Khalaj language

"Klj" redirects here. For other uses, see KLJ.
Khalaj
خلج
Khalaj in the Persian Nasta'liq form
Native toIran
RegionDistributed throughout a number of villages in the Markazi Province from Qom to Ashtian and Tafresh
EthnicityKhalaj
Native speakers
19,000 (2018)[1]
Early form
Arghu
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3klj
Glottologturk1303
ELPKhalaj
Map of the location of the Khalaj Language.
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Khalaj is a Turkic language spoken in Iran. Although it contains many old Turkic elements, it has become widely Persianized.[5][6] Khalaj has about 150 words of uncertain origin.[7]

Surveys have found that most young Khalaj parents do not pass the language on to their children; only 5% of families teach their children the language.[1]

The Khalaj language is a descendant of an old Turkic language called Arghu.[8][9] The 11th-century Turkic lexicographer Mahmud al-Kashgari was the first person to give written examples of the Khalaj language, which are mostly interchangeable with modern Khalaj.[6]

Gerhard Doerfer, who rediscovered Khalaj, demonstrated that it was an independent branch from Common Turkic.[9]

  1. ^ a b زبان خلجی در حال انقراض [Endangered Khalaj language]. Hamshahri Online (in Persian). 2019-08-14. Archived from the original on 2023-04-09.
  2. ^ Doerfer 1978, p. 17: "Thus, the western dialects, e.g. of Talx-āb, are regarded by other Khalaj as a different language, and this is a well tenable conception."
  3. ^ Doerfer 1978, p. 18.
  4. ^ Doerfer 1978, p. 20.
  5. ^ Knüppel 2010.
  6. ^ a b Ölmez 1995.
  7. ^ Doerfer 1978, p. 32.
  8. ^ Johanson & Csató 1998, p. 81.
  9. ^ a b Robbeets 2015, p. 8.