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Persian means of, from, or related to Iran (Persia). See:
Some Persians like to eat glass and play with real live ducks. They also like to make wooden sculptures of geese and frogs.
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Persian is an ancient language of Indo-European family. You can find many grammatical similarities between Persian and the other languages of this family. However, Persian is similar more to its coeval languages like Latin than to relatively newer languages. For instance, both Latin and Persian have a SOV word order (they both have free word order, though), which is uncommon among most modern European languages (even the descendants of Latin).
Today, Persian is mainly spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Bahrain. It has official status in the first three countries but was once the official, court, or literary language of many more places ranging from Turkey through India. At this time, many Persian poets emerged from Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and the regions under the control of Ottoman Empire. It is still appreciated as a literary and prestigious language among the educated elite. Many people in Iran and neighboring countries know Persian fluently even though it's not their mother tongue. It's because Iran (formerly "Persia" until 1935) was historically much bigger before losing many territories, especially to its neighbor Russia (for more information, see Wikipedia: Greater Iran). After the 1979 revolution, many Iranians migrated to the West and as a result, there are numerous Persian-speaking communities throughout the world, particularly in USA. Persian is the second language of Islam so in many Islamic countries you can find someone knowing Persian.
The local name of the language is Farsi (officially, Fârsiyè Dari (Dari Persian), which means "Official/Court Persian"). The word Farsi has also entered English mainly because West-migrated Iranians didn't know about the native English name of their language (i.e. Persian) and began to use Farsi, which still prevails although somewhat decreased. Persian has three main dialects: Iranian Persian, Afghanistani Persian and Tajikistani Persian. They are all mutually intelligible and the written language is literally the same.
Note - The contents of this page are written in bookish Persian so that you can use them not only in Iran but also in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and other countries. Nevertheless, this page is centered on Iranian Persian; Afghanistani Persian and Tajikistani Persian should have their own pages for a closer coverage.
The Persian writing system derives from that of Arabic, extended with four letters to denote the sounds not found in Arabic. Persian writing system is not an alphabet but an abjad. An abjad has only characters for denoting consonant sounds. Vowels have no specific character; they are indicated either by certain diacritics or by certain consonant characters. Additionally, most letters change shape when they are followed by another letter.
| Transcription | IPA | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| a | æ | as a in ant |
| â | ɒː | as aw in law |
| e | e | as e in egg |
| i | iː | as ea in eagle |
| o | o | as o in hot |
| u | uː | as u in flute |
| ow | oʊ | as ow in American English |
| ey | eɪ | as ey in they |
Regarding their indication in the Persian script:
| Character | Transcription | IPA | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا |
|
||
| آ | â | ɒː | as o in hot |
| ب | b | b | as in bob |
| پ | p | p | as in put |
| ت | t | t | as in tea |
| ث | s | s | as in sad |
| ج | j | dʒ | as in job |
| چ | ch | tʃ | as in cheese |
| ح | h | h | as in head |
| خ | x | x | as ch in Scottish loch, German Buch |
| ر | r | r | similar to r in Spanish reloj |
| ز | z | z | as in zoo |
| ژ | ž | ʒ | as s in vision, pleasure, French j in jardin |
| س | s | s | as in sad |
| ش | š | ʃ | as in sheet |
| ص | s | s | as in sad |
| ض | z | z | as in zoo |
| ط | t | t | as in tea |
| ظ | z | z | as in zoo |
| ع | ø | ʔ | glottal stop |
| غ | q | ɣ | similar to r in French écrire, German schreiben |
| ف | f | f | as in feet |
| ق | q | ɣ | similar to r in French écrire, German schreiben |
| ک | k | k | as in keep |
| گ | g | g | as in go |
| ل | l | l | as in leave |
| م | m | m | as in moon |
| ن | n | n | as in noon |
| و | v | v | as in van; also used to denote some vowel sounds |
| ی | y | j | as in yet; also used to denote some vowel sounds |
| ه | h | h | as in head |
As you may note, there are characters that denote identical sounds e.g. ظ ,ض, ز are all pronounced z. It's because Persian has preserved the spelling of Arabic loanwords. Each of these characters has distinguished sounds in Arabic but they are all pronounced the same in Persian.
Persian has the following syllable patterns (C = Consonant, V = Vowel):
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| CV | na, to, ke, mâ, xu, si, u |
| CVC | kar, pol, del, kâr, mur, sir, az, in, âb |
| CVCC | kard, goft, zešt, kârd, xošk, rixt, farš, ârd, abr |
These patterns can be encapsulated in CV(C)(C). According to the patterns:
As opposed to English and many other languages, Persian does not allow two or more consonants to begin a syllable. Therefore, loanwords with such a characteristic are always Persianized:
| Word | Persian | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| English: stadium | estâdiyom (øes.tâ.di.yom) | CVC.CV.CV.CVC |
| English: traffic | terâfik (te.râ.fik) | CV.CV.CVC |
| French: class | kelâs (ke.lâs) | CV.CVC |
To help you understand it better, here are some basic words along with their syllabification:
| Word | Syllabification | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| bimârestân | bi.mâ.res.tân | hospital |
| ketâbxâne | ke.tâb.xâ.ne | library |
| dâruxâne | dâ.ru.xâ.ne | drug store |
| širiniforuši | ši.ri.ni.fo.ru.ši | confectionery |
| xiyâbân | xi.yâ.bân | street |
| otobus | øo.to.bus | bus |
| metro | met.ro | subway |
The stress is on the last syllable. However, a few adverbs do not follow this regularity. In addition, Persian has a number of enclitics, which simply put, are unstressed endings (English example: 's in Peter's book). Enclitics do not change the stress position of the word to which they attach. Therefore, the stress position does not shift to the last syllable e.g. pedaram (my father): pe.dar + enclitic -am = pe.da.ram (rather than expected pe.da.ram)
Note - As an aid to beginners, the grave accent can be placed on the first vowel of enclitics to make them distinguishable from suffixes and final letters of words. This method is used here for the genitive enclitic (è / yè), indefinite enclitic (ì / yì) and enclitic form of "and" (ò).
Persian has a relatively easy and mostly regular grammar. Therefore, reading this grammar primer would help you learn much about Persian grammar and understand phrases better. You should also be able to memorize phrases easier.
Persian is a gender-neutral language. Such languages don't differentiate different grammatical genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and have identical pronouns, adjectives, etc. for all of them. For example, Persian has one word for both English "he" and "she", "him" and "her", "his" and "her".
There is no definite article in Persian. A bare noun indicates a definite noun (which includes common and generic nouns) e.g. mâšin dar pârking ast: the car is in the garage (literally: car, in garage, is); az mâr mitarsam: I'm afraid of snakes (literally: from snake fear-I)
Indefiniteness is expressed with the enclitic -ì (or -yì after vowels). It is for both singular and plural nouns. English does not have an exact equivalent for the Persian's plural indefinite article. It's often translated as "some" or "a few" or is simply omitted. The indefinite enclitic is added to the end of the noun phrase: mâšinì (a car, some car), mâšinhâyì (some cars)
Nouns are pluralized with the suffix -hâ. It's the only plural suffix used in spoken Persian. In written Persian, there's another plural suffix -ân (-gân after the vowel e and -yân after other vowels) which can only be used for animates and human beings in particular. It is especially useful to restrict the meaning to human beings. For example:
Arabic loanwords have usually brought their irregular plural forms (technically referred to as "broken plurals") into Persian but they can be avoided and you can use -hâ to pluralize them. In spoken Persian, broken plurals are never used except for very few cases where the broken plural has found an extended meaning. Regarding written Persian of today, the use of broken plurals has greatly decreased and it's prevalent to pluralize words with -hâ.
Note - In Persian, nouns are not pluralized when preceded by numbers because the number itself indicates quantity e.g. yek ketâb (one/a book), do/se/panjâh ketâb (two/three/fifty books).
In Persian, the genitive case relates two or more words to each other. The genitive case is marked with the enclitic -è (or -yè after vowels). The genitive enclitic is added to all the words that are connected to the head word and complement it. Look at the following examples:
| To designate | Persian | English | Template |
|---|---|---|---|
| possession | pedarè Ali | the father of Ali, Ali's father | father-è Ali |
| mâdarè man | my mother | mother-è I | |
| payâmbarè Eslâm | the prophet of Islam | prophet-è Islam | |
| nâmè ketâb | the name of the book, book's name | name-è book | |
| attribute | dustè xub | good friend | friend-è good |
| Âmrikâyè jonubi | South America | America-yè south(ern) | |
| other relations | kešvarè Irân | the country of Iran | country-yè Iran |
| sâlè 2008 | year 2008 | year-è 2008 | |
| bâlâyè miz | above table | top-è table | |
| šomâlè Tehrân | north of Tehran | north-è Tehran |
The accusative case is indicated with the enclitic râ, added to the end of the noun phrase. Despite being an enclitic, it is written apart from the host word in the Persian script. Examples: dar râ bastam (I closed the door), in filmè Hendi râ qablan dide budam (I had already seen this Indian film).
Adjectives have only one form. They agree neither in gender nor in number with the noun they modify. They come after the noun and are related to it with the genitive enclitic: pesarè xub: good boy (template: boy-è good), doxtarhâyè xub: good girls (template: girl-hâ-yè good). As stated before, the indefinite article is added to the end of the noun phrase, so: pesarè xubì (a/some good boy), doxtarhâyè xubì ((some) good girls).
The comparative form of an adjective is always made by adding the comparative suffix -tar to the end of the adjective: bad (bad), badtar (worse); kam (little), kamtar (less); zibâ (beautiful), zibâtar (more beautiful).
The common pattern to compare A with B is: A + comparative + az (from) + B + verb
The superlative form of an adjective is always made by adding the superlative suffix -in to the comparative: bad (bad), badtar (worse), badtarin (the worse). The superlative comes before the noun e.g. behtarin hotel (the best hotel), behtarin hotelè in šahr (the best hotel of this city)
Demonstrative adjectives come before nouns and like other adjectives, they have only one form. In Persian, we don't say "these books" but "this books". The plural form itself indicates that we are pointing to a plural noun. Basic demonstrative adjectives are ân (distal: that, those) and in (proximal: this, these):
A pronoun (pro-noun) substitutes a noun phrase therefore the quantity (singular or plural) must be indicated. Therefore, demonstrative pronouns agree in number with the noun phrase whose place they take: ân (that), ânhâ (those), in (this), inhâ (these).
Demonstrative pronouns are also used as subjective pronouns. For example, the Persian word for "they" is ânhâ. Distal pronouns (ân, ânhâ, hamân, hamânhâ) are either used neutrally (i.e. not denoting distance from the speaker) or natively (i.e. indicating remoteness); but proximal pronouns (in, inhâ, hamin, haminhâ) are always used natively and indicate proximity to the speaker. English doesn't have such a feature.
Personal pronouns have two forms. One is their normal form called free personal pronouns (free in the sense of "not bound, separate") and the other is their enclitic form called bound personal pronouns. Subjective pronouns of English: "I, you, he, she, etc." are analogous to free personal pronouns but English does not have any equivalent for Persian's bound personal pronouns.
Persian has formal and informal 2nd and 3rd person. In addition, people of higher ranks like kings usually use 1st person plural (we) rather than 1st person singular (I). So, plural forms can be considered as polite and formal forms of singulars.
| Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persian | English | French | Persian | English | French | |
| 1st | man | I | je | mâ | we | nous |
| 2nd | to | thou, you (informal) | tu | šomâ | you (formal, singular and plural) you (informal, plural) |
vous |
| 3rd | u | he, she | il, elle | išân | he, she (formal) | il, elle |
| ân | he, she, it | il, elle, ça | ânhâ | they | ils, elles, on | |
In spoken Persian, there is also šomâhâ used as the plural form of both informal and formal "you" (to and šomâ).
Bound personal pronouns have various functions depending on the word class to which they attach. For example, when they are added to the end of a noun (phrase), they express possession e.g. pedaram (my father). We'll learn more about their functions.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | -am | -emân |
| 2nd | -at | -etân |
| 3rd | -aš | -ešân |
Direct object pronouns are simply made by adding the accusative enclitic râ to subjective pronouns e.g. man râ (me), u râ (him, her). man râ has developed a truncated form marâ (omission of n from manrâ), which is usually preferred in bookish Persian.
Although Persian has lost the declination system of Old Persian but it does mark different cases with technically called ad-positions (post/pre-positions). That's why Persian has been able to preserve the free word order feature:
English marks none of these cases. For example, if you change the word order of "the father kissed the daughter" (accusative) to e.g. "the daughter kissed the father", the meaning completely changes. The same applies to "the father helped the daughter" (dative) and "the father asked the daughter" (ablative). As with Latin, by changing the word order, just the emphasis changes and the basic meaning is preserved:
Hence, Persian has three different sets of "object pronouns" as per the case. They are made from the adposition of the case and subjective pronouns e.g. mâ râ busid (s/he kised us, accusative), be mâ komak kard (s/he helped us, dative), az mâ porsid (s/he asked us, ablative).
Persian does not have possessive adjectives as is found in English. In Persian, possession is expressed by adding "bound personal pronouns" to the end of the noun phrase (NP):
Possession can also be expressed using the genitive case and subjective pronouns. This form is usually used for emphasis and doesn't have an equivalent in English:
As for possessive pronouns, they are formed by relating mâl (property) to subjective pronouns with the genitive enclitic e.g. mâlè man (mine), in ketâb mâlè man ast, na mâlè to (this book is mine, not yours)
Learning verb conjugation of Persian is quite easy. The infinitive always ends in -an e.g. budan (to be), dâštan (to have). Each verb has two stems: past and present. The past stem always obtains regularly by removing -an from the infinitive e.g. raftan (to go) = raft. There isn't such a rule for obtaining the present stem of verbs but they can be classified into subgroups whose present stem is obtained according to a regular pattern with no or few exceptions. However, a verb whether regular or irregular has one and only one present stem for all persons. Therefore, as opposed to languages like French, Italian and Spanish, Persian does not have irregular verb conjugations. The past participle forms by replacing the infinitive suffix (-an) with -e. In other words, by adding -e to the past stem e.g. raftan = rafte.
To conjugate verbs in different tenses, conjugative enclitics attach to stems and participles. They only differ in 3rd person singular:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past | Present | Past | Present | |
| 1st | -am | -am | -im | -im |
| 2nd | -i | -i | -id | -id |
| 3rd | - | -ad | -and | -and |
Note - Subjective pronouns (I, you, etc.) are not normally used in Persian because each person has a unique conjugative enclitic, which suffices to indicate the person of the verb. For example, in raftim it is evident that the person of the verb is 1st person plural and therefore, we do not normally say mâ raftim. So, Persian is a "pro-drop" language.
Formula: past stem + past enclitic. Examples:
To negate verbs just add the negation prefix na to the stem: naraftam (I didn't go), nadid (s/he didn't see), nadâštand (they didn't have). The negation prefix take the primary stress.
English does not have a grammatical form that corresponds exactly to this aspect. As an example, in languages having imperfective aspect, "I ran five miles yesterday" would use past simple form, whereas "I ran five miles every morning" would use past imperfective form. Romance languages like French, Spanish and Italian have only one imperfective tense, which from the viewpoint of Persian, is the counterpart of "past simple". In contrast, each "past simple", "present perfect", "past perfect", "present simple", etc. have an imperfective tense that are simply made by prefixing "mi" to the stem or participle (depending on the formation of the tense). None of these imperfective tenses has an equivalent in English, though and Romance languages have only an equivalent for the Persian's past imperfective.
Formula: mi + past simple (i.e. past stem + past enclitic).
The past imperfective is also used in conditional tenses and as with "conditionnel" of French, it is used to make polite expressions (that's why this tense has been mentioned in the primer): yek livân âb mixâstam (French: je voudrais un verre d'eau, English: I'd like a glass of water).
Note - Because of a vowel harmony, the negation prefix "na" becomes "ne" before "mi". Therefore, we say nemiraftam rather than expected namiraftam. However, in Afghanistani and Tajikistani Persian, this change hasn't occurred and they still say namiraftam.
Formula: present stem + present enclitic. Regarding usage, the present imperfective has taken the place of this tense. The only exception is dâštan (to have), which is not normally conjugated in the imperfective aspect due to its meaning ("having" something cannot be "imperfective"; you either "have" or "don't have" something). The present stem of dâštan is dâr. Now, its conjugation: dâram (I have), dâri (you /informal/ have), dârad (s/he has), dârim (we have), dârid (you have), dârand (they have; s/he /formal/ has).
The verb budan (to be) has two forms in present simple:
The free form is usually for emphasis and it is the bound form, which is normally used e.g. xubam (I am fine), xubi? (Are you fine?; used in greetings).
Formula: imperfective prefix mi + present simple (present stem + present enclitic). Present stems are placed within slashes / /.
As you see, although the stem is irregular but the conjugation is still regular.
Persian has a "future simple" tense but it is not used in spoken Persian. In spoken Persian, "future simple" is expressed with present imperfective accompanied by a "future" adverb like fardâ (tomorrow), baødan (later). Example: fardâ sobh be muze miravim (We'll go to the museum tomorrow morning).
An imperfective tense can also express a progressive (continuous) action because a progressive action is incomplete (imperfect). Therefore, for example "minevisam", which is in "present imperfective", besides "I write", can also mean, "I am writing" depending on the context. On this very basis, there is no progressive tense in written Persian but spoken Persian has developed a full set of progressive tenses built upon the imperfetive tenses with the help of the auxiliary dâštan (to have).
Formula: auxiliary dâštan in present simple + verb in present imperfective. Examples: dâram minevisam (I am writing), dârad minevisad (s/he is writing).
Progressive tenses only appear in affirmative sentences and they have no negative form. For negation, the imperfective form of the verb is used. Example: "I'm writing" (dâram minevisam), "I'm not writing" (neminevisam, not: dâram neminevisam).
Formula: past participle + auxiliary budan (to be) in present simple and in its bound form. Examples:
It'd be interesting to speakers of French (and other Romance languages) to know that rafteam is exactly equivalent to "je suis allé" (literally: I'm gone). The difference is that in Persian the auxiliary verb is always "être" (budan) and never "avoir" (dâštan).
As stated before, the negative conjugation is formed with the prefix na: narafteam (I haven't gone).
Formula: past participle + auxiliary budan (to be) in past simple. Examples:
The negative conjugation is formed with the prefix na: narafte budam (I hadn't gone).
As with "present perfect", rafte budam literally means "I was gone". If you consider "gone" as an "adjective" rather than a "past participle", you should be able to understand this construction and its meaning.
Formula: subjunctive prefix be + present simple (present stem + present enclitic). English doesn't practically have any subjunctive tenses and therefore, Persian's subjunctive tenses cannot be exactly translated into English. Therefore, translations are given in French. Examples:
In English we say "I want to go" but in Persian "to go" does not appear in "infinitive" but in present subjunctive: mixâham beravam. We can assume that there is a relative pronoun ke (that) after "I want" that causes the second verb to appear in the subjunctive (similar to French que) i.e. mixâham [ke] beravam (French: je veux qu'aille). In any case, this construction is used very much and you should learn it well. Another example: mitavânam bebinam (I can see).
Note - There are two ways to express "and" in Persian. One is with the enclitic ò (or yò after vowels) and the other is with the word va. The enclitic ò is the common way (and the sole way in spoken Persian).
| # | Persian | # | Persian | # | Persian | # | Persian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | sefr (صفر) | 15 | pânzdah (پانزده) | 66 | šastò šeš (شصت و شش) | 600 | šešsad (ششصد) |
| 1 | yek (یک) | 16 | šânzdah (شانزده) | 70 | haftâd (هفتاد) | 700 | haftsad (هفتصد) |
| 2 | do (دو) | 17 | hefdah (هفده) | 77 | haftâdò haft (هفتاد و هفت) | 800 | haštsad (هشتصد) |
| 3 | se (سه) | 18 | hejdah (هجده) | 80 | haštâd (هشتاد) | 900 | nohsad (نهصد) |
| 4 | chahâr (چهار) | 19 | nuzdah (نوزده) | 88 | haštâdò hašt (هشتاد و هشت) | 1,000 | hezâr (هزار) |
| 5 | panj (پنج) | 20 | bist (بیست) | 90 | navad (نود) | 1,001 | hezârò yek (هزار و یک) |
| 6 | šeš (شش) | 21 | bistò yek (بیست و یک) | 99 | navadò noh (نود و نه) | 1,100 | hezârò sad (هزار و صد) |
| 7 | haft (هفت) | 22 | bistò do (بیست و دو) | 100 | sad (صد) | 2,000 | do hezâr (دو هزار) |
| 8 | hašt (هشت) | 30 | si (سی) | 110 | sadò dah (صد و ده) | 2,008 | do hezârò hašt (دو هزار و هشت) |
| 9 | noh (نه) | 33 | siyò se (سی و سه) | 200 | devist (دویست) | 10,000 | dah hezâr (ده هزار) |
| 10 | dah (ده) | 40 | chehel (چهل) | 222 | devistò bistò do (دویست و بیست و دو) | 20,000 | bist hezâr (بیست هزار) |
| 11 | yâzdah (یازده) | 44 | chehelò chahâr (چهل و چهار) | 300 | sisad (سیصد) | 100,000 | sad hezâr (صد هزار) |
| 12 | davâzdah (دوازده) | 50 | panjâh (پنجاه) | 333 | sisadò siyò se (سیصد و سی و سه) | 1,000,000 | yek milyun (یک میلیون) |
| 13 | sizdah (سیزده) | 55 | panjâhò panj (پنجاه و پنج) | 400 | chahârsad (چهارصد) | 2,000,000 | do milyun (دو میلیون) |
| 14 | chahârdah (چهارده) | 60 | šast (شصت) | 500 | pânsad (پانصد) | 1,000,000,000 | yek milyârd (یک میلیارد) |
Tip - In Persian, nouns are not pluralized when a number precedes them. The plurality is clear from the "number". Therefore, we say, for example:
Tip - In Iran, weeks begin with "Saturday" and end with "Friday". So, the holiday is "Friday" and the weekend starts from "Thursday".
Iran uses a solar calendar with the New Year on the vernal equinox (March 21 on the Gregorian calendar). Years begin with "spring" and end with "winter". The first six months have 31 days, and the last five have 30 days each. The final month has 29 or 30 depending on whether or not it is a leap year. Leap years are not as simply calculated as in the Gregorian calendar, but typically there is a five year leap period after every 7 four-year cycles. Year 0 of the calendar corresponds to 621 in Gregorian.
| Persian | Transcription | English |
|---|---|---|
| بهار | bahâr | spring |
| فروردین | Farvardin (31 days) | 21 Mar. – 20 Apr. |
| اردیبهشت | Ordibehešt (31 days) | 21 Apr. – 21 May |
| خرداد | Xordâd (31 days) | 22 May – 21 June |
| تابستان | tâbestân | summer |
| تیر | Tir (31 days) | 22 June – 22 July |
| مرداد | Mordâd (31 days) | 23 July – 22 Aug. |
| شهریور | Šahrivar (31 days) | 23 Aug. – 22 Sep. |
| پاییز | pâyiz | autumn |
| مهر | Mehr (30 days) | 23 Sep.– 22 Oct. |
| آبان | Âbân (30 days) | 23 Oct.– 21 Nov. |
| آذر | Âzar (30 days) | 22 Nov.– 21 Dec. |
| زمستان | zemestân | winter |
| دی | Dey (30 days) | 22 Dec.– 19 Jan. |
| بهمن | Bahman (30 days) | 20 Jan. – 18 Feb. |
| اسفند | Esfand (29/30 days) | 19 Feb. – 20 Mar. |
Gregorian month names are borrowed from French.
The staring point of the Iranian solar calendar is Muhammad's flight from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD. Short date format is yyyy/mm/dd (or yy/mm/dd) and the long date format is dddd, dd MMMM yyyy. For example, today (Monday, August 11, 2008) is:
Time is written like English e.g. 8:34 (۸:۳۴).
Remember that the possession, sale and service of alcohol in Iran is illegal.
Notice - In Iran, there are no car rental agencies. Most of the time, you would need to rent a car with a driver from an "âžâns" (taxi agency) who will drive you around. The agencies often have set daily/weekly rental prices which you should make sure to ask for!
Category: Phrasebooks
 Introduction to Persian  |
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The official language of Iran and Tajikistan is Persian. Persian is also one of the official languages of Afghanistan. Persian is an Indo-European language, thus related to a.o. English. The native name of the Persian language is فارسی (transcribed as Fārsī) (compare with German/Deutsch). |
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From Middle English percynne, from Middle French persien, from Italian persiano, from Mediaeval Latin Persiānus, blend of Latin Persia and Asiānus, from Ancient Greek Περσίς (Persís), from Old Persian 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 (Pārsa), “‘Persia’”) (cf. modern Persian پارس (Pārs)).
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Persian
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Persian (plural Persians)
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Persian (comparative more Persian, superlative most Persian)
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Persian
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Welcome to the فارسی  (‹fârsi›, “Persian”) Wikibook!
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an ancient empire, extending from the Indus to Thrace, and from the Caspian Sea to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Persians were originally a Medic tribe which settled in Persia, on the eastern side of the Persian Gulf. They were Aryans, their language belonging to the eastern division of the Indo-European group. One of their chiefs, Teispes, conquered Elam in the time of the decay of the Assyrian Empire, and established himself in the district of Anzan. His descendants branched off into two lines, one line ruling in Anzan, while the other remained in Persia. Cyrus II., king of Anzan, finally united the divided power, conquered Media, Lydia, and Babylonia, and carried his arms into the far East. His son, Cambyses, added Egypt to the empire, which, however, fell to pieces after his death. It was reconquered and thoroughly organized by Darius, the son of Hystaspes, whose dominions extended from India to the Danube.
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| Persian | |
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| Name | Persian |
| Pokedex Number | 53 |
| Hoenn Number | 137 |
| Johto Number | 242 |
| Stage | Stage 1 |
| Evolves From | Meowth (lv. 28) |
| Signature Attack | Pay Day |
| Species | Classy Cat Pokémon |
| Type | Normal |
| Height | 3′03″ (1.0m) |
| Weight | 70.5 lbs. (32.0kg) |
| Gender distribution | 50% Male, 50% Female |
| Ability | Limber / Technician |
| 1st Appearance | Pokémon Red and Blue |
Persian (ペルシアン, Perushian) is one of 493 fictional species of Pokémon in the Pokémon franchise. It is the evolved form of Meowth. Persian is named after the real-life breed of cat, the Persian.
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Although its fur has many admirers, Persian are tough to raise as pets due to their fickle meanness. It will attack in an instant, and it can tear apart its prey on a mere whim. When it raises its tail straight up, it is a sign that it is about to pounce and bite.
The gem on its head glows on its own. Its light muscles allow it to walk without a sound, and it walks with all the grace and elegance of proud royalty. Many adore it for this sophisticated air. However, it will often lash out and scratch for little reason.
Persian has six bold whiskers that give it a look of toughness. The whiskers sense air movements to determine what is in the direct vicinity. It becomes docile if grabbed by the whiskers.
When Meowth evolve into Persian, they become less social. For this reason they move from the city into a grassy field area.
Like most evolved Pokémon, Persian are rarely found in the wild. However, it can be found in the Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green versions, in various places around the Sevii Islands, as well as in Silver and Crystal, found in the route to the right of Celadon City (Route 7). It is otherwise universally obtained by evolution from Meowth at level 28.
Persian has fairly unremarkable total stats (except for high speed) but exhibits some surprising features, like its ability to learn Aerial Ace, Water Pulse, Shadow Ball, and Thunderbolt through TMs. It also learns supportive moves like Swagger, Hypnosis (the third fastest user of this move), and Fake Out. Persian is considered a Pokémon for players aiming to have creative teams.
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, a Persian runs the Felicity Bank in Pokémon Square.
Giovanni, the man leading Team Rocket, has a pet Persian. Perhaps not coincidentally, his behavior with the cat looks very similar to other evil-mastermind-and-cat pairs, such as Inspector Gadget's Dr. Claw, Ernst Stavro Blofeld from the James Bond films, and Dr. Evil from Austin Powers.
Another Persian lives in Hollywood and helped Team Rocket's Meowth to start out in life.
A trainer who lives on the same island as Prima/Lorelei has one.
A Persian fought Tyson's Meowth for the leader of the pack.
In Pokémon Adventures, a Persian is owned by William, a supernerd and recurring character. It is also a Pokémon used by Neo Team Rocket in the Johto saga.
In Volume 4 of Pokémon Special, Super Nerd William is seen using a Persian to attack Yellow. It scratched the walls of buildings to create dissonance to disorient Yellow.
The same Persian is seen again in Volume 12 as William spars against Boy Scout Bozz's Haunter.
Persian has appeared on several Stage-1 Colorless cards in all the following sets:
Persian has also appeared as the 17th Promotional card, Dark Persian. Interesting to note here is that it is identical to the Team Rocket Persian in all except artwork. However, its first attack has a different name from the first attack of the other card, even though they achieve exactly the same effect.
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