Iran - Andrew Burke [355]
Language
CONTENTS
* * *
FARSI
LEARNING THE LANGUAGE
TRANSLITERATION
PRONUNCIATION
ACCOMMODATION
CONVERSATION & ESSENTIALS
DIRECTIONS
HEALTH
LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES
NUMBERS
QUESTION WORDS
SHOPPING & SERVICES
TIME & DATES
TRANSPORT
TRAVEL WITH CHILDREN
* * *
Farsi (also often referred to as Persian) is the official language of Iran. Travelling in the country without at least a basic grasp of Farsi will prove difficult, as English speakers are few and far between.
Return to beginning of chapter
FARSI
Farsi is an Indo-Iranian language and a member of the Indo-European language family. While it is written in Arabic script, which runs from right to left, the language itself isn’t related to Arabic at all.
There are a number of mutually intelligible dialects spoken in Iran. The words and phrases in this language guide are based on the Tehrani dialect, and reflect mostly colloquial, everyday speech. Tehrani is considered to be the standard dialect, and the one spoken by most Farsi speakers. This is distinct from Classical Farsi, which is not an everyday language, but a literary form, normally used only in books or speeches.
Return to beginning of chapter
LEARNING THE LANGUAGE
Lonely Planet’s compact, but comprehensive Farsi Phrasebook is a good way to get started and will prove invaluable during your stay. You can also advance your language skills before you head off by working through the excellent free lessons available online at Easy Persian (www.easypersian.com). Another great resource is Teach Yourself Modern Persian (by Narguess Farzad), consisting of a 304-page course-book and two audio CDs. If nothing else, you should familiarise yourself with the modified Arabic aphabet used to write Farsi. The chart on Click here shows all the Farsi letters in their various guises (according to position within a word), plus the nearest-sounding Latin letters used to represent them.
Return to beginning of chapter
TRANSLITERATION
Transliterating from non-Roman script into the Roman alphabet is always a tricky affair. Formal transliterations of Farsi are overly complicated in the way they represent vowels, and they do not accurately represent the spoken language. In this language guide the system used is designed to be as simple as possible for spoken communication, even at the expense of absolute accuracy.
Return to beginning of chapter
PRONUNCIATION
In general, the last syllable of a multisyllable word is stressed, unless the last vowel in the word is a short vowel.
Vowels
Consonants
The letters b, d, f, j, m, n, p, sh, t and z are pronounced as in English.
* * *
THE FARSI ALPHABET
* * *
Note: doubled consonants are always pronounced as two distinct sounds, as in ‘hat’-‘trick’ not ‘battle’; the sole exception is Allah (God), in which the l’s are swallowed as in English ‘doll’.
Return to beginning of chapter
ACCOMMODATION
Do you have any rooms available?
otagh khali darin
Return to beginning of chapter
CONVERSATION & ESSENTIALS
The all-purpose greeting in Iran is salam aleykom, which does duty for ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good evening’. The same expression is used throughout the Muslim world, so if you learn only one phrase in Iran, this is it!
When addressing a stranger, especially one older than you, it’s polite to include agha (sir) or khanom (madam) at the beginning of the first sentence, or after one of the standard greetings. Agha ye and Khanom e are the equivalents of Mr, and Mrs/Miss/Ms Agha can be used before or after the first name as a title of respect, eg Mohammad Agha or, more likely, Agha Mohammad.
The pronoun shoma is the polite form of ‘you’ singular, and should be used when addressing people you don’t know well – to is only generally used when talking to close friends and relatives of the same generation or older, and to children and animals.
* * *
SIGNS
* * *
Return to beginning of chapter
DIRECTIONS
Return to beginning of chapter
HEALTH
* * *
EMERGENCIES
* * *
Return to beginning