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Dialect continuum
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==Middle East== ===Arabic=== [[Arabic]] is a standard case of [[diglossia]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Adolf|last=Wahrmund|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yUYAAAAYAAJ|title=Praktisches Handbuch der neu-arabischen Sprache ...|publisher=J. Ricker|year=1898|edition=3|volume=1-2 of Praktisches Handbuch der neu-arabischen Sprache|access-date=6 July 2011}}</ref> The standard written language, [[Modern Standard Arabic]], is based on the [[Classical Arabic]] of the [[Qur'an]], while the [[Varieties of Arabic|modern vernacular dialects]] (or languages) branched from ancient Arabic dialects, from North Western [[Africa]] through [[Egypt]], [[Sudan]], and the [[Fertile Crescent]] to the [[Arabian Peninsula]] and [[Iraq]]. The dialects use different analogues from the Arabic language inventory and have been influenced by different substrate and superstrate languages. Adjacent dialects are mutually understandable to a large extent, but those from distant regions are more difficult to be understood.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kaye|first1=Alan S.|title=The Semitic Languages|last2=Rosenhouse|first2=Judith|publisher=Routledge|year=1997|isbn=978-0-415-05767-7|editor-last=Hetzron|editor-first=Robert|pages=263–311|chapter=Arabic Dialects and Maltese}}</ref> The difference between the written standard and the vernaculars is apparent also in the written language, and children have to be taught Modern Standard Arabic in school to be able to read it. ===Aramaic=== All [[modern Aramaic]] languages descend from a dialect continuum that historically existed through the Aramaization of the Levant (other than the original Aramaic-speaking parts) and Mesopotamia<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bunnens |first=Guy |date=2009 |title=ASSYRIAN EMPIRE BUILDING AND ARAMIZATION OF CULTURE AS SEEN FROM TELL AHMAR/TIL BARSIB |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20723920 |journal=Syria |publisher=Institut Francais du Proche-Orient}}</ref> and before the Islamicization of the Levant and Mesopotamia. [[Northeastern Neo-Aramaic]], including distinct varieties spoken by both Jews and Christians, is a dialect continuum although greatly disrupted by population displacement during the twentieth century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Ronald |title="Stammbaum" or Continuum? The Subgrouping of Modern Aramaic Dialects Reconsidered |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |date=2008 |volume=128 |issue=3 |pages=505–531 |jstor=25608409 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25608409 |issn=0003-0279}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mutzafi |first1=Hezy |title=Further Jewish Neo-Aramaic Innovations |journal=Journal of Jewish Languages |date=23 August 2018 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=145–181 |doi=10.1163/22134638-06011130 |s2cid=165973597 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jjl/6/2/article-p145_1.xml |issn=2213-4638|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=Geoffrey |title=The Neo-Aramaic Dialects of Iran |journal=Iranian Studies |date=2020 |volume=53 |issue=3–4 |pages=445–463 |doi=10.1080/00210862.2020.1714430|s2cid=216353456 |url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/301788 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> === Armenian === The [[Armenian language]] has two standardized forms: [[Western Armenian]] and [[Eastern Armenian]]. Before the [[Armenian genocide]] and other significant demographic changes that affected the [[Armenians]], several dozen [[Armenian dialects]] existed in the areas historically populated by them. The most notable overarching survey of the Armenian dialects is the ''Classification des dialectes arméniens'' (''Classification of Armenian dialects''), a 1909 book by the Armenian linguist [[Hrachia Acharian]], published in Paris.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adjarian |first1=Hrachia |title=Classification des dialectes arméniens |date=1909 |publisher=Librairie Honore Champion |location=Paris}}</ref> It is Acharian's translation into French of his original work [http://www.nayiri.com/imagedBook.jsp?id=1 ''Hay Barbaṙagitutʿiwn''] ("Armenian Dialectology") that was later published as a book in 1911 in Moscow and New Nakhichevan. The French translation lacks dialectal examples. An English translation was published in 2024.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dolatian |first1=Hossep |title=Adjarian’s Armenian dialectology (1911): Translation and commentary |date=2024 |publisher=Language Science Press |location=Berlin |url=https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/385}}</ref> Acharian surveyed the Armenian dialects in what is now [[Turkey]], [[Armenia]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Iran]], [[Azerbaijan]] and other countries settled by [[Armenians]]. After the [[Armenian genocide]], linguists [[Gevorg Jahukyan]], Jos Weitenberg, [[Bert Vaux]] and [[Hrach Martirosyan]] have extended the understanding of Armenian dialects. === Persian === The varieties of the [[Persian language]], including [[Tajik language|Tajiki]] and [[Dari language|Dari]], form a dialect continuum. The divergence of Tajik was accelerated by the shift from the Perso-Arabic alphabet to a Cyrillic one under Soviet rule. Western dialects of Persian show greater influence from Arabic and Oghuz Turkic languages,{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} but Dari and Tajik tend to preserve many classical features in grammar and vocabulary. {{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} Also the [[Tat language (Caucasus)|Tat language]], a dialect of Persian, is spoken in Azerbaijan.
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