Abstract:
The present study examines the possible relationship between language, geography and the mobility of human populations at macro-level and proposes that the linguistic makeup of the Iranian plateau is shaped by the interplay between three factors: a geographic, a demogrpahic and a linguistic factor. The geographic factor (=ecological+topographic) shapes demographic features (=population mobility vs. sedentarism) by attracting populations to fertile lands vs. sending them off from hostile environments. The Iranian plateau is a vast land with a discrete topography; two features that reduce the possibility of communication between the languages of periphery, while at the same time put them in constant, longterm contact with the lingua franca of the plateau, contemporarily Persian and historically Pahlavi. As a result, the contact component of the linguistic factor (contact vs. isolation) is also determined by geographical and demographic factors at macro-level. This situation brings about what we have dubbed “±communicational accumulation.”, which in turn fascilitates convergence or divergence between different historical and/or geographical dialects. This constant cycle necessitates the existence of a common linguistic variety shared by various ethnicities acrossc the Iranian plateau, that is, the rise of either a lingua franca or a koiné out of local varieties. Iranian plateau has thus witnessed the birth of a lingua franca roughly at its center, spreading toward the multilingual peripheries.
Machine summary:
Mediator Language, Contact and Geography in Iran 1 Hamed Basheh Ahangar 2 PhD student in Linguistics, Allameh Tabataba'i University; Mojtaba Monshizadeh 3, Allameh Tabataba'i University Date Received: 2017/11/19 Date Accepted: 2020/08/11 Abstract This essay examines the macro-relationship between geography, language, and the movement of human groups, and the historical role of these fundamental factors in shaping the linguistic composition of the land.
Geographical factors (= ecological + topographical) are involved in shaping demographic patterns (= inhabitance + migration); the extensive and fragmented topography of Iran causes a reduction in communication between regional languages, while simultaneously placing all varieties in continuous contact with a mediator language (= Pahlavi, Persian).
Demographic patterns themselves are effective in the birth, expansion, and death of linguistic varieties: monolingualism 1, bilingualism 2, diglossia 3, multilingualism 4, and contact varieties, such as lingua franca and 5 Koine 6, in addition to being influenced by linguistic, historical, and cultural factors, are largely the result of demographic patterns of inhabitance, migration, and contact, meaning the encounter or isolation of population groups.
Linguistic consequences: As a result of the functioning of this limitation, alongside the functioning of evolutionary factors 1 (Bashe Ahangar, 1398), the emergence of geographic varieties is facilitated, and the common variety evolves into a conservative form in remote areas 2; such as the preservation of certain ancient features, for example, the existence of gender distinction in the pronoun system in the Tati language, Chali dialect 3 (see Dabir-Moqaddam, 1179: 1392-1166).
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