View source for Persian language

{{Infobox language
| name             = Persian
| altname          = Farsi
| nativename       = {{lang|fa|فارسی}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA-fa|fɒːɾˈsiː|}}
| image            = Farsi.svg
| imagesize        = 100px
| imagecaption     = ''Farsi'' in Persian script ([[Nastaʿlīq]] style)
| states           = [[Iran]]<ref name=Samadi>{{cite book |last=Samadi |first=Habibeh |title= Assessing Grammar: The Languages of Lars |year=2012 |publisher= Multilingual Matters |isbn=978-1-84769-637-3 |author2=Nick Perkins |editor= Martin Ball, David Crystal, Paul Fletcher |page=169}}</ref><br>
[[Afghanistan]]<ref name=Samadi /><small>(as [[Dari (Eastern Persian)|Dari]])</small><br>
[[Tajikistan]]<ref name=Samadi /><small>(as [[Tajik language|Tajik]])</small><br>
[[Uzbekistan]]<br>
[[Iraq]]<br>
[[Pakistan]]<ref name=Samadi /><br>
[[Bahrain]]<br>
[[Azerbaijan]]<ref name=Windfuhr/>
| region           = 
| speakers         = 60 million
| date             = 2009
| ref              = <ref name=Windfuhr>Windfuhr, Gernot. ''The Iranian Languages''. Routledge. 2009. p. 418.</ref>
| speakers2        = (110 million total speakers)<ref name=Windfuhr/>
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3             = [[Iranian languages|Iranian]]
| fam4             = Western Iranian
| fam5             = Southwestern Iranian
| ancestor         = [[Old Persian]]
| ancestor2        = [[Middle Persian]]
| dia1             = Western Persian
| dia2             = Eastern Persian
| dia3             = [[Tajik language|Central Asian Persian]]
| dia4             = Bukharic
| dia5             = Pahlavani
| dia6             = [[Hazaragi dialect|Hazaragi]]
| dia7             = [[Aimaq dialect|Aimaq]]
| dia8             = Judæo-Persian
| dia9             = Dehwari
| dia10            = Juhuri<ref name=Windfuhr/>
| dia11            = [[Tat language (Caucasus)|Caucasian Tat]]<ref name=Windfuhr/>
| dia12            = Armeno-Tat<ref name=Windfuhr/>
| script           = [[Persian alphabet]]<br>[[Cyrillic]]<br>[[Hebrew script]]<br>Persian Braille
| nation           = {{IRN}}<br>{{AFG}}<br>{{TJK}}
| agency           = Academy of Persian Language and Literature (Iran)
| iso1             = fa
| iso2b            = per
| iso2t            = fas
| iso3             = fas
| lingua           = 58-AAC (Wider Persian) > 58-AAC-c (Central Persian)
| lc1              = pes
| ld1              = Western Persian
| lc2              = prs
| ld2              = [[Dari (Persian)|Eastern Persian]]
| lc3              = tgk
| ld3              = [[Tajik language|Tajiki]]<!--This and the following codes aren't part of the macrolanguage per SIL-->
| lc4              = aiq
| ld4              = Aimaq
| lc5              = bhh
| ld5              = Bukharic
| lc7              = haz
| ld7              = Hazaragi
| lc8              = jpr
| ld8              = Dzhidi
| lc9              = phv
| ld9              = Pahlavani
| lc10             = deh
| ld10             = Dehwari
| lc11             = jdt
| ld11             = Juhuri
| lc12             = ttt
| ld12             = Caucasian Tat
| map              = Persian Language Location Map.svg
| mapcaption       = Approximate extent of the Persian language area. Map includes all three dialects of Persian.
| notice           = IPA
| minority         = <br>{{flag|Iraq}}<br>{{flag|Uzbekistan}}<br>{{flag|Pakistan}}<br>{{flag|Azerbaijan}}<br>{{flag|Bahrain}}<br>{{flag|Bulgaria}}<br>{{flag|Greece}}<br>{{flag|Israel}}<br>{{flag|Portugal}}<br>{{flag|Romania}}<br>{{flag|Russia}}<br>{{flag|Turkey}}<br>{{flag|United Arab Emirates}}<br>{{flag|Kuwait}}
}}

'''Persian''', also called '''Farsi''', is a Western [[Iranian language]]. It is the [[official language]] of [[Iran]], [[Afghanistan]] and [[Tajikistan]]. It is also spoken by many people in [[Pakistan]], [[Uzbekistan]] and [[Azerbaijan]]. Persian was also taught as a second language in schools in [[Pakistan]] until 2006. In the past, many of those places were parts of the [[Persia|Persian Empire]].{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Persian has many [[Dialect|dialects]] and is officially called Farsi in Iran, [[Dari (Eastern Persian)|Dari]] and Farsi in Afghanistan and [[Tajik language|Tajiki]] in Tajikistan. The [[Literature|literary]] language of each country is a little different, but people from each country can understand one another when they have a conversation. It has words from [[French language|French]] in Iran and many from [[Russian language|Russian]] Tajikistan.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
==Alphabet==
The Persian [[alphabet]] has the following letters:
<div style="width:auto; overflow=scroll">
ا ب پ ت ث ج چ ح خ د ذ ر ز ژ س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ک گ ل م ن و ه ی
</div>
The Persian alphabet used in Iran and Afghanistan is similar to the [[Arabic alphabet]], but since Persian in a different family from [[Arabic language|Arabic]], their [[Vocabulary|vocabulary]] and [[Grammar|grammar]] are very different. Since the 1930s, in the countries that were in the [[Soviet Union]], like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Persian has been written in the [[Cyrillic alphabet]], like Russian. Persian-speakers formerly used Pahlavi script, changed to the Arabic alphabet under Arab colonization and added letters to fit their language.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

==History==
Persian is a very old language, and [[linguistics|linguists]] use names for three different versions of Persian that were used in three different times. Old Persian was spoken in the first Persian Empire, under the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] kings, including [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] and [[Darius the Great]]. The empire existed from the 6th century BC to the conquest of [[Alexander the Great]]. The second Persian empire was ruled by the [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanian]] kings from the 2nd century AD until the [[Muslim conquest]] of Iran by the [[Arabs]] in the 7th century and spoke Middle Persian, or Pahlavi.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

New or Modern Persian is spoken today and was first written down in the 9th century, during the Samanid Empire, which was the first Muslim Persian kingdom and was based in [[Central Asia]].{{clarification|date=December 2024}} The earliest writers of New Persian included [[poetry|poets]] like [[Rudaki]], and [[Ferdowsi]], who wrote an [[Epic poetry|epic]], a very long poem, called the [[Shahnameh|''Shahname'']], [[Translation|translated]] as the ''Book of Kings'' in [[English language|English]].{{cn|date=December 2024}} 

It has [[Mythology|myths]] and [[History|historical]] stories from before the Arabs conquered Persia. Many other famous writers in Persian language were poets too, a few being [[Saadi]], [[Hafez]], [[Rumi]]. The Persian language has been very important one for [[Literature|literature]]. After Arabic, it was the second most common written language in Muslim countries, especially in the East.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

==Sample==
{|
|-
|
: {{lang|fa|من پارسی هستم و کتاب دارم.}}
|-
|
: I am Persian, and I have a book.
|-
|
: {{lang|fa|(salam) سلام}}
|-
|
: Hello
|}
==Related pages==
* [[Dari (Eastern Persian)|Dari]]
* [[Kurdistan]]
* [[Near East]]
* [[Caucasus]]
** [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
** [[Armenia]]
** [[Azerbaijan]]
* [[Tajik language]]
* [[History of Asia]]
* [[Parthian Empire]]
* [[Iranic languages]]
* [[Sassanid Empire]]
* [[Kurdish language]]
* [[Indo-Iranic peoples]]
* [[Achaemenid Empire]]
* [[Indo-European peoples]]
* [[Indo-European languages]]
* [[Persian Inscriptions on Indian Monuments]]

==References==
{{InterWiki|code=fa}}
{{commonscat|Persian language}}
{{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Persian language| ]]
[[Category:Iranian languages|Modern Persian]]