Indo-Iranian languages
| Indo-Iranian | |
|---|---|
| Indo-Iranic (Aryan) | |
| Geographic distribution | South, Central, West Asia and the Caucasus |
Native speakers | est. 1.7 billion (2024) |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Indo-Iranian |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-5 | iir |
| Glottolog | indo1320 |
Distribution of the Indo-Iranian languages | |
The Indo-Iranian languages (also known as Indo-Iranic languages or collectively the Aryan languages) constitute the largest branch of the Indo-European language family. They include over 300 languages, spoken by around 1.7 billion speakers worldwide, predominantly in South Asia, West Asia and parts of Central Asia.
Indo-Iranian languages are divided into three major branches: Indo-Aryan, Iranian, and Nuristani languages. The Badeshi language remains unclassified within the Indo-Iranian branch. The largest Indo-Iranian language is the Hindustani language (Hindi-Urdu).
The areas with Indo-Iranian languages stretch from Europe (Romani) and the Caucasus (Ossetian, Tat, Talysh), down to Mesopotamia and eastern Anatolia (Kurdish, Zaza), the Levant and North Africa (Domari), and Iran (Persian), eastward to Xinjiang (Sarikoli) and Assam (Assamese), and south to Sri Lanka (Sinhala) and the Maldives (Maldivian), with branches stretching as far out as Oceania and the Caribbean for Fiji Hindi and Caribbean Hindustani respectively. Furthermore, there are large diaspora communities of Indo-Iranian speakers in Northwestern Europe, North America, Oceania, East Africa, South Africa, the Caribbean, and the Persian Gulf.