Languages as a Shared Cultural Heritage: the Case of the Greater Iranian Peoples

Abstract

This article suggests adopting common approaches in introducing languages and peoples as one social group with shared ancestry, homeland, cultures, and languages. By examining this complex relationship among language, ethnicity, nationality, and how people define themselves culturally through a historical examination of the languages and peoples of the Greater Iran (Central and West Asia) as one social group with shared ancestry, homeland, cultures, and languages, the article further argues that a common approach will help to correct the mis-labeling of and mis-conceptions about these languages, and encourage greater understanding. The history and materials provided in the article are intended to help illustrate how a better recognition of the past while strengthening present relations among any cultural group, such as the Iranian peoples, can form a peaceful connection for the future.