Tajik (Tajik: Забони тоҷикӣ, Zaboni tojikī, [z̪a̝ˈbɔ̝(ː)ni̞ t̞ʰɔ̝dʒiˈkʰiː]), also called Tajiki Persian (Tajik: форси́и тоҷикӣ́, forsii tojikī, [fɔ̝rˈs̪iji̞ t̞ʰɔ̝dʒiˈkʰiː]) or Tajiki, is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by Tajiks. It is closely related to neighbouring Dari with which it forms a continuum of mutually intelligible varieties of the Persian language. Several scholars consider Tajik as a dialectal variety of Persian rather than a language on its own. The popularity of this conception of Tajik as a variety of Persian was such that, during the period in which Tajik intellectuals were trying to establish Tajik as a language separate from Persian, prominent intellectual Sadriddin Ayni counterargued that Tajik was not a "bastardised dialect" of Persian. The