Tajik language
Quick Summary
The Tajik language is the official language of Tajikistan and is spoken by most of its population. It belongs to the southwest group of Iranian languages and is closely related to Farsi and Dari, spoken in Iran and Afghanistan, respectively. A key difference is that Tajik is written using the Cyrillic alphabet.12
While the dialects of the Pamirs and Yaghnob River valley were classified as Tajik during the Soviet era, they are actually eastern Iranian languages. Speakers of these dialects use Tajik as a lingua franca to communicate with others. Russian is commonly used for official and business purposes, though few speak it as a native language. Uzbek is the second most spoken language in Tajikistan and is written in the Cyrillic script.1
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- Iranian languagesModern Iranian
Tajik, another West Iranian language, is spoken by more than 7,000,000 people widely spread throughout Tajikistan and the rest of Central Asia and is readily intelligible to speakers of Persian, to which it is very closely related, although it is in some respects more archaic.
Read MoreTajik, another West Iranian language, is spoken by more than 7,000,000 people widely spread throughout Tajikistan and the rest of Central Asia and is readily intelligible to speakers of Persian, to which it is very closely related, although it is in some respects more archaic.
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Tajikistan…and people of Iran; the Tajik and Persian languages are closely related and mutually intelligible. The Tajiks’ centuries-old economic symbiosis with oasis-dwelling Uzbeks also somewhat confuses the expression of a distinctive Tajik national identity. Since the early years of independence, Tajikistan has been wracked by conflict between the government and…
Read More…and people of Iran; the Tajik and Persian languages are closely related and mutually intelligible. The Tajiks’ centuries-old economic symbiosis with oasis-dwelling Uzbeks also somewhat confuses the expression of a distinctive Tajik national identity. Since the early years of independence, Tajikistan has been wracked by conflict between the government and…
Read More- TajikistanLanguages
Tajik is the official language and is spoken by most people in Tajikistan. A member of the southwest group of Iranian languages, it is closely related to the mutually intelligible dialects of Farsi and Dari in Iran and Afghanistan, respectively, though it differs from these…
Read MoreTajik is the official language and is spoken by most people in Tajikistan. A member of the southwest group of Iranian languages, it is closely related to the mutually intelligible dialects of Farsi and Dari in Iran and Afghanistan, respectively, though it differs from these…
Read More