Nayini

The Nayinis are the native people of Nain (Na'in), an ancient desert town on the western edge of the Dasht-e Kavir, about 150 km east of Isfahan, and of nearby villages such as Mohammadiyeh, Bafran and Benvid, the oasis town of Anarak 50 miles to the northeast, and the Tudeshk-Mashkenan area to the southwest. Their dialect, Nayini, belongs to the southeastern branch of the Central Plateau ('Median') dialects of Northwestern Iranian. It is closely related to Anaraki and to the Dari of the Zoroastrians of Yazd and Kerman, and Glottolog places it in a Yazdi-Kermani-Nayini subgroup. Oskar Mann collected Nayini texts extensively in 1901-07, and the dialect has a modern published grammar (2024). Estimates of speakers vary widely, from about 7,000 to 24,000 (2022). By the early 1970s the dialect in Nain town was used mainly by older and poorer residents, though community media still call it the town's language and claim it for 'all Nayini speakers of the world'.

Nain is a mud-brick desert town of qanats, wind-catchers and covered lanes. Its fortifications were already famous in the Middle Ages, and the Sasanian-era Narin Qal'eh citadel still towers over the old town. The 10th-century Buyid Jameh mosque, with its carved stucco mihrab and minbar, is one of the oldest mosques in Iran. Nain's name is known worldwide through its fine wool-and-silk Nain carpets, and its old bazaar is still in use. People are proud of their dialect: a local radio-style program, 'Moj-e Nain', is made 'for all Nayini speakers of the world', there are songs and poetry readings in Nayini (including poetry nights in Anarak), and Instagram users joke that when two Nayinis talk, outsiders cannot tell whether they are quarrelling or reciting poetry. Anarak, an old mining and caravan town at the desert edge with a ruined castle, has its own closely related dialect.

Nayinis are Twelver Shia Muslims. Religious life centres on the ancient Jameh mosque, local Imamzadehs, Muharram mourning ceremonies and Ramadan. Their dialect's close kinship with Zoroastrian Dari reflects the region's pre-Islamic past, when the edges of the Kavir between Nain and Yazd were Zoroastrian heartland, but no Zoroastrian community lives in Nain today. No information was found on folk practices or religious minorities specific to Nayini speakers.

There is no Scripture or Jesus Film in Nayini. Global Recordings Network has Nayini recordings (MP3 and MP4 slideshow downloads), with separate variety pages for Anarak and Khuri, and the Katartizo channel has published a 40-minute recording in the Nayini, Anarak, Khur and Mehrjan speech. Nayinis use Persian for all written purposes and can access Persian Scripture and media. No outreach is known.