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Persian, also known as Farsi, is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan

Historically, the areas where the language is spoken range from the Middle East to India, but today, Persian is understood in parts of Armenia, Azerbaijan, India, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey

There are large groups of Persians who migrated to the USA and Europe, and Los Angeles is often referred to as 鈥楾ehrangeles鈥�

It's very common to use the word 听 賲乇爻蹖 [Mersi] in Persian to say Thank you, as in the French 鈥榤erci鈥�

In fact, there has been a long historical relationship between Iran and France, and you鈥檒l find hundreds of French words in everyday Persian vocabulary. For many years, French was the second language in Iran and words relating to science and technology are commonly used. For example:
听 乇丕丿蹖賵 摆谤芒诲颈辞闭, radio
听 卮賵賮乇 [shoufer], chauffeur
听 卮賵賮丕跇 [shauffage], heating
听 丿賵卮 [doush], shower
听 丕鬲賵賲亘蹖賱 [otomobile], automobile
听 丕鬲賵亘賵爻 [otobus], bus

Due to historical links with Britain, many Persian words have been borrowed and crop up in the English language, such as:
听倬爻鬲赖 [pesteh], pistachio
听爻賵倬 [soup], soup
听丕爻賮賳丕噩 [s-fenaj], spinach
听賯賳丿蹖 [ghandy], candy
听賱蹖賲賵 [lim-ou] , lemon
听夭毓賮乇丕賳 摆锄补蹿补谤芒苍闭, saffron
听亘丕夭丕乇 摆产芒锄芒谤闭, bazaar

Persian is a relatively simple language to grasp grammatically. Nouns have no gender and there are no articles

Persian is a very poetic, soft and song-like language and has been described as one of the most beautiful languages of the world. The stress is generally placed on the last syllable of a word

One of the characteristics of the language means that it鈥檚 often hard to distinguish whom a person is referring to, as the same word is used to describe both 鈥榟e鈥� and 鈥榮he鈥�!

Questioning is fairly simple and is formed by a rise in intonation of the voice at the end of a sentence. The word order doesn't change. For example:
听賲蹖丕蹖賳 摆尘颈芒颈苍闭, You are coming 鈥� 听賲蹖丕蹖賳责 摆尘颈芒颈苍?闭, Are you coming?
听丕賵賳丕 丕賵賲丿賳 [oun芒 oumadan], They have come - 听丕賵賳丕 丕賵賲丿賳責 [oun芒 oumadan?], Have they come?

English speakers often have difficulties in pronouncing some sounds in Persian, and words can easily be mispronounced or misinterpreted
KH as in 鈥榣och鈥� is often mispronounced K, which can lead to saying 听讴乇 摆办芒谤闭, deaf instead of 听禺乇 [khar], donkey.
GH is a guttural sound, so be careful not to say 听诏賳丿 [gand], bad smell instead of 听賯賳丿 [ghand], sugar

There are many words which may be difficult for English speakers to pronounce. Here are a few examples:
听爻倬丕爻诏夭丕乇蹖 摆蝉别辫芒蝉驳辞锄芒谤测闭, to be appreciative
听丿賵趩乇禺赖 摆诲辞肠丑补谤办丑茅闭, bicycle
听讴鬲乇蹖 [ketrey], kettle

Here鈥檚 a tongue twister:

卮亘 卮亘蹖 丿蹖卮亘 卮亘蹖 丿乇 卮賴乇 賲丕 丕卮賵亘 卮丿

[Shab shabey deshab shabey dar shahr e m芒 芒shoob shood]
One night in our town there was a riot

Persians generally have a good sense of humour and love sharing jokes amongst friends and family. Jokes are sometimes directed at cultural and ethnic differences, as well as members of the family

There are many great Persian satirists, Ubayd Zak芒ni being one of the most celebrated. Born in 1370, here鈥檚 one of his famous jokes

倬丿乇 賵 倬爻乇蹖 丿乇乇丕賴 丿蹖丿賳丿 讴賴 鬲丕亘賵鬲蹖 乇丕 賲蹖亘乇賳丿.
倬爻乇 倬乇爻蹖丿: " 讴噩丕 賲蹖亘乇賳丿責 "
倬丿乇诏賮鬲: " 亘賴 噩丕蹖蹖 讴賴 賳賴 睾匕丕 賴爻鬲貙 賳賴 丕亘 賵 賳賴 乇賵卮賳丕蹖蹖!"
倬爻乇诏賮鬲: " 倬爻 亘賴 禺丕賳賴 賲丕 賲蹖亘乇賳丿!! "

[Pedar va pesarey dar r芒h t芒botey r芒 dedand ke bordeh meyshod.
Pesar porsid, 鈥渒hoj芒 meybarand?鈥�
Pedar goft, 鈥渂e j芒yee ke na qaz芒 hast, na 芒b va na roshan芒yee.鈥�
Pesar goft, 鈥減as be kh芒neye m芒 meybarand!!鈥漖

A father and son are watching a funeral procession.
The boy asks: 鈥淲here is the coffin going?鈥�
The father replies: 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to a place with no food, water or light!鈥�
鈥淪o they must be going to our house then!!鈥� the boy replied.

Persian is part of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Therefore, learning some Persian will certainly assist with Arabic, Kurdish, Urdu and Hindi

Similarities across the languages as a percentage are 90% of the facts, 40% of the words and 30% of the grammar

When you鈥檙e invited to someone鈥檚 house, it鈥檚 advisable not to comment on the beauty of your host鈥檚 wife or give her a kiss 鈥榟ello鈥� as it would be deemed as disrespectful and most inappropriate to do so. This rule of etiquette applies to all countries in the Middle East

In terms of body language, you shouldn鈥檛 turn your back on anyone but if you do, you must always say, 听亘亘禺卮蹖丿 [bebakhsheed], excuse me.
It can also be seen as inappropriate to stretch your legs out in front of you or sit in an 鈥榠nformal鈥� manner

Some words in Persian have a double meaning, so be careful about what you really want to say as only the context will define the right translation:
听卮蹖乇 [shir] can mean tap, milk or lion
听爻蹖乇 [sir] can mean garlic or full (ie: not hungry)
听賲丕赖 摆尘芒丑闭 can mean moon or calendar month

Poetry plays a very important role for Persians and famous quotes and verses from their great poets are recited in everyday life. For example, if you鈥檙e disputing a business deal, arguing with a family member or even trying to set an example for youngsters, often the power of poetry can diffuse or completely resolve the situation!

Some of the great Poets are:

厂补鈥檇颈 (1184 鈥� 1283)
President Obama quoted one of this medieval poet鈥檚 poems on 20th March 2009 in a videotaped message greeting the people of Iran and marking the Persian New year and the spring equinox. The poem is inscribed in the Halls of the United Nations:
听

亘賳蹖 丌丿賲 丕毓囟丕蹖 蹖讴 倬蹖讴乇賳丿
讴賴 丿乇 丌賮乇賷賳卮 夭 蹖讴 诏賵賴乇賳丿
趩賵毓囟賵賶 亘賴 丿乇丿 丌賵乇丿 乇賵夭诏丕乇
丿诏乇毓囟賵賴丕 乇丕 賳賲丕賳丿 賯乇丕乇
鬲賵 讴夭 賲丨賳鬲 丿蹖诏乇丕賳 亘蹖 睾賲蹖
賳卮丕蹖丿 讴賴 賳丕賲鬲 賳賴賳丿 丌丿賲蹖

[Bani 芒dam aazay茅 yek paykarand
Keh dar 芒farinesh ze yek goharand
Cho ozvi be dard 芒varad roozeg芒r
Degar ozvh芒r芒 nam芒nad ghar芒r
To kaz mehnat茅 deg芒ran begham茅
N芒sh芒yad ke n芒mat Nahand 芒dam茅]

Human beings are members of a whole,
in creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain.

Rumi (1207 - 1273)
The work of this 13th century poet was famously translated by Coleman Barks:
听

丕賳丿蹖卮賴 賲讴賳 亘讴賳 鬲賵 禺賵丿 乇丕 丿乇 禺賵丕亘
讴丕賳丿蹖卮賴 夭賴 乇賵蹖 賲賴 丨噩丕亘爻鬲 丨噩丕亘
丿賱 趩賵賳 賲丕 賴爻鬲 丿乇 丿賱 丕賳丿蹖卮賴 賲丿丕乇
丕賳丿丕夭 鬲賵 丕賳丿蹖卮賴 诏乇蹖 乇丕 丿乇 丕亘

[And卯sheh makon, bekon to khod r芒 dar kh芒b,
Ke-and卯sheh ze roy-猫 M芒h hej芒b ast hej芒b.
Del chon M芒h ast, dar del and卯sheh mad芒r,
And芒z to and卯sheh-ghary r芒 dar 脗b]

Don't even think, just let yourself dream.
Thoughts are veils that hide the moon's bright face.
The heart's a moon, where thinking has no place.
Toss these thoughts away into the stream.

One of the oldest texts, discovered in 6th century BC, is the clay Cyrus cylinder inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform script, which is the earliest known writing system in the world. Persian writing has evolved over the years and this would be classed as 鈥極ld Persian鈥�

The text refers to the Great King Cyrus of Persia, his genealogy, his great conquest of Babylon in 539BC and capture of Nabodinus, the last Babylonian king. The cylinder is currently on display at the British museum

The first handwritten book dates back to 1055. It was a medical book by Asadi Tusi, an eminent poet and linguist

Similar to other European languages like French, there are different ways of saying 鈥榶ou鈥�:
听鬲賵 [to], for people you can be on first-name terms with, and 听卮賲丕 摆蝉丑辞尘芒闭 in other cases. The plural in both cases is 听卮賲丕 摆蝉丑辞尘芒闭.

Greetings are very important and are usually accompanied by a handshake. Friends and relatives sometimes give a kiss on the cheek
Only close friends and children are addressed by their first name
听丌賯丕 摆脗驳丑芒闭, Mr or 听禺丕賳賲 摆碍丑芒苍辞尘闭, Miss is otherwise used
When saying the name and title, they are joined together by an e:
听禺丕賳賲 丌睾丕爻蹖 [Kh芒nom e 脗g芒ssi], Miss Agassi

Guests are made very welcome in the home and are lavished with hospitality. As a guest, you鈥檒l find you鈥檙e always offered the best seat, in fact, the best of everything to make you feel more than welcome

Etiquette and formalities referred to as 听鬲毓丕乇賮 摆迟芒谤辞辞蹿闭, a form of courtesy, are a must amongst Persians. Patience is definitely a virtue here, e.g. when a group of people enter a house, it takes quite a while as each person ushers the others in first and vice versa!
Or in a shop or taxi, when you ask how much they should pay, the usual answer is: 听賯丕亘賱蹖 賳丿丕乇賴 [gh芒beli nad芒re], It鈥檚 not worth anything for you and you would reply 听禺賵丕賴卮 賲蹖 讴賳賲 [kh芒esh mikonam], If you please, and this can be repeated many times until a payment is taken!

Other common phrases are:
听亘賮乇賲丕蹖蹖丿 摆产别蹿补谤尘芒测别诲闭, which has different meanings, for example, if you please, welcome to our house, after you, please sit down, eat, etc.
听丿爻鬲鬲丕賳 丿乇丿 賳讴賳賴 [dastet芒n dard nakone], I hope your hands don鈥檛 hurt, Thank you or Well done
听趩卮賲鬲丕賳 乇賵卮賳 [cheshmet芒n roshan], May there be light in your eyes, is mainly used when there is a new baby in the family or a relative arrives to stay as a guest