MultiTree:

Name: Avestan Type: Language Alternate Names: Pazend; Avesta; Zend Spoken in: Iran Code: ave Code Standard: ISO 639-3 Documentation: SIL Families: Indo-European (Indo-Germanische, Indo-Hittite) Parent Subgroup: Northeast Iranian; Northeast Eastern Iranian; Northern Eastern Iranian; Saka-Scythian; Scythian; Northeastern Eastern Iranian (neir) Brief Description: Avestan is the language used in the Avesta, which together make up the sacred texts of the Zoroastrian religion. It is believed to be the dialect which was originally spoken in an area of central Asia which extends south of the Aral sea to the modern border of eastern Iran. Two varieties of Avestan exist: Old or Gathic Avestan, found in the five songs or "gāθās" traditionally ascribed to Zoroaster himself, and Younger Avestan, in which the rest of the texts are written. Old Avestan is a very archaic Iranian language, and probably dates from around 1200 BC, which Younger Avestan probably dates from some 3-400 years later. 1200 - 800 BC.

Endangerment Status

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Linguist List Status: Extinct but still in Use Ethnologue Status: Extinct Sutherland's Red List: Not listed