Qashqai (also spelled Ghashghai, Ghashghayi, Qašqāʾī, Qashqa'i, and Qashqayi) is a Turkic language spoken by the Qashqai people, an ethnic group living mainly in the Fars region of Iran. Estimates of the number of Qashqai speakers vary. Ethnologue gives a figure of 1.5 million. The Qashqai language is closely related to Azerbaijani, and some linguists consider it to be a dialect of that language.
Like the South Azerbaijani language in Iran, Qashqai uses the Persian modification of the Arabic script. The Qashqai also speak Persian, and use it as their literary language.
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“A language does not become fixed. The human intellect is always on the march, or, if you prefer, in movement, and languages with it.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)