Old Persian - Wikipedia Old Persian From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   (Redirected from Old Persian language) Jump to navigation Jump to search Language of Achaemenid Empire and ancestor of Middle Persian Old Persian 𐎠𐎼𐎹 Ariya Region Ancient Iran Era Evolved into Middle Persian by c. 300 BCE Language family Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Southwestern Old Persian Writing system Old Persian cuneiform Language codes ISO 639-2 peo ISO 639-3 peo Linguist List peo Glottolog oldp1254 This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and it is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ariya (Iranian).[1][2] Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets and seals of the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in what is now Iran, Romania (Gherla),[3][4][5] Armenia, Bahrain, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt,[6][7] with the most important attestation by far being the contents of the Behistun Inscription (dated to 525 BCE). Recent research (2007) into the vast Persepolis Fortification Archive at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago have unearthed Old Persian tablets, which suggest Old Persian was a written language in use for practical recording and not only for royal display.[8] Contents 1 Origin and overview 2 Classification 3 Language evolution 4 Substrates 5 Script 6 Phonology 7 Grammar 7.1 Nouns 7.2 Verbs 8 Lexicon 9 See also 10 Notes 11 Bibliography 12 Further reading Origin and overview[edit] As a written language, Old Persian is attested in royal Achaemenid inscriptions. It is an Iranian language and as such a member of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. The oldest known text written in Old Persian is from the Behistun Inscriptions.[9] Old Persian is one of the oldest Indo-European languages which are attested in original texts.[10] The oldest date of use of Old Persian as a spoken language is not precisely known. According to certain historical assumptions about the early history and origin of ancient Persians in Southwestern Iran (where Achaemenids hailed from), Old Persian was originally spoken by a tribe called Parsuwash, who arrived in the Iranian Plateau early in the 1st millennium BCE and finally migrated down into the area of present-day Fārs province. Their language, Old Persian, became the official language of the Achaemenid kings.[10] Assyrian records, which in fact appear to provide the earliest evidence for ancient Iranian (Persian and Median) presence on the Iranian Plateau, give a good chronology but only an approximate geographical indication of what seem to be ancient Persians. In these records of the 9th century BCE, Parsuwash (along with Matai, presumably Medians) are first mentioned in the area of Lake Urmia in the records of Shalmaneser III.[11] The exact identity of the Parsuwash is not known for certain, but from a linguistic viewpoint the word matches Old Persian pārsa itself coming directly from the older word *pārćwa.[11] Also, as Old Persian contains many words from another extinct Iranian language, Median, according to P. O. Skjærvø it is probable that Old Persian had already been spoken before the formation of the Achaemenid Empire and was spoken during most of the first half of the first millennium BCE.[10] Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BCE, which is when Old Persian was still spoken and extensively used. He relates that the Armenian people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians.[12] Classification[edit] Main article: Old Iranian languages Old Persian belongs to the Iranian language family which is a branch of the Indo-Iranian language family, itself within the large family of Indo-European languages. The common ancestors of Indo-Iranians came from Central Asia sometime in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. The extinct and unattested Median language is another Old Iranian language related to Old Persian (for example, both are classified as Western Iranian languages and many Median names appeared in Old Persian texts)[13] The group of Old Iranian languages was presumably a large group; however knowledge of it is restricted mainly to Old Persian, Avestan and Median. The former are the only languages in that group which have left written original texts while Median is known mostly from loanwords in Old Persian.[14] Language evolution[edit] By the 4th century BCE, the late Achaemenid period, the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III differ enough from the language of Darius' inscriptions to be called a "pre-Middle Persian," or "post-Old Persian."[15] Old Persian subsequently evolved into Middle Persian, which is in turn the ancestor of New Persian. Professor Gilbert Lazard, a famous Iranologist and the author of the book Persian Grammar states:[16] The language known as New Persian, which usually is called at this period (early Islamic times) by the name of Parsi-Dari, can be classified linguistically as a continuation of Middle Persian, the official religious and literary language of Sassanian Iran, itself a continuation of Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenids. Unlike the other languages and dialects, ancient and modern, of the Iranian group such as Avestan, Parthian, Soghdian, Kurdish, Pashto, etc., Old, Middle and New Persian represent one and the same language at three states of its history. It had its origin in Fars and is differentiated by dialectical features, still easily recognizable from the dialect prevailing in north-western and eastern Iran. Middle Persian, also sometimes called Pahlavi, is a direct continuation of Old Persian and was used as the written official language of the country.[17][18] Comparison of the evolution at each stage of the language shows great simplification in grammar and syntax. However, New Persian is a direct descendant of Middle and Old Persian.[19] Substrates[edit] Old Persian "presumably"[15] has a Median language substrate. The Median element is readily identifiable because it did not share in the developments that were peculiar to Old Persian. Median forms "are found only in personal or geographical names [...] and some are typically from religious vocabulary and so could in principle also be influenced by Avestan." "Sometimes, both Median and Old Persian forms are found, which gave Old Persian a somewhat confusing and inconsistent look: 'horse,' for instance, is [attested in Old Persian as] both asa (OPers.) and aspa (Med.)."[15] Script[edit] Main article: Old Persian cuneiform Close-up of the Behistun inscription An Old Persian inscription in Persepolis Old Persian texts were written from left to right in the syllabic Old Persian cuneiform script and had 36 phonetic characters and 8 logograms. The usage of logograms is not obligatory.[20] The script was surprisingly[21] not a result of evolution of the script used in the nearby civilisation of Mesopotamia.[22] Despite the fact that Old Persian was written in cuneiform script, the script was not a direct continuation of Mesopotamian tradition and in fact, according to Schmitt, was a "deliberate creation of the sixth century BCE".[22] The origin of the Old Persian cuneiform script and the identification of the date and process of introduction are a matter of discussion among Iranian scholars with no general agreement having been reached. The factors making the consensus difficult are, among others, the difficult passage DB (IV lines 88–92) from Darius the Great who speaks of a new "form of writing" being made by himself which is said to be "in Aryan": King Darius says: By the grace of Ahuramazda this is the inscription which I have made. Besides, it was in Aryan ("ariyâ") script, and it was composed on clay tablets and on parchment. Besides, a sculptured figure of myself I made. — Behistun Inscription (IV lines 88–92)[23] Also, the analysis of certain Old Persian inscriptions are "supposed or claimed" to predate Darius the Great. Although it is true that the oldest attested Old Persian inscriptions are from Behistun monument from Darius, the creation of this "new type of writing" seems, according to Schmitt, "to have begun already under Cyrus the Great".[9] The script shows a few changes in the shape of characters during the period it was used. This can be seen as a standardization of the heights of wedges, which in the beginning (i.e. in DB) took only half the height of a line.[24] Phonology[edit] The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script: Vowels Long: /aː/ /iː/ /uː/ Short: /a/ /i/ /u/ Consonants Labial Dental/ Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal m n Plosive p b t d k ɡ Fricative f θ x h Affricate t͡s t͡ʃ d͡ʒ Sibilant s z ʃ Rhotic r Approximant l j w Notes: Lycian 𐊋𐊆𐊈𐊈𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 Kizzaprñna ~ 𐊈𐊆𐊖𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 Zisaprñna for (genuine) Old Persian *Ciçafarnā (besides the Median form *Ciθrafarnah) = Tissaphernes suggests /t͡s/ as the pronunciation of ç (compare [2] and Kloekhorst 2008, p. 125 in [3] for this example, who, however, mistakenly writes Çiçafarnā, which contradicts the etymology [PIIr. *Čitra-swarnas-] and the Middle Persian form Čehrfar [ç gives Middle Persian s]). The phoneme /l/ does not occur in native Iranian vocabulary, only in borrowings from Akkadian (a new /l/ develops in Middle Persian from Old Persian /rd/ and the change of /rθ/ to /hl/). The phoneme /r/ can also form a syllable peak; both the way Persian names with syllabic /r/ (such as Brdiya) are rendered in Elamite and its further development in Middle Persian suggest that before the syllabic /r/, an epenthetic vowel [i] had developed already in the Old Persian period, which later became [u] after labials. For example, Old Persian Vᵃ-rᵃ-kᵃ-a-nᵃ /wr̩kaːna/ is rendered in Elamite as Mirkānu-,[25] rendering transcriptions such as V(a)rakāna, Varkāna or even Vurkāna questionable and making Vrkāna or Virkāna much more realistic (and equally for vrka- "wolf", Brdiya and other Old Persian words and names with syllabic /r/). While v usually became /v/ in Middle Persian, it became /b/ word-initially, except before [u] (including the epenthetic vowel mentioned above), where it became /g/. This suggests that it was really pronounced as [w]. Grammar[edit] Nouns[edit] Old Persian stems: a-stems (-a, -am, -ā) i-stems (-iš, iy) u- (and au-) stems (-uš, -uv) consonantal stems (n, r, h) -a -am -ā Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Nominative -a -ā -ā, -āha -am -ā -ā -ā -ā -ā Vocative -ā -ā Accusative -am -ām Instrumental/ Ablative -ā -aibiyā -aibiš -ā -aibiyā -aibiš -āyā -ābiyā -ābiš Dative -ahyā, -ahya -ahyā, -ahya Genitive -āyā -ānām -āyā -ānām -āyā -ānām Locative -aiy -aišuvā -aiy -aišuvā -āšuvā -iš -iy -uš -uv Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Nominative -iš -īy -iya -iy -in -īn -uš -ūv -uva -uv -un -ūn Vocative -i -u Accusative -im -iš -um -ūn Instrumental/ Ablative -auš -ībiyā -ībiš -auš -ībiyā -ībiš -auv -ūbiyā -ūbiš -auv -ūbiyā -ūbiš Dative -aiš -aiš -auš -auš Genitive -īyā -īnām -īyā -īnām -ūvā -ūnām -ūvā -ūnām Locative -auv -išuvā -auv -išuvā -āvā -ušuvā -āvā -ušuvā Adjectives are declinable in similar way. Verbs[edit] Voices Active, Middle (them. pres. -aiy-, -ataiy-), Passive (-ya-). Mostly the forms of first and third persons are attested. The only preserved Dual form is ajīvatam 'both lived'. Present, Active Athematic Thematic 'be' 'bring' Sg. 1.pers. aʰmiy barāmiy 3.pers. astiy baratiy Pl. 1.pers. aʰmahiy barāmahiy 3.pers. hatiy baratiy Imperfect, Active Athematic Thematic 'do, make' 'be, become' Sg. 1.pers. akunavam abavam 3.pers. akunauš abava Pl. 1.pers. akumā abavāmā 3.pers. akunava abava Present participle Active Middle -nt- -amna- Past participle -ta- Infinitive -tanaiy Lexicon[edit] Proto-Indo-Iranian Old Persian Middle Persian Modern Persian meaning *Hasura MazdʰaH Ahura Mazda Ohrmazd 𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣 Ormazd اورمزد Ahura Mazda *Haĉwas aspa asp asb اسب/asp اسپ horse *kaHmas kāma (𐎣𐎠𐎶) kām kām کام desire *daywas daiva (𐎭𐎡𐎺) dēw div دیو devil *ĵrayas drayah (𐎭𐎼𐎹) drayā daryā دریا sea *ĵʰastas dasta (𐎭𐎿𐎫) dast 𐭩𐭣𐭤 dast دست hand *bʰagas bāji bāj bāj باج/باژ toll *bʰraHtā brātar (𐎲𐎼𐎠𐎫𐎠) brâdar barādar برادر brother *bʰuHmiš būmi (𐏏) būm 𐭡𐭥𐭬 būm بوم region, land *martyas martya (𐎶𐎼𐎫𐎡𐎹) mard mard مرد man *māHas māha (𐎶𐎠𐏃) māh 𐭡𐭩𐭥𐭧 māh ماه moon, month *wasr̥ vāhara wahār bahār بهار spring *stʰuHnaH stūnā (𐎿𐎬𐎢𐎴𐎠) stūn sotūn ستون stand (column) *ĉyaHtas šiyāta (𐏁𐎡𐎹𐎠𐎫) šād šād شاد happy *Hr̥tas arta ard ord ارد order, truth *dʰrawgʰas druj (𐎭𐎼𐎢𐎥) drugh dorugh دروغ lie *ĉwáHdʰaH spada spah 𐭮𐭯𐭠𐭧 sepah سپاه army See also[edit] Asia portal Category:Old Persian language Notes[edit] ^ cf. Gershevitch, Ilya (1968). "Old Iranian Literature". Handbuch der Orientalistik, Literatur I. Leiden: Brill. pp. 1–31., p. 2. ^ Gnoli, Gherardo (2006). "Iranian Identity ii. Pre-Islamic Period". Encyclopædia Iranica. 13. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ... in the Old Persian version, whose language was called "Iranian" or ariya. ^ Kuhrt 2013, p. 197. ^ Frye 1984, p. 103. ^ Schmitt 2000, p. 53. ^ "Old Persian Texts". ^ Kent, R. G.: "Old Persian: Grammar Texts Lexicon", page 6. American Oriental Society, 1950. ^ "Everyday text shows that Old Persian was probably more commonly used than previously thought". Accessed September 2010 from [1] ^ a b (Schmitt 2008, pp. 80–1) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFSchmitt2008 (help) ^ a b c (Skjærvø 2006, vi(2). Documentation. Old Persian.) ^ a b (Skjærvø 2006, vi(1). Earliest Evidence) ^ Xenophon. Anabasis. pp. IV.v.2–9. ^ (Schmitt 2008, p. 76) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFSchmitt2008 (help) ^ ((Skjærvø 2006) harv error: no target: CITEREF(Skjærvø2006 (help) ^ a b c Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2005), An Introduction to Old Persian (PDF) (2nd ed.), Cambridge: Harvard ^ (Lazard, Gilbert 1975, “The Rise of the New Persian Language” in Frye, R. N., The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 4, pp. 595-632, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ^ Ulrich Ammon, Norbert Dittmar, Klaus J. Mattheier, Peter Trudgill, "Sociolinguistics Hsk 3/3 Series Volume 3 of Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society", Walter de Gruyter, 2006. 2nd edition. pg 1912: "Middle Persian, also called Pahlavi is a direct continuation of old Persian, and was used as the written official language of the country." "However, after the Moslem conquest and the collapse of the Sassanids, Arabic became the dominant language of the country and Pahlavi lost its importance, and was gradually replaced by Dari, a variety of Middle Persian, with considerable loan elements from Arabic and Parthian." ^ Bo Utas, "Semitic on Iranian", in "Linguistic convergence and areal diffusion: case studies from Iranian, Semitic and Turkic" editors (Éva Ágnes Csató, Bo Isaksson, Carina Jahani),Routledge, 2005. pg 71: "As already mentioned, it is not likely that the scribes of Sassanian chanceries had any idea about the Old Persian cuneiform writing and the language couched in it. Still, the Middle Persian language that appeared in the third century AD may be seen as a continuation of Old Persian ^ Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2006), "Iran, vi. Iranian languages and scripts", Encyclopaedia Iranica, 13. ^ (Schmitt 2008, p. 78) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFSchmitt2008 (help) ^ (Schmitt 2008, p. 78) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFSchmitt2008 (help) Excerpt: "It remains unclear why the Persians did not take over the Mesopotamian system in earlier times, as the Elamites and other peoples of the Near East had, and, for that matter, why the Persians did not adopt the Aramaic consonantal script.." ^ a b (Schmitt 2008, p. 77) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFSchmitt2008 (help) ^ Behistun T 42 - Livius. ^ (Schmitt 2008, p. 79) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFSchmitt2008 (help) ^ Stolper, M. W. (1997), "Mirkānu", in Ebeling, Erich; Meissner, Bruno; Edzard, Dietz Otto (eds.), Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie: Meek – Mythologie, 8, Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, p. 221, ISBN 978-3-11-014809-1, retrieved 15 August 2013 Bibliography[edit] Brandenstein, Wilhelm (1964), Handbuch des Altpersischen, Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz Hinz, Walther (1966), Altpersischer Wortschatz, Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus Frye, Richard Nelson (1984). Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft: Alter Orient-Griechische Geschichte-Römische Geschichte. Band III,7: The History of Ancient Iran. C.H.Beck. ISBN 978-3406093975. Kent, Roland G. (1953), Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon, New Haven: American Oriental Society Kuhrt, A. (2013). The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period. Routledge. ISBN 978-1136016943. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1996), "Iranian languages", Encyclopedia Iranica, 7, Costa Mesa: Mazda: 238-245 Schmitt, Rüdiger (1989), "Altpersisch", in R. Schmitt (ed.), Compendium linguarum Iranicarum, Wiesbaden: Reichert: 56–85 Schmitt, Rüdiger (2000). The Old Persian Inscriptions of Naqsh-i Rustam and Persepolis. Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum by School of Oriental and African Studies. ISBN 978-0728603141. Schmitt, R. (2008), "Old Persian", in Roger D. Woodard (ed.), The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas (illustrated ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 76–100, ISBN 978-0521684941 Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2006), "Iran, vi. Iranian languages and scripts", Encyclopaedia Iranica, 13 Tolman, Herbert Cushing (1908), Ancient Persian Lexicon and the Texts of the Achaemenidan Inscriptions Transliterated and Translated with Special Reference to Their Recent Re-examination, New York/Cincinnati: American Book Company Further reading[edit] Edwin Lee Johnson (1917), Historical grammar of the ancient Persian language, Volume 8 of Vanderbilt oriental series, American book company, p. 251, retrieved 2011-07-06 Edwin Lee Johnson (1917), Historical grammar of the ancient Persian language, Volume 8 of Vanderbilt oriental series, American book company, p. 251, retrieved 2011-07-06 Herbert Cushing Tolman (1892), Grammar of the Old Persian language: with the inscriptions of the Achaemenian kings and vocabulary, Ginn, p. 55, retrieved 2011-07-06 Herbert Cushing Tolman (1893), A guide to the Old Persian inscriptions, American book company, p. 186, retrieved 2011-07-06 Edwin Lee Johnson (1910), Herbert Cushing Tolman (ed.), Cuneiform supplement (autographed) to the author's Ancient Persian lexicon and texts: with brief historical synopsis of the language, Volume 7 of Vanderbilt oriental series, American Book Co., p. 122, retrieved 2011-07-06 translated by Herbert Cushing Tolman (1908), Ancient Persian lexicon and the texts of the Achaemenidan inscriptions transliterated and translated with special reference to their recent re-examination, by Herbert Cushing Tolman .., Volume 6 of Vanderbilt oriental series, American Book Company, p. 134, retrieved 2011-07-06 Herbert Cushing Tolman (1908), Ancient Persian lexicon and the texts of the Achaemenidan inscriptions transliterated and translated with special reference to their recent re-examination, by Herbert Cushing Tolman .., Volume 6 of Vanderbilt oriental series, American Book Company, p. 134, retrieved 2011-07-06 Darius I (King of Persia) (1908), Translated by Herbert Cushing Tolman (ed.), The Behistan inscription of King Darius: translation and critical notes to the Persian text with special reference to recent re-examinations of the rock, Volume 1, Issue 1 of Vanderbilt University studies ATLA monograph preservation program Volume 3384 of Harvard College Library preservation microfilm program (reprint ed.), Vanderbilt University, p. 39, retrieved 2011-07-06 Darius I (King of Persia) (1908), Herbert Cushing Tolman (ed.), The Behistan inscription of King Darius: translation and critical notes to the Persian text with special reference to recent re-examinations of the rock, Volume 1, Issue 1 of Vanderbilt University studies, Vanderbilt university, p. 39, retrieved 2011-07-06 Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2005), An Introduction to Old Persian (PDF) (2nd ed.), Cambridge: Harvard Peterson, Joseph H. (2006), Old Persian Texts, Herndon, VA: avesta.org Harvey, Scott L., Old Iranian Online Windfuhr, Gernot L. (1995), "Cases in Iranian languages and dialects", Encyclopedia Iranica, 5, Costa Mesa: Mazda, pp. 25–37, archived from the original on 2007-11-04 Stolper, Matthew W. & Jan Tavernier (1995), "From the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, 1: An Old Persian Administrative Tablet from the Persepolis Fortification", Arta, 2007:1, Paris: Achemenet.com Schmitt, R. (2008), "Old Persian", in Roger D. Woodard (ed.), The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas (illustrated ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 76–100, ISBN 978-0521684941 Asatrian, Garnik (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Persian, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series, 12, Brill Academic Publishers, ISBN 978-90-04-18341-4 v t e Achaemenid Empire History Kingdom Family tree Timeline History of democracy Art Achaemenid Persian Lion Rhyton Achaemenid coinage Danake Persian daric Architecture Achaemenid architecture Persepolis Pasargadae Tomb of Cyrus Naqsh-e Rostam Ka'ba-ye Zartosht Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Tombs at Xanthos Harpy Tomb Nereid Monument Tomb of Payava Culture Persepolis Administrative Archives Old Persian cuneiform Old Persian Behistun Inscription Xerxes I's inscription at Van Ganjnameh Warfare Persian Revolt Battle of Hyrba Battle of the Persian Border Lydian-Persian Wars Battle of Pteria Battle of Thymbra Siege of Sardis (547 BC) Battle of Opis First conquest of Egypt Battle of Cunaxa Conquest of the Indus Valley Scythian campaign of Darius I Greco-Persian Wars Ionian Revolt Battle of Thermopylae Battle of Artemisium Battle of Salamis Battle of Plataea Battle of Mycale Battle of Marathon Delian League Battle of Lade Siege of Eretria Siege of Naxos (499 BC) Wars of the Delian League Battle of the Eurymedon Peloponnesian War Battle of Cyzicus Corinthian War Battle of Cnidus Great Satraps' Revolt Second conquest of Egypt Wars of Alexander the Great Battle of Gaugamela Battle of the Granicus Battle of the Persian Gate Battle of Issus Siege of Gaza Siege of Halicarnassus Siege of Miletus Siege of Perinthus Siege of Tyre (332 BC) Related Achaemenid dynasty Pharnacid dynasty Peace of Antalcidas Peace of Callias Kingdom of Pontus Mithridatic dynasty Kingdom of Cappadocia Ariarathid dynasty 2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire Districts of the Empire Royal Road Xanthian Obelisk v t e Persian language History Proto-Indo-European (c. 3000 BCE) Proto-Indo-Iranian (c. 2000 BCE) Proto-Iranian (c. 1500 BCE) Old Persian (c. 525 – 300 BCE) Middle Persian (c. 300 BCE – 800 CE) Modern Persian (from 800) Language families Indo-Iranian languages Iranian languages Western Iranian languages Dialects and varieties Western (Iranian) Dari (Afghanistan) Tajik Hazaragi Aimaq Kuwaiti Persian Tat Judeo-Persian Judeo-Tat (Juhuri) Bukhori Sistani Dehwari Standard Persian Language features Vocabulary Nouns Verbs Phonology Grammar Persian grammar Ezāfe Tajik grammar Writing system Old Persian cuneiform Pahlavi scripts Persian alphabet Persian calligraphy Tajik alphabet Romanized Persian alphabet Persian Braille Literature Persian literature Middle Persian literature Tajik literature Other topics List of English words of Persian origin List of French loanwords in Persian List of territorial entities where Persian is an official language Persian language in South Asia v t e Iranian languages Old Eastern Avestan Old Scythian Western Median Old Persian Middle Eastern 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