Achomi
Achomi, Larestani, Khodmooni
Native to	Iran, GCC countries[1]
Region	Fars, Hormozgan, Bushehr, Kerman
Ethnicity	Achomi people, Ajam
Native speakers	120,000 (2021)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Southwestern Achomi
Dialects	Lari Gerashi Evazi Khonji Aheli Galedari Ashkanani Lengeyi Ashnezi Dayyeri Bastaki
Writing system	Pahlavi scripts, Persian alphabet (Nastaʿlīq)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3	lrl
Glottolog	lari1253
ELP	Lari

Achomi (Persian: اچُمی), also known as Khodmooni,^[2] is a Persian and Southwestern Iranian language spoken by people in southern Fars and western Hormozgan and by significant numbers of Ajam citizens in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and other neighbouring countries.^[3][4]

It is the predominant language of Gerash, Larestan, Lamerd, Khonj, and Evaz counties in Fars and Bastak County in Hormozgan Province.^[3][4]

Moreover, many cities, towns, and villages in Iran have their own particular dialect, such as Larestan, Khonj, Gerash, and Banaruiyeh. The majority of Achomi speakers are Sunni Muslims.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]}

Etymology and name of the language

There are different ways to refer to this language.

• Achomi: Native speakers often refer to their language as Achomi.^[13] There are different reasons for this name. One of them is the language's frequent usage of the [tʃ] consonant.^[14] The second reason originates from when Arabs began trading with Achomis.^[14] This because Arabs called Achomis 'Ajam', which means non-Arab.^[14] Therefore, Achomi is a variation of Ajam.^[14] Additionally, Achomi can be linked to Achom, which means 'I go' in the language.^[13]

• Khodmooni: In GCC states surrounding the Persian Gulf, Achomis are referred to as Khodmooni'.^[2] This translates to "of our own kind".^[2][3][4]

• Lari: This language is sometimes called Lari.^[15] To reiterate, 'Lar' originates from 'Lad' which means "the origin of everything".^[16] It is also important to note that Lari can be used to refer to a dialect or a language.^[13]

History

The Achomi language can be considered a descendant of the Sassanid Persian language or Middle Persian.^[17]

Achomi language and its various local dialects such as Lari, Evazi, Khonji, Gerashi, Bastaki, etc., is the branch of the Middle Persian (Pahlavi) language of the Sassanid Empire.^[18]

Today, the language is known as an endangered language.^[15] In particular, UNESCO refers to it as a "definitely endangered" language with approximately 1,180,000 speakers.^[15] It also does not have official language status in Iran. This is because Iran only recognizes standard Persian as an official language. However, Iran allows the use of minority languages, such as Achomi, in the media and the education system (alongside Persian).^[19] Nevertheless, Achomi remains an endangered language with many dialectal differences gradually disappearing because of the domination of Persian.^[15][20]

Many Iranians moved to GCC States in order to pursue better economic opportunities.^[21] This included Achomis.^[2] These Achomis are often multilingual.^[2] Achomi migrants still speak this language in their homes, however, this variety has been influenced by the Arabic language a little but is mutually intelligible with standard Persian.^[18]

Classification

The language is a branch of the Pahlavi language.^[16] This means that it shares the ergative structure of Pahlavi.^[16] It is also an analytical language.^[13] This can be linked back to its membership in the southwestern branch of Middle-Iranian languages.^[13][16]

With the exception of the regional accent, pronunciation of certain words, and a slight variation in grammar, this old language has been the common language of the Southwestern Pars Province and parts of Hormozgan Province for nearly 1,800 years despite the various conquests of the region since the fall of the Sassanid Empire.^[22]

Dialects

Achomi has many dialects.^[20][14][16] These dialects correspond to Larestan's different towns.^[16] Examples of these dialects include Lari, Evazi, Gerashi, Khonji and Bastaki.^[20]These dialectical variations may present themselves through pronunciation.^[16][14] There may also be grammatical and word differences between the dialects.^[20] Hence, if the speaker is from Evaz, they are referred as speaking Evazi, and if they are from Bastak their dialect is known as Bastaki.^[2]

An example of a dialectal variation: in some particular regions, Achomi people say raftom for "I went" (very similar to the Persian raftam), but in some other regions, just as Lar people, they say chedem (Kurdish: dichim or dechim) instead.

Samples

See also

• Kuwaiti Persian

References

Achomi language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator