Linguistics Society of Iran Language and Linguistics 23223847 10 19 2014 05 22 Impact of Outmigration and Intermarriage on the Endangerment of Azerbaijani Turkish Impact of Outmigration and Intermarriage on the Endangerment of Azerbaijani Turkish 37 54 1760 FA Naser Nouri Journal Article 2014 06 02 Endangerment of language resources and treasures is accepted worldwide as an undeniable fact. About 90 percent of the approximately 7000 languages and dialects are predicted to lose all of their speakers up to the end of the century. Indigenous languages of ethnic minorities in an unequal battle with the dominant languages are in danger and threat. Iran is a multiethnic country and Azerbaijani Turkish with a large number of speakers is one of the most important languages in the country. However, comprehensive sociological studies which scrutinize the situation and status of this language are scarce . The researches about other languages and dialects of Iran, including Baluchi, Mazandarani, Bakhtiari, and Gilaki show that most of them are at risk of decline. Despite having a large speaker population, Azerbaijani Turkish is as well expected to face a  similar situation, and Persian as  the dominant and most prestigious language of the country,  is expected to negatively affect the current position of the ethnic languages even more than before. To test such a hypothesis, 180 questionnaires were distributed among 180 male and female respondents  who were randomly selected from different regions of the three cities of Tabriz, Ahar and Marand to answer 44 questions to evaluate the influence of factors of out-migration (migration to Persian speaking areas) and intermarriage on the endangerment of Azerbaijani Turkish. Statistical analysis of the questionnaire data suggests that these factors have had very negative impact on this language and have largely interrupted intergenerational transmission of language in immigrant families, which is the most important factor for survival and endurance of a language. Endangerment of language resources and treasures is accepted worldwide as an undeniable fact. About 90 percent of the approximately 7000 languages and dialects are predicted to lose all of their speakers up to the end of the century. Indigenous languages of ethnic minorities in an unequal battle with the dominant languages are in danger and threat. Iran is a multiethnic country and Azerbaijani Turkish with a large number of speakers is one of the most important languages in the country. However, comprehensive sociological studies which scrutinize the situation and status of this language are scarce . The researches about other languages and dialects of Iran, including Baluchi, Mazandarani, Bakhtiari, and Gilaki show that most of them are at risk of decline. Despite having a large speaker population, Azerbaijani Turkish is as well expected to face a  similar situation, and Persian as  the dominant and most prestigious language of the country,  is expected to negatively affect the current position of the ethnic languages even more than before. To test such a hypothesis, 180 questionnaires were distributed among 180 male and female respondents  who were randomly selected from different regions of the three cities of Tabriz, Ahar and Marand to answer 44 questions to evaluate the influence of factors of out-migration (migration to Persian speaking areas) and intermarriage on the endangerment of Azerbaijani Turkish. Statistical analysis of the questionnaire data suggests that these factors have had very negative impact on this language and have largely interrupted intergenerational transmission of language in immigrant families, which is the most important factor for survival and endurance of a language. https://lsi-linguistics.ihcs.ac.ir/article_1760_1c2d5c5254d1de1d2c4557baaede3c8c.pdf