Can Persian speakers from different countries understand one another? The simple answer is yes. However, there are differences, which exist in each country, and even within regions of those countries. In this episode we touch on some of the differences in the way Persian is spoken in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Iran. A huge thanks to the participants, Hakim, Omid, Niloufar, and Mahtab, as well as my friend, Alisher for his assistance. As mentioned in the video, there are other major Persian speaking communities in the world, but these three countries are the ones that have Persian as an official language. The history of the Persian nation extends far beyond the boundaries of the three aforementioned countries. For instance, in the modern-day country of Uzbekistan, Persian speakers are the largest part of the population of the ancient cities of Bukhara and Samarkand. So many of the greatest Persian scientists and achievers who are often said to have been from Uzbekistan were in fact Tajik, if we are to use the terminology, instead of saying they were Persian. This video goes much deeper than just languages! We briefly talk about on the shared culture exists between Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran. The common culture, history and language of these nations go back thousands of years. There are many pre-Islamic festivals and cultural traditions with Zoroastrian roots that bond the Persian speaking world, such as Nowruz and Yalda, the many customs that come with them, and the way they are celebrated. This video is also important for those who always use the terms “Persian” and “Iranian” interchangeably without understanding that there is a difference! Iranian, in a modern sense, is often used to refer to those who are citizens or descendants of citizens of present-day country of Iran. While the majority of Iranian citizens are Persian, a huge portion of Iranian citizens are not. Meanwhile, there are millions of Persians who are from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and many other countries. The evolution of the Persian Language can be broken up into 3 major periods, from Old Persian (525 BCE – 300 BCE), to Middle Persian (300 BCE – 800 CE), to Modern Persian (800 CE – Present). The modern Persian language is a continuation of Middle Persian, which is a continuation of Old Persian, which together are the linguistic ancestors of Modern Persian. The early Islamic conquests in the 7th century led not only to the expansion of Islam, but also that of Arabic culture and language. As a result, many historically non-Arab regions witnessed a major language shift and the eventual adoption of the Arabic language and even Arab culture, Arab identity. However, the Persian language was the first to break through Arabic's monopoly, and it even began to influence Arabic. In the 9th century, the Tahirid dynasty, despite being highly influenced by Arabs, tolerated the Persian language and culture and didn’t take an anti-Persian stance initiating a shift in the emergence of Persian culture and language. However, the major renaissance of Persian literature would come after the fall of the Tahirid Empire under the Saffarid dynasty along with a group of other Persian dynasties that would go on to rule the region in the following centuries. Under the rule of the Saffarid dynasty many Persian poets and works of literature emerged. It is in this time period that we gradually move into what is Modern Persian.The importance that these Iranian empires placed on the Persian culture in the post-Islamic conquests era, led to major rise of the prominence of the Persian language and culture, and the creation of Persianate culture and identity that led to the Iranian speech and traditions influencing a major part of the Islamic world, including many pre-Islamic Persian traditions and cultural aspects. It also led to the formation of the Turko-Persian culture. One of the empires in this period were the Samanids (Samanian) which in its greatest extend encompassed all or large parts of today’s Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan. They greatly promoted Persian culture in the lands they ruled, leading to the rise of numerous Persian scientists, poets, mathematicians, philosophers and thinkers. As mentioned in the video, here is video we made discussing Nowruz and Haft Seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgOccOzR5bY Here is the link to Niloufar’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZHN38-hiDDJLnpSNGcoLCA Once again, if you live in Toronto or the surrounding areas, speak a language that has not been featured on our channel and would like to participate in a future video, and/or if you have any suggestions or feedback, please contact us on Instagram: Shahrzad (@shahrzad.pe): https://www.instagram.com/shahrzad.pe Bahador (@BahadorAlast): https://www.instagram.com/BahadorAlast

• published: 11 Apr 2019
• views: 239169