Gilaki language

"Giliki" redirects here. For the village in Iran, see Giliki, Iran.

Not to be confused with Gilyak language.

Gilaki
گیلکی Giləki
Native to	Iran, province of Gilan and parts of the province of Mazandaran and Qazvin
Region	Southwest coast of the Caspian Sea
Native speakers	2.4 million (2016)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Iranian Northwestern Iranian Caspian Gilaki
Dialects	Western Gilaki Eastern Gilaki Galeshi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	glk
Glottolog	gila1241
Linguasphere	58-AAC-eb
Areas where Gilaki is spoken as the mother tongue

The Gilaki language (گیلکی Giləki) is a Caspian language, and a member of the northwestern Iranian language branch, spoken in Iran's Gilan Province. Gilaki is closely related to Mazandarani and the two languages have similar vocabularies. Though the Persian language has influenced Gilaki to a great extent, Gilaki remains an independent language with a northwestern Iranian origin. The Gilaki and Mazandarani languages (but not other Iranian languages) share certain typological features with Caucasian languages (specifically South Caucasian languages), reflecting the history, ethnic identity, and close relatedness to the Caucasus region and Caucasian peoples of the Gilaki people and Mazandarani people.

Classification

The language is divided into three dialects: Western Gilaki, Eastern Gilaki, and Galeshi (in the mountains of Gilan). The western and eastern dialects are separated by the Sefid River. According to Ethnologue, there were more than 2 million native speakers of Gilaki in 1993. By 2016, there were 2.4 million native speakers of Gilaki.

There are three main dialects but larger cities in Gilan have slight variations to the way they speak. These "sub-dialects" are Rashti, Rudbari, Some’e Sarai, Lahijani, Langerudi, Rudesari, Bandar Anzali and Fumani.

Eastern Gilaki is also spoken in the city of Ramsar, Tonekabon and surrounding areas. It has been influenced by the Mazandarani language and is sometimes referred to as Gil-Mazani although most refer to it as Ramsari, it is still considered a sub-dialect of Gilaki.

Grammar

Gilaki, similar to Mazandarani, is an inflected and genderless language. It is considered SVO. However, some tenses may be SOV.

Phonology

Gilaki has the same consonants as Persian, but different vowels. Here is a table of correspondences for the Western Gilaki of Rasht, which will be the variety used in the remainder of the article:

Gilaki	Persian	Example (Gilaki)
i	e	ki.tab
e(ː)	iː, eː/ei	seb
ɛ(œ)	e	iɛrɛ
ə	æ, e	mən
a	aː	lag
ä	æ	zäy
ɒ (perhaps allophonic)	aː	lɒ.nə
o	uː, oː/ɔ	d͡ʒoɾ
u	o/uː	ɡul
ü	u	tüm

There are nine vowel phonemes in the Gilaki language:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː y		u uː
Mid	e̞	ə~ʌ	o̞
Open-Mid	ɛ
Open	a		ɑ

The consonants are:

Gilaki Consonants

	labial	alveolar	post-alveolar	velar	uvular	glottal
voiceless stops	p	t	t͡ʃ	k		ʔ
voiced stops	b	d	d͡ʒ	ɡ
voiceless fricatives	f	s	ʃ	x ~ χ		h
voiced fricatives	v	z	ʒ	ɣ ~ ʁ
nasals	m	n		ŋ
liquids		l, ɾ ~ r
glides			j

Verb system

The verb system of Gilaki is very similar to that of Persian. All infinitives end in -tən/-dən, or in -V:n, where V: is a long vowel (from contraction of an original *-Vdən). The present stem is usually related to the infinitive, and the past stem is just the infinitive without -ən or -n (in the case of vowel stems).

Present tenses

From the infinitive dín, "to see", we get present stem din-.

Present indicative

The present indicative is formed by adding the personal endings to this stem:

Singular	Plural
dinəm	diním(i)
diní	diníd(i)
diné	diníd(i)

Present subjunctive

The present subjunctive is formed with the prefix bí-, bú-, or bə- (depending on the vowel in the stem) added to the indicative forms. Final /e/ neutralizes to /ə/ in the 3rd singular and the plural invariably lacks final /i/.

Singular	Plural
bídinəm	bídinim
bídini	bídinid
bídinə	bídinid

The negative of both the indicative and the subjunctive is formed in the same way, with n- instead of the b- of the subjunctive.

Past tenses

Preterite

From xurdən, "to eat", we get the perfect stem xurd. To this are added unaccented personal endings and the unaccented b- prefix (or accented n- for the negative):

Singular	Plural
buxúrdəm	buxúrdim(i)
buxúrdi	buxúrdid(i)
buxúrdə	buxúrdid(i)

Imperfect

The imperfect is formed with what was originally a suffix -i:

xúrdim	xúrdim(i)
xúrdi	xúrdid(i)
xúrdi	xúrdid(i)

Pluperfect

The pluperfect is paraphrastically formed with the verb bon, "to be", and the past participle, which is in turn formed with the perfect stem+ə (which can assimilate to become i or u). The accent can fall on the last syllable of the participle or on the stem itself:

Singular	Plural
buxurdə bum	buxurdə bim
buxurdə bi	buxurdə bid
buxurdə bu	buxurdə bid

Past subjunctive

A curious innovation of Western Gilaki is the past subjunctive, which is formed with the (artificial) imperfect of bon+past participle:

Singular	Plural
bidé bim	bidé bim
bidé bi	bidé bid
bidé be/bi	bidé bid

This form is often found in the protasis and apodosis of unreal conditions, e.g., mən agə Əkbəra bidé bim, xušhal bubosti bim, "If I were to see/saw/had seen Akbar, I would be happy".

Progressive

There are two very common paraphrastic constructions for the present and past progressives. From the infinitive šon, "to go", we get:

Present progressive

Singular	Plural
šón darəm	šón darim
šón dari	šón darid
šón darə	šón darid

Past progressive

Singular	Plural
šón də/du bum	šón də/di bim
šón də/di bi	šón də/di bid
šón də/du bu	šón də/di bid

Compound verbs

There are many compound verbs in Gilaki, whose forms differ slightly from simple verbs. Most notably, bV- is never prefixed onto the stem, and the negative prefix nV- can act like an infix -n-, coming between the prefix and the stem. So from fagiftən, "to get", we get present indicative fagirəm, but present subjunctive fágirəm, and the negative of both, faángirəm or fanígirəm. The same applies to the negative of the past tenses: fángiftəm or fanígiftəm.

Nouns, cases and postpositions

Gilaki employs a combination of quasi-case endings and postpositions to do the work of many particles and prepositions in English and Persian.

Cases

There are essentially three "cases" in Gilaki, the nominative (or, better, unmarked, as it can serve other grammatical functions), the genitive, and the (definite) accusative. The accusative form is often used to express the simple indirect object in addition to the direct object. A noun in the genitive comes before the word it modifies. These "cases" are in origin actually just particles, similar to Persian ra.

Nouns

For the word "per", father, we have:

	Singular	Plural
Nom	per	perán
Acc	pera	perána
Gen	perə	peránə

The genitive can change to -i, especially before some postpositions.

Pronouns

The 1st and 2nd person pronouns have special forms:

	Singular	Plural
Nom	mən	amán
Acc	məra	amána
Gen	mi	amí

	Singular	Plural
Nom	tu	šumán
Acc	təra	šumána
Gen	ti	šimí

The 3rd person (demonstrative) pronouns are regular: /un/, /u.ˈʃan/, /i.ˈʃan/

Postpositions

With the genitive can be combined many postpositions. Examples:

Gilaki	English
re	for
həmra/əmra	with
ĵa	from, than (in comparisons)
mian	in
ĵor	above
ĵir	under
ru	on top of

The personal pronouns have special forms with "-re": mere, tere, etc.

Adjectives

Gilaki adjectives come before the noun they modify, and may have the genitive "case ending" -ə/-i. They do not agree with the nouns they modify.

• Example for adjectival modification: Western Gilaki: pilla-yi zakan (big children), Surx gul (red flower). Eastern Gilaki: Sərd ow (cold water) (ɑb-e særd in Persian), kul čaqu (dull knife) (čaqu-ye kond in Persian).

Possessive constructions

• Examples for possessive constructions of nouns in Western Gilaki: məhin zakan (Mæhin's children) (Bæče-ha-ye Mæhin in Persian), Baγi gulan (garden flowers) (Gol-ha-ye Baγ in Persian). In Eastern Gilaki: Xirsi Kuti (bear cub) (Bæč-e Xers in Persian).

Vocabulary

Gilaki	Zazaki	Kurmanji	English	Persian	Persian transcription	Baluchi
dim	ruy/rı	dêm	face	روی/چهره	ruy/čehreh	dim/deym
zäy	pıte/doman	dergûş / zarok	baby/kid	کودک/بچه	kudak/bačeh	zag
pile pɛr	Kalîke	Kal	grandfather	پدربزرگ	pedar bozorg	pirok
zəmat	peyam	Peyam	message	پیام	payām
mərdə per	Pîye zama/viştewru	xezûr	father of the husband	پدرشوهر	pedar šohar
kerk/murgh/kerat	kerg	mrîşk	hen	مرغ خانگی	morgh xānegi	morg
gow/gāb	gâ	gaw/gāb	cow	گاو	gāv	gowk
buĵor/cuer	cor	jor	up	بالا	bālā	borz
roĵā/kiĵi/sitarə	astare	star / stêrk	star	ستاره	setāreh	estar
kor/kiĵā/kilkā/lāku	kêna/çêna	keç	girl	دختر	doxtar	jinek/ dohtar/ jinen zag
rey/rikā/ri	Laj/biko	law	boy	پسر	pesar	bachek/ marden zag
putāl	morcele	morî	ant	مورچه	murčeh	morink
siftāl/garzak	zerqet	moz	bee	زنبور	zanbur	gowder
piča	psing	psik	cat/pussy cat	گربه/پیشی	gorbeh/piši	peshik
nesä	siya	reş	shadow	سایه	sāyeh	sāyag
vargadån/urgadån	Vardan	êxistin	to hang	آویزان کردن/آویختن	āvixtan/āvizān kardan
pillə=pilla	pîl/giran	mezin/gir	great	بزرگ	bozorg	tuh/ mazan
zäk/zäy	doman,qîj,leyr	zarok	child	بچه	bačeh	zag
pɛr	pîye,baw	bav	father	پدر	pedar	pet/ pes
kåråš=kereš/fakeshen	keresdan	kşîn/kşandin	to draw on the ground	کشیدن به دنبال	kešidan
fuduštån/uduštån	levnayış	mejîyan	to suck	مکیدن	makidan
vastån	waşten	vîstin/vîyan	appetite or desire	اشتها و میل	eštehā o meyl
šondån/fukudån	şodan/şıdan	rijandin / pêda berdan	pouring of liquids	ریختن مایعات	rixtan-e māyeāt
lisk	reser-lic	sîsk / runik	lubricious	ليز / سور	liz/sor
kərč	kırç		brittle	ترد و شکننده	tord o šekanandeh
där	dâr	dar	tree	دار و درخت	dār / deraxt	dāar/ drachk/ mach(date tree)
malĵå/čičini	miliçik	tîvil / qilîç	sparrow	گنجشک	gonješk	jenjeshk
bušu	buşu	biçe / here	go	برو	boro	bera/ shoten
fegir/fagir	fekir	bigre	take it in your hand	بگیر	begir	ger
fangir/fanigir	megir	megire / negire	don't take in your hand	نگیر	nagir	mager
purd	pırd	pird	bridge	پل	pol
si	koy u kerra	çiya u kevir	mountain and stone	کوه و سنگ	kuh o sang
kenes	temas	temas	touch	تماس	tamās
morghanə	hâk	hêk	egg	تخم مرغ	toxm-e morgh	āmorg/ hek
lanti	mar	mar	snake	مار	mār	mār
kəlach	qela	qela	crow	کلاغ	kalāgh
gərmalət	isot, ferfer	isot	pepper	فلفل	felfel	pelpel
pamadur	firang	firing	tomato	گوجه فرنگی	gojeh-ye farangi
vatərkəssən/vatərkəstən	terqnaiden	teqîn	explode	ترکیدن	terkidan
šimi šin	seba/semed şıma	sewa we / jibo we	for you	برای شما	barāye šomā	par shoma/ par ta/ shome ent/ ti ent
mi šin	seba/semede mı	sewa min / jibo min	for me	برای من	barāye man	par man/ mani ent
kiškazay	kerge		chicken	جوجه	jujeh
vərza	gâ	gaw / ganêr	male cow	گاو نر	gāv-e nar
leše	mungâ	mange	bull	گاو ماده	gāv-e māddeh
jir/bijir	ceir/cér	jêr	down	پائین	pā'in	jahl/ cher
luchan	çemard		roll of the eyes	چشم غره	češm ghoreh
bəjar/bijar	berzer	zeviya rizê	rice farm	مزرعه برنج	mazra'e-ye berenj
vachukastan	vecyayen	helkiştin	climb	بالا رفتن	bālā raftan	borz buten

Comparison of Gilaki, Kurmanci, Zazaki and Balochi

Gilaki	English	Kurmanci	Zazaki	Balochi
zay/zak	baby/kid	zarok	doman,qîj	Zag
ĵor	up	jor/jûr	cor	Borz
kor/kilka	girl	keç	kêna/çêna	jinek/janek
daar	tree	dar	dar	dāar
bušu	go	biçe	so/şo	boro
purd	bridge	pir	pird
zama	groom	zava	zama	salonk/ zamās
kaft	fell	ket	kewt	kapt

Further reading

• Christensen, Arthur Emanuel. 1930. Dialect Guiläki de Recht [The Gilaki dialect of Rasht]. In Contributions à la dialectologie iranienne. Series: Kgl. danske videnskabernes selskab. Historisk-filologiske meddelelser; 17, 2. (translated into Persian 1995)
• Purriyahi, Masud. 1971. Barresi-ye dastur-e guyesh-e Gilaki-ye Rasht [A Grammatical Study of the Gilaki dialect of Rasht]. Dissertation, Tehran University.
• Sartippur, Jahangir. 1990/1369 A.P. Vižegihā-ye Dasturi va Farhang-e vāžehā-ye Gilaki [Grammatical Characteristics and Glossary of Gilaki]. Rasht: Nashr-e Gilakan. Dictionary.
• Shokri, Giti. 1998. Māzi-ye Naqli dar Guyeshhā-ye Gilaki va Mazandarāni [Present perfect in Gilani and Mazandarāni Dialects]. Nāme-ye Farhangestān 4(4(16)):59–69. (quarterly journal of Iranian Academy of Persian Language and Literature) Article abstract in English.
• Rastorgueva, V., Kerimova, A., Mamedzade, A., Pireiko, L., Edel’man, D. & Lockwood, R. M. 2012. The Gilaki Language. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis.

External links

• Scientific Information Database of the Iranian Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research
• Sample recording in Gilaki
• Dictionary of Gilaki (Dialect of Lahijan) and some of its characteristics
• Open access recordings of a Gilaki song and basic word list are available through Kaipuleohone