Persian/Introduction
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Introduction
Contents |
[edit] The Persian Language
Persian (local names: Parsi, Farsi or Dari ) is an Indo-European language, the dominant language of the Indo-Iranian language family and is a major language of antiquity. After the 7th century Persian absorbed a great deal of Arabic vocabulary. Persian is the official language of Iran, Afghanistan (Farsi-e-Dari) and Tajikistan (Farsi-e-Tajiki) along with a sizable number of overseas Persian speakers in Western countries. Persian is also a popular language in academia and business. Related languages include Pashto , Kurdish, Ossetian and Balochi. Additionally both Urdu and Turkish have a sizable vocabulary from Persian.
[edit] Persian or Farsi?
Farsi is an Arabized form of the word Parsi, one of the original names in Persian for the Persian language. Since there is no "p" sound in Arabic, Parsi became Farsi after the Arab conquest of Persia. Farsi then became the name of Persian in that language, whilst Europeans still knew the language as "Persian". Therefore there is a strong body of opposition to using the name Parsi which is the name of Persian in Persian, just as we do not call German Deutsch or Chinese Hanyu in English. Furthermore, some fear this usage could result in a seperation between the well-respected Persian culture and heritage and its language in the Western world. Using the word Farsi as the English equivalent of the word Persian has been officially banned by the Academy of Persian language and literature, which is an international body responsible for preserving the beauty of Persian and supporting the development of the language.
[edit] Persian and English
Since Persian and English are both members of the Indo-European language family many basic words will already be familiar to the learner. For example "madar" (Mother), "pedar" (Father) and "baradar" (brother).
[edit] Pronunciation
Persian is an Indo-European language as is English and, although it is influenced by Arabic, English speakers should not find it too difficult to pronounce Persian letters fairly well. Thankfully the glottal 'ayn of Arabic is barely pronounced in Persian. The difficult Arabic letter dh is pronounced "z" in Persian.
It is important to listen to Persian as often as possible and to try to take every available opportunity to use the language. Pronunciation guides can only closely convey the sounds of Persian but are never totally exact, therefore good pronunciation needs to be learnt from listening to native speakers.
[edit] Vocabulary and Grammar
In learning to read or speak any language that you have minimal acquaintance with (that is, are not a native speaker of), the two aspects to be mastered are vocabulary and grammar. Acquiring vocabulary is a "simple" matter of memorization. For the language(s) we learn as children, this process is so transparent that we have trouble conceiving of the importance of having a large vocabulary. By the age of conscious recognition of our communicating with others through speech, we have already learned the meaning of thousands of words. Even words we have trouble defining, we readily understand the use of in conversation. This process can be "reactivated" as it were, by immersion in a second language: a method of learning a new language by moving to a place where that language is spoken and having to get around and live without use of one's native tongue.
Without the opportunity of residing in a Persian-speaking area, the student of the language must make a substantial effort to learn words, what they mean, how to pronounce them, and how they are used in sentences. Be sure to "learn" and commit to memory all of the vocabulary words in each lesson as they are presented. Early lessons have simple sentences because it is assumed that the student's vocabulary is limited. But throughout the text, more complex discourses (often as photo captions) are included to introduce the student to regular Persian in use. It may be helpful to translate these using a Persian-English dictionary (access to one is very helpful). Other sources of Persian, such as newspapers, magazines, web sites, etc. can also be useful in building vocabulary and developing a sense of how Persian is put together.
[edit] Transcription
This book uses transcription in the latin alphabet throughout. There is no one official system of transcription for Persian, so the learner may experience different forms of transcription.
[edit] Wider Sources
With the growth of the Internet there is now a wide variety of sources available to the learner which can aid you in your study. You can refer to the appendix of this book for a selection of some of the best sources:
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