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| speakers = over 4 millions<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anonby|first=Erik John|date=2003/07|title=Update on Luri: How many languages?|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/update-on-luri-how-many-languages/EF8BBFADA50A13F59379F66DB2D71791|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|language=en|volume=13|issue=2|pages=171–197|doi=10.1017/S1356186303003067|issn=2051-2066|quote=Luri is an Indo-Iranian language cluster with over four million speakers.}}</ref><br>circa 5 millions<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/lori-language-ii|title=LORI LANGUAGE ii. Sociolinguistic Status – Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=electricpulp.com|website=www.iranicaonline.org|language=en|access-date=2018-08-20|quote=In 2003, the Lori-speaking population in Iran was estimated at 4.2 million speakers, or about 6 percent of the national figure (Anonby, 2003b, p. 173). Given the nationwide growth in population since then, the number of Lori speakers in 2012 is likely closer to 5 million.}}</ref>
Luri languages. (Note: Iraqi distribution corresponds to that of Southern Kurdish.)
Luri or Lurish (Luri: لۊری) is a Western Iranian language continuum spoken by the Lurs in Western Asia.The Luri dialects are descended from Middle Persian (Pahlavi). Luri forms five language groups known as Feyli, Central Luri, Bakhtiari, Laki and Southern Luri.
This language is spoken mainly by the Feyli Lurs, Bakhtiari and Southern Lurs (Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Mamasani, Sepidan, Bandar Ganaveh, Deylam) of Iran and beyond.
History
The Luri dialects are descended from Middle Persian (Pahlavi). They belong to the Persid or Southern Zagros group, and are lexically similar to modern Persian, differing mainly in phonology.
According to the Encyclopædia Iranica, "All Lori dialects closely resemble standard Persian and probably developed from a stage of Persian similar to that represented in Early New Persian texts written in Perso-Arabic script. The sole typical Lori feature not known in early New Persian or derivable from it is the inchoative marker (see below), though even this is found in Judeo-Persian texts". The Bakhtiāri dialect may be closer to Persian. There are two distinct languages, Greater Luri (Lor-e bozorg), a.k.a. Southern Luri (including Bakhtiari dialect), and Lesser Luri (Lor-e kuček), a.k.a. Northern Luri.
In comparison with other Iranian languages, Luri has been less affected by foreign languages such as Arabic and Turkic. Nowadays, many ancient Iranian language characteristics are preserved and can be observed in Luri grammar and vocabulary. According to diverse regional and socio-ecological conditions and due to longtime social interrelations with adjacent ethnic groups especially Kurds and Persian people, different dialects of Luri, despite mainly common characteristics, have significant differences. The northern dialect tends to have more Kurdish loanwords inside and southern dialects (Bakhtiari and Southern Luri) have been more exposed to Persian loanwords.
^ Black-Michaud, J. (1974). "An Ethnographic and Ecological Survey of Luristan, Western Persia: Modernization in a Nomadic Pastoral Society. Middle Eastern Studies, 10(2), 210–228". JSTOR4282526. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ Shoup, J.A.2011.Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia.ABC-CLIO, Incorporated. p.177
^ Erik John Anonby (2003). Update on Luri: How many languages?. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Third Series), 13, pp 171-197. doi:10.1017/S1356186303003067.
^ G. R. Fazel, ‘Lur’, in Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey, ed. R. V. Weekes (Westport, 1984),
pp. 446–447
B. Grimes (ed.), ‘Luri’, in Ethnologue (13th edition) (Dallas, 1996), p. 677; M. Ruhlen, A Guide to the World's Languages (Stanford, 1991), p. 327.
H. Izadpan¯ah, Farhang-e Laki : in Persian, (Tehran, 1978).
بومیان دره مهرگان) تألیف رحیمی عثمانوندی)
H. Izadpan¯ah, Farhang-e Lori (Tehran, 1964).
Limbert, John. The Origin and Appearance of The Kurds In Pre-Islamic Iran. JSTOR4309997. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
Erik John Anonby, "Update on Luri: How many languages?" // Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Third Series), volume 13, issue 02, Jul 2003, pp 171–197.
Don Stillo, "Isfahan-Provincial Dialects" in Encyclopædia Iranica. Excerpt: "While the modern SWI languages, for instance, Persian, Lori-Baḵtiāri and others, are derived directly from Old Persian through Middle Persian/Pahlavi".
Freidl, Erika. 2015. Warm Hearts and Sharp Tongues: Life in 555 Proverbs from the Zagros Mountains of Iran. Vienna: New Academic Press. ISBN978-3-7003-1925-2