Do you speak français? Is this a schweizer watch? How do you say Vodka in ruski? He speaks farsi.
I have always been shocked by the usage of the word ‘farsi’ in English and other western languages. What makes it even more strange is the fact that its acceptance has been promoted by Iranians. I have even noticed it has been mostly encouraged by intellectual or sophisticated Iranians!
Here is why I believe, we should stop using ‘farsi’ and use the correct ‘Persian’ word when referring to the language spoken by people of Iran and other neighboring countries:
– Farsi is the word in the Persian language and is not an english word (or has been added as a technical word recently) just as français means the French language in French or Ruski, russian in the russian language.
– Every word in any language comes with a historical and cultural background. It is the sum of all different connotations associated with a word that make up the way it is understood by a native of the language. For instance, the word ‘revolution’ in French has a historical and cultural background for the French and evokes the French revolution and everything that came with it. It does not have the same meaning for a person living in New Zealand. The word ‘Egyptian’ brings to mind pyramids’ grandeur, pharaohs, the bible… while ‘Greek’ comes with a heavy baggage involving mythology, democracy, long history… Similarly the word ‘Persian’ referring to the language comes with reference to the persian empire, persian cats, beautiful rugs etc.
– The present Persian language is a direct derivative of the old Persian language. The argument against its usage because of its differences with the original pahlavi language is unfounded. Persian has been enriched with foreign words while preserving its original grammar and structure very similarly to the way English was enriched with French words since the eleventh century with William the Conqueror’s invasion of England.
– The word farsi is a technical word empty of any historical meaning and only used over the last few decades. In French, ‘farsi’ and ‘farci’ sound alike. The latter meaning ‘stuffed’ and generally used in a pejorative way. Instead the word Persan should be used which is also associated with “Les Lettres Persanes” authored by Montesquieu, a famous French writer.
– The argument claiming there are three different Persian languages (farsi, dari and tajik) does not hold either. There are differences in the English language in different countries and yet the language remains english while referring to them as American English or British English. Same holds for French in France, Quebec and Belgium. Another example is the many variations of Arabic (written and spoken) in different Arab countries. In fact the classical Arabic used in the Quran is called technically Nos’ha and yet you would never use any other word than Arabic in English when referring to the language.
It is our responsibility to preserve our history and values, and educate the world about Iranian culture. The Persian language is of our most precious legacies.
Other references:
The Announcement of the Persian Academy:
The Language of the nation of Iran [Persia] in English is called “Persian ” [or in other European languages: Persane, Persisch, Persa, Persiska, etc.] and is known worldwide as PERSIAN . Recently some people have been trying to use “Farsi ” instead of Persian , the trend which has also been followed by some non-Iranians. This has
occurred to the extent that it has raised the question “Which is the correct word, in English, for the language of Iran’s people, Persian or Farsi ?!…” This question was put to the official institution FARHANGESTAN (Persian Language and Literature Academy in Tehran) by the Commerce Department for Australia,
at Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In their 34th meeting on 7th of December 1992, the Persian Academy unanimously passed the resolution that this language must be called PERSIAN and the reasons given were: 1- PERSIAN has been used in a variety of publications including cultural, scientific and diplomatic documents for centuries and, therefore, it connotes a very significant historical and cultural meaning. Hence, changing PERSIAN to FARSI is to negate this established important precedence.
2- Changing PERSIAN to FARSI may give the impression that it is a new language, and this may well be the intention of some Farsi users.
3- It may also give the impression that FARSI is a dialect of some parts of Iran and not the predominant (official) language of this country.
4- Fortunately, FARSI has never been used in any research paper or university document in any Western language and the proposal of its usage will create doubt and ambiguity about the name of the official language of our country.
– Wikipedia on Persian language says:
The Academy of Persian Language and Literature has declared that the name “Persian” is more appropriate, as it has the longer tradition in the western languages and better expresses the role of the language as a mark of cultural and national continuity. Some Persian language scholars also have rejected the usage of “Farsi” in their articles.
– The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies: http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Languages/persian_not_farsi.htm
– Frereshteh Davaran – PhD : http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8786
– http://www.u.arizona.edu/~karimi/Persian%20or%20Farsi.pdf
– Article in Payvand.com:
