Iran starting with Persian/Farsi (random blog)

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During the past few years, I wished for all the educational institutions I attended to offer either Persian or Arabic. The script seemed so beautiful and enchanting, when I saw excerpts from the Koran embedded in the kufic style in tiles upon the surfaces of mosques. I've also enjoyed the famous poetry of poets as Ferdowsi, Khayyam and Sa'adi.

A while before my trip to Iran, I'd already learned the Arabic alphabet, but to my ignorant dismay, I learned Arabic was far different from Persian. Although they share the same letters, Persian has an additional bunch of letters that were actually not too hard to learn.

When the first Muslim Arab invaders came to Persia, they attempted to assimilate the Persian language. But administrative battles during the course of a century changed the course of history by allowing the language to stay. Of course, during the beginnings of Islam, the Arabs did not have much to offer from their own experience, so they heavily relied upon the adminstrative and militaristic tactics of the Persians. Another example would be Islamic architecture - the Arabs didnt have their own architectural styles in the beginning. With the help of Muhammed's Persian colleague Salman, the Islamic world was able to do so much in such little time.

To this day, as most of you would know, Arabic is used in a vast array of nations in the middle east, but it is impossible to use in Iran. In a sense, it is almost like the English compared to Turkish (where they use the same alphabet, ever since the westernization movement by Ataturk).

After some online research, I found a brilliant Persian language-course for free at easypersian.com created by a mysterious Persian fellow by the name of Hassan. He has a huge range of lessons that are easy to comprehend even for those without a wink of knowledge. I hope he won't mind me mentioning his site in this blog entry! kheili-mam-nuun, indeed, sir!

It's a lovely language by the way. i've heard some people claim that it sounds a little bit like french. I've been astonished by the number of words which are similar to English and japanese. I suppose it is a language lying right in between!😉

Currently I am doing a crash course in Persian for my interests. i do admit that learning languages is a jolly delight for me due to my fluency in English, Japanese, Palauan, Latin and a few more. This is probably due to my upbringing - as English and Japanese are so unlike, foreign grammatical systems, alphabets or pronunciations are not so bad to tackle. btw, I didnt even know japanese was one of the hardest languages for English-speakers until quite recently.

I learned in a memorable college course that japanese is actually a Turkic language, and hence shares some grammatical similarities with only one major language...Turkish. The original language originated in Central Asia, apparently, and today there are very few tongues derived from it.

Did i bore you with my random rantings again? Whoopsie doodles. Sorry about that. I promise to continue my travel blogging after this. thanks for your patience!😉 Khoda hafez!

There is a small possibility that this entry will be restored - only small.

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Photos

Imam mosque in Esfahan
excerpts from the Koran decorated around the entrance in beautiful blue tiles and mosaics!

National Museum at Tehran
hammurabi codex...before the arrival of the Arabic script, cuniform was used.

japan
Links between Farsi and japanese? Seems impossible considering the distance between the two nations. But you have to believe it!

Connection?
A Persian water-pipe tea lounge in the middle of Tokyo!

japan
Links between Farsi and japanese? Seems impossible considering the distance between the two nations. But you have to believe it!

Comments

[A Language Student]

English, Farsi and Japanese
Think both Farsi and English belong to the same Indo-European Language Group, which also includes those languages such as French, Russian etc. Whilst, the Japanese had borrowed many English words since their Meiji Reform. So it is not surprising that you have found similarities between all these languages. Hope this helps.

[Yuki Jen]

Thanks heaps!;)
I'd forgotten about all the English which has settled into contemporary Japanese! But looking back, it seems Japanese has taken tidbits from a lot of foreign tongues - apparently even some of the Persian as I found out a few hours ago;) And just wanted to send you a jolly cheers for reading my blog entry!

[Mohammad]

Historu of language
hey, your blog is great. since i have done a lot of research in Iranian history, i came accross a very wierd image (statue carved in a mountain) of an ancient persian king who was dressed for war. his cloth and armor were exactly the ones you see in a samuraii movie. there is samuraii hat on his head and a sun and moon right above it. the armor is also samuraii like. i was amazed. perhaps because iran was the strongest nation in those times, some effect has been taken to japan.

[Yuki Jen]

Samurai warrior type in Iran
Hey Mohammed, thanks for your post!;) returning from my 2nd trip at last, i've been learning more about Persian history - indeed, i think your thought is correct. after all, the chrysanthemum emblem of the japanese imperial family came from Persia too I heard! Would love to check out an image of the Persian relief...if u happen to remember any details, I'd really appreciate it!

[skyfox]

Farsi, Arabic, Japanese, German comparisons
Farsi is an Indo-European language whose origins spring from Sanskrit. As I have studies 12 languages, many languages have taken/borrowed. assimilated many foreign words,especially where business and trade trade are involved. I found this to be especially true with the assimilation of Arabic into Swahili as traders went through Kenya. I have found many Arabic words in Farsi, as well as English and French assimilations. I haven't seen much in the way of Japanese in Farsi, but I wouldn't be surprised. Culture also has a way of facilitating language assimilation, such as "Whiskey" being pretty much a universal word in most every global language! In order to understand the influence on language, you have to consider regional aspects that directly or indirectly contribute to this influence as well...there is much assimilation in almost every language, especially in the last 20 years as global communication, via internet has become so universal! One reason that I believe that a universal language has failed to be implemented globally, other than strong English domination, is because "created" languages such as "Esperanza" has no real cultural referential connection. I think that cultures inherently influence language just as much as finances do...and I hope it stay that way. I am glad there is French Pride about their language, because of France's unique culture should maintain the integrity of it's complimentary language! And I feel the same with most other cultures and people!

[Persian]

Hi. Nice peace. "Farsi" is the native name for Persian and the correct English name for the language is Persian not "Farsi". It is not right to use "Farsi" in an English text as much as it is wrong to write: "I speak Italiano". Take care.