Azerbaijani, North

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A language of Azerbaijan

ISO 639-3
azj
Alternate Names
Azerbaijan, Azerbaydzhani, Azeri Turk
Population

6,100,000 in Azerbaijan (2007 census). 4,000,000 monolinguals. Population total all countries: 7,324,270. Ethnic population: 6,230,000.

Location

Also in Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

Language Maps
Language Status

1 (National). Statutory national language (1995, Constitution, Article 21(1)).

Classification
Altaic, Turkic, Southern, Azerbaijani
Dialects

Airym, Baku, Borcala, Derbend, Ganja, Karapapak, Lenkaran, Nakhchivan, Nukha, Ordubad, Qabala, Qazakh, Quba, Qyzylbash, Salyan, Shamakhi, Shusha (Karabakh), Terekeme, Yerevan, Zaqatala (Mugaly). Slight dialect differences. Qazakh dialect is not related to Kazakh [kaz]. Significant differences from South Azerbaijani [azb] in phonology, lexicon, morphology, syntax, and loanwords.

Language Use

8,000,000 L2 speakers.

Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: High. Taught as L2 in Russian language schools. Radio programs. TV. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 1891–2004.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Azerbaijani, North
Writing
Arabic script, used until 1920s. Braille script. Cyrillic script, widely used in Armenia. Latin script, official script 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 (Shi’a), Muslim (Sunni).

Also spoken in:

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