Home to a melting pot of cultures, ethnicities and religions, there is an assortment of languages spoken in Tajikistan. While the official language of Tajikistan is Tajik, Russian, English and the Pamiri and Yaghnobi languages are also spoken here.
What is interesting about the people of Tajikistan is that the large majority of the population is impressively multi-lingual. They speak a mixture of languages for different purposes – one may be spoken informally at home while another may be used for formal or business matters.
Tajiki is the main language, followed by Russian which is fast being outdone by English. In addition to these top three Tajik languages, minority languages spoken in Tajikistan include Uzbek, Pamiri, Yaghnobi, and Kyrgyz.
Uzbek language is popular as it is the official language of Uzbekistan, where more than 20% of Tajikistan’s population comes from. This Turkic language is spoken in certain parts of Tajikistan. The Kyrgyz language (the official language of Kyrgyzstan) is also spoken by the Kyrgyz nomads of Tajikistan.
With a real mixture of languages, Tajikistan is a fascinating discovery for those interested in different cultures and languages.
The Tajik language – the official language of Tajikistan
The Tajiki, Tadzhik or Tajik language is a Persian language known as Farsi-Dari, a language predominantly spoken in the north of Afghanistan. Tajik is spoken by millions of people in Tajikistan and throughout Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
The Tajik language relates to the middle Farsi or Iranian language, a form of Tajik language that was invented by and during the Soviet Union. The population of Tajikistan can easily understand the poems of famous Persian poets, Rudaki, Hofiz, and Khayon unlike Iranians whose vocabulary has been significantly influenced by Arabic.
The only difference between the Farsi-Dari language and Tajik is the script that is used in modern times. Tajik is written in Cyrillic letters while Farsi is written in the Persian in Iran and Afghanistan.
The Pamiri language – a collection of old Eastern Iranian languages
The people who live in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, also known as the Pamiri in Tajikistan, Pamirians, or Badakhshoni, are a minority group made up of various smaller ethnic groups.
The Pamir people speak a mixture of Eastern Iranian languages known collectively as Pamiri and live in a semi-independent area known as the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of eastern Tajikistan. In the 19th and early 20th-centuries, Pamiri was often referred to as the Ghalchah languages of Tajikistan.
These Pamir languages are similar to modern Tajik, Persian, Iranian, and the Pashto or Dari languages. However, they are not similar enough so as to be mutually intelligible. A speaker of one language may not be able to understand another. So, in order to be understood in matters of business or for formal reasons, many Pamiris use the Persian and Dari languages in Tajikistan.
The Yaghnobi language – the language of the Great Silk Road
The Yagnobi language, also known as the Yaghnobi language, is a fascinating language spoken by the mountain-dwelling people of the Yagnob Valley in north-western Tajikistan. Like the Pamiri language, the Yagnobi language is also an Old Eastern Iranian language. Often referred to as a Neo-Sogdian language in academic literature, it is studied by linguists all over the world.
This Yagnobi tribe are thought to be the last remaining speakers of the Yagnobi language, a spin-off of the ancient Sogdian language once used for trading along the Great Silk Road. Most people who speak the Yagnobi language in Tajikistan are bilingual. They use Yagnobi at home and West Iranian Tajik for formal occasions such as business matters. What is interesting about Yaghnobi is that it started off as an unwritten language. It was only written down by ethnographers using Latin and Cyrillic alphabets in the early 1990s.
While most of the Yagnobi-speaking people of Tajikistan were forcibly relocated during the Soviet Era to work on the cotton plantations, many returned to the Yagnob Valley after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Today, there are only about 12,500 people in the Tajikistan population left who speak Yaghnobi in Tajikistan and it is at risk of becoming a dying language.
Russian language – a legacy of the Soviet Era
When it was part of the Soviet Union, Russian was one of the main languages spoken in Tajikistan. In fact, for many Tajiks, Russian was the only language spoken. Children were sent to Russian schools and universities as the opportunities for jobs were better if they were able to speak Russian fluently.
As time passed, it became trendy to speak a combination of Russian and Tajik, a common thread seen amongst young Tajiki women. These days, English has been introduced and the use of these three Tajikistan languages has become the norm for younger generations. For example, when two young people say hello, one will say ‘privet’ in the Russian language while the other replies ‘hello’ in English.
Today, Russian is used across Tajikistan for both formal and informal communication, particularly for business matters or for political or diplomatic reasons. While Russian is not recognized by the Constitution of Tajikistan as an official language, it is still widely spoken.
Is English spoken in Tajikistan?
As modern-day Tajikistan is stepping further away from its Soviet past, English is becoming a much more widespread language in Tajikistan, particularly among the youth. In fact, many people are multilingual and will switch from a Tajikistan language to English often without even thinking about it. As Tajiks are exposed to the western world through the internet and television, they are exposed to the English language more than they ever were before.
English schools are fast replacing the Tajikistan Russian language schools in modern-day Tajikistan. These schools provide Tajik locals with better paid opportunities for education and careers as they are able to work at international or foreign companies if they can speak fluent English. They will often be paid better than those who cannot speak English.
If you are visiting this Central Asian country, then rest assured that you can usually get by speaking English in Tajikistan. If you speak a bit of Russian, that will help too. But even if you are not, you can book a tour with Paramount Journey and you will get the services of an expert guide who is fluent in all of Tajikistan’s languages and who can help you communicate effectively throughout your Tajikistan tour.
