Qashqai language

language
name=Qashqai
nativename=Qaşqaycə; Qaşqay dili
states=Iran
region=Fars
speakers=1,500,000
familycolor=Altaic
fam2=Turkic
fam3=Oghuz
fam4=Azerbaijani
iso2=tut|iso3=qxq|notice=nonotice|


Map showing locations of Azerbaijani and related languages: North Azerbaijani (blue), South Azerbaijani (red), Salchuq (green), Qashqa'i (brown), Afshari (purple)

Qashqai (also spelled Ghashghai, Ghashghayi, Qashqa'i, and Qashqayi) is a Turkic language spoken by the Qashqai, an ethnic group living mainly in the Fars region of Iran. Estimates of the number of Qashqai speakers vary, Ethnologue gives a figure of one and a half million. The Qashqai language is closely related to Azerbaijani, and some linguists consider it to be a dialect of that language.

Like South Azerbaijani in Iran, Qashqai uses the Persian modification of the Arabic alphabet. The Qashqai also speak Persian, and use it as their literary language.

References

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=qxq Ethnologue entry for Qashqa'i]