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 and Zaza language have similarities with Parthian language and they may descend from Parthian directly or Northwestern Iranian languages with Parthian influences, but the topic lacks sufficient research.