Languages and Names

Given the immense area covered by this book, it is not surprising that a wide range of languages are spoken throughout the region, none of which are particularly related to one another. Each consists of several distinct regional dialects, which are given in parentheses; most characters should take the appropriate one as a specialty. Educated or well-traveled speakers will have tried hard to rid themselves of their dialect, and may have standard specialties (see ArM5, page 66). When two characters converse in different dialects of the same language they must both subtract one from their Language Ability scores.

Arabic (Egyptian, Khaliji, Levantine, Maghrebi, Maslawi) Oghuz (Azerbaijani, Ghuzz, Turkish) Parsi (Bactrian, Baloch, Kurdish, Luri, Pashto, Persian, Sogdian, Tabari) Avestan (a dead Language)

Arabic is the most important of these, as the language of the Qur'an and of religion, of scholarship, and of the administration in most of the Muslim world, as well as the language most commonly spoken in the western Middle East. The Khaliji dialect is spoken principally in Arabia, whereas the Maslawi dialect is spoken in Iraq and Jibal. The Maghrebi dialect is spoken throughout North Africa. The Arabic language uses the Arabic script.

Parsi is also widely used, especially in the eastern regions, with Persian (Parsik) as its "court" dialect, and various distinct dialects for Kirman and Makran (Baloch), Mazandaran (Tabari), Khuzistan (Luri), Jibal (Kurdish), and Ghur (Pashto). The Sogdian dialect is spoken in most of Transoxiana and Khwarazm, except for Bactria, where they have their own dialect. Parsi uses an extension of the Arabic script to permit Persian sounds such as "p" and "ch," although ancient texts use the Pahlavi script. Sogdian uses its own Sogdian alphabet. Avestan is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism, and uses either the older Pahlavi or the more recent Avestan script.

Throughout the Muslim world, variants of Oghuz are also spoken by many members of the nobility. Turkish is the dialect most commonly heard in Seljukinfluenced areas, although the Azerbaijani and Ghuzz dialects of Oghuz are sufficiently different from the Turkish dialect to cause some difficulties in understanding. Historically, Oghuz was transliterated in Turkic "runes," but only the Ghuzz retain this tradition; Turkish is written using the Arabic script.

Other languages that characters may encounter include Hebrew (among Jews), Latin and Greek (especially among scholars), Mongolian, Aramaic (among some Christians of the Jazira and northwest provinces), Ge'ez (among Ethiopian Christians), Georgian, and Armenian. One language that is written and used liturgically but not commonly spoken is Syriac, used by Nestorian and Jacobite Christians.