Editing Tajikistan (section)

=== Languages ===
{{main|Languages of Tajikistan|Tajik language|Russian dialects#Tajikistani Russian|l2 = Tajikistani Russian|}}

The official [[language]]s of Tajikistan are [[Tajik language|Tajik]] as the state language and [[Russian language|Russian]] as the interethnic language, as understood in Article 2 of the Constitution: "The state language of Tajikistan shall be Tajik. Russian shall be the language of international communication."<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/education/edurights/media/docs/ae8c0f7576f3d9f63ff2055592a9cb6b7f95227a.pdf |title=Constitution of Tajikistan |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=8 April 2021 |archive-date=10 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510033938/http://www.unesco.org/education/edurights/media/docs/ae8c0f7576f3d9f63ff2055592a9cb6b7f95227a.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The state (national) language ({{langx|tg|забони давлатӣ|zaboni davlatí|links=no}}, {{langx|ru|государственный язык|gosudarstvennyy yazyk}}) of the Republic of Tajikistan is [[Tajik language|Tajik]], which is written in the [[Tajik alphabet|Tajik Cyrillic alphabet]]. Millions of native Tajik speakers live in neighboring [[Uzbekistan]] and in Russia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tajik language |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tajik-language |website=Britannica |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=27 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227074700/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tajik-language |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan,<ref name="auto1"/> Russian is recognized as the second official language of Tajikistan; the official language of inter-ethnic communication ({{langx|ru|язык межнационального общения}}; {{langx|tg|забони муоширати байни миллатҳо}}) in the country.<ref name="RIA-RU">{{cite web|url=https://ria.ru/culture/20091022/190107839.html|title=The status of the Russian language in Tajikistan remains unchanged – Rahmon|publisher=RIA – RIA.ru|date=22 October 2009|access-date=30 September 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002141721/https://ria.ru/culture/20091022/190107839.html|archive-date=2 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="lenta.ru/news/2011/06/09">{{cite web|url=http://lenta.ru/news/2011/06/09/russian|title=В Таджикистане русскому языку вернули прежний статус|publisher=Lenta.ru|access-date=13 September 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905014016/http://lenta.ru/news/2011/06/09/russian/|archive-date=5 September 2013}}</ref>

Approximately 90% of the population of Tajikistan speaks Russian at varying levels.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://celcar.indiana.edu/materials/language-portal/tajiki/index.html | title=Tajiki | access-date=25 October 2024 | archive-date=12 June 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612222820/https://celcar.indiana.edu/materials/language-portal/tajiki/index.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> The varieties of Russian spoken in Tajikistan are referred to by scholars as ''[[Russian dialects#Tajikistani Russian|Tajik(istani) Russian]]''<ref>{{cite web |title=Russian: A Monocentric or Pluricentric Language |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=739986 |publisher=Colloquia Humanistica |access-date=28 February 2021 |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417154701/https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=739986 |url-status=live }}</ref> and it shares some similarities with ''Uzbek(istani) Russian'', such as morphological differences and lexical differences such as the use of word ''урюк''<ref>{{cite web |title=Урюк |url=http://forum.lingvolive.com/thread/l132954/?order=all#comment-96f1bb5a-2004-46a4-85a3-a7e80086b86b |website=Lingvolive |publisher=ABBYY Lingvo |access-date=28 February 2021 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> for a wild apricot or ''кислушка'' for rhubarb.<ref>{{cite web |title=Кислушка (ревень) |url=http://forum.lingvolive.com/thread/l131195/?order=all#comment-2c008487-0fcb-480f-9742-a7e80086723c |website=Lingolive |publisher=ABBYY Lingvo |access-date=28 February 2021 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Both Russian and Tajik speakers in the country use the following words in common in addressing unfamiliar people and acquaintances.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Карина |first1=Рахим-заде |title=Взаимопроникновение русского и таджикского языков в разговорной речи населения Душанбе |url=https://studentlib.com/chitat/kursovaya_rabota_teoriya-32870-vzaimoproniknovenie_russkogo_i_tadzhikskogo_yazykov_v_razgovornoy_rechi_naseleniya_dushanbe.html |website=Studentlib.com |publisher=ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ИНСТИТУТ РУССКОГО ЯЗЫКА имени А.С.ПУШКИНА |access-date=28 November 2021 |archive-date=28 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128110606/https://studentlib.com/chitat/kursovaya_rabota_teoriya-32870-vzaimoproniknovenie_russkogo_i_tadzhikskogo_yazykov_v_razgovornoy_rechi_naseleniya_dushanbe.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Words of familial relation
|-
! Tajikistani Russian !! Standard Russian !! English translation
|-
| апа || старшая сестра || older sister
|-
| ака || старший брат || older brother
|-
| хола || тетя|| aunt
|-
| янга || жена брата, невестка || daughter-in-law; sister-in-law
|}

The "highly educated" part of the population of Tajikistan, and the [[intelligentsia]], prefer to speak Russian and Persian, the pronunciation of which in Tajikistan is called the "Iranian style".<ref name="RFE/RL">{{cite web |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajikistan_Drops_Russian_As_Official_Language/1846118.html |title=Tajikistan Drops Russian As Official Language |publisher=RFE/RL – Rferl.org |date=7 October 2009 |access-date=13 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055202/http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajikistan_Drops_Russian_As_Official_Language/1846118.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}</ref><ref name="RIA-RU"/><ref name="lenta.ru/news/2011/06/09"/>

Native Uzbek speakers live in the north and west of Tajikistan. In fourth place (after Tajik, Russian and Uzbek) by number of native speakers are [[Pamir languages]], whose native speakers live in [[Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region|Kuhistani Badakshshan Autonomous Region]]. The majority of [[Zoroastrians]] in Tajikistan speak one of the Pamir languages. Native speakers of the [[Kyrgyz language]] live in the north of [[Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region|Kuhistani Badakshshan Autonomous Region]]. [[Yagnobi language]] speakers live in the west of the country. The [[Parya language]] of local [[Romani people]] ([[:ru:Среднеазиатские цыгане|Central Asian Gypsies]]) is spoken in Tajikistan. Tajikistan has communities of native speakers of [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Arabic]], [[Pashto]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]], [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], [[Tatar language|Tatar]], [[Turkmen language|Turkmen]], [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]], and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sen Nag |first1=Oishimaya |title=What Languages Are Spoken In Tajikistan |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-tajikistan.html |website=World Atlas |date=August 2017 |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225025005/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-tajikistan.html |url-status=live }}</ref>