Persian, also known as Farsi, is a prominent language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. It boasts a rich literary heritage and is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. Despite its unique features, Persian shares many linguistic similarities with several other languages. According to the eLinguistics.net analysis using specific software modules to assess linguistic relationships, the five languages most similar to Persian are Tajik, Balochi, Mazandarani, Kurdish, and Zazaki.
- Tajik (90.4)
Tajik, the official language of Tajikistan, is perhaps the closest relative to Persian. However, they are written in different scripts: Persian uses the Arabic script, whereas Tajik is written in the Cyrillic script due to Soviet influence. The two languages share a vast majority of their vocabulary, grammatical structures, and phonetics. Due to the historical spread of Persian culture, particularly during the Samanid dynasty, Persian became a common language. - Balochi (84.2)
Balochi, spoken by the Baloch people in Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, is another close relative of Persian. It belongs to the Western Iranian language group, sharing significant grammatical and lexical similarities with Persian. Balochi has preserved many archaic features that have evolved in modern Persian, offering linguists valuable insights into the historical development of the Persian language. There are many Persian loanwords in Balochi. - Mazandarani (80.6)
Mazandarani is primarily spoken along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea in Iran. This language is part of the Northwestern Iranian language group and shares a substantial amount of vocabulary and grammatical features with Persian. However, Mazandarani has also retained many older Iranian elements that are not present in modern Persian. The proximity of Mazandarani to Persian speakers has led to significant linguistic borrowing. - Kurdish (72.5)
Spoken by the Kurdish people across several countries including Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, Kurdish is another language with strong ties to Persian. Kurdish belongs to the Northwestern Iranian languages. Kurdish shares many grammatical structures and vocabulary with Persian, making it easier for speakers of one language to learn the other. - Zazaki (70.1)
Zazaki is spoken in eastern Turkey and is part of the Northwestern Iranian languages. Zazaki exhibits significant similarities with Kurdish, particularly in its vocabulary and grammar. The language has several dialects. However, Zazaki’s close relationship with other Northwestern Iranian languages, including its preservation of many ancient Iranian linguistic features, highlights its similarity to Persian.
(to be considered for the list, the language must be spoken by at least one million people)