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Judeo-Kashani belongs to the Central Plateau Iranic language group spoken around Kashan, having outlived the rapid process of Persianization. Judeo-Kashani shows striking similarities to the dialects of Jewish communities in other cities, such as Hamadan and Isfahan, where the non-Jewish population today is Persian-speaking. There are few if any native Jews left in Kashan. Mass emigration to Tehran began in the mid-20th century, with most leaving having left for Israel or North America after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. California, sometimes called “Kāšifornia” by the community, especially Los Angeles, has been a primary destination.

Affiliation

The Judeo-Median languages, including Judeo-Kashani, are classified by linguists as being among the Central Plateau Dialects of Iran, belonging to what is sometimes called the South Median group of the Northwestern Iranian languages. These varieties are distinct from standard Persian to the extent that there is little mutual intelligibility and almost all speakers of Judeo-Median languages today have shifted in their daily lives to today’s standard Persian or the other national languages of where they currently live. Further research, if possible, will be needed to illuminate the connections among the different Judeo-Median dialects themselves and with the other varieties of the Central Plateau Dialect region.

Endangerment

Judeo-Median languages, including Judeo-Kashani, appear to be largely moribund, and the extent to which there are still living native speakers and semi-speakers remains unclear. Already by 1970, according to researcher Habib Borjian, most Jews had left their traditional communities for Tehran and later overseas. Today, most Jews from the region now live in Israel and the United States, with only a fraction left in Tehran and major urban centers such as Isfahan and Shiraz. Many Persian Jews speak modern Persian, with language shift away from Judeo-Median varieties having already begun two or three generations ago with urbanization.