The
Iranian languages or
Iranic languages form a branch of the
Indo-Iranian languages, which in turn are a branch of the
Indo-European language family. The speakers of Iranian languages are known as
Iranian peoples. Historical Iranian languages are grouped in three stages: Old Iranian (until 400 BCE), Middle Iranian (400 BCE – 900 CE), and New Iranian (since 900 CE). Of the Old Iranian languages, the better understood and recorded ones are
Old Persian (a language of Achaemenid Iran) and
Avestan (the language of the
Avesta). Middle Iranian languages included
Middle Persian (a language of Sassanid Iran),
Parthian, and
Bactrian.