Persian vs Farsi (half-OT)

[Roozbeh Pournader]

Randy Presuhn wrote:
> I had only heard the term "Farsi" in conjunction with the language.
> This list is the first place where I've heard the modern language
> called "Persian".  The word "Persian" in my experience was used
> (1) to refer to an ancient civilization / language or (2) as an
> designation of ethnicity/nationality by Iranian immigrants to
> the US who wished to disassociate themselves from that country's
> regime when relations between the two countries were particularly
> bad.  (2) was uncomfortable for some because it was thought, by
> association with (1), to exclude members of various other ethnic groups
> (e.g. Kurds, Armenians) who had also immigrated to the US from
> Iran, who also just happened to speak Farsi.  But that's just
> my experience in with a handful of Iranian-American friends and
> colleagues over the years, and I won't claim that it's
> representative.

You are missing: (3) Persian is also what the Iranian Academy of Persian 
Languages and Literature, and hence the Iranian government, wants to see 
the modern language get called in English (with 'persan', 'Persisch', 
etc. in other western languages). It appears to be used in most 
communications of international organizations too, especially in those 
where Iran is a member.

I also have a list of references somewhere that tells which English 
language authorities prefer "Persian" (most) and which prefer "Farsi" (a 
few) when referring to the language. Also, all good bilingual 
dictionaries I've seen happen to have "Persian" in their title, not 
"Farsi". In short, "Persian" is what the authorities around the world 
prefer to call the language in English.

Various Persian-speaking activists take it on them to nag about "Farsi" 
when they see it used in English. The company I worked at in Iran, which 
is called "faarsiveb" in Persian, is among the victims. Several people 
can not accept "FarsiWeb" in English and write them hate mails: they 
wouldn't accept that "FarsiWeb" was supposed to be a name, not a 
translation.

The same is true about the wonderful story of an Iranian-American 
immigrant, the (English) book "Funny in Farsi" by Firoozeh Dumas. She 
had said that half the emails she received about the book from Iranians 
included some rant the use of "Farsi" instead of "Persian" in the title. 
In her next book, "Laughing Without an Accent", she named the first 
chapter "Funny in Persian"!

"Persian" the word has various other meanings of course, and one is the 
name of the largest ethnic group in Iran, those Iranians who happen to 
speak Persian at home. But it's not good to refer to the modern 
nationality or country as "Persian" or "Persia" (they should be called 
"Iranian" and "Iran"). Use of "Persian" for the nationality is 
exclusive, as you said. It does not include Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Arabs, 
Balochs, Turkmen, Armenians, Assyrians, and various other peoples.

Best,
Roozbeh