Eastern Iranian languages
Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages, which themselves belong to the Indo-European language family. These languages have a rich history, emerging during the Middle Iranian period, roughly from the 4th century BC to the 9th century AD. The development of Eastern Iranian languages was distinct from that of Western Iranian languages, particularly in terms of phonetic evolution. One of the key differences is that Eastern Iranian dialects preserved word-final syllables, which were lost in many Western Iranian languages during the same period.
The Eastern Iranian language family includes a variety of ancient and modern languages. Among the most notable ancient languages are Avestan and Sogdian, which were spoken by ancient Iranian peoples. Avestan is closely associated with the religious texts of Zoroastrianism, while Sogdian was widely used in Central Asia and became an important trade language along the Silk Road.
Today, the largest living Eastern Iranian language is Pashto, spoken by over 80 million people in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pashto is widely used in both daily communication and as a literary language. Another significant Eastern Iranian language is Ossetic, spoken by approximately 600,000 people in the Caucasus region, primarily in Ossetia, which is split between Russia and Georgia.
Other living Eastern Iranian languages include Yaghnobi, spoken in northwestern Tajikistan, which is a descendant of Sogdian, and several smaller languages like Munji and Yidgha in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The geographic distribution of these languages spans from the Badakhshan region in Tajikistan to parts of western China, particularly the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Historically, Eastern Iranian languages were part of a much larger linguistic continuum stretching across Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe. This continuum, which was closely associated with the Scythians and Sarmatians, continued until the 4th century AD, when the region experienced significant cultural and linguistic shifts.
