The Yagnob Valley (or Yaghnob Valley) located in north-western Tajikistan is one of those rare places that trekking adventurers usually only dream of. Lovingly dubbed ‘Paradise on Earth’ by the local people, the Yagnobi Valley is remote and uncrowded and offers authentic villages where a fascinating language, culture, and people can be discovered only by those in the know.
The Yagnob Valley has been home to the Yagnobi tribe, an ethnic minority in Tajikistan, for thousands of years. They are believed to be some of the only surviving people to speak the Yagnobi language – one that is believed to be a direct spin off from the ancient Sogdian language that was used for trading communication along the Great Silk Road. Like the Pamir language, the Yagnobi language is an Eastern Iranian language. It is often referred to as the Neo-Sogdian language in academic literature and is a language that continues to fascinate linguists even today.
The Yagnobi language has two main dialects – with the phonetical sounding of some Sogdian words differing when you travel from the east to the west. Most people who speak Yagnobi are bilingual. They also speak West Iranian Tajik, or Tajiki, the official language of Tajikistan. The Yagnobi language itself is spoken mostly at home amongst the family, while Tajik is used to discuss formal matters, such as business matters, or for communicating with non-Yagnobi speakers.
Interestingly, the Yagnobi language was initially scriptless. It was used as a spoken language and it was only in the early 1990s that it was first written down by ethnographers using the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, rather than the Sogdian alphabet.
There are only about 12,500 people left who speak the Yaghnobi language in Tajikistan these days. The majority of these people once lived in the Yagnob Valley but were forcibly relocated by the Soviets to Zafarobod in the Sughd province to pick cotton. Today, the vast majority can still be found in the Zafarobod area but some have returned or still remain in the Yagnob Valley.
Yagnobi is listed as endangered in the UNESCO Red Book of endangered languages and due to its dwindling usage and the isolated location of the valley, it is in threat of becoming a dying language. Therefore, meeting these people and experiencing their way of life in a typical Yagnobi village is something truly special.
Are you interested in learning more about this interesting ancient language? Discover the Yagnobi people and listen to them speaking the Yagnobi language for yourself when you book a trekking adventure in the Yagnob Valley with Paramount Journeys. Take a look at our website for more information on the types of tours and itineraries available.
