Editing Qashqai language (section)

{{Short description|Oghuz Turkic language of southwestern Iran}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Qashqai
| altname          = Qashqay, Kashkai, Kashkay, Qashqayi
| nativename       = {{lang|qxq|قشقايی ديلى}}, {{tlit|qxq|Qašqāyī dili}}
| states           = [[Iran]]
| region           = [[Fars province|Fars]], [[Isfahan province|Isfahan]], [[Bushehr province|Bushehr]], [[Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province|Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari]], [[Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province|Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad]], [[Khuzestan province|Khuzestan]]
| ethnicity        = {{sigfig|2.000000|2}} million [[Qashqai people|Qashqai]] (2021)<ref name=e26/>
| speakers         = {{sigfig|1.020000|2}} million
| date             = 2021
| ref              = e26
| familycolor      = Altaic
| fam1             = [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]
| fam2             = [[Common Turkic languages|Common Turkic]]
| fam3             = [[Oghuz languages|Oghuz]]
| fam4             = Southern Oghuz
| script           = [[Persian alphabet]]
| iso3             = qxq
| lingua           = Part of [[Oghuz languages|44-AAB-a]]
| glotto           = qash1240
| glottorefname    = Qashqa'i
| notice           = IPA
| image            = [[File:Qashqai in Nastaliq and Latin Script.png|200px]]
| imagecaption     = Qashqai dili written in [[Nastaliq]] script and [[Latin script]]
}}

'''Qashqai''' (قشقایی ديلى, ''Qašqāyī dili'', pronounced in English as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|æ|ʃ|k|aɪ}} {{respell|KASH|ky}}, and also spelled '''Qaşqay''', '''Qashqayi''', '''Kashkai''', '''Kashkay''', '''Qašqāʾī'''<ref name=iranica>{{Iranica|qasqai-tribal-confederacy-ii-language|Qašqāʾī Tribal Confederacy II: Language}}, by Michael Knüppel</ref><ref name=iranicaAz>{{Iranica|azerbaijan-viii|Azeri Turkish}}, by [[Gerhard Doerfer]]</ref> and '''Qashqa'i''' or '''Kaşkay''') is an [[Oghuz languages|Oghuz]] [[Turkic languages|Turkic language]] spoken by the [[Qashqai people]], an ethnic group living mainly in the [[Fars province]] of Southern [[Iran]]. ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'' regards Qashqai as an independent third group of dialects within the Southwestern Turkic language group.<ref>{{Iranica|qasqai-tribal-confederacy-ii-language|Qašqāʾi Tribal Confederacy II: Language}}</ref> It is known to speakers as '''''Turki'''''.<ref>{{Iranica|qasqayi-tribal-confederacy-ii-language|Qašqāʾi Tribal Confederacy II: Language}}</ref> Estimates of the number of Qashqai speakers vary. ''[[Ethnologue]]'' gave a figure of {{sigfig|1.020000|2}} million in 2021.<ref name=e26/>

The Qashqai language is closely related to [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]. However, some Qashqai varieties namely the variety spoken in the Sheshbeyli tribe share features with [[Turkish language|Turkish]].<ref>Dolatkhah Sohrab. 2016. Kashkai : langue turcique d'Iran. Independently Published (via Amazon).</ref><ref>Caferoglu & [[Gerhard Doerfer]], 1959</ref> In a sociopolitical sense, though, Qashqai is considered a language in its own right.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Csató|first1=Éva|author-link1=Éva Csató|last2=Johanson|first2=Lars|author-link2=Lars Johanson|last3=Róna-Tas|first3=András|author-link3=András Róna-Tas|title=Turks and Iranians. Interactions in Language and History: The Gunnar Jarring Memorial Program at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3J5jwEACAAJ|year=2016|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-10537-8|pages=101–20}}</ref>

Like other Turkic languages spoken in [[Iran]], such as the Azerbaijani language, Qashqai uses a modified version of the Perso-Arabic script.