Language Information

Azerbaijani is spoken both in both Azerbaijan (capital: Baku) and Iran, on the west bank of the Caspian Sea. In the former it is spoken by about 6 million people and is the offical language of the country. In Iran it is spoken by another 4 million people in the northwesternmost part of the country, an area also known as Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani is a Turkic language and thus part of the Altaic family. Traditionally it was written in the Arabic script but in 1924 the Soviet government introduced the Roman script, and in 1940 the Cyrillic. ***

Austria, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran.

Family: Altaic
Subgroup: Turkic
Branch: Southwestern(Oghuz)

Writing Sample

Translation

The crowd that had gathered in the square gazed at the stone fount.
Suddenly a great noise was heard and the water burst forth with a happy sound. The people, having dreamed of water for many a year, watched in anxious silence. Only the gay murmur of the stream could be heard. Like travelers in the desert coming upon water for the first time, the people watched with delight, but remained silent, as if afraid the water would suddenly disappear like a mirage. But what they were seeing was real. The poetess Natavan had laid a pipe into her native land of Shushu. Suddenly everyone cried out, their chests heaving with the oppressive thirst:
"Lone live Natavan!"
"Glory to Khan Gyzy!"

—AZIZA ]AFARZADE, Tales of Natavan