Editing Hazaragi dialect

{{short description|Persian dialect spoken by the Hazara people}}
{{Multiple issues|{{Original research|date=November 2010}}
{{confusing|date=November 2021}}}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Hazaragi
| nativename       = {{lang|haz|{{nq|آزرگی}}}}
| image            = Hazaragi.png
| imagecaption     = ''Hazāragi'', ''Āzargi'' and ''Azargi'' written in the [[Perso-Arabic script]]
| states           = [[Afghanistan]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bY8ck6iktikC&pg=PA9 |title=Culture and Customs of Afghanistan|isbn=9780313330896|last1=Emadi|first1=Hafizullah|year=2005}}</ref>
| region           = [[Hazaristan]] and other [[Hazaras|Hazara]]-populated areas
| ethnicity        = [[Hazaras]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|5.053350|1}} million
| date             = 2023
| ref              = <ref>{{e28|haz}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3             = [[Iranian languages|Iranian]]
| fam4             = [[Western Iranian languages|Western Iranian]]
| fam5             = [[Southwestern Iranian languages|Southwestern Iranian]]
| fam6             = [[Dari language|Dari]]
| script           = [[Perso-Arabic Script]], [[Latin alphabet]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/hazaragi.htm|title=Hazaragi language, alphabet and pronunciation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://glottolog.org/resource/reference/id/58210|title = Mai ve siyah: &#91;milli&#93; roman &#91;Blue and Black : A national novel&#93;|series = Hilminin koleksiyonu|year = 1938|volume = 43|publisher = Hilmi Kitabevi}}</ref>
| iso3             = haz
| glotto           = haza1239
| glottorefname    = Hazaragi
}}

'''Hazaragi''' ({{langx|Prs|{{nq|هزارگی}}|həzārəgi}}; {{langx|haz|{{nq|آزرگی}}|āzərgi}}) is an eastern [[Persian dialects|dialect]] and [[Persian varieties|variety]] of the [[Persian language]] that is spoken by the [[Hazara people]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Encyclopaedia Iranica |title=HAZĀRA iv. Hazāragi dialect |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/hazara-4 |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=iranicaonline.org |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1224&context=theses|title=Attitudes towards Hazaragi|access-date=5 June 2014}}</ref>

== Classification ==
Hazaragi is a member of the [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] branch of the [[Indo-European language family]]. It is an eastern variety of [[Persian language|Persian]] and closely related to [[Dari]], one of the two official [[Languages of Afghanistan]]. The primary differences between Dari and Hazaragi are the accents<ref name="OCLC 4016342">[[Franz Schurmann|Schurmann, Franz]] (1962) ''The Mongols of Afghanistan: An Ethnography of the Moghôls and Related Peoples of Afghanistan'' Mouton, [[The Hague, Netherlands]], page 17, [http://worldcat.org/oclc/401634 OCLC 401634]</ref> and Hazaragi's greater array of many [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] and [[Mongolic languages|Mongolic]] words and [[loanwords]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=2011-12-12 |title=Language of the "Mountain Tribe": A Closer Look at Hazaragi – Languages Of The World |language=en-US |work=Languages Of The World |url=https://www.languagesoftheworld.info/student-papers/language-of-the-mountain-tribe-a-closer-look-at-hazaragi.html |access-date=2018-08-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A Sociological Study of Hazara Tribe in Balochistan (An Analysis of Socio-Cultural Change) University of Karachi, Pakistan July 1976 p.302 |url=http://eprints.hec.gov.pk/665/1/443.htm |access-date=2013-12-08 |publisher=Eprints.hec.gov.pk}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Citation |last=Monsutti |first=Alessandro |title=Hazāras |date=2017-07-01 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/hazaras-COM_30419?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=hazara |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE |publisher=Brill |language=en |access-date=2021-10-08}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Despite these differences, the two dialects are mutually intelligible.<ref name="Attitudes Towards Hazaragi2">{{cite web |title=Attitudes Towards Hazaragi |url=http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1224&context=these |access-date=4 June 2014 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In [[Daykundi]] (former [[Uruzgan]]), Hazaragi has a significant admixture of [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] influence in the language via [[Karluk languages|Karluk]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = تاریخ باستانی هزاره‌ها|last = دلجو|first = عباس|publisher = انتشارات امیری|year = 2014|isbn = 978-9936801509|location = کابل}}</ref>

Najib Mayel Heravi about Hazaragi dialect:

"The Hazaragi variety of Persian possesses 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 this variety 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."<ref>{{Cite web |title=دانلود کتاب سایه به سایه اثر نجیب مایل هروی ☀️ PDF رایگان |url=https://persianpdf.com/book/%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AF-%DA%A9%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%B3%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%87-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%B3%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%B1-%D9%86%D8%AC%DB%8C%D8%A8-%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%84-%D9%87/ |access-date=2025-04-18 |page=138 |language=fa-IR}}</ref>

== Geographic distribution and diaspora ==
{{see also|Hazara diaspora}}
Hazaragi is spoken by the Hazara people, who mainly live in Afghanistan (predominantly in the [[Hazarajat]] (Hazaristan) region, as well as other Hazara-populated areas of Afghanistan), with a significant population in Pakistan (particularly [[Quetta]]) and [[Iran]] (particularly [[Mashhad]]),<ref>Area Handbook for Afghanistan, page 77, Harvey Henry Smith, [[American University]] ([[Washington, D.C.]]) Foreign Area Studies</ref> and by Hazaras in eastern [[Uzbekistan]], northern [[Tajikistan]], the [[Americas]], [[Europe]], and [[Australia]].<ref>Barbara A. West. "Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania". pp 272. Info base Publishing, 2009. {{ISBN|1438119135}}</ref> The number of Hazaragi speakers in [[Iran]] increased significantly due to the influx of refugees from [[Afghanistan]] where there are an estimated 399,000 speakers in the country as of 2021.<ref name="Haz">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/haz/|title=Hazaragi| publisher=Ethnologue|access-date=5 October 2023}}</ref>

In recent years, a substantial population of Hazara refugees has settled in [[Australia]], prompting the [[Department of Immigration and Citizenship]] to move towards official recognition of the Hazaragi language. Currently, NAATI ([[National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters]]) holds interpreting tests for Hazaragi as a distinct language, noting in test materials that Hazaragi varies by dialect, and that any dialect of Hazaragi may be used in interpreter testing as long as it would be understood by the average speaker.  The test materials also note that Hazaragi in some locations has been significantly influenced by surrounding languages and that the use of non-Hazaragi words assimilated from neighboring languages would be penalized in testing.<ref>[http://www.naati.com.au/pdf/Booklets/Accreditation_by_Testing_booklet.pdf Accreditation by Testing: Information booklet].  [[NAATI]], VERSION 1.10- August 2010</ref>

== History ==
=== Persian and Islam ===
{{see also|Muslim conquest of Persia}}
The Persian language became so much part of the religion of Islam that it almost went wherever Islam took roots.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} Persian entered, in this way, into the very faith and thought of the people embracing Islam throughout [[South Asia]].<ref name="eprints.hec.gov.pk2">{{cite web |title=A Sociological Study of Hazara Tribe in Balochistan (An Analysis of Socio-Cultural Change) University of Karachi, Pakistan July 1976 |url=http://eprints.hec.gov.pk/665/1/443.htm |access-date=2013-12-08 |publisher=Eprints.hec.gov.pk}}</ref>

== Turkic and Mongolic influence ==
Over time, [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] and [[Mongolic languages|Mongolic]] languages penetrated as living languages amongst Hazara people, and Hazaragi contains many Turkic and Mongolic words and loanwords.<ref name="eprints.hec.gov.pk2" /><ref name=":02" />

== Grammatical structure ==
The grammatical structure of Hazaragi<ref>Valentin Aleksandrovich Efimov, Yazyk afganskikh khazara: Yakavlangskii dialect, Moscow, 1965. pp. 22–83</ref><ref>Idem, “Khazara yazyk,” in Yazyki mira. Iranskiĭ yazyki I: yugo-zapadnye iranskiĭ yazyki, Moscow, 1997, pp. 154–66.</ref><ref>G. K. Dulling, The Hazaragi Dialect of Afghan Persian: A Preliminary Study, Central Asian Monograph 1, London, 1973. pp. 29–41</ref> is practically identical to that of the [[Kabuli dialect]] of Persian.<ref>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.</ref><ref>Idem, The Spoken Dari of Afghanistan: A Grammar of Kāboli Dari (Persian), Compared to the Literary Language, Kabul, 1975</ref>

=== Phonology ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Vowel phonemes of Hazaragi<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Efimov |first=V. A. |title=Xazara |publisher=Moskva: Izdatel'stvo Firma Vostočnaya Literatura RAN |year=2008 |location=In V. A. Efimov (ed.), Sredneiranskie i novoiranskie Jazyki |pages=344–414}}</ref>
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[High vowel|High]]
| rowspan="2" align="center" |{{IPA link|i}}
| align="center" |{{IPA link|u}}
|-
|{{IPA link|ʊ}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}}
|{{IPA link|ɔ}}
|-
![[Low vowel|Low]]
|{{IPA link|a}}
|
|}
{{IPA|/a/}} can also approach the sound {{IPA|[æ]}} or {{IPA|[ɛ]}}.<ref name=":12" />

As a group of eastern Persian varieties which are considered the more formal and classical varieties of Persian,{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} Hazaragi retains the voiced fricative {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, and the bilabial articulation of {{IPA|[w]}} has borrowed the (rare){{clarify|date=December 2019}} retroflexes {{IPA|[ʈ]}} and {{IPA|[ɖ]}}; as in ''buṭ'' (meaning "boot") vs. ''but'' (meaning "idol") (cf. Persian ''{{Transliteration|fa|bot}}''); and rarely articulates {{IPA|[h]}}.<ref name=":0" /> The convergence of [[voiced uvular stop]] {{IPA|[ɢ]}} (ق) and [[voiced velar fricative]] {{IPA|[ɣ]}} (غ) in [[Western Persian]] (probably under the influence of [[Turkic languages]])<ref>A. Pisowicz, ''Origins of the New and Middle Persian phonological systems'' (Cracow 1985), p. 112-114, 117.</ref> is still kept separate in Hazara.

Diphthongs include {{IPA|[aj]}}, {{IPA|[aw]}}, and {{IPA|[ēw]}} (cf. Persian {{Transliteration|fa|''ab''}}, {{Transliteration|fa|''āb''}}, {{Transliteration|fa|''ûw''}}). The vocalic system is typically eastern Persian, characterized by the loss of length distinction, the retention of mid vowels, and the rounding of {{IPA|[ā]}} and {{IPA|[å/o]}}, alternating with its merger with {{IPA|[a]}}, or {{IPA|[û]}} (cf. Persian {{Transliteration|fa|''ān''}}).<ref name=":0" /> {{clarify|Reason=proper IPA notation is not being used here, it is unclear what vowels/diphthongs are being described|date=December 2019}}

Stress is dynamic and similar to that in Dari<ref>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</ref> and Tajik varieties of Persian,<ref>V. S.Rastorgueva, A Short Sketch of Tajik Grammar, tr. Herbert H. Paper, Bloomington, Ind., and The Hague, 1963, pp. 9–10</ref> and not variable.<ref>G. K. Dulling, The Hazaragi Dialect of Afghan Persian: A Preliminary Study, Central Asian Monograph 1, London, 1973. p. 37</ref> It generally falls on the last syllable of a nominal form, including derivative suffixes and several morphological markers. Typical is the insertion of epenthetic vowels in consonant clusters (as in ''pašm'' to ''póšum''; "wool") and final devoicing (as in ''ḵût''; "self, own").<ref name=":0" />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Consonant phonemes of Hazaragi<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":0" />
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
![[Palato-alveolar consonant|Palato-<br>alveolar]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}}
|
|{{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]/<br>[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
!<small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
|{{IPA link|p}}
|{{IPA link|t̪}}
|
|{{IPA link|ʈ}}
|{{IPA link|tʃ}}
|{{IPA link|k}}
|{{IPA link|q}}
|
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|{{IPA link|b}}
|{{IPA link|d̪}}
|
|{{IPA link|ɖ}}
|{{IPA link|dʒ}}
|{{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Flap consonant|Flap]]/[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
!<small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
|{{IPA link|f}}
|
|{{IPA link|s}}
|
|{{IPA link|ʃ}}
| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|x}}
|({{IPA link|h}})
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|
|
|{{IPA link|z}}
|
|{{IPA link|ʒ}}
| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɣ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|{{IPA link|w}}
|
|{{IPA link|l}}
|
|{{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|
|}
{{IPA|[h]}} only occurs infrequently and among more educated speakers. {{IPA|/r/}} can be heard as either a trill {{IPA|[r]}} or a tap {{IPA|[ɾ]}}. /{{IPA|x, ɣ}}/ can also range to uvular sounds [{{IPA|χ, ʁ}}].

=== Nominal morphology ===
The most productive derivative marker is ''-i'', and the plural markers are ''-o'' for the inanimate (as in ''kitab-o'', meaning "books"; cf. Persian {{Transliteration|fa|''-hā''}}) and ''-û'' for the animate (as in ''birar-û'', meaning "brothers"; cf. Persian {{Transliteration|fa|''-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'', meaning "bigger"). Dependent adjectives and nouns follow the head noun and are connected by ''-i'' (as in ''kitab-i mamud'', meaning "the book of Maḥmud"). Topicalized possessors precede the head noun marked by the resumptive personal suffix (as in ''Zulmay ayê-ši'', literally "Zulmay her mother"). Prepositions include, in addition to the standard Persian ones, ''ḵun(i)'' (meaning "with, using", ''da'' (meaning "in"; cf. Persian {{Transliteration|fa|''dar''}}); the latter often replaces ''ba'' (meaning "to") in dative function. Loaned postpositions include comitative ''-qati'' (meaning "together with") and ''(az) -worî'' (meaning "like"). Interrogatives typically function also as indefinite (as in ''kudam'', meaning "which, someone").<ref name=":0" />
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; width:78%; margin:auto;"
|+ style="text-align:center; background:#bfd7ff;" |'''Pronouns in Hazaragi'''<ref name=":0" /> ''[English]'' (Persian – Ironik)
! align="left" |Singular/Plural
! align="left" |First person
! align="left" |Second person
! align="right" |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)
|}
The inflection (u,o) that Hazaras use to pluralize nouns is also found in Avesta, Yashts such as Aryo.

=== Particles, conjunctions, modals, and adverbials ===
These include ''atê/arê'', meaning "yes"; ''amma'' or ''wali'', meaning "but"; ''balki'', meaning "however"; ''šaydi'', meaning "perhaps"; ''ale'', meaning "now"; and ''wuḵt-a'', meaning "then". These are also marked by distinctive initial stress.<ref name=":0" />
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; width:58%; margin:auto;"
|+ style="text-align:center; background:#bfd7ff;" |'''Hazaragi particles, conjunctions, modals, and adverbials'''
! align="left" |Hazaragi
! align="left" |Persian/Dari
! align="left" |English
|-
|amyale
| style="text-align:left;" |aknun
|now
|-
|dalil'dera
| style="text-align:left;" |dalil darad
|maybe
|}

=== Verb morphology ===
The imperfective marker is ''mi-'' (assimilated variants: ''m-'', ''mu-'', ''m-'', ''mê-''; as in ''mi-zan-um'', "I hit, I am hitting"). The subjunctive and imperative marker is ''bi-'' (with similar assimilation). The negation is ''na-'' (as in ''na-mi-zad-um'', "I was not hitting"). These usually attract stress.<ref name=":0" />

=== Tenses ===
The tense, mood, and aspect system is typically quite 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. Persian {{Transliteration|fa|''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, 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''.<ref>G. K. Dulling, The Hazaragi Dialect of Afghan Persian: A Preliminary Study, Central Asian Monograph 1, London, 1973. pp. 35–36</ref> 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 (all forms are 1st sing), leaving out complex compound forms such as ''zada ḵot mu-buda baš-um''.<ref name=":0" />

In the assumptive, the distinction appears to be not between present versus past, but indefinite versus definite. Also, similar to all Persian varieties, 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 Čaman". 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 is 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 parts of speech, ''-di'' the predicate; as in ''i-yši raft, ma-ḵu da ḵona mand-um'', "He himself left; I, though, I stayed".<ref name=":0" />

== See also ==
{{Hazara people}}
{{Portal|Languages}}
* [[Aimaq dialect]]

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links ==
{{Incubator|code=haz}}

* [https://sydneytranslation.com.au/Hazaragi-translation/ Hazaragi Translation Services]

{{Persian language|state=expanded}}
{{Iranian languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazaragi dialect}}
[[Category:Hazaragi language| ]]
[[Category:Eastern Persian dialects in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Languages of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Languages of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Languages of Iran]]
[[Category:Persian dialects and varieties]]
[[Category:Persian language in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Languages of Balochistan, Pakistan]]