The Outlying Caspian Language of the Alikayi Tribe : An Ethno-Linguistic Study

This volume introduces Alikayi, an Iranian language spoken on the southern fringe of the Alborz Mountains south of the Caspian Sea.

This volume introduces Alikayi, an Iranian language spoken on the southern fringe of the Alborz Mountains south of the Caspian Sea. The book offers a fresh perspective on Caspian linguistics. Highlighting the language’s most significant features—such as its unique possession marker, pronominal clitics in nominal morphosyntax, and an innovative verbal system marked by drift toward periphrastic constructions—the book situates Alikayi within the wider Caspian-language continuum through typological and lexical comparisons. It also explores sociocultural, ecological, and historical dimensions of the Alikayi tribe, providing insights into patterns of contact, migration, and identity. Texts included at the end of the volume enrich the sociolinguistic portrait and illuminate broader issues in Iranic philology, including tribal formation in medieval Persia. This concise but multifaceted study will appeal to scholars of Iranian linguistics and to researchers engaged in comparative and typological work.