Middle Persian

Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīg or, in an earlier form, Pārsīk (Inscriptional Pahlavi script: 𐭯𐭠𐭫𐭮𐭩𐭪, Manichaean script: 𐫛𐫀𐫡𐫘𐫏𐫐‎, Avestan script: 𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬯𐬍𐬐), is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Persian continued to function as a prestige language. It descended from Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenid Empire and is the linguistic ancestor of New Persian, the official language of Iran (also known as Persia), Afghanistan (Dari) and Tajikistan (Tajik).

Name

Ērānīg is a term used to describe Middle Persian during the Sassanid period (224–651 CE). The word, derived from the root Ērān ("Iran, Iranians"), means "belonging to Iran, the Iranian language". This expression, particularly in official inscriptions, indicates that the Sassanids defined themselves as ethnically and culturally "Iranian".

The term appears most clearly in the Ka'ba-i Zartušt inscription of the high priest Kartir. Here, Kartir uses the phrase "ērānīg ud anērānīg" ("the language of the Iranians and the non-Iranians"). Furthermore, the multilingual inscription of Shapur I reveals that Middle Persian was the primary state language of the empire and, together with the concept of Ērānšahr ("Land of Iran"), formed a political identity.

The term Ērānīg: It is one of the most important epigraphic evidences showing the conscious redefinition of Iranian identity during the Sassanid period, reflecting the connection between language, identity and state ideology.