EntityQ25953· pop 50· linked from 625 articles

Parthian

language

Key facts

Native to: Parthian Empire (incl. Arsacid dynasty of Armenia , Arsacid dynasty of Iberia and Arsacid dynasty of Caucasian Albania )
Region: Parthia , ancient Iran
Era: State language 248 BC – 224 AD. Marginalized by Middle Persian from the 3rd century, though extant for longer in the Caucasus due to several eponymous branches.
Language family: Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Iranian Northwestern Iranian Parthian
Writing system: Inscriptional Parthian , Manichaean script
Iso 639 3: xpr
Linguist list: xpr
Glottolog: part1239

via Wikipedia infobox

Article

The Parthian language, also known as Arsacid Pahlavi and Pahlawānīg, is an extinct ancient Northwestern Iranian language once spoken in Parthia, a region situated in present-day northeastern Iran and Turkmenistan. Parthian was the language of state of the Arsacid Parthian Empire (248 BC – 224 AD), as well as of its eponymous branches of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, Arsacid dynasty of Iberia, and the Arsacid dynasty of Caucasian Albania.

Parthian had a significant impact on Armenian, a large part of whose vocabulary was formed primarily from borrowings from Parthian, and had a derivational morphology and syntax that was also affected by language contact but to a lesser extent. Many ancient Parthian words were preserved and now survive only in Armenian. The Semnani (or Komisenian languages) and the Zaza language have similarities with the Parthian language and they may descend from Parthian directly or Northwestern Iranian languages with Parthian influences, but the topic lacks sufficient research.