suggested[by whom?] as a candidate for the common Indo-Iranian culture around 2000 BC.

It was situated precisely in the western part of Central Asia that borders present-day Russia (and present-day Kazakhstan). It was in relative proximity to the other satem ethno-linguistic groups of the Indo-European family, like Thracian, Balto-Slavic and others, and to common Indo-European's original homeland (more precisely, the Eurasian Steppe to the north of the Caucasus), according to the reconstructed linguistic relationships of common Indo-European.


Proto-Iranian innovations compared to Proto-Indo-Iranian include:[16] the turning of sibilant fricative *s into non-sibilant fricative glottal *h; the voiced aspirated plosives *bʰ, *dʰ, *gʰ yielding to the voiced unaspirated plosives *b, *d, *g resp.; the voiceless unaspirated stops *p, *t, *k before another consonant changing into fricatives *f, *θ, *x resp.; voiceless aspirated stops *pʰ, *tʰ, *kʰ turning into fricatives *f, *θ, *x, resp.

Old Iranian[edit]

The multitude of Middle Iranian languages and peoples indicate that great linguistic diversity must have existed among the ancient speakers of Iranian languages. Of that variety of languages/dialects, direct evidence of only two have survived. These are:

Indirectly attested Old Iranian languages are discussed below.

Old Persian is the Old Iranian dialect as it was spoken in south-western Iran by the inhabitants of Parsa, who also gave their name to their region and language. Genuine Old Persian is best attested in one of the three languages of the Behistun inscription, composed circa 520 BC, and which is the last inscription (and only inscription of significant length) in which Old Persian is still grammatically correct. Later inscriptions are comparatively brief, and typically simply copies of words and phrases from earlier ones, often with grammatical errors, which suggests that by the 4th century BC the transition from Old Persian to Middle Persian was already far advanced, but efforts were still being made to retain an "old" quality for official proclamations.

The other directly attested Old Iranian dialects are the two forms of Avestan, which take their name from their use in the Avesta, the liturgical texts of indigenous Iranian religion that now goes by the name of Zoroastrianism but in the Avesta itself is simply known as vohu daena (later: behdin). The language of the Avesta is subdivided into two dialects, conventionally known as "Old (or 'Gathic') Avestan", and "Younger Avestan". These terms, which date to the 19th century, are slightly misleading since 'Younger Avestan' is not only much younger than 'Old Avestan', but also from a different geographic region. The Old Avestan dialect is very archaic, and at roughly the same stage of development as Rigvedic Sanskrit. On the other hand, Younger Avestan is at about the same linguistic stage as Old Persian, but by virtue of its use as a sacred language retained its "old" characteristics long after the Old Iranian languages had yielded to their Middle Iranian stage. Unlike Old Persian, which has Middle Persian as its known successor, Avestan has no clearly identifiable Middle Iranian stage (the effect of Middle Iranian is indistinguishable from effects due to other causes).

In addition to Old Persian and Avestan, which are the only directly attested Old Iranian languages, all Middle Iranian languages must have had a predecessor "Old Iranian" form of that language, and thus can all be said to have had an (at least hypothetical) "Old" form. Such hypothetical Old Iranian languages include Carduchian (the hypothetical predecessor to Kurdish) and Old Parthian. Additionally, the existence of unattested languages can sometimes be inferred from the impact they had on neighbouring languages. Such transfer is known to have occurred for Old Persian, which has (what is called) a "Median" substrate in some of its vocabulary.[18] Also, foreign references to languages can also provide a hint to the existence of otherwise unattested languages, for example through toponyms/ethnonyms or in the recording of vocabulary, as Herodotus did for what he called "Scythian".


In South Asia, Iranian languages (green) are distributed mainly in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Conventionally, Iranian languages are grouped in "western" and "eastern" branches.[19] These terms have little meaning with respect to Old Avestan as that stage of the language may predate the settling of the Iranian peoples into western and eastern groups. The geographic terms also have little meaning when applied to Younger Avestan since it isn't known where that dialect (or dialects) was spoken either. Certain is only that Avestan (all forms) and Old Persian are distinct, and since Old Persian is "western", and Avestan was not Old Persian, Avestan acquired a default assignment to "eastern". Confusing the issue is the introduction of a western Iranian substrate in later Avestan compositions and redactions undertaken at the centers of imperial power in western Iran (either in the south-west in Persia, or in the north-west in Nisa/Parthia and Ecbatana/Media).

Two of the earliest dialectal divisions among Iranian indeed happen to not follow the later division into Western and Eastern blocks. These concern the fate of the Proto-Indo-Iranian first-series palatal consonants, *ć and *dź:[20]

  • Avestan and most other Iranian languages have deaffricated and depalatalized these consonants, and have *ć > s, *dź > z.
  • Old Persian, however, has fronted these consonants further: *ć > θ, *dź > *ð > d.

As a common intermediate stage, it is possible to reconstruct depalatalized affricates: *c, *dz. (This coincides with the state of affairs in the neighboring Nuristani languages.) A further complication however concerns the consonant clusters *ćw and *dźw:

  • Avestan and most other Iranian languages have shifted these clusters to sp, zb.
  • In Old Persian, these clusters yield s, z, with loss of the glide *w, but without further fronting.
  • The Saka language, attested in the Middle Iranian period, and its modern relative Wakhi fail to fit into either group: in these, palatalization remains, and similar glide loss as in Old Persian occurs: *ćw > š, *dźw > ž.

A division of Iranian languages in at least three groups during the Old Iranian period is thus implied:

  • Persid (Old Persian and its descendants)
  • Sakan (Saka, Wakhi, and their Old Iranian ancestor)
  • Central Iranian (all other Iranian languages)

It is possible that other distinct dialect groups were already in existence during this period. Good candidates are the hypothetical ancestor languages of Alanian/Scytho-Sarmatian subgroup of Scythian in the far northwest; and the hypothetical "Old Parthian" (the Old Iranian ancestor of Parthian) in the near northwest, where original *dw > *b (paralleling the development of *ćw).

Middle Iranian languages[edit]




New Iranian languages[edit]

Dark green: countries where Iranian languages are official.
Teal: regional co-official/de facto status.


Geographic distribution of modern Iranian languages

The Islamic conquest also brought with it the adoption of Arabic script for writing Persian and much later, Kurdish, Pashto and Balochi. All three were adapted to the writing by the addition of a few letters. This development probably occurred some time during the second half of the 8th century, when the old middle Persian script began dwindling in usage. The Arabic script remains in use in contemporary modern Persian. Tajik script, used to write the Tajik language, was first Latinised in the 1920s under the then Soviet nationality policy. The script was however subsequently Cyrillicized in the 1930s by the Soviet government.

The geographical regions in which Iranian languages were spoken were pushed back in several areas by newly neighbouring languages. Arabic spread into some parts of Western Iran (Khuzestan), and Turkic languages spread through much of Central Asia, displacing various Iranian languages such as Sogdian and Bactrian in parts of what is today Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. In Eastern Europe, mostly comprising the territory of modern-day Ukraine, southern European Russia, and parts of the Balkans, the core region of the native Scythians, Sarmatians, and Alans had been decisively taken over as a result of absorption and assimilation (e.g. Slavicisation) by the various Proto-Slavic population of the region, by the 6th century AD.[22][23][24][25] This resulted in the displacement and extinction of the once predominant Scythian languages of the region. Sogdian's close relative Yaghnobi barely survives in a small area of the Zarafshan valley east of Samarkand, and Saka as Ossetic in the Caucasus, which is the sole remnant of the once predominant Scythian languages in Eastern Europe proper and large parts of the North Caucasus. Various small Iranian languages in the Pamir Mountains survive that are derived from Eastern Iranian.

Comparison table[edit]

English Zaza Sorani Kurdish Kurmanji Pashto Tati Talyshi Balochi Mazanderani Persian Middle Persian Parthian Old Persian Avestan Ossetian
beautiful rınd, xasek nayab, cwan rind, delal, bedew, xweşik x̌kūlay, x̌āista xojir ghašang dorr, soherâ, mah rang, sharr, juwān xoşgel, xojir zibā/xuš-čehr(e)/xoşgel(ak)/ghashanq/najib hučihr, hužihr hužihr naiba vahu-, srîra ræsughd
blood goyni xwên xwîn, xwûn wīna xevn xun hon xun xūn xōn gōxan vohuni- tug
bread nan, non nan nan ḍoḍəi, məṛəi nun nun nān, nagan nun nān nān nān dzul
bring ardene /weranîn, hawirdin anîn, hînan (rā)wṛəl vârden, biyordon varde âurten, yārag, ārag biyârden āwurdan, biyār ("(you) bring!") āwurdan, āwāy-, āwar-, bar- āwāy-, āwar-, bar- bara- bara, bar- xæssyn
brother bıra brader, bira bra, brarg, brang, brat wror bərâr bira, boli brāt, brās birâr barādar brād, brâdar brād, brādar brātar brātar- æfsymær
come ameyene hatin, were hatin, atin, were, rā tləl biyâmiyan ome āhag, āyag, hatin biyamona, enen, biyâmuen āmadan āmadan, awar awar, čām āy-, āgam āgam- cæwyn
cry bermayene girîn, giryan grîn, griyan žəṛəl bərma berame, bame greewag, grehten birme gerīstan/gerīye griy-, bram- barmâdan kæwyn
dark tari tarî/tarîk tarî skəṇ, skaṇ, tyara ul, gur, târica, târek toki tār tārīk tārīg/k tārīg, tārēn tārīk sâmahe, sâma tar
daughter keyne, çêneke kîj, kiç, kenişk, düet (pehlewanî) dot (daughter)


lūr titiye, dətar kinə, kila dohtir, duttag kîjâ(girl), deter (daughter) doxtar duxtar duxt, duxtar duxδar čyzg (Iron), kizgæ (Digor)
day roce/roje/roze řoj roj wrəd͡z (rwəd͡z) revj, ruz ruj roç ruz, ruj rūz rōz raucah- raocah- bon
do kerdene kirdin kirin kawəl kardan, kordan karde kanag, kurtin hâkerden kardan kardan kartan kạrta- kәrәta- kænyn
door ber, keyber, çêber derge/derke, derga derî wər darvâca dar, gelo, darwāzag dar, loş dar dar dar, bar duvara- dvara- dwar
die merdene mirdin mirin mrəl bamarden marde mireg, murten bamerden murdan murdan mạriya- mar- mælyn
donkey here ker ker xər astar, xar hə, hər har, her, kar xar xar xar xæræg
eat werdene xwardin xwarin, xwartin,


xwāṛə, xurāk / xwaṛəl harden harde warag, warâk, wārten xerâk / baxârden xordan / xurāk parwarz / xwâr, xwardīg parwarz / xwâr hareθra / ad-, at- xærinag
egg hak, akk hêk/hêlke, tuxm hêk hagəi merqâna, karxâ morqana, uyə heyg, heyk, ā morg merqâne, tîm, balî toxm, xāya ("testicle") toxmag, xâyag taoxmag, xâyag taoxma- ajk
earth erd zemîn, zewî, ʿerz, erd erd, zevî d͡zməka (md͡zəka) zemin zamin zemin, degār zamîn, bene zamīn zamīg zamīg zam- zãm, zam, zem zæxx
evening şan êware êvar māx̌ām (māš̥ām) nomâzyar, nomâšon shav begáh nemâşun begáh ēvārag êbêrag izær
eye çım çaw/çaş çav stərga coš čaş,gelgan cham, chem çəş, bəj čashm čašm čašm čaša- čašman- cæst
father pi, pêr bawk, ba bav, bab plār piyar, piya, dada piya, lala, po pet, pes pîyer, per pedar, baba pidar pid pitar pitar fyd
fear ters tirs tirs wēra (yara), bēra târs tars turs, terseg taşe-vaşe, tars tars tars tars tạrsa- tares- tas
fiancé waşti dezgîran dergîstî, xwestî čənghol [masculine], čənghəla [feminine] numzâ nomja nāmzād numze nāmzād - - usag
fine weş, hewl xoş xwaş, xweş,


x̌a (š̥a), səm,
ṭik (Urdu origin)
xojir, xar xoş wash, hosh xâr, xeş, xojir xoš, xūb, beh dārmag srîra xorz, dzæbæx
finger engışte, gışte, bêçıke engust, pence tilî, pêçî gwəta anquš anqiştə changol, mordâneg, lenkutk angus angošt angust dišti- ængwyldz
fire adır, adfır agir/awir, ahir agir wōr (ōr) taš otaş âch, atesh, âs taş ātaš, āzar âdur, âtaxsh ādur âç- âtre-/aêsma- art
fish mase masî masî kəb mâyi moy māhi, māhig mâhî māhi māhig māsyāg masya kæsag
go şo (şiyayış) çûn, řoştin, řoyiştin çûn tləl šiyen, bišiyan şe shoten şunen / burden ro/şo şow/row ay- ai- ay-, fra-vaz cæwyn
god homa, huma, oma, heq Yezdan, xwedê, xuda, xodê, xwa(y) xwedê, xweda, xwadê, xudê xwədāi xədâ Xıdo xoda,hwdâ xedâ xodā/izad xudā/yazdān baga- baya- xwycaw
good hewl, rınd, weş baş, çak baş, rind x̌ə (š̥ə) xâr, xojir çok zabr, sharr, jowain xâr, xeş, xojir xub, nīkū, beh xūb, nêkog, beh vahu- vohu, vaŋhu- xorz
grass vaş giya/gya gîya, çêre wāx̌ə (wāš̥ə) vâš alaf rem, sabzag vâş sabzeh, giyāh, alaf giyâ giya viş urvarâ kærdæg
great gırd, gırs, pil gewre mezin, gir lōy, stər pilla yol, yal, vaz, dıjd mastar, mazan,tuh gat, pilla bozorg wuzurg, pīl, yal vazraka- uta-, avañt styr
hand dest dest, des dest lās bâl dast dast das, bāl dast dast dast dasta- zasta- k'ux / arm
head ser ser ser sər kalla sə, sər sar, sarag, saghar kalle, sar sar sar kalli sairi sær
heart zerri, zerre dil/dił/dir(Erbil)/zil dil zṛə dəl dıl dil, hatyr del, zel, zil del dil dil aηhuš zærdæ
horse estor, (ostor/astor) asp/hesp/esp, hês(t)ir esp, hesp ās [male], aspa [female] asb, astar asp asp asp, as asb asp, stōr asp, stōr aspa aspa- bæx
house keye, ban mał, xanu, xang mal, xanî kor kiya ka ges, dawâr, log sere, xene xāne xânag demâna-, nmâna- xædzar
hungry veyşan birsî birçî lwəga vašnâ, vešir, gesnâ vahşian shudig, shud veşnâ gorosne, goşne gursag, shuy veşnâg
language (also tongue) zıwan, zon, zuan, zuon, juan, jüan ziman, ziwan ziman žəba zobun, zəvân zivon zewān, zobān zivun, zebun zabān zuwān izβān hazâna- hizvā- ævzag
laugh huyayene kenîn/pêkenîn, kenîn kenîn xandəl/xənda xurəsen, xandastan sıre hendag, xandag rîk, baxendesten xande xande, xand karta Syaoθnâvareza- xudyn
life cu/cuye, cewiyayış jiyan jiyan žwəndūn, žwənd zindәgi jimon zendegih, zind zindegî, jan zendegi, jan zīndagīh, zīwišnīh žīwahr, žīw- gaêm, gaya- card
man merdêk, camêrd, cuamêrd merd, pîyaw mêr səṛay, mēṛə mardak, miarda merd merd mard(î) mard mard mard martiya- mašîm, mašya adæjmag
moon aşme, menge (for month) mang meh, heyv spūgməi (spōẓ̌məi) mâng mang, owşum máh ma, munek mâh māh māh mâh- måŋha- mæj
mother maye, marde, maya dayek dayik, mak mōr mâr, mâya, nana moa, ma, ina mât, mâs mâr mâdar mâdar dayek mâtar mâtar- mad
mouth fek dem dev xūla (xʷəla) duxun, dâ:ân gəv dap dâhun, lâmîze dahân dahân, rumb åŋhânô, âh, åñh dzyx
name name naw, nêw nav nūm num nom nâm num nâm nâm nâman nãman nom
night şewe şew şev špa šö, šav şav šap, shaw şow shab shab xšap- xšap- æxsæv
open (v) a-kerdene kirdinewe vekirin prānistəl vâz-kardan okarde pāch, pabozag vâ-hekârden bâz-kardan, va-kardan abâz-kardan, višādag būxtaka- būxta- gom kænyn
peace pêameyış, werêameyış aştî, aramî aştî, aramî rōɣa, t͡sōkāləi dinj aşiş ârâm âştî âshti, ârâmeš, ârâmî âštih, râmīšn râm, râmīšn šiyâti- râma- fidyddzinad
pig xoz, xonz beraz, beraz, soḍər, xənd͡zir (Arabic) xu, xuyi, xug xug khug, huk xūk xūk xwy
place ca je(jega), ga cîh, geh d͡zāi yâga vira ja, jaygah, hend jâh/gâh gâh gâh gâθu- gâtu-, gâtav- ran
read wendene xwendin/xwêndin xwandin, xwendin,


lwastəl, kōtəl baxânden hande, xwande wánag, wānten baxinden, baxundesten xândan xwândan kæsyn
say vatene gutin, witin gotin, bêtin wayəl vâten, baguten vote gushag, guashten baowten goftan, gap(-zadan) guftan, gōw-, wâxtan gōw- gaub- mrû- dzuryn
sister waye xweh, xweşk, xoşk, xuşk, xoyşk xwîşk, xwarg, xwang,


xōr (xʷōr) xâke, xâv, xâxor, xuâr hova gwhâr xâxer xâhar/xwâhar xwahar x ̌aŋhar- "sister" xo
small qıc, qıyt, qıj, qıçkek, qıtek, werdi giçke, qicik, hûr biçûk, hûr kūčnay, waṛ(ū)kay qijel, ruk hırd gwand, hurd peçik, biçuk, xurd kuchak, kam, xurd, rîz kam, rangas kam kamna- kamna- chysyl
son lac, laj, kaz, pısa law/kuř kur (son)

law (boy)

d͡zoy (zoy) pur, zâ zoə, zurə possag, baç piser/rîkâ pesar, baça pur, pusar puhr puça pūθra- fyrt
soul roh, gan jan, giyan, rewan, revan can rəvân con rawân ro, jân ravân, jân rūwân, jyân rūwân, jyân urvan- ud
spring wesar, usar behar, wehar behar spərlay vâ:âr əvəsor, bahar bārgāh vehâr bahâr wahâr vâhara- θūravâhara-
tall berz bilind/berz bilind/berz lwəṛ, ǰəg pilla barz, bılınd borz, bwrz bilen(d) boland / bârez buland, borz bârež barez- bærzond
ten des deh/de deh ləs da da dah da dah dah datha dasa dæs
three hirê, hiri, hirı drē so, se se, he sey se se hrē çi- θri- ærtæ
village dewe gund, dêhat, dê gund kəlay döh, da di dehāt, helk, kallag, dê dih, male, kola deh, wis wiž dahyu- vîs-, dahyu- vîs qæw
want waştene xwastin, wîstin xwastin,


ɣ(ʷ)ux̌təl begovastan, jovastan piye loath, loteten bexâsten xâstan xwâstan fændyn
water awe, owe, ou aw av obə/ūbə âv, ö ov, wat(orandian dialect) âp ow âb âb/aw aw âpi avô- don
when key, çı wext key kengê, kîngê kəla key keyna kadi, ked ke key kay ka čim- kæd
wind va ba, wa (pehlewanî) ba siləi vo gwáth bâd wâd wa vâta- dymgæ / wad
wolf verg gurg, wurg gur lewə, šarmux̌ (šarmuš̥) varg varg gurk verg gorg gurg varka- vehrka birægh
woman cêniye, cênıke jin jin x̌əd͡za (š̥əd͡za) zeyniye, zenak jen, jiyan jan, jinik zan zan zan žan gǝnā, γnā, ǰaini-, sylgojmag / us
year serre sal/sał sal kāl sâl sor, sal sâl sâl sâl sâl θard ýâre, sarәd az
yes / no ya, heya, ê / nê, ney, ni bełê, a / na, ne erê, arê, belê, a / na, no, ne Hao, ao, wō / na, ya ahan / na ha / ne, na ere, hān / na are / nâ baleh, ârē, hā / na, née ōhāy / ne hâ / ney yâ / nay, mâ yâ / noit, mâ o / næ
yesterday vizêri dwênê, duêke duho parūn azira, zira, diru zir, zinə dîruz diruz dêrûž diya(ka) zyō znon
English Zaza Sorani Kurdish Kurmanji Pashto Tati Talyshi Balochi Mazandarani Persian Middle Persian Parthian Old Persian Avestan Ossetian


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  8. ^ (Skjærvø 2006)
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  11. ^ Cust, Robert Needham. 1878. A sketch of the modern languages of the East Indies. London: Trübner.
  12. ^ Dani, Ahmad Hasan. 1989. History of northern areas of Pakistan. Historical studies (Pakistan) series. National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research.
    "We distinguish between the Aryan languages of Iran, or Irano-Aryan, and the Aryan languages of India, or Indo-Aryan. For the sake of brevity, Iranian is commonly used instead of Irano-Aryan".
  13. ^ Lazard, Gilbert. 1977. Preface in: Oranskij, Iosif M. Les langues iraniennes. Traduit par Joyce Blau.
  14. ^ Schmitt, Rüdiger. 1994. Sprachzeugnisse alt- und mitteliranischer Sprachen in Afghanistan in: Indogermanica et Caucasica. Festschrift für Karl Horst Schmidt zum 65. Geburtstag. Bielmeier, Robert und Reinhard Stempel (Hrg.). De Gruyter. S. 168–196.
  15. ^ Lazard, Gilbert. 1998. Actancy. Empirical approaches to language typology. Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-015670-9, ISBN 978-3-11-015670-6
  16. ^ Michael Witzel (2001): Autochthonous Aryans? The evidence from Old Indian and Iranian texts. Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies 7(3): 1–115.
  17. ^ Roland G. Kent: "Old Persion: Grammar Texts Lexicon". Part I, Chapter I: The Linguistic Setting of Old Persian. American Oriental Society, 1953.
  18. ^ (Skjaervo 2006) vi(2). Documentation.
  19. ^ Nicholas Sims-Williams, Iranica, under entry: Eastern Iranian languages
  20. ^ Windfuhr, Gernot (2009). "Dialectology and Topics". The Iranian Languages. Routledge. pp. 18–21.
  21. ^ Mary Boyce. 1975. A Reader in Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian, p. 14.
  24. ^ Atkinson, Dorothy; et al. (1977). Women in Russia. Stanford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780804709101. (..) Ancient accounts link the Amazons with the Scythians and the Sarmatians, who successively dominated the south of Russia for a millennium extending back to the seventh century B.C. The descendants of these peoples were absorbed by the Slavs who came to be known as Russians.


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