Farsi (aka Persian) is the official language of Iran and is spoken by roughly 62 million native speakers. It can be divided into three eras: Old Persian (ca. 525 BC- 300 BC), Middle Persian (c. 300 BC- 800 AD), and Modern Persian (800 AD to present day). Farsi is closely related to Middle and Old Persian which were spoken in the region of Fars, hence why it’s called Farsi by native speakers.
Many words in Farsi are similar to Arabic due to old historical influences from centuries ago, as well as sharing a similar alphabet. Regardless, it is important to Persians that non-Farsi speakers be aware of the distinctions between the two languages. Farsi hasn’t changed in over a millennium, and the basic grammar for the classical and modern forms has remained relatively unchanged. Though basic grammar hasn’t changed much, there have been obvious additions and modifications made throughout time. Farsi has surprisingly gained many loanwords from multiple languages such as Arabic and French. Some loanword examples include:
“salam, tashakor, inshallah, manteau, lustre, maillot, merci, and ascenseur” to name a few!
Farsi is highly regarded as one of the most poetic languages, both to Farsi speakers and non-Farsi speakers, mainly because of its melodic quality. Many famous ancient poets which are Persian are Hafez and Rumi, and their work has transcended into the modern days. 13th-century Persian poet Sa’adi has his poem “Bani Adam” (translated as “Sons of Adam” or “Human Beings”) displayed at the UN building. And for Coldplay fans, “Bani Adam” was used as a title for one of their songs on Everyday Life! One of the reasons why we consider it to be poetic is because of its vowels. They’re similar to Italian and are considered ‘legato’. Words are easy to connect, creating a continuous effect while speaking. Consonants are similar to French in that they’re not harsh sounding, unlike languages such as Dutch. Do you ever think you can’t find the right word for something in English? That’s not the case with Farsi! The language has a wide variety of adjectives, making it perfect for poetry and other forms of writing. Persians can use multiple adjectives in a row to add emphasis on the subject. You’ll rarely hear an English speaker call something beautiful and pretty at the same time, but it’s quite common in Farsi. Being such a poetic language, the idioms can be very different from their true meanings. You could be insulting someone to the highest degree, and if you break down the words, you’ll realize the terms barely make sense, but at least you’d sound like you’re the next big poet! For example, if you feel angry about a situation, you may say “zahré mar”. The literal translation is “snake’s poison”, which inherently has negative connotations, but compared to languages like English, it is a very poetic insult! Other phrases/sayings that don’t make much sense are:
Jigaram/Nafasam/Rooham (my liver, my air, my soul): intense and heartfelt terms of endearment.
Ta’arof (no direct translation): a complicated social rule which Persians follow in order to appear polite and follow proper etiquette.
Khar too khar (donkey in donkey): a term used when you experience or witness something wild or ridiculous happening that is out of your control. It could be used in everyday life such as describing a busy supermarket, or when you want to complain about the way your local government is functioning.
Ba namak (to be salty): a term of endearment to call someone cute or entertaining.
So to all of the non-Farsi speakers out there: aside from the complicated phrases, it’s actually pretty easy to learn it – you just need to remember to read right to left!