azj ISO 639
Azərbaycan dili, Azərbaycanca Autonyms
Azerbaijani, North
Visualizations
A language of Azerbaijan
- ISO 639
- azj
- Alternate Names
- Azerbaijan, Azerbaydzhani, Azeri, Azeri Turk
- Autonym
- Azərbaycan dili, Azərbaycanca
- Population
- 8,250,000 in Azerbaijan (2011 UNSD). 4,000,000 monolinguals. Total users in all countries: 9,220,620.
- Language Maps
- Azerbaijan, Georgia
- Language Status
- 1 (National). Statutory national language (1995, Constitution, Article 21(1)).
- Classification
- Turkic, Southern, Azerbaijani
- Dialects
- Quba, Derbend, Baku, Shamakhi, Salyan, Lenkaran, Qazakh, Airym, Borcala, Terekeme, Qyzylbash, Nukha, Zaqatala (Mugaly), Qabala, Nakhchivan, Ordubad, Ganja, Shusha (Karabakh), Karapapak, Kutkashen, Kuba. Slight dialect differences. Qazakh dialect is not related to Kazakh [kaz]. Significant differences from South Azerbaijani [azb] in phonology, lexicon, morphology, syntax, and loanwords. Lexical similarity: 45% with Yakut [sah]; 47% with Tuvan [tyv]; 49% with Chuvash [chv]; 53% with Khakas [kjh]; 55% with Southern Altai [alt]; 61% with Bashkort [bak]; 62% with Karachay-Balkar [krc], Kazakh [kaz], Kyrgyz [kir], and Uyghur [uig]; 63% with Northern Uzbek [uzn]; 64% with Tatar [tat]; 72% with Turkmen [tuk]; 80% with Turkish [tur]. A member of macrolanguage Azerbaijani [aze].
- Typology
- SOV; postpositions; no articles; case-marking (6 cases); verb affixes mark person, number; passives; tense; 24 consonant and 9 vowel phonemes; non-tonal; stress on final syllable; vowel harmony.
- Language Development
- Literacy rate in L2: High. Taught in all primary and secondary schools, and also taught as L2 in Russian [rus] language schools. Literature. Radio. TV. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 1891–2009.
- Writing
- Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab], used until 1920s. Braille script [Brai]. Cyrillic script [Cyrl], official usage in Dagestan. Latin script [Latn], official usage in Azerbaijan since 1992.
- Other Comments
- North and South Azerbaijani are spoken by 1 ethnic group. Each language group is reluctant to accept the written form of the other. Muslim.
- Language Resources
- OLAC resources in and about Azerbaijani, North
Also Spoken in
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Afghanistan
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
13,000 in Afghanistan (2017 J. Leclerc).
- Location
- Scattered.
- Dialects
- Erevan (Yerevan).
- Language Status
- 9 (Dormant)
- Language Use
- Shifted to Armenian [hye].
- Other Comments
- Prior to the conflict with Azerbaijan, Armenia’s largest minority had been Azeris, accounting for some 186,000 people. This population was displaced to Azerbaijan virtually in its entirety as a result of the conflict. Similarly Armenia received an influx of ethnic Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan (2021 World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples). Muslim. View other languages of Armenia
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
No known L1 speakers in Armenia. Ethnic population: 30 (2001 census).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Germany
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
27,200 in Germany (2020 census), based on nationality.
- Location
- Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, and Samtskhe-Javakheti regions.
- Language Status
- 5 (Dispersed)
- Language Use
- Some also use Georgian [kat]. View other languages of Georgia
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
239,000 in Georgia (2016).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Kyrgyzstan
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
11,500 in Kyrgyzstan (2009 census). Ethnic population: 17,300 (2009 census).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Kazakhstan
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
62,600 in Kazakhstan (2009 census). Ethnic population: 85,300 (2009 census).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Latvia
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
2,430 in Latvia (2018).
- Location
- Dagestan republic: south Caucasus mountains, Caspian coast.
- Language Status
- 5 (Dispersed)
- Language Use
- Used as L2 by Muslim Tat [ttt].
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Russian Federation
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
473,000 in Russian Federation (2010 census). Ethnic population: 603,000 (2010 census).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Sweden
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
1,990 in Sweden (2020 census), based on nationality.
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Tajikistan
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
5,640 in Tajikistan (2017).
- Location
- Scattered.
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Turkmenistan
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
50,000 in Turkmenistan (Leclerc 2019b), based on ethnicity.
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Ukraine
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
24,000 in Ukraine (2001 census). Ethnic population: 45,200 (2001 census).
- Location
- Scattered.
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Language Use
- Used as L2 by Turkish [tur].
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Uzbekistan
Language Name
Azerbaijani, North
User Population
59,600 in Uzbekistan (2019).
