This paper introduces one Laki vernacular, spoken in a small village near Hamedān named Češin, surrounded by Persian- and Turkish-speaking communities. This community has two outstanding features: first, they are followers of the Ahl-e Haqq creed in a Shi’a-dominated region, and they have kept their native language, Laki. Laki and its varieties are among the lesser-studied languages spoken in western Iran. Moreover, their relationship to the Kurdish language group is controversial: some consider it a language of its own, others classify it within the Kurdish language group, and others consider it a transitional variety between Kurdish and Luri. This study is based on natural data gathered through fieldwork. I have described some of the morphological features of nominals in this variety: definiteness, plurality, Ezafe construction, demonstrative =a, and personal clitics. These forms are compared with two other Laki dialects, Laki Kakavandi and Laki Harsini, and Southern Kurdish dialects. Lastly, it is shown that the alignment pattern of this variety is accusative, similar to Southern Kurdish dialects. However, some of the examples suggest the presence of remnants of a tense-sensitive alignment system, particularly in the third person.
