Hazaragi[a] refers to a group of dialects of Afghan Persian. Afghan Persian, also known as Dari, is an eastern variety of the Persian language and has many dialects throughout Afghanistan.[4]
| Hazaragi | |
|---|---|
| ژبې هزارګي | |
| هزارګي | |
 The words Hazāragi, Āzargi, and Azargi written in Nastaliq. | |
| Native to | Afghanistan[1] |
| Ethnicity | Hazaras |
Native speakers | 5 million (2023)[2] |
| Persian alphabet[3] | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | haz |
| Glottolog | haza1239 |
Classification
editHazaragi dialects fall under Dari, an eastern variety of Persian. Dari, known as Afghan Persian, is one of the two official Languages of Afghanistan. Persian is a prominent member of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. The Hazaragi dialects of Dari and the standard Kabuli dialect of Dari are mutually intelligible,[5] with the primary differences being accents.[6] In Daykundi, the local dialect of Dari contains some Turkic loanwords via Karluk.[7]
Najib Mayel Heravi about the Hazaragi dialects:
"The Hazaragi dialects of Persian possess some of the most ancient and authentic features of the Persian language, to the extent that features typical of the Persian dialects of the 4th and 5th centuries (such as compound verbs instead of simple verbs, old particles, adverbs, old prefixes, verb repetitions, old pronouns, and noticeable alternations) are all prevalent in this variety. The study of these dialects of Persian in Afghanistan, before it becomes obsolete and foreign, is essential for historical linguistic studies of Persian and for solving problems in the interpretation of ancient Persian texts."[8]
Geographic distribution and diaspora
editHazaragi dialects are mainly spoken by the Hazara people, who are native to and mainly live in Afghanistan.
As part of the larger Afghan diaspora, the Hazara diaspora has led to many Hazara Afghans living, or being born, in Pakistan and Iran. As a result, many Afghan-Pakistanis (particularly in Quetta), and Afghan-Iranians (particularly in Mashhad),[9] speak Hazaragi dialects of Dari. Along with the diaspora in eastern Uzbekistan, northern Tajikistan, the Americas, Europe, and Australia.[10] The influx of Afghan refugees in Iran has caused there to be an estimated total of 399,000 Dari speakers of Hazaragi dialects in the country, as of 2021.[11]
Turkic and Mongolic influences
editSome dialects of Dari spoken by Hazaras contain Turkic loanwords.[12][13] According to Temirkhanov, the Mongolian elements make up 10% of the Hazara vocabulary.[14] An Iranica article on Dari dialects of the Hazaras states that they consist of three linguistic layers: pre-Mongol Persian, with its own substratum; the Mongolian language; and the modern Tajik language, another eastern Persian variety.[15]
According to Efimov, examples of vocabulary in Hazaragi dialects that reflect Turkic influence include ata ('father'), kaṭa ('big, large'), qara ('black'),[15] kunda ('plow'), qōš ('eyebrow'),[16] while words of Mongolic origin include bêri ('bride'), alaḡa ('palm of the hand'), qulaḡay ('thief'),[15] xatun ('wife, woman'), ōɡ̄il ('village').[16] German Iranologist Michael Weiers notes that a key distinguishing feature of the Hazaragi dialects are its Turco-Mongolic lexical components, which make up around 10% of their vocabularies. Although the Hazaragi dialects of Dari remain structurally similar to the Kabuli dialect of Dari, this lexical layer is different.[15][17]
Grammatical structure
editThe grammatical structure of the Hazaragi dialects of Dari[18][19][20] are identical to that of the Kabuli dialect.[21][22]
Phonology
edit| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| ʊ | ||
| Mid | e | ɔ |
| Low | a |
/a/ can also approach the sound [æ] or [ɛ].[23]
Hazaragi dialects contain the voiced fricative /ɣ/, and the labial–velar approximant /w/. Unlike in other Persian dialects, the retroflex stops /ʈ/ and /ɖ/ are found. The voiceless glottal fricative /h/ is often dropped.[24] The convergence of the voiced uvular stop /ɢ/ (ق) and the voiced velar fricative /ɣ/ (غ) in Western Persian (probably under the influence of Turkic languages)[25] is treated as separate phonemes in Hazaragi dialects.
Diphthongs include /aj/, /aw/, and /ew/ (cf. Iranian Persian ab, āb, ûw). The vocalic system is eastern Persian, characterized by the loss of length distinction, the retention of mid-vowels, and the rounding of ā and å/o, alternating with its merger with a or û (cf. Iranian Persian ān).[24]
Stress is dynamic and same to that in the Kabuli dialect of Dari[26] and Tajik,[27] and are thus not variable.[28] Stress generally falls on the last syllable of a nominal word form, including derivative suffixes and several morphological markers. Typical is the insertion of epenthetic vowels in consonant clusters (e.g., pašm > póšum; 'wool') and final devoicing (e.g., ḵût; 'self, own').[24]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palato- alveolar |
Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | |||||||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t̪ | ʈ | tʃ | k | q | ||
| voiced | b | d̪ | ɖ | dʒ | ɡ | ||||
| Flap/Trill | r | ||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | x | (h) | |||
| voiced | z | ʒ | ɣ | ||||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | ||||||
[h] only occurs infrequently and among more educated speakers. /r/ can be heard as either a trill [r] or a tap [ɾ]. /x, ɣ/ can also range to uvular sounds [χ, ʁ].[citation needed]
Nominal morphology
editThe most productive derivative marker is -i, and the plural markers are -o for the inanimate (as in kitab-o, meaning 'books'; cf. Iranian Persian -hā) and -û for the animate (as in birar-û, meaning 'brothers'; cf. Iranian Persian -ān). The emphatic vocative marker is û or -o, the indefinite marker is -i, and the specific object marker is -(r)a. The comparative marker is -tar (as in kalû-tar; 'bigger'). Dependent adjectives and nouns follow the head noun and are connected by -i (as in kitab-i mamud; 'book of Mahmud'). Topicalized possessors precede the head noun marked by the resumptive personal suffix (as in Zulmay ayê-ši; lit. 'Zulmay her mother'). Prepositions include, in addition to the standard Persian ones, ḵun(i) ('with; using'), da ('in'; cf. Iranian Persian dar); the latter often replaces ba ('to') in dative function. Loaned postpositions include comitative -qati ('together with') and (az)-worî ('like'). Interrogatives typically function also as indefinite (as in kudam; 'which; someone').[24]
| Singular/Plural | First person | Second person | Third person |
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | ma [me, I] (man) | tu [you] (tu) | e/u [this/that] (w) |
| plural | mû [we, us] (mo) | šimû/šumû (cumo) | yo/wo [these/those] (icon) |
| singular | -um [mine] -em | -it/khu/–tû [your/yours] (-et) | -iš/-(i)ši [his/hers] (-ec) |
| plural | -mû [ours] (-emon) | –tû/-šimû/šumû [your/yours] (-eton) | -iš/-(i)ši [their] (-econ) |
Particles, conjunctions, modals, and adverbials
editThese include atê/arê ('yes'); amma or wali ('but'); balki ('however'); šaydi ('perhaps') ale ('now'); and wuḵt-a ('then'). These are also marked by distinctive initial stress.[24]
| Hazaragi-Dari | Iranian Persian | English |
|---|---|---|
| amyale | aknun | now |
| dalil'dera | dalil darad | maybe |
Verb morphology
editThe imperfective marker is the prefix mi- (assimilated variants: m-, mu-, m-, mê-), as in the conjugated verb mi-zan-um ('I am hitting'). The subjunctive and imperative marker is bi- (with similar assimilation). The negation prefix is na- and is placed before all other prefixes, as in na-mi-zad-um ('I was not hitting'). These typically attract stress.[24]
Tenses
editThe tense, mood, and aspect systems are different from Western Persian. The basic tense system is threefold: present-future, past, and remote (pluperfect). New modal paradigms developed in addition to the subjunctives:
- The non-seen/mirative that originates in the resultative-stative perfect (e.g., zad-ēm; cf. Iranian Persian zada(e) am), which has largely lost its non-modal use;
- the potential, or assumptive, which is marked by the invariant ḵot (cf. Persian xāh-ad or xād; 'it wants, it intends') combined with the indicate and subjunctive forms.
Moreover, all past and remote forms have developed imperfective forms marked by mi-. There are doubts about several of the less commonly found, or recorded, forms, in particular those with ḵot.[29] However, the systematic arrangement of all forms according to their morphological, as well as semantic, function shows that those forms fit well within the overall pattern. The system may tentatively be shown as follows, leaving out complex compound forms such as zada ḵot mu-buda baš-um.[24]
In the assumptive, the distinction appears to be not between present versus past, but indefinite versus definite. Also, similar to all Persian dialects, the imperfective forms in mi-, and past perfect forms, such as mi-zad-um and zada bud-um, are used in irreal conditional clauses and wishes, e.g., kaški zimi qulba kadagi mu-but ('If the field would only be/have been plowed'). Modal verbs, such as tan- ('can'), are constructed with the perfect participle, e.g., ma bû-r-um, da čaman rasid-a ḵot tanist-um ('I shall go, and may be able to get to Chaman'). Participial nominalization is typical, both with the perfect participle (e.g., kad-a 'having done'), and with the derived participle with passive meaning kad-ag-i 'having been done'. E.g., zimin-i qulba kada-ya ('The field has been ploughed'), zamin-i qulba (na-)šuda-ra mi-ngar-um ('I am looking at a plowed/unplowed field'), imrûz [u ḵondagi] tikrar mu-kun-a ('Today he repeats reading what he had read'). The gerundive (e.g., kad-an-i 'to be done') is likewise productive, as in yag čiz, ki uftadani baš-a, ma u-ra qad-dist-ḵu girift-um, tulḡa kad-um ('One object, that was about to fall, I grabbed, and held it'). The clitic -ku or -ḵu topicalizes the parts of speech, and -di topicalizes the predicate; e.g., i-yši raft, ma-ḵu da ḵona mand-um ('He himself left; I, though, I stayed').[24]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^
- Dari: هزارگی, romanized: Hazāragī, cyrillized: Ҳазорагӣ, pronounced [(h)ɐˌzɑːɾɐˈɡiː]
- Hazaragi pronunciation: [ʔɔːzäɾɡí, ʔɔːzuɾäɡí]
References
edit- ^ Emadi, Hafizullah (2005). Culture and Customs of Afghanistan. ISBN 9780313330896.
- ^ Hazaragi dialects at Ethnologue (28th ed., 2025)
- ^ "Hazaragi language, alphabet and pronunciation".
- ^ The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency (2010). "Afghanistan".
- ^ "Attitudes Towards Hazaragi". Retrieved 4 June 2014.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Schurmann, Franz (1962) The Mongols of Afghanistan: An Ethnography of the Moghôls and Related Peoples of Afghanistan Mouton, The Hague, Netherlands, page 17, OCLC 401634
- ^ دلجو, عباس (2014). تاریخ باستانی هزارهها. کابل: انتشارات امیری. ISBN 978-9936801509.
- ^ "دانلود کتاب سایه به سایه اثر نجیب مایل هروی ☀️ PDF رایگان" (in Persian). p. 138. Retrieved 2025-04-18.
- ^ Area Handbook for Afghanistan, page 77, Harvey Henry Smith, American University (Washington, D.C.) Foreign Area Studies
- ^ Barbara A. West. "Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania". pp 272. Info base Publishing, 2009. ISBN 1438119135
- ^ "Hazaragi". Ethnologue. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ "A Sociological Study of Hazara Tribe in Balochistan (An Analysis of Socio-Cultural Change) University of Karachi, Pakistan July 1976". Eprints.hec.gov.pk. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
- ^ Monsutti, Alessandro (2017-07-01), "Hazāras", Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Brill, retrieved 2021-10-08
- ^ Temirkhanov L. (1968). "О некоторых спорных вопросах этнической истории хазарейского народа". Советская этнография. 1. P. 91. In Russian: "монгольские элементы составляют 10% хазарейской лексики".
- ^ a b c d "HAZĀRA iv. Hazāragi dialect". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
- ^ a b Ефимов В. А. (1965)."Язык афганских хазара." Москва: Наука. Page 52.
- ^ Idem, The Spoken Dari of Afghanistan: A Grammar of Kāboli Dari (Persian), Compared to the Literary Language, Kabul, 1975
- ^ Valentin Aleksandrovich Efimov, Yazyk afganskikh khazara: Yakavlangskii dialect, Moscow, 1965. pp. 22–83
- ^ Idem, “Khazara yazyk,” in Yazyki mira. Iranskiĭ yazyki I: yugo-zapadnye iranskiĭ yazyki, Moscow, 1997, pp. 154–66.
- ^ G. K. Dulling, The Hazaragi Dialect of Afghan Persian: A Preliminary Study, Central Asian Monograph 1, London, 1973. pp. 29–41
- ^ A. G. Ravan Farhadi, Le persan parlé en Afghanistan: Grammaire du kâboli accompagnée d’un recuil de quatrains populaires de région de Kâbol, Paris, 1955.
- ^ Idem, The Spoken Dari of Afghanistan: A Grammar of Kāboli Dari (Persian), Compared to the Literary Language, Kabul, 1975
- ^ a b c Efimov, V. A. (2008). Xazara. In V. A. Efimov (ed.), Sredneiranskie i novoiranskie Jazyki: Moskva: Izdatel'stvo Firma Vostočnaya Literatura RAN. pp. 344–414.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Foundation, Encyclopaedia Iranica. "HAZĀRA iv. Hazāragi dialect". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
- ^ A. Pisowicz, Origins of the New and Middle Persian phonological systems (Cracow 1985), p. 112-114, 117.
- ^ Farhadi, Le persan parlé en Afghanistan: Grammaire du kâboli accompagnée d’un recuil de quatrains populaires de région de Kâbol, Paris, 1955, pp. 64–67
- ^ V. S.Rastorgueva, A Short Sketch of Tajik Grammar, tr. Herbert H. Paper, Bloomington, Ind., and The Hague, 1963, pp. 9–10
- ^ G. K. Dulling, The Hazaragi Dialect of Afghan Persian: A Preliminary Study, Central Asian Monograph 1, London, 1973. p. 37
- ^ G. K. Dulling, The Hazaragi Dialect of Afghan Persian: A Preliminary Study, Central Asian Monograph 1, London, 1973. pp. 35–36
