Laki (, ) is a vernacular that consists of two dialects; Pish-e Kuh Laki and Posht-e Kuh Laki. Laki is considered a Kurdish dialect, by most linguists and is spoken chiefly in the area between Khorramabad and Kermanshah in Iran by about 680,000 native speakers.
Geography
Laki is spoken in Iran and in Turkey. In Iran, the
isogloss of Laki spans from
Khorramabad to east of
Kermanshah, from
Holeylan County to
Harsin. It's the main language in
Selseleh County,
Delfan County,
Kuhdasht County and Khawa counties in Lorestan Province, including Oshtorinan District of
Borujerd County, and also around
Malayer and
Nahavand County in
Hamadan Province. In Kermanshah Province, it is the main language in
Harsin County,
Kangavar County,
Sahneh County, and in the southern halves of Kermanshah County and Eslamabad-e Gharb County. There are also Laki enclaves in Khorasan, Kerman and around 100,000 speakers in 70 villages around
Kelardasht in Mazandaran. In
Gilan province, Laki is spoken by around 1,500 people.
In Turkey, the language is spoken by the Şêxbizin tribe, scattered around the country.
Classification
The classification of Laki as a sub-dialect of
Southern Kurdish or as a fourth dialect of Kurdish is unsettled, but the differences between Laki and the other Southern Kurdish dialects are minimal. However, linguist Fattah argues that Laki cannot be considered a dialect of Southern Kurdish since Laki is
Ergative case and is thus a fourth Kurdish language.
Other linguists argue that Laki is closely related to Kurdish but refrain from deciding its place among the Northwestern Iranian languages.
Laki has also been classified as a Luri language dialect, but speakers of Luri claim that Laki is "difficult or impossible to understand". Linguist Shahsavari points that Laki is sometimes seen as 'a transitional dialect between Kurdish and Luri'.
History
Oral literature
Two significant groups of Laki oral literature are religious oral literature and
Astronomy literature. The first group includes
Shia Islam oral hymns and
Yarsanism songs, while the second gives an expansive and colorful account of Laki narratives of astronomical events and their consequences, the power of the sun, moon, the week and tales on the stars. A third and less significant group of Laki oral literature are verses on nature and the daily life. In the
folklore of rural areas,
fal gərtən or 'tell fortunes' are very important.
Written literature
The use of Laki in literary writing is a more recent phenomenon and has therefore not been considerably developed. Historically, the use was impeded by the status of
Gorani language as koiné among Kurds which meant that speakers of Laki wrote their poetry in Gorani. Nonetheless, some early Laki works include the
quatrain al-shi'r bi-l-fahlawīya (year 716 in
Hijri year) which was preserved in a 14th-century manuscript, and
Jang-i Hamawan which was a freely adapted Laki version of the
Shahnameh by
Ferdowsi. Mele Perîşan (1356–1431) also wrote his diwan in Gorani influenced by Laki.
The most well-known manzuma in Laki is Darcenge written by Sayid Nushad Abu al-Wafa'i, a fellow of Sultan Sahak and contemporary of Nader Shah. The Darcenge contained questions concerning the events taking place in the world with sophisticated answers. This period also saw many Laki versions of the Kalâm-e Saranjâm.
In addition, there are many manuscripts titled Kule bad meaning 'the continuous wind' scattered around the region. These manuscripts appeared numerously in the late 16th century and early 17th century and were used to express benediction on nature and to request a wind which was appropriate for agricultural reasons. Important names from the 18th to the 20th century include Najaf Kalhuri (1739–1799), Tirkamir (d. 1815), Yaqub Maydashti, Mila Manuchichr Kuliwand and Mila Haqq Ali Siyahpush.
Laki phonology
The phonology of Laki is identical to that of other
Southern Kurdish dialects, which diverges from
Kurmanji and
Sorani by also having the , and .
Comparison of cognates
|
|
| nəmak |
| reğo |
| taš |
| ra |
| ōma |
| oftā |
| got |
| gosna |
| īčö |
| ūčö |
|
Bibliography
Further reading
