at launch · Language · fa · Iranian, Southwestern
Persian (Farsi)
فارسی · Arab script, written right to left. Spoken in Throughout Iran; the language of the state and of the wider diaspora.
iranians.global×This variety
fa · Arab · right to left · at launch
Language · fa · Iranian, Southwestern · at launch
Persian (Farsi)
فارسی · Arab script, written right to left. Spoken in Throughout Iran; the language of the state and of the wider diaspora.
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On the mapWhere spokenrecordedCourses16
Now
Academy126 courses, 126 open for enrolmentCivic3 campaigns, 5 programmesHeritage116 days to keep, 40 chronology entriesNews88 approved sources, no confirmed events yetChaptersforming. None is recognised yet
ScriptArabright to leftat launch
Record
faفارسیPersian (Farsi) · Arab
- Code
- fa
- Family
- Iranian, Southwestern
- Where
- Throughout Iran; the language of the state and of the wider diaspora
- Phase
- at launch
- Coverage
- not yet measured
Codes are BCP 47 language and script subtags.
Courses that teach it
16 in the cataloguePersian script and reading (ZWNJ, nasta'liq)IDCDC-PER-01 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenPersian A1IDCDC-PER-02 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenPersian A2 to B1IDCDC-PER-03 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenPersian B2 to C1IDCDC-PER-04 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenPersian through poetryIDCDC-PER-05 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenPersian for interpreters (medical, legal)IDCDC-PER-06 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenPersian language 101IDCDC-PER-09 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenJudeo-Persian heritageIDCDC-LNG-08 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenIslamic Iran and the Persian renaissanceIDCDC-HIS-03 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenThe Persianate worldIDCDC-HIS-12 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenModern Persian literatureIDCDC-LIT-05 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenPersian literature and poetry 101IDCDC-LIT-08 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenPersian paintingIDCDC-ART-04 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenPersian cuisine and its regionsIDCDC-FOD-01 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenIntergenerational dialogueIDCDC-WEL-02 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenCaring for elders abroadIDCDC-WEL-03 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
OpenCourses from the Academy catalogue; a course opens for enrolment one by one after review.
Translate as a task
coverage per page, from NXS TranslateA page you translate here is a task in a language course. The translation service is not open yet. Coverage shows when it opens.
Writing
1 scriptIts own names
فارسیfārsī
right to leftScripts
- Perso-Arabic script with پ چ ژ گ; ZWNJ (U+200C); Persian digits; nasta'liq tradition
From one script to another
Persian to Latin, ALA-LC (2012)Letter by letter. Short vowels are not written in Persian, so a full romanisation needs them supplied from a dictionary. و and ی are read as consonants at the start of a word or beside a vowel letter, otherwise as long vowels.
Persian orthography (Dastur-e khatt-e fārsi)Academy of Persian Language and Literature
to verifyNames in the language's own writing; each sample keeps its direction.
Resources
10 resourcesLoghatnameh Dehkhoda (the Dehkhoda dictionary)dictionary · Dehkhoda Lexicon Institute, University of Tehran · link not checked
to verifyA Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary (Steingass, 1892)dictionary · Digital Dictionaries of South Asia, University of Chicago · checked 2026-10-23
verifiedApproved terms (Farhang-e vāzhe-hā-ye moṣavvab)terminology · Academy of Persian Language and Literature · link not checked
to verifyUniversal Dependencies: Persian Seraji treebankcorpus · Universal Dependencies · checked 2026-10-23
verifiedDigital librarylibrary · National Library and Archives of Iran · link not checked
to verifyEncyclopaedia Iranicareference · Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University · link not checked
to verifyBBC Persianmedia · BBC World Service (United Kingdom) · checked 2026-10-23 · Public broadcaster.
verifiedDW Persianmedia · Deutsche Welle (Germany) · checked 2026-10-23 · Public broadcaster.
verifiedRadio Fardamedia · Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (United States) · checked 2026-10-23 · Publicly funded broadcaster.
verifiedGlottolog: Western Farsireference · Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology · checked 2026-10-23
verifiedEach resource shows whether its link was checked. A resource without a checked link is labelled to verify.
Linguistics
family, dialects, sounds and standing- Family
- Indo-European, then Classical Indo-European, then Indo-Iranian, then Iranian-Nuristani, then Iranian, then Southwestern Iranian, then Middle-Modern Persian, then Modern Southwestern Iranian, then Farsic-Caucasian Tat, then Farsic
- Codes
- ISO 639-3 pes · macrolanguage fas · Glottolog west2369
- Dialects
- Western Farsi: Central Persian, Eastern Persian, Northern Persian, Southern Persian (63 listed in all)
- Standing
- Western Farsi: not endangered (1 (National)) secondary
- Sounds
- 23 consonants and 6 vowels, after Majidi and Ternes 1991 · the inventory verified
b d d̠ʒ f ɡ ɣ h j kʰ l m n pʰ r s ʃ tʰ t̠ʃ v x z ʒ ʔ æ ɒ e i o u
Farsic
Verify, add a source or report
Grammar in short
- Word order is usually subject, object, verb.
- Nouns have no grammatical gender.
- The ezafe vowel -e links a noun to the words that describe it, as in ketāb-e man, my book.
- A definite direct object takes rā after it.
- The verb agrees with the subject in person and number. Subject pronouns are often left out.
- The prefix mi- marks ongoing or habitual action. The prefix be- marks the subjunctive and the imperative.
to verify · Windfuhr (ed.). The Iranian Languages. Routledge.
Persian or Farsi
Speakers call the language fārsī. In English, ISO 639 and most libraries name it Persian. Farsi is also common in English, mostly for the language of Iran.
to verify · ISO 639-3 code tables. SIL International, registration authority.; Library of Congress. ALA-LC Romanization Tables: Persian, 2012 version.
One language, three standards
Persian of Iran, Dari of Afghanistan and Tajik of Tajikistan are mutually intelligible in their standard forms. Many linguists treat them as one pluricentric language. Glottolog and ISO 639-3 list them as three languages (pes, prs, tgk), and each state names its own standard.
to verify · Hammarström, Forkel, Haspelmath and Bank. Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.; Perry. A Tajik Persian Reference Grammar. Brill.; Windfuhr (ed.). The Iranian Languages. Routledge.
In law
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Article 15) makes Persian the official language and script. It allows regional and tribal languages in the press and media, and the teaching of their literature in schools, alongside Persian.Constitute Project. Constitutions of the world, English translations.
verifiedSpeakers
unknown
- Measure
- speakers
- Year
- not recorded
- Source
- No source yet. We show unknown, not a guess.
- Status
- unknown
Verify, add a source or report
No speaker figure has been verified for this platform yet. It stays unknown until a census or survey figure is checked with its measure, year and source.
Classification and standing from the sources named on each line. Where views differ, each view is shown with its sources.
Learn
7 courses1
Persian script and reading (ZWNJ, nasta'liq)IDCDC-PER-01 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
2
Persian A1IDCDC-PER-02 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
3
Persian A2 to B1IDCDC-PER-03 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
4
Persian B2 to C1IDCDC-PER-04 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
5
Persian through poetryIDCDC-PER-05 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
6
Persian for interpreters (medical, legal)IDCDC-PER-06 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
7
Saturday-school teacher trainingIDCDC-PER-08 · Open for enrolment on study.iranians.global
A course opens after its outline is reviewed. Until then it is listed with its state.
Key
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- unknownNo source yet. We show unknown, not a guess.
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