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This article contains Persian text, written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters written left-to-right, instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Persian script.

Middle Persian, sometimes referred to as Pahlavi or Pehlevi,^[1] is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times (224-654 CE) became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well. Middle Persian is classified as a Western Iranian language. It descends from Old Persian and is the linguistic ancestor of Persian.

The native name for Middle Persian (and perhaps for Old Persian also) was Pārsīk, "(language) of Pārs", present-day Fārs Province. The word is consequently (the origin of) the native name for the Modern Persian language.

Middle Persian was most frequently written in the Pahlavi writing system,^[2] which was also the preferred writing system for other Middle Iranian languages. Other forms of written Middle Persian include Pazend, a system derived from Avestan that, unlike Pahlavi, indicated vowels and did not employ Aramaic logograms. The ISO 639 language code for Middle Persian is 'pal', which reflects the post-Sassanid-era use of the term Pahlavi to refer to the language and not only the script.

Transition from Old Persian[link]

In the classification of the Iranian languages, the Middle Period includes those languages which were common in Iran from the fall of the Achaemenids in the 4th century BCE up to the fall of the Sassanids in the 7th century CE.

The most important and distinct development in the structure of Iranian languages of this period is the transformation from the synthetic form of the Old Period (Old Persian and Avestan) to an analytic form:

• nouns, pronouns, and adjectives lost their case inflections
• prepositions were used to indicate the different roles of words.
• many tenses began to be formed from a composite form

Transition to New Persian[link]

The modern-day descendant of Middle Persian is New Persian. The changes between late Middle and Early New Persian were very gradual, and in the 10th-11th centuries, Middle Persian texts were still intelligible to speakers of Early New Persian. However, there are definite differences that had taken place already by the 10th century:

• Sound changes, such as
  • the dropping of unstressed initial vowels
  • the epenthesis of vowels in initial consonant clusters
  • the loss of -g when word final
  • change of initial w- to either b- or (gw- → g-)
• Changes in the verbal system, notably the loss of distinctive subjunctive and optative forms, and the increasing use of verbal prefixes to express verbal moods
• Changes in the vocabulary, especially the substitution of a large number of Arabic loanwords for words of native origin
• The substitution of Arabic script for Pahlavi script.

Surviving literature[link]

Pahlavi Middle Persian is the language of quite a large body of Zoroastrian literature which details the traditions and prescriptions of the Zoroastrian religion, which was the state religion of Sassanid Iran (224 to ca. 650) before Iran was invaded by the Arab armies that spread Islam. The earliest texts in Zoroastrian Middle Persian were probably written down in late Sassanid times (6th-7th centuries), although they represent the codification of earlier oral tradition.^[3] However, most texts, including the translated versions of the Zoroastrian canon, date from the 9th to the 11th century, when Middle Persian had long ceased to be a spoken language, so they reflect the state of affairs in living Middle Persian only indirectly. The surviving manuscripts are usually 14th-century copies.^[1] Other, less abundantly attested varieties are Manichaean Middle Persian, used for a sizable amount of Manichaean religious writings, including many theological texts, homilies and hymns (3rd - 9th, possibly 13th century), and the Middle Persian of Nestorian Christians, evidenced in the Pahlavi Psalter (7th century); these were used until the beginning of the second millennium in many places in Central Asia, including Turfan and even localities in Southern India.^[4] All three differ minimally from one another and indeed the less ambiguous and archaizing scripts of the latter two have helped to elucidate some aspects of the Sassanian-era pronunciation of the former.^[5]

Samples[link]

Below is transliteration and translation of the first page of the facsimile known as Arda Wiraz Namag or The Book of the Righteous Wiraz, originally written in Pahlavi script.^[6]

A sample Middle Persian poem from manuscript of Jamasp Asana:

In New Persian:

Translation:

See also[link]

• Avestan language
• Old Persian language
• Parthian Language
• Persian Language
• History of Persian language
• Pahlavi Literature
• Iranian Languages vocabulary comparison table

References and bibliography[link]

• Lessons in Pahlavi-Pazend by S.D.Bharuchī and E.S.D.Bharucha (1908) at the Internet Archive - Part 1 and 2
• Middle Persian texts on TITUS
• Scholar Raham Asha's website, including many Middle Persian texts in original and translation
• An organization promoting the revival of Middle Persian as a literary and spoken language (contains a grammar and lessons)
• Edward Thomas (1868). Early Sassanian inscriptions, seals and coins. Trübner. pp. 137. http://books.google.com/books?id=RV8-AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2011-07-05. 
• Edward Thomas (1868). Early Sassanian inscriptions, seals and coins. Trübner. pp. 137. http://books.google.com/books?id=iQ0YAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2011-07-05. 

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Max Amini (born in Tucson, Arizona) is an American comedian of Iranian descent. He graduated from UCLA Acting Program in 2004.^[1] He speaks fluent Persian and conversational Arabic.^[2]

Stand-up Comedy[link]

Primarily a stand-up comedian, Max regularly performs at Comedy Store and Laugh Factory in Los Angeles when not performing shows around the world. He started a stand-up comedy show, named "Exotic Imports", featuring second-generation Americans coming from diverse cultural backgrounds.^[3] He was recently chosen as one of the finalists for NBC's Diversity Showcase, and finished taping his first special on Showtime on December 12, 2009.^[4] In 2012 he was chosen for the CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase, a known career launching point for many of the shows alum. Max currently tours throughout the world doing Comedy shows, recently performing in Canada, the UK, Dubai, Germany,Australia and throughout the United States.

Acting[link]

He’s an actor with numerous film and TV credits including NBC’s Heroes, Comedy Central's Mind of Mencia, and his leading role in the upcoming movie How Beer Pong Saved my Life, released in 2010.^{[4][5][dated info]}

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site

Medwyn 'Jack' Goodall (born in 1961) is a composer and musician mostly associated with the New Age genre. He was born in Yorkshire, England. He lives with his wife Wendy in Cornwall, England. According to Allmusic, "Goodall began composing original songs as a teen, earning local notoriety with his band Trax; in the years to follow, he learned to play a vast range of instruments, including mandolin, piano, drums, harp, flute, glockenspiel, panpipes, vibraphone and synthesizer, and cut his first album at age 26".^[1] He is a prolific recorder, having recorded over 75 albums. He also topped the UK music charts twice and sold over three million albums.^[2] His first album was Emergence (1987), published by New World Music.^[3] His early albums were published also by Oreade Music. Medwyn Goodall recently started MG Music,^[4] a record label which specializes in New Age music.

He produced albums on which he arranged, performed, mixed and mastered every song, although his album, Om (2006), was produced together with Terry Oldfield and Om2 (2010), was produced together with Aroshanti. There is an updated list of his albums at MG Music^[4] and at All Music^[3] web sites.

Many of Goodall's recent releases have been under the alias Midori. He explains that he chose this alias so he "could record projects that were more ethnic, eastern, or produced for the healing arts" without confusing fans of his other music. ^[5] However, there are also other musical artists using or known by the name Midori (such as the jazz-punk combo Midori and the Japanese violinist Midori Goto).

One of Goodall's tracks, "Free Spirit" from his album Meditations and Visualisations (2001) features the same Spectrasonics "Distorted Reality" sample featured in the "Summer Forest" music in the video game Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, as composed by Stewart Copeland.

Discography[link]

Until April 2012, about 110 studio albums were released by Medwyn Goodall by various music companies. The list below does not contain albums released under the name Midori, Medwyn Goodall's alias for healing music.

Studio Albums[link]

• 1986 – Emergence
• 1987 – Innocence
• 1988 – Kindred Spirits
• 1988 – Paradise Moon
• 1988 – In the Stillness of a Moment
• 1989 – Angel Sleep
• 1989 – Gifts of Comfort and Joy
• 1990 – The Druid Trilogy Volume 1: Druid
• 1990 – The Druid Trilogy Volume 2: Merlin
• 1990 – The Druid Trilogy Volume 3: Excalibur
• 1991 – Medicine Woman
• 1991 – Earth Healer
• 1992 – Great Spirit
• 1992 – The Way of the Dolphin
• 1992 – Kingdom of the Sun God
• 1993 – Eagle Spirit
• 1993 – Coral Sand
• 1993 – Antarctica, The Last Wilderness
• 1993 – Leo, 24 July – 23 August
• 1994 – Four Horsemen, The Waves of Ascension
• 1994 – Return To Eden, Part 2 of the Waves of Ascension Trilogy
• 1994 – Alpha & Omega, Part 3 of the Ascension Trilogy
• 1994 – Siesta
• 1994 – Golden Dreams, Forever
• 1994 – Nazca, Land of the Incas
• 1994 – Green Dream, Chill Out 1
• 1995 – Purple Dream, Chill Out 2
• 1995 – Where Angels Tread
• 1995 – Guardian Spirit
• 1995 – Neptune, God of the Oceans
• 1996 – The Arthurian Collection 1: The Grail Quest (The Grail Quest)
• 1996 – The Arthurian Collection 2: The Gift of Excalibur (The Gift of Excalibur)
• 1996 – The Arthurian Collection 3: Fair Queen Guinevere (Guinevere)
• 1995 – The Arthurian Collection 4: Tintagel, Castle Of Arthur (Tintagel)
• 1996 – The Arthurian Collection 5: The Round Table (The Round Table)
• 1995 – Moon Goddess
• 1996 – Priestess, Return to Atlantis
• 1996 – Winds Across the Pacific
• 1996 – Alcazar, Flame of Passion
• 1996 – Spirit of Christmas
• 1996 – Shoshone Dream
• 1996 – King Shaman: Rhythms of the World
• 1997 – Ancient Nazca: Inca Mysteries
• 1997 – The Dolphin Quest
• 1997 – Clan: A Celtic Journey
• 1997 – The Way of the Ocean
• 1997 – A Christmas Tapestry
• 1997 – Goddess from the Sea (remastered version of Neptune, God of the Oceans)
• 1998 – Medicine Woman II: The Gift
• 1999 – Comet
• 1999 – Millennium
• 1999 – The Scroll: Part II of the Clan Trilogy
• 2000 – Essence of Magic
• 2000 – Timeless
• 2000 – Lightstream
• 2000 – Sacred Medicine
• 2000 – Dragon’s Keep
• 2000 – Natrual Sounds With Music: Water
• 2000 – Natrual Sounds With Music: Island
• 2001 – Natrual Sounds With Music: Birds
• 2001 – Natrual Sounds With Music: Farm
• 2001 – Snows of Kilimanjaro
• 2001 – Anam Cara
• 2001 – Earth Love
• 2001 – Medwyn Goodall's Seasons: Autumn
• 2001 – Medwyn Goodall's Seasons: Spring
• 2001 – Medwyn Goodall's Seasons: Summer
• 2001 – Medwyn Goodall's Seasons: Winter
• 2001 – Natural Balance: English Summer
• 2001 – Natural Balance: April Showers
• 2001 – Natural Balance: Calm Ocean
• 2007 – Natural Balance: Call of the Colphin
• 2002 – Rhythm of the Ancients
• 2003 – Chronicles: An Epic Tale in Music
• 2003 – Medicine Woman III: The Rising
• 2003 – Classics for Healing
• 2004 – Classics for Tranquillity
• 2004 – Classics for Creativity
• 2004 – Eye of the Wolf
• 2004 – The Dragon’s Breath (re-release of Dragon’s Keep)
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 1: Movement
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 2: Stillness
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 4: Expression
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 5: Overdub
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 6: Christmas
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 7: Elizabethan Weddings 1
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 8: Celtic
• 2004 – Land of the Inca
• 2005 – Tribal Nation
• 2005 – OM
• 2005 – The Sorcerer’s Daughter
• 2006 – Earth Goddess (same as Island Bliss)
• 2006 – Life Style Series Music For Crystal Healing
• 2006 – Life Style Series Music For The Dolphin Experience
• 2006 – Life Style Series Music For Healing
• 2006 – Life Style Series Music For Perfect Sleep
• 2006 – Life Style Series Music For Aromatherapy & Massage
• 2006 – Medwyn’s Cornwall
• 2008 – Serve Chilled (with Tim Rock)
• 2008 – Amun Ra
• 2008 – Origins
• 2009 – Medicine Woman IV: Prophecy 2012
• 2009 – OM 2
• 2009 – Druid II
• 2010 – Clan III: The Lands Beyond
• 2011 – With Every Breath (with Aroshanti)
• 2011 – Tears of the Dragon
• 2011 – Knight
• 2012 – Earth Healer 2

Compilations[link]

• 1995 – Pagan Dawn
• 1997 – All Good Things
• 1997 – Visions
• 1999 – The Best of Medwyn Goodall
• 2004 – King Arthur (3-CD box set)
• 2004 – Momentum (1990-2004)
• 2009 – 25th Anniversary Best Of

Remaster / Re-release[link]

• The Arthurian Collection (remastered version of the original five titles)
• Goddess from the Sea (remastered version of Neptune, God of the Oceans)
• The Dragon’s Breath (re-release of Dragon’s Keep)

Miscellaneous[link]

• Autobiography – No Strings Attached
• DVD – Dolphins And Sea
• DVD – Medwyn Goodall’s Natural World
• DVD – Native Spirit

References[link]

Maz Jobrani
Maz Jobrani, May 2007
Born	(1972-02-26) February 26, 1972 (age 40) Tehran, Iran
Medium	Stand-up
Nationality	Iranian
Genres	Observational comedy, Satire
Subject(s)	Racism/Race relations, Islamophobia, Muslim-Americans, Iranian Americans
Website	mazjobrani.com

Maziar “Maz” Jobrani (Persian: مازیار جبرانی‎; born February 26, 1972) is an Iranian-born American comedian who is part of the "Axis of Evil" comedy group. The group appeared on a comedy special on Comedy Central.^[1] Jobrani has also appeared in numerous films, television shows, including Better Off Ted, on radio, and in comedy clubs. His filmography includes roles in The Interpreter, Friday After Next, and Dragonfly.

Life and career[link]

Born in Tehran, Iran,^[2] Jobrani and his parents moved to California when he was six years old.^[3] He was raised in Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay area. He attended Redwood High School in Larkspur. Jobrani studied political science and Italian at UC Berkeley, where he received a B.A. degree. He was enrolled in a Ph.D. program at UCLA when he decided to pursue his childhood dream of acting and performing comedy.^[4]

He has since made appearances on shows like The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Talkshow with Spike Feresten, and regularly performs at top comedy clubs (in California and New York) such as The Comedy Store. He made an appearance as a dental patient on an episode of Still Standing, in the pilot episodes of Better Off Ted, The Knights of Prosperity, and on an episode of Cedric the Entertainer Presents. He also made an appearance in 13 Going on 30. Jobrani will play Mohammed Jazeyeri in the upcoming ABC sitcom Funny in Farsi, based on the book of the same name.^[5] He has toured with the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. He provided the voice of Ahmed Farahnakian in the audiobook version of World War Z. Jobrani has written a movie with a friend called Jimmy Vestvood: American Hero.^[6]

Jobrani's jokes focuses on race, while outwardly poking fun at his own ethnic group, Iranians.

He is married to an Indian-American woman, an attorney.^[3] They reside in California.

Jobrani has been a cultural ambassador with the Levantine Cultural Center in Los Angeles since 2005. He served as the presenter for a joint public program with the Levantine Cultural Center and PEN USA in September 2005, "Strange Times My Dear", which celebrated Iran and freedom of expression. In November 2009, Jobrani moderated a public forum for the Levantine Cultural Center, "Dismantling the Axis of Evil," which included on the panel comedian/actor Ahmed Ahmed, author and Islamic scholar Reza Aslan, actor and activist Shiva Rose, and author/attorney John Tehranian. On December 1, 2010, Jobrani performed at the Levantine Cultural Center's 9th Anniversary event, the East-West Awards, where Jodie Evans of CODEPINK: Women for Peace, Roxana Saberi, and Bana Hilal all received awards.

He makes occasional appearances on NPR's news quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

See also[link]

• Iranian stand-up comedy
• Axis of Evil Comedy Tour

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Bakshi, Amar (2007). "Maz Jobrani and Jack Bauer in How the World Sees America". Washington Post/Newsweek. http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/america/2007/08/jack_bauer.html. Retrieved 8 January 2011. 
• Interview and photos
• Maz Jobrani speaks out about Democracy for Iranians
• Interview with SanDiego.com, 2/14/2011

External links[link]

• Official website
• Maz Jobrani at the Internet Movie Database
• Official page at MySpace

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2010)

Siavash Ghomayshi (Persian: سیاوش قمیشی ‎, born 1945 in Dezful, Khuzestan, Iran) is an Iranian musician, singer and song writer.

Siavash studied music in London where he got his Master's degree. He left Iran after 1979 and now lives in Los Angeles.

Biography[link]

Siavash Ghomayshi was born in Dezful in 1945. He started his career as a composer when he was just 14. Siavash holds a Master's degree in classical jazz from Royal Society of Arts in London, England,^[1] where he majored in pop music. He worked with some popular bands in England such as the Rebels and the Insects as a pianist and singer. When he returned to Iran at the age of 25, he started his career mainly as a composer. Ghomayshi has created numerous melodies and lyrics for famous Persian artists such as Ebi, Dariush, Sattar, Mansour, Leila Forouhar, Aref, Firoozeh and many more. Ghomayshi wrote his first song, called "Ghayeghran" ("Boatman") for Zia when he was 13. Although initially considered a composer, in the latter years of the Pahlavi regime (before the 1979 Islamic Revolution) he released his first album, and has since continued his work as a singer, composer, arranger, and lyricist. In 1972 he released his first album, Farangis, in Iran. He lived in Iran until the age of 25, then, given the uncertain status of those involved in the music business following the Islamic revolution of Iran, decided to leave the country once again to pursue his career, this time his destination was the United States. In recent years Siavash Ghomayshi has explored electronic music as well such experimentation has introduced new elements into his music and the whole Iranian pop music, He is known as the father of trance music in Iran. Among the 18 albums Ghomayshi has recorded to date, Ragbaar, Rooz-haye Bi-Khatereh (Days with No Memories), Bi Sarzamin-tar az Baad (landless than the Wind), Taak (The Vine), and last but certainly not least Yadegari ("Momento") (2011) have been among his most successful. Because of the popularity of Siavash's voice among young generation, in recent years many singers inside Iran tried to sing in the same way as he does.

Although his albums may be considered largely non-political, he expresses a longing for his home country. Ghomayshi has also had significant involvement in albums released by various musical compatriots, especially Leila Forouhar's "The Story of Yours, The Story of Mine" and Ebi's best albums "Setarehaye Sorbi (1995) and Shab-e-Niloufari (2003)", which attracted a lot of attention. His music can be considered as Persian-language pop/rock, in contrast to the vocal stylings most often associated with adult contemporary singers.

In 2011 in an interview with teamghomayshi.com he stated that he does not believe in life after death, also saying that Yadegari ("Memento") (2011) would most probably be his last album, but to let his fans enjoy his music and his unique styles, he will be releasing singles.

Discography[link]

• Farangis (1977)
• Khab-e Baroon ("Dreaming of the Rain") (1982)
• Hekayat ("Anecdote") (1992)
• Taak ("Vine") (1993)
• Ghesse-ye Gol o Tagarg ("The Story of the Flower and the Hailstone") (1994)
• Shahr-e Khorshid ("City of the Sun")(1995) (Instrumental)
• Hava-ye Khaneh ("Nostalgic") (1996)
• Ghesse-ye Amir ("Story of the Prince") or ("Amir's Story") (1997)
• Ghabe Shishehi ("Glass Frame") (1998)
• Shokoofe-haye Kaviri ("Blossoms of the Desert") (2000)
• Hadeseh ("Incident") (2001)
• Neghaab ("Mask") (2002)
• Bi-Sarzamin-tar Az Baad ("More Homeless than The Wind") (2004)
• Rooz-haye Bi-Khatereh ("Days with No Memories") (2005)
• Ghoroub ta Tolou ("Sunset to Sunrise") (2007) (Remix)
• Ragbaar ("Rain Shower") (2008)
• Rafigh Single (Buddy) (2009)
• Yadegari ("Momento") (2011)
• Baazi Single (‎‏"‏The Game‏"‏‎)‎‏ ‏‎ (2011)
• Tekrar Single ("Repeat") ‏‎ (2012)

References[link]

khabe baroon (1982) date relessed >>> (1992) Teamghomayshi.com radiojavan.com

External links[link]

• Siavash Ghomayshi's official website
• First Ghomayshi Lover Forum
• Team Ghomayshi official