Kuhmareyi language

Kuhmareyi () is one of the languages of southwestern Fars. It is a cluster of disparate dialects; 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 had an estimated 1,000 speakers in 2004.

Phonology

The transcription used here is only an approximation.

Vowels

short: a, e, i, o, u<br> 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: <u>ts</u>, like in '<u>ts</u>e' (what), and voiced <u>dz</u>, like in an<u>dz</u>i (fig).

Grammar

Verbs

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

English: Hasan saw Ali in the garden.<br> Persian: Hasan,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ali-râ tuye bâq did.<br> Davani:&nbsp;&nbsp;hasan<span style="color:#800000">-eš</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ali<span style="color:#008000">-a</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;tu&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;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"<br> merd "man" → merd-u "men"

Pronouns

Vocabulary

Example sentences

See also

• Lari dialect
• 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. GuyeÅ¡e 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 guyeÅ¡e Davâni (The Dictionary of Davani dialect). The academy of Persian language and literature. http://www.persianacademy.net/fa/davani.aspx (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