Parthian language
| Parthian | |
|---|---|
| Arsacid Pahlavi | |
| Pahlawānīg | |
| Native to | Parthian Empire (incl. Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, Arsacid dynasty of Iberia and Arsacid dynasty of Caucasian Albania) |
| Region | Parthia, ancient Iran |
| Era | State language 248 BC – 224 AD. Marginalized by Middle Persian from the 3rd century, though extant for longer in the Caucasus due to several eponymous branches. |
| Inscriptional Parthian, Manichaean script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xpr |
xpr | |
| Glottolog | part1239 |
The Parthian language, also known as Arsacid Pahlavi and Pahlawānīg, is an extinct ancient Northwestern Iranian language once spoken in Parthia, a region situated in present-day northeastern Iran and Turkmenistan. Parthian was the language of state of the Arsacid Parthian Empire (248 BC – 224 AD), as well as of its eponymous branches of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, Arsacid dynasty of Iberia, and the Arsacid dynasty of Caucasian Albania.
Parthian had a significant impact on Armenian, a large part of whose vocabulary was formed primarily from borrowings from Parthian, and had a derivational morphology and syntax that was also affected by language contact but to a lesser extent. Many ancient Parthian words were preserved and now survive only in Armenian. The Semnani or Komisenian languages may descend from Parthian directly or be a Caspian language with Parthian influences, but the topic lacks sufficient research.