Before the birth of blank verse with modernism, poetry across the world was written according to fixed rhythmic structures, referred to as ‘metres’ in English, from the Greek word μέτρον (métron) ‘measure’. The concept consists of measuring the number of syllables per line and the length (when it applies) of each syllable, so as to
Picking up where we left off a couple of weeks ago, Iskandar takes us through the next lines of Mawlana’s Masnavi, with a close line by line reading interspersed with discussion of the wider themes and imagery that run through the text. آتش است این بانگ نای و نیست باد هر که این آتش ندارد
This week, let us get away from grammar points and read some real classical poetry. Classical Persian poetry, although written in a language far more accessible to speakers of Modern Persian than Middle English texts are to speakers of Modern English, can be difficult, not only due to the grammar, but also because of the
The Persian language, at its core, represents a continuum of regional dialects standardised in history through convergence and literary prestige, and in modern times through nation building. Although Iranian Persian, Afghan Persian, and Tajik Persian came from one and same literary standard moulded through a long history of common usage, the three Persian-speaking nation states
I have named this week’s post such, for what I am going to talk about is a collection of miscellaneous differences between Classical and Modern Persian usages which are hard to categorise. The words and grammatical points addressed in this post can sometimes be confusing to learners of Persian, who do not necessarily learn them
Although formal Tajik and formal Iranian are largely identical in terms of vocabulary, many differences exist in everyday words. To go through every difference would be out of the scope of this blog post, so this week we will learn about some of the most basic and interesting differences which will help you communicate more
In my last blog post, I briefly mentioned that the Classical Persian را/rā is different from the Modern Persian را/rā, in that its function as a dative marker has largely disappeared in the latter except in some instances. In Modern Persian, را/rā is primarily an accusative marker, which signals the direct object when it is definite. As a revision, compare the two
As last week Persian speakers around the world celebrated the works of Ferdowsi, and marked 1000 years since his death, our blogger Iskandar is back to guide us through some of the quirks of reading Classical Persian literature. One of the great joys of learning Persian is that very old literature, going back much further
Tajik Persian has a few phonetic and phonological idiosyncrasies which speakers and learners of Iranian Persian may not be immediately used to. In this post I will talk about some of the main differences. Bear in mind, however, that Tajik Persian, like Persian varieties elsewhere, is not ‘one language’, but consists of many regional dialects/accents.
Not many learners of Persian have realised that modern Persian, in fact, currently has two official alphabets – the Perso-Arabic one many are familiar with, and the Cyrillic, used to write Tajik. The debate on whether Tajik is a separate language from Persian is a socio-political one and has drawn much controversy both within Tajikistan
The eternal verses of great Persian poets, such as Rudaki, Ferdowsi, Khayyam, Mowlana, Sa’di, Hafez… were composed across the Persian-speaking world and are still celebrated by the Persian-speaking world, transcending modern borders. Most Persian learners have heard their poems recited and made into music in the Iranian context, but have not heard interpretations from outside
We’re delighted to introduce our first in a series of blogs from Iskandar Ding, a multi-linguist who, among many other things, is a post-graduate student in Iranian Studies at SOAS, University of London. Iskandar will be considering aspects of Persian language and culture across its vast area of influence, both present and historical. Some posts, like
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