Learn about the varieties of Persian
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| Michael: How many varieties of Persian are there? |
| Negar: And are they universally intelligible? |
| Michael: At PersianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Let's imagine the following situation. Gabriel Garcia accidentally overheard two people speaking and is a bit confused. He asks his college friend, Sousan Soheyli, |
| "Was it Iranian Persian?" |
| Gabriel Garcia: این فارسی ایرانی بود؟ (in faarsi-ye iraani bood?) |
| Dialogue |
| Gabriel Garcia: این فارسی ایرانی بود؟ (in faarsi-ye iraani bood?) |
| Sousan Soheyli: نه، این فارسی دری بود. (na, in faarsi-ye dari bood.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Gabriel Garcia: این فارسی ایرانی بود؟ (in faarsi-ye iraani bood?) |
| Michael: "Was it Iranian Persian?" |
| Sousan Soheyli: نه، این فارسی دری بود. (na, in faarsi-ye dari bood.) |
| Michael: "No, it was Dari Persian." |
Lesson focus |
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| Michael: In the conversation, we hear Gabriel Garcia say, |
| Negar: این فارسی ایرانی بود؟ (in faarsi-ye iraani bood?) |
| Michael: which means, "Was it Iranian Persian?" The response is |
| Negar: نه، این فارسی دری بود. (na, in faarsi-ye dari bood.) |
| Michael: which means, "No, it was Dari Persian." |
| Michael: As we learn in the dialogue, there are several varieties of Persian. Generally speaking, there are three main, mutually intelligible, standard varieties of Persian. One of these varieties is called Dari Persian or |
| Negar: فارسی دری (faarsi-ye dari) |
| Michael: It is spoken in Afghanistan. Sometimes, it's also simply referred to as Afghan Persian, so it was very widely promoted by the Afghan government beginning in 1964. The main difference between Dari Persian |
| Negar: فارسی دری (faarsi-ye dari) |
| Michael: and standard Iranian Persian, the major variation of the Persian language with the most speakers around the world, comes down to phonology and some differences in vowel sounds. For example, the number "one" in Iranian Persian is pronounced as |
| Negar: یِک (yek) |
| Michael: and in Dari it is |
| Nagar: یَک (yak) |
| Michael: The word "all" in Iranian Persian is |
| Negar: همه (hame) |
| Michael: and the Dari pronunciation for this word is |
| Negar: همه (hama) |
| Michael: For the word "accident," we have |
| Negar: سانحه (saanehe) |
| Michael: in the Iranian Persian and this word is pronounced |
| Negar: سانحه (saaneha) |
| Michael: in Dari Persian. |
| Michael: The third variation is known as Tajiki Persian |
| Negar: فارسی تاجیکی (faarsi-ye taajiki), |
| Michael: which is spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In many ways, it's very similar to Dari Persian. However, since Tajikistan was a part of the Soviet Union, Tajiki borrowed many Russian words, and, since the 1930s, they have used the Cyrillic script, |
| Negar: خط سیریلیک (khatt-e sirilik) |
| Michael: Political preferences, other local languages, geological proximities, and the standardization process in Iran, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan trigger some differences in the vocabulary of these variations. For example, for the word "passport," we have: |
| Negar: فرودگاه (foroodgaah) |
| Michael: in Iranian Persian and Tajiki, and this word in Dari is |
| Negar: میدان هوایی (meydaan-e havaa-yi) |
| Michael: In Iranian Persian, "Passport" is |
| Negar: گذرنامه (gozarnaame) or پاسپورت (paasport) |
| Michael: But "passport" in Tajiki is |
| Negar: شیناسنامه (shinaasnaama). The same word with a bit of a different pronunciation شناسنامه (shenaasnaame) is equivalent to "birth certificate" in Iran. |
| Expansion/Contrast |
| Michael: Considering the difference between Iranian, Dari, and Tajiki Persian, are they universally intelligible? |
| Negar: There are quite a few differences, but, in general, I can say that the natives of these three can communicate and understand each other very well. They can watch the news and enjoy Persian songs and movies together. |
| Michael: Interesting! Since Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan have taken a very different path in recent centuries, how could their language remain this close to each other? |
| Negar: Rich Persian literature has an important role here. We have many great Persian poets. All Persian speakers love Ferdowsi and his fabulous book شاهنامه (shaahnaame). Sa'di is a beloved poet in all of these countries, and the poems of Hafez are an indivisible part of every Persian speaker's life. Several more masterpieces exist in Persian literature, and many believe this keeps the Persian language varieties together. |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion |
| Michael: In 1964, the Afghanistan government deleted the "Persian" from the name of the "Dari Persian" language to promote national identity; Tajikistan did the same to "Persian Tajiki" in 1999. |
| Negar After that, the official Persian language in Afghanistan is called دری (dari), and تاجیکی (tajiki) refers to the Persian language spoken in Tajikistan. |
| Michael: What about Iranian Persian? |
| Negar: Nowadays, Persian or Farsi just refer to the official language of Iran. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Negar: خداحافظ (khodaahaafez) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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