Southwestern Fars dialects, or simply Fars dialects, are a cluster of disparate dialects of Fars. The one illustrated here is the Davani dialect (Davani: devani; , transliteration: Davāni) of the village of Davan, 12 kilometers north of Kazerun city in southern Iran. Davani is listed as a Persid language distinct from other Southwestern Fars dialects in Windfuhr (2012).Windfuhr (2012) The Iranian languages. Details of the Fars dialects are found in Windfuhr (1999).Gernot L. Windfuhr (1999) [www.iranicaonline.org/articles/fars-viii/ FĀRS viii. Dialects,] Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. IX, Fasc. 4, pp. 362–373.

Davani had an estimated 1,000 speakers in 2004.Salami, A., 1383 AP / 2004 AD. Ganjineye guyeššenâsiye Fârs (The treasury of the dialectology of Fars). First Volume, The academy of Persian language and literature. (in Persian)

Dialects Lecoq (1989: 341)Pierre Lecoq (1989) Les dialect du sud-ouest de l'Iran. In Rüdiger Schmitt (ed.) Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag. lists the following dialects, named after the towns or regions in which they are spoken: Buringuni, Māsarmi, Somghuni, Pāpuni, Ardakāni, Kalāti, Xullāri, Kondāzi, Davāni. To these Glottolog adds Judeo-Shirazi.

Ethnologue has a longer list, with some of the names likely synonyms for the ones above: Basseri, Judeo-Shirazi (Old Shirazi), Delvari, Davani, Ahrami, Bandar Rig, Bardesuni (Bardestāni), Bēbehōni (Behbahāni), Bordekhuni, Dashtesuni (Dashtestāni), Dashtini, Dashtiyāti (Dashti), Gāvbandi, Genāve*i, Heshnizi, Jami, Kangāni, Khā*izi, Khenesiri, Khormuji, Qanavāti, Tangesiri. (where * may be y, ʼ or zero).

Phonology The transcription used here is only an approximation.Mahamedi, H., 1982. The story of Rostam and Esfandiyâr in an Iranian dialect,Journal of the American Oriental Studies, 102.3, 451-459.

Vowels short: a, e, i, o, u long: â, ā, ē, ī, ō, ū

Consonants voiced dental fricative: ð, generally after vowels, like in, 'bað' (bad). voiced velar fricative: γ, like in "γal'ati" (shroud). alveolar trill: like in 'borrâ' (flail). palatalization: inclination for 'g' and 'k' before front vowels, like in 'bega' (say). voiceless alveolar affricate: ts, like in 'tse' (what), and voiced dz, like in andzi (fig).

Grammar Verbs Davani is ergative in past transitive constructions. For example (Persian transliterations are in UniPers):

English: Hasan saw Ali in the garden. Persian: Hasan,      Ali-râ tuye bâq did. Davani:  hasan-eš   ali-a   tu    bâγ di.

Infinitive markers include -san, -tan, -dan, -ðan.

Nouns The suffix -aku makes nouns definite. For example:

bard "stone" → bard-aku "the stone"

The plural is marked by the suffix -gal. -u is exceptionally used for "man". For example:

sēv "apple" → sēv-gal "apples" merd "man" → merd-u "men"

Pronouns

+Personal Pronouns Person Singular Plural 1st ma mu 2nd to shumu 3rd u oy unā ushu

Vocabulary

EnglishDavaniPersian (Unipers)beautifulju, jônekzibâ, xoščehrebloodxinxunbreadnu, nennânbringavâðanâvardanbrotherborâk, borâbarâdarcomeameðan, aneðanâmadancrygerīðangeristandarktârīktârikdaughterdōt, dōðardoxtardayru, rezruzdokētankardandoordardardiemordanmordandonkeyxarxareggxoytoxme morqearthzimizamineyečiščašmfatherbu, bâva, bovapedarfearterstarsfiancénumzâðnâmzadfinexošxošfingerpinja, pilingangoštfiretišâtaš, âzarfishmeyimâhifood / eatxorâk/ xâtanqazâ, xorâk / xordangošeðanraftangodxoðâxodâgoodxūvxubgreatgot, γočbozorg, gonde, gathanddasdast

EnglishDavaniPersian (Unipers)headtek, kalla, sersar, kalleheartdeldelhorseaspasb, astarhousexunaxânelanguage/tonguezavuzabânlaughxanda kētanxandidanmanmerdmardmoonmāmâhmotherdeyi, deymâdar, mâmânmouthkap, kačdahânnamenumnâmnightšôšabopenvâkētanbâz kardanpeacesōlâshti, ârâmeš, ârâmiplacejojâreadxondanxândansaygâ:tangoftan, gap zadanscratchkerniðanxârândansisterxāk, xāxâharsmallxujak, kem, xordek, rēz, vahilakucak, kam, xord, rizsonpos, kerakupesar, pur, baccetallbolandboland, bârez, derâzthreesosewaterôâb, owweavevâtseriðanbâftanwhenkikeywindbâðbâdwomanzanzanyesterdaydigdiruz

Example sentences EnglishDavaniPersianUnipersWhat is this?i tsi-yen?این چیست؟In cist?Where is Ali?ali an kâ?علی کجاست؟Ali kojâst?This horse is white.i asp-e espe-hâ..این اسب سفید استIn asb sefid ast.Go (and) chain Rostam's hand (and) bring him here, so that I give you the crown and the kingdom. beða dass-e rostam huven-eš bâ injo ke-t ma tâj šâi hâðe. .برو دست رستم را ببند، اینجا بیاور تا من تاج شاهی را به تو بدهم Boro daste Rostam râ beband, injâ beyâvar, tâ man tâje šâhi râ be to bedaham.They say he works 10 hours a day. mege-yen rez-i dā sât kâr mēku. .میگویند روزی ده ساعت کار میکند Miguyand ruzi dah sâat kâr mikonad.I have two small brothers and sisters. dikko-m borô xey-e xord-ek he. .دو برادر و خواهر کوچک دارم Do barâdar va xâhare kucak dâram.If you will go just once to their village, you won't forget the hospitality of its people. agar hami akeš-a šesse-bi-ya velât-ešu hargese-tu meymu dâri-šu az yâð nemēšu. .اگر تنها یکبار به ده آنها رفته باشی، مهمان‌نوازی مردم آنجا را هرگز از یاد نخواهی برد Agar tanhâ yekbâr be dehe ânhâ rafte bâši, mehmânnavâziye mardome ânjâ râ hargez az yâd naxâhid bord.Who called me? ke-š čer-om ze? چه کسی مرا صدا زد؟ Cekasi marâ sedâ zad?

See also Achomi language Dialects of Fars Persian dialects and varieties Southwestern Iranian languages Iranian languages

References

Further reading Morgenstierne, G., 1960. Stray notes on Persian dialects, II, Fârs Dialects-Davâni. Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, XIX, 123–129. Hasamzada-Haqiqi, C., 1970. Guyeše Davâni (Davani Dialect), in Proceedings of the First Congress of Iranian Studies. Tehran University, 77–98. Mahamedi, H., 1979. On the verbal system in three Iranian dialects of Fârs, in Studia Iranica, VIII, 2, 277–297. Salami, A., 1381 AP / 2002 AD. Farhange guyeše Davâni (The Dictionary of Davani dialect). The academy of Persian language and literature. (in Persian). Pierre Lecoq. 1989. Les dialectes du sud-ouest de l'Iran. In Rüdiger Schmitt (ed.), Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, 341–349. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert. In French.

External links

Davani sayings