Kho'ini dialect

Kho'ini (alternatives: Xoini, Xo'ini, Khoeini, or Di) is a Tatic dialect or language spoken in northwestern Iran, and is one of many Western Iranian languages. It is spoken in the village of Xoin and surrounding areas, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) southwest of Zanjan city in northern Iran. The Xoini verbal system follows the general pattern found in other Tati dialects. However, the dialect has its own special characteristics such as continuous present which is formed by the past stem, a preverb shift, and the use of connective sounds. The dialect is in danger of extinction.

Kho'ini
Di
Die Zuan دیه زواَن
Pronunciation	[xo.iːniː]
Native to	Iran
Region	Ejarud, Zanjan County
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Northwestern II Tatic Tati/Azari Kho'ini
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xkc
Glottolog	khoi1250[1]

Kho'in

Kho'in (Persian: خوئین‎), also spelled as Xo'in an Khoein, is located in "Ejarud" rural district of Zanjan Province at the end of a long valley. In recent decades the village has lost its centrality because of veering the road of Zanjan to Bijar from Xoin. In 1960, the farmers was growing fruits around on the slopes of the hills, but Xoin's Qanats were neglected; many of the houses deteriorated already and a number of inhabitants had been migrating to Tehran seeking works. The population was 800 to 900 at the time and declining.

There has been a sense of nostalgia about the better days of Xo'in among the dwellers. Local beliefs hold that in the Qajar period some Xoinis emigrated to Merv, Ashgabat and Baku. There is a cavernous dent called "Dei-manda", meaning, "remnant of a fort" (known in other parts of Iran as "Qaleh Gabri/Gowri"), said to have been made by Zoroastrians. Some villagers legendarily believed that Xoinis had earlier been Gowr. They gave credence to being originally from Sistan. Some said when Bahman invaded Sistan to avenge his father, Esfandiyar, the descendants of Rostam fled and came to Xoin. In spite of dwindling estate, the village has 8 maintained mosques and a Tekyeh.

Geography

Azeri Turkic has mostly replaced Xoini, however in the 1960s, the extent of the dialect was as follows:

• Sipkamar (Persian: "Sefidkamar"): It is a village to the west of Xoin. The dialect was best preserved there. It had some 70 households in 1963. Sefidkamar has been more flourishing than Xoin. The access road is rather doubly arduous and limits communications, which may have been instrumental in the dialect's survival.
• Xoin: Azerbaijani language is the predominant language and the indigenous dialect was fading away in 1960 and might be extinct by now. In Aruz Mâla, the northern quarter of Xoin, the dialect is somewhat better known than in Aš Mâla, the southern quarter, where almost no one knows the language any longer.
• Sa'idabad: In its lower quarter, they speak mostly the dialect.
• Garne: A couple of kilometers from Xoin. The people speak the dialect.
• Sura: A village to the east of Xoin, which had some 250 inhabitants. Some knew the dialect.
• Balubin (Persian: "Balbavin"): The dialect is spoken side by side with Turkic.
• Halab: The language had practically disappeared, being replaced by Azerbaijani. Just one old man could remember a few sentences in 1960.

Phonology

Some sounds are approximate. Some of the vowels like "e, â, o, u" and "i" show variations.

Monophthongs
Sound (IPA)	Notes	Romanization	Example(s)
ɒ	generally a somewhat rounded /ɔ/	â	âynakâ
æ	-	a	tar
e	-	e	âme
o	has a wide range between /u/ and /ɔ/. It could be an allophone of /ɒ/ or /u/.	o	xorâk
u	-	u	buri
y	probably not a separate phoneme. The palatalization may be a Turkic influence.	ü	dü, mü, lüt
œ	a phoneme or an allophone of /o/ or /u/	ö	höröm, čöröl
i	-	i	pir

The consonants are: p, b, t, d, č, j, k, g, x, xʷ, q, f, m, n, r, l, s, z, ž, š, h, v, w, y.

Notes about some Consonants
Sound (IPA)	Notes	Romanization	Example(s)
k	Final /k/, following a vowel is mostly pronounced as /g/ and as in the 3rd. person singular suffix, begins as a half-voiced stop and ends as a fricative /x/.	k	xorâk, nedârek
ʒ	is a rare sound	ž	žani, gužd
m,n	Final /m/ and /n/ after a vowel (particularly /ɒ/ )are tending to merely nasalize the preceding vowel. For example, in the 1st person plural person suffix: -ɒm/-ɒ̆̆ /	m, n	merdân
w	is infrequent. After some vowels it can be considered as diphthong. Generally in most of the cases it is dropped or can be considered as a buffer or a semivowel.	w	wâ (consonant), ^wuj-, uwâ
j	can appear in all parts of the words	y	yem
x	In a number of words it is followed by a weak /w/ or /u/ without making any changes in the syllabic count of the word. Whether x^u should be counted as a separate consonant or should be considered in such words as x^uan a contraction of xua is moot.	x	x^uan (or xwan), xalâw.
ʋ	-	v	vel

In Xoini, vowel harmony, gemination and lengthening more or less occurs.

Grammar

Nouns and adjectives

Nouns have two cases: direct and oblique. Contrary to the often case in Persian, adjective is not Post-positive. The formation of different kinds of nouns and adjectives and their order are as follows:

Nouns and adjectives
Formation and notes	Example(s)	Persian		English
Abstract noun: adjective + a stressed -i	gallawân → gallawâni	čupân → čupâni		shepherd → shepherding
adjective + -a/-e + noun	süjesta kömer; tara nun	suxte zoqâl; nâne tâze (tar)		burned coal; fresh bread
Izafat is reversed comparing to Persian	ast-e mezg	maqz-e ostoxân		bone marrow
Substantive adjective: -âr + present stem of the verb	pül âdâ-r-âr	pul dahande		money giver
Adjective: noun + -in	gulek- (lower part) → gulgin lavenj	labe pâyin		lower lip
Adjective: present stem + -ganin	enta:ganin	âšâmidani		drinkable
Adjective: -jul	kermajul-e (or possibly: kermaj (wormy) + -ul + e)	kerm-ur-e (kerm-var-e)		(It) is wormy
Adjective relating a person to a place or a language: -ej	diej; spekamarej	di-gu; sefidkamar-i		Di (Xoini) speaker; Sefidkamari

Pronouns

Pronouns
	Singular			Plural
Person	1	2	3	1	2	3
Nominative	az	te	a(v)	mâ	šemâ	ân
Oblique	man	te	â	mâ	šemâ	ân
Possessive	če-man	eš-te	č-a	če-mâ(n)	še-mâ(n)	č-ân

The possessive pronouns are also used with both preposition and postposition, e.g.:

• a:râ buri čeman ku pül ar-gi (tomorrow come (and) take money from me). čeman ku means "from me"
• de man panir a-čman xarat-(e)š-e (he sold two maunds of cheese to me). a-čman means "to me"

They are acted as possessive adjectives too:

• čeman da:s-em begi (take my hand). Note that the pronoun is repeated by the clitic -em.

Demonstrative pronouns
	Nominative	Accusative	Oblique
Proximate
Singular	em	eme	čia/čie, čem
Plural	eme	emân	čiân
Remote
Singular	a(v)	ave	ča/čâ
Plural	ave	avân	čân

For example:

• čia ku (from this),
• čâ ku (from that).

They serve also as adjectives:

• čiân/čân daste begi (take these/those ones' hands)
• čie/čâ daste begi (take this/that one's hand)

Possession is also expressed by adding suffixes to nouns. These are added after inflection for number. See the "Person Suffixes" table below.

Reflexive pronoun: geg. But it is treated as a noun in terms of declension, e.g.:

• mâ a gege-mân viar seg-mân či (we piled stones in front of ourselves).

Verbs

The verbal system follows the general pattern found in other Tati dialects. It employs:

• A present and a past stem
• Personal suffixes
• preverbs: â-, (âje-), ar-, baʋ-/ʋaʋ-, bay/ʋay-, či-, da(r)-, dari-, pa(r)-, ^wut-
• Negative Marker: ne-
• Prohibitive Marker: ma-
• Subjunctive/Imperative prefix: be-
• Imperfective: -in-/-en-/-m-
• Insistence, necessity, volition: pi-; e.g.: te pi niši (you must not go)
• Desire, need: pi-sta-; e.g.: pist-am/pista-r-im bešum (I want to go)

However, the main exceptional characteristics of Xoini are:

1. Continuous present is made by the past stem;
2. The preverbs shift their positions depending on tense and mood;
3. The use of a connective sound is frequent. It is generally -r- and sometimes -y-, when the vowels of the different elements of a verb come into contact. For example: mesar te nâza-r-â-m-bim (this year you will become well).

Person Suffixes
Person	Singular	Plural
1st	-(e)m	-mân
2nd	-i (-y after a vowel)	-yân
3rd	-(e)š	-(e)šân

The above suffixes serve as:

1. Possessives, e.g.: berâ-m âmi (My brother came).
2. Agents of past transitive verbs in an ergative construction, e.g.: te ow-i ente (You drank water).
3. Objects, direct or indirect, e.g.: ü seg-ešân p(e)tow-šân kay (They threw a stone).

The suffixes may be attached to the verb; the agent of the verb in an ergative construction; an adverb; a prepositional or postpositional phrase; and in a compound verb to its nominal Complement.

The same set of endings is used for the present and the subjunctive. The endings of the preterit and the present perfect are basically the enclitic present forms of the verb 'to be' (*ah-, here called base one). For pluperfect and subjunctive perfect the freestanding auxiliary verb 'to be' (*bav-, here called base two) is utilized. There is no ending for singular imperative and it is -ân for plural. For the inflections of "to be" see "Auxiliary inflection" below.

Conjugations

Stems and imperative mood

The past and present stems are irregular and shaped by historical developments, e.g.: ^wuj- / ^wut- (to say); xaraš-/xarat- (to sell); taj-/tat- (to run). However, in many verbs the past stem is built on the present stem by adding -(e)st; e.g.: brem- → bremest- (to weep).

The imperative is formed by the modal prefix be- if the verb contains no preverb, plus the present stem and without ending in the singular and with -ân in the plural. be- is often changed to bi-, bo- or bu- according to the situation, and appears as b- before a vowel of a verbal stem.

Active voice

Active Voice
Form	Tense	Notes	Example(s)
Infinitive	-	past stem + -e	dakošt-e (to put out)
Indicative	Present	present stem + personal endings	taj-em (I run)
„	Preterite of intransitive verbs	past stem (the stress falling on the last syllable of it) + the present tense of "to be" (which is personal endings)	verit-im (I ran)
„	Preterite of transitive verbs	The same as above except that normally it is put in the 3rd person singular whether its object, which is put in the direct case, is singular or plural.	Example with enclitic pronouns as agent: vind-em(e) (I saw)
„	Perfect of intransitive verbs	past participle (generally made of the past stem plus a stressed -a-) + the present tense of "to be"	tânesta-r-im (I have been able)
„	Perfect of transitive verbs	past participle + a suffix pronoun as agent + -e (the 3rd person singular of the present tense of "to be")	vind-a-m-e (I have seen)
„	Imperfective perfect of intransitive verbs	1) past stem + the present tense of "to be". 2) The affix en-/in-/em- + past stem (seems to show imperfectivity).	1) še-m (I used to go). 2) em-kak (he used to do); xuand-em-e (I used to say)
„	Imperfective perfect of intransitive verbs	The same as "1)" above except that enclitic pronouns are added as the agents of the verb either before the stem or after it.	harru ... xwand-eg/xwand-em-eg (I would say ... everyday)
„	Pluperfect	past participle + the preterit of "to be"	rast-a b-im (I had reached)
„	Imperfective pluperfect	verb's Past tense + the perfect of "to be" (Actance)	berembeste dar-e biak (had been crying) -the informant has been absent-
„	Future	similar to Present of intransitives	ra:s-ek (he will arrive)
„	Present progressive	past stem + stressed -a (appears to be a past participle) + the present tense of "to be"	xarat-a-r-im (I am selling, lit.: I am seller)
„	Preterite progressive	past stem + stressed -a + the preterit of "to be"	arga:ta b-im (I was taking)
Subjunctive	Present	be- (unless a preverb is contained) + present stem + personal endings	be-ttaj-em ((that) I run)
„	Perfect	past participle + the subjunctive of "to be"	agar az ša:-bum (if I should have gone) (Persian: rafte bâšam)
Optative	present	subjunctive is used	xodâ ešte omr be-d-ek (may God give you (long) life)
Conditional	present	subjunctive is used	aga az bettajem nengem šigek (if I run my leg will break)

Passive and causative

Form	Notes	Example(s)
Passive	The passive stem: present stem + -(e)st	šur-est-e (was washed); â-kar-est-i/karesti-â/karesti-râ (had been opened, lit.: has been opened); xuar-est-i (has been eaten)
Causative	present stem + -en or -jen	bekejer! (laugh!) → 'bekejer-en! (make laugh!); betta(j)! (run!) → bettâ-jen! (make run!, gallop!)

Auxiliary inflection

The conjugation of the verb 'to be' uses two different bases; historically one from the root *ah- and the other from the root *bav-.

Conjugation of "to be"
Form	Tense	Conjugation	Notes
Infinitive	-	be	-
Imperative	-	bebe (sing.); bebuin (pl.)	from the root *bav- and follows the general rule
Indicative	Present	im, iš, e; âm, ân, end	After e and â, the e of the 3rd person singular changes to y. e.g. te-yš (you are (sing.))
„	Preterite	bim, biš, be; biyâm, biyân, bend	the past stem of *bav- + the endings taken from the base one of "to be"
„	Imperfective preterite	harvax za:m bustek (whenever it became/was sore); az harvax nâwxaš bustim (whenever I became/was ill)	the secondary participle in -ste of "to be + the present of "to be" (base one) (i.e. personal endings)
„	Perfect	biyam, biay, biak; biayâm, biayân, biaynd	the participle bia of base two + the present of "to be" from the base one.
„	Pluperfect	bia bim, bia biš, bia be; bia biâm, bia biân, bia bend.	the participle of the base two + the preterit of the same verb as auxiliary
Subjunctive	Present	bebum, bebi^n, bebu(k); bebiâm, bebiân, bebunda	the present stem of *bav- + the verbal prefix be- with the endings: -m, -i^n, -k, -âm, -ân, -nda. Sometimes the prefix be- is omitted,

The present from the root *bav- is the present of "to become" which is from the same root with the addition of the preverb â- and the imperfective prefix (e)m-, thus: â-m-bum, â-m-bin, â-m-buk; â-m-biâm, â-m-biân â-m-bend (I become, you become, etc.). So it doesn't mean "to be".

There is another form, hest- which occurs in the sense of "to be, to exist": hest-im, hest-iš, hest-e; hest-im, hest-iân, hest-end.

Particles

Prepositions, postpositions and the conjunction "and" of Xoini are as follows:

Particles
Particle	Example	Persian		English
a (to)	xerdege seg-eš darderare a xumme.	Bačče sang râ miandâzad be xomre.		The child throws stone at the (large earthen) jar.
â (to)	â fekr-em âmi.	be fekram âmad.		It came to my mind.
da (to)	pase neng-eš da dar bend.	Lenge gusfand râ be dâr beband.		Tie the sheep's foot to the tree!
ta (with)	xâwey ta gigay beba.	xâharat râ bâ xodat bebar.		Take your sister with you!
avi (without)	avi ačman maš	bi man maro (mašo)!		Don't go without me!
bi (without)	bi berâ maš.	bi barâdar maro (mašo).		Don't go without (your) brother.
pa (on)	pa tantanan sar ne	ruye sare ham neh.		Pile (or lay) on top of each other!
viar (in front of)	mâ a gege-mân viar seg-mân či.	mâ dar jelowe-mân sang čidim.		We piled stones in front of ourselves.
-da(r) (in)	daryâye lavenj-da čadereš žay	(dar) labe daryâ čâdoraš râ bepâ kard		He has pitched his tent at the edge of the sea.
-ku (from)	čeman-ku xabar magi!	az man xabar magir (mapors)!		Do not ask me!
-tan (from)	va-tan âmayma terân.	az ânjâ âmadeam tehrân.		I have come from there to Tehran.
-da (from)	vela-da tuma bigi	toxmhâ râ az gol begir		Take seeds from the flower.
-(r)â (for)	yem galân-â pa:n karek.	râš râ barâye gale pahn kard.		He spreads fodder for the flock.
o (and)	nun o ow âjade â jem faqire	nân o (va) âb bede be in faqire.		Give bread and water to this poor (fellow)!

Turkic influence

Xoini has been impacted by Turkic Azeri to some extent. That includes borrowing a number of verbal forms, for example: -miš which is attached to the past stem of some verbs to form a verbal noun, e.g., ^wut-miš (saying). The postposition, -da (from) seems to be Turkic. There exist also a number words e.g.: düz (straight, right).

Vocabulary and example sentences

English		Xoini	Persian	Example sentence		English
big		pilla	bozorg (pil)	em kay pilli		This house is big.
bring (v)		^wuare	âvardan	^wuar-ek		He brings.
brother		berâ	barâdar	berâ-y nâmi		Your brother did not come.
come (v)		âme/owme/o:me	âmadan	agar angâ bubum mâm		If I should be here, I will come.
cry (v)		bereme	geristan	xorde beremasta-r-e		The child is crying
day		ru	ruz	moru nürüja paši pistarim bešum		Today afternoon I want to go
do (v)		kaye	kardan	te čekâra kay'da-r-iš?		What are you doing?
door		bar	dar	moru hüš bare ka-y(r)ar-e?		Have you today closed the door at all?
eat (v)		xuae	xordan	nun xuay-dar-im		I am in (the act of) eating bread
eye		gelgân	češm	xodâ gelgân-i sibi bevendâ(r)neg		may God turn your eyes white (i.e., may you lose sight)
father		piar	pedar	xodâ piar-eš rahmat bekarek		May God show mercy to his father.
fire		âtaš	âtaš	âtaš daš-kaye		to kindle fire
good		nâza	xub	pa:ta xorâk čie-râ nâza nigi		Cooked food is not good for him (lit.: this one).
house		kay	xâne	mâ kay-mân na-xarata-mân		we have not sold our house.
laugh (v)		kejer	xandidan	te tanga omri da hüš kejerestayš		Till now, have you ever laughed in your life?
mother		mâ	mâdar	mâyem ^wujem		I will tell my mother.
open (v)		kare/kar-âje	gošudan	xurdek kay da ništa be, vindeš divâr kareste-r-âje		The child was sitting in the house (when) he saw the wall was cracked open.
paddy		čaltuk	čaltuk	bav-šân-est-a(g) čaltuk hani nembu jam-kay		one can any longer gather scattered rice.
place		laka	jâ	em laka a laka tafâvot nedârek		This place (or) that place makes no difference.
read (v)		xuande/xwand	xândan	bavandân-da az harru xuanda ^wut-m-išt-im, dasnamâz-em gat-e-par-e, namâzema xuand-em-e xalaw-em da:-m-en-kak gerava-m da:menkak še-ma wâjâr		In those times I used to rise from sleep, make ablution, say my prayers, would put on my clothes, would put on my socks (and) would go to the market.
say (v)		^wuje/^wute	goftan	nemâz-eš en-^wuj-ek		(every day) he says his prayers.
sister		xow/xâw	xâhar	em kâqe xowem berâsen		Make reach (deliver) this letter to my sister.
water		ow	âb/ow	parsâr ow-ni-mon darde/owmon nedard		Last year we did not have water.
woman		žani	zan	em žani nâzi		This woman is good.
yesterday		zir	diruz/di	az zir va bim te n-âmayš		I was there yesterday (but) you did not come (lit.: have not come).

References

1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Kho'ini". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Yarshater, E., 2002. The Xo'ini dialect. Persica, Vol. 18, P. 85-102. doi:10.2143/PERS.18.0.494