Introduction to Persian Culture and Language

Persian Speaking Countries

Tajikistan – Tajik Dialect

Afghanistan – Dari Dialect

Iran – Farsi Dialect

Map of Iran

Basic Facts Capital City: Tehran Population: about 77 million Slightly smaller than Alaska Official Language: Persian (Farsi) Major Religion: Shi’ite Islam

Tehran, capital city of Iran

Borj-e Azadi (Azadi Tower), Tehran

Inside Nasir al-Mulk mosque in Shiraz

History Over 2,500 years old Known as “Persia” until 1935 A cultural center of the Muslim world Revolution in 1979 overthrew the monarchy and established an Islamic Republic

Persepolis, ancient capital of Persia

An example of Persian art from the Middle Ages

Modern Iranian women

Culture Persian New Year (Nowruz) occurs on the spring equinox - March 20 or 21 Celebrates new life and new beginnings Traditions surrounding Nowruz include –Chaharshanbe Suri (Fireworks Wednesday) –Sizdah Bedar (picnic on the 13 th day of the year) –Haft Sin (traditional table setting with 7 items beginning with the Persian letter sin س)

Jumping over the bonfire on Chaharshanbe Suri

Picnicking outdoors to celebrate Sizdah Bedar

Haft Sin table setting

Haft Sin meanings 1.Sabzeh – wheat or barley sprouts - rebirth 2.Samanu – sweet wheat pudding - affluence 3.Senjed – dried oleaster fruit - love 4.Seer – garlic - medicine 5.Seeb – apple – beauty and health 6.Somaq – sumac fruit – (color of) sunrise 7.Serkeh – vinegar – old age and patience

Culture Traditional Iranian foods include ghormeh sabzi, fesenjoon, kebabs, rice (polo), tahdig, and ash-e reshteh Both ice cream (400 BCE) and cookies (700 CE) were invented in Persia Iran is well-known for its carpet-making tradition Classical Persian poetry is popular around the world

Ghormeh sabzi served with polo (Iranian rice)

fesenjoon kebabs

tahdig ash-e reshteh

Persian carpet workshop in Iran

Persian calligraphy in the shapes of animals

زبان فارسی Persian Language

Introduction to the language Farsi is name of the Persian language in the language itself When people speak in Spanish, they refer to the language as español. When people speak in Persian, they refer to the language as farsi. Persian is spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan Each country has a slightly different dialect. These are similar to the different accents we hear in English-speaking countries (ex: USA, England, and Australia).

Hello Salaam سلام

How are you? Haletoon chetore? حالتون چطوره؟

I’m fine Khoobam خوبم

Thanks Mersee مرسی

And how are you? Shomaa chetorin? شما چطورین؟

Goodbye! Khoda hafez خداحافظ

A short conversation A: Hello. How are you? B: I’m fine. Thanks. And how are you? A: I’m fine. Good-bye. B: Good-bye. A: Salaam. Haaletoon chetore? B: Khoobam. Mersee. Shomaa chetorin? A: Khoobam. Khoda hafez. B: Khoda hafez.

Quiz How do you say: Hello I’m fine Thanks Good-bye How are you?

Now let’s learn some numbers 1 yek ۱ 2 do ۲ 3 se ۳ 4 chahar ۴

1 yek ۱

2 do ۲

3 se ۳

4 chahar ۴

Who would like to count to 4 in Persian?

1 yek ۱ 2 do ۲ 3 se ۳ 4 chahar ۴

Let’s learn 4 colors

yellow zard زرد

white sefid سفید

blue aabi آبی

turquoise firoozayee فیروزه ای

Quiz How do you say?

Introduction to Persian writing The writing system is called the Perso-Arabic script. It is based on the Arabic script but altered with new letters to represent Persian sounds. The alphabet has 32 letters. There are 6 vowels. The short vowels are mostly left unwritten and the reader has to supply them. Letters can have 4 different shapes. These depend upon where they are found in a word.

Persian writing cont. There is no difference between capital & lowercase. Persian is always written in cursive. Persian is written from right to left. Books are read from the “back” to the “front”. This script is used in many languages (with some modifications)—Arabic, Urdu, Kurdish, Ottoman Turkish, Punjabi (in Pakistan), Kashmiri

Hello Salaam سلام

Worksheet: practice writing salaam

Hello Salaam سلام ____________________________ ____________________________

Numbers 1 yek ۱ 2 do ۲ 3 se ۳ 4 chahar ۴

Worksheet: practice writing the numbers

1 yek ۱ ____ 2 do ۲ ___ 3 se ۳ ____ 4 chahar ۴ ____

Numbers, Colors & Persian Tile!

Resources 20 Popular English Words with Persian Origin

Additional language slides

My name is... Man……. hastam من هستم

What is your name? Esme shoma chiye? اسم شما چیه؟

A very short conversation A: My name is … What is your name? B: My name is… A: man ……. Hastam.Esme shoma chiye? B: man …….. Hastam.

yellow zard زرد

orange naaranji نارنجی

blue aabi آبی‌

green sabz سبز

Worksheet: practice writing colors