Introduction

Indo-Iranian, subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages, spoken by more than a billion people, chiefly in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (see The Indo-European Family of Languages, table). The Indo-Iranian subfamily consists of three groups of languages: the Dardic (or Pisacha), the Indic (or Indo-Aryan), and the Iranian. Some scholars, however, include the Dardic tongues under the Indic classification. (The term Iran has a wider meaning)