Luri | |
---|---|
Northern: زون لری Southern: لری | |
Pronunciation | IPA: [loriː] |
Native to | Iran; a few villages in eastern Iraq[1][2] |
Region | Southern Zagros Mountains |
Ethnicity | Lurs |
Native speakers | 4–5 million (2012)[3][4] Percentage estimate 2% (2007)[5] |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Variously:lrc – Northern Luribqi – Bakhtiariluz – Southern Luri |
Glottolog | luri1252 |
Luri (Northern Luri: لری, Southern Luri: لری) is a Southwestern Iranian language continuum spoken by the Lurs, an Iranian people native to Western Asia. The Luri dialects are descended from Middle Persian and are Central Luri, Bakhtiari,[3][6] and Southern Luri.[3][6] This language is spoken mainly by the Bakhtiari and the Northern and Southern Lurs (Lorestan, Ilam, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Mamasani, Sepidan, Bandar Ganaveh, Bandar Deylam)[7] in Iran.
In 2003, the Lori-speaking population in Iran was estimated at 4.2 million speakers, or about 6 percent of the national figure (Anonby, 2003b, p. 173). Given the nationwide growth in population since then, the number of Lori speakers in 2012 is likely closer to 5 million.