Sonqori, also known as Sonqori Turkic, is a moribund Turkic dialect spoken in Sonqor (Sunqur), east of Kermānšāh, in a large valley separated from the rest of Kurdistan.[3]
| Sonqori | |
|---|---|
| سؤنقؤر دیلی | |
| Native to | Iran |
| Region | Sonqor County |
Native speakers | (undated figure of about 40,000)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | (included in South Azerbaijani [azb]) |
| Glottolog | sonq1234 |
According to the Turkologist Michael Knüppel, Sonqori is one of the Southern Oghuz dialects of Iran alongside Qashqai and Äynallu. He notes that K. H. Menges had already characterized Sonqori, together with Qashqai and Äynallu, as a transitional form between Azerbaijani and Khorasani Turkic.[2]
Turkologist Gerhard Doerfer identifies Sonqori as a possible dialect of Azerbaijani, or as a distinctive variety of Southern Oghuz/Afshar.[4][5] Ethnologue and Glottolog list it as a South Azerbaijani dialect.[6][7]
Knowledge of the dialect was scant prior to the expeditions of the University of Göttingen.[2]
About 40,000 speakers of Sonqori exist in the Sonqor area.[1]
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p~pʰ | b~p | t~tʰ | d~t | k~kʰ | ɡ~k | q~ɢ | |||||
| Affricate | t͡ʃ/t͡ʃʰ | d͡ʒ/t͡ʃ | ||||||||||
| Fricative | f | v~w | s | z | ʃ | ʒ | x | ɣ | h | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||||||
| Flap | r~ɾ | |||||||||||
| Lateral | l | |||||||||||
| Approximant | j | |||||||||||
Vowels
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
| Close | i | y | ɯ | u |
| Mid | e | ø | o | |
| Open | æ | ɑ | ɒ | |
References
Literature
- Knüppel, Michael (2000). "TURKIC LANGUAGES OF PERSIA: AN OVERVIEW". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
- Doerfer, Gerhard (1988). "AZERBAIJAN viii. Azeri Turkish". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
- Doerfer, Gerhard; Hesche, Wolfram (1989). Südoghusische Materialen aus Afghanistan und Iran. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. ISBN 9783447027861.
- Borjian, Habib (2017). "KERMANSHAH vii. LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. Retrieved 14 February 2023.