Hantza/Dialects

Hantza is spoken in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Four main dialectal divisions are usually made. As of yet, there is no standard form of the language.

Karakum

The Karakum dialect is the largest and most conservative dialect of Hantza. It is spoken in central and western Turkmenistan.

Balkan

The Balkan dialect is also spoken in western Turkmenistan but has considerably fewer speakers than the Karakum dialect. It is notable for its integration of loan words and smaller mode (tense-aspect-mood) system.

Qarshi

Predominant in Uzbekistan, the Qarshi dialect of Hantza is spoken by nearly 50,000 people.

Afghan

The so-called Afghan dialect of Hantza is a collection of five smaller sub-dialects, each one having between 5,000 and 7,000 speakers.

These are the least studied dialects.

Other

There is a second, small dialect found in Uzbekistan which has only 2,000 or so speakers.