The
Talysh language (
Tolışi / Толыши / تالشی زَوُن) is a
Northwestern Iranian language spoken in the northern regions of the
Iranian provinces of
Gilan and Ardabil and the southern regions of the Republic of
Azerbaijan. Talysh language is closely related to the
Tati language. Historically, the language and
its people can be traced through the
middle Iranian period back to the ancient
Medes. It includes many dialects usually divided into three main clusters: Northern (in Azerbaijan and Iran), Central (Iran) and Southern (Iran). There are a wide variety of estimates for the number of Talyshi speakers with reliable estimates running anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million. Talyshi is partially, but not fully, intelligible with respect to
Persian. Talysh is classified as "vulnerable" by
UNESCO's
Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.