Iranian Language Reform in the Twentieth Century:Did the First Farhangestān (1935-40) Succeed?
TL;DR: In the period 1935-1940, the Iranian Language Academy (Farhangestān) proposed over 1,600 indigenous terms to replace words of Arabic or European origin this article.
Abstract: In the period 1935-1940, the Iranian Language Academy (Farhangestān) proposed over 1,600 indigenous terms to replace words of Arabic or European origin. Seventy years later, an assessment of the effects or “success” of this activity may be attempted. The Farhangestān’s success cannot be measured easily, by counting the successful words. A study of it requires a strict definition of the term “success” and a detailed analysis of the origin, semantics, usage, stylistics, etc. of each word. The analysis proposed here, using sixty terms, yields a scale of increasing success along which the coined terms may be arranged. The article aims to show that any exact numbers indicating the Farhangestān’s word-replacing success are of limited value; and that it is more interesting to ask how the new terms have been established and how they have systematically changed, and often enriched, the vocabulary of Persian.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an insight into two Farsi complementary language classrooms in Copenhagen, Denmark, characterised by political sensitivities, and illustrate a number of characteristic features of the classrooms concerning language use, pedagogical methods and cultural phenomena, which were related to key adults’ preferences.
Abstract: This paper presents an insight into two Farsi complementary language classrooms in Copenhagen, Denmark, characterised by political sensitivities. We illustrate a number of characteristic features of the classrooms concerning language use, pedagogical methods and cultural phenomena, which were related to key adults’ preferences, and we consider possible interpretations of them as indexical signs. In particular, we emphasise ideological interpretations (e.g. the monolingualism norm and language purism) and we relate the classroom characteristics to the contemporary state of Iran as well as to the time and place in which the classes occurred. We analyse both explicit metapragmatic messages and implicit ways of indicating ideologies, and see both types as characterised by avoidance of particular referents, that is, by unmentionables.
[Farsi]
23 citations
01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: The idea of a separate identity in dari and tojiki continues to have limited significance for native speakers as mentioned in this paper, despite the fact that they both emerged from the same political situation some two thousand five hundred years ago.
Abstract: Persian is an important language today in a number of countries of west, south and central Asia. Persian and farsi are, of course, in origin not different names. They both emerged from the same political situation some two thousand five hundred years ago. Apart from the colonial language policies of the past and local nationalistic sentiments today, the idea of a separate identity in dari and tojiki continues to have limited significance for native speakers. Decisions about language policy in Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan in particular, but also to some extent in the region in general are made in the shadow of the heritage of a millennium in which Persian was the principal, if not the only written language. Language became a matter for government policy in the 1930s. Keywords:Dari; Farsi; Iran; language policies; Persian; Tajiki
16 citations
TL;DR: The authors traces the emergence of folklore studies and ethnography in interwar Iran and argues that these disciplines were part of larger nationalist projects of representing and speaking for the “masses.”
Abstract: This paper traces the emergence of folklore studies and ethnography in interwar Iran. It argues that these disciplines were part of larger nationalist projects of representing and speaking for the “masses.” The first part of the paper explores how and why a number of Iranian intellectuals engaged in folklore studies after a period of prolonged political activism in the first few decades of the 20th century. The second part of the paper examines cultural institutions established by the state, mainly in the late 1930s, in an attempt to appropriate and institutionalize folklore studies and ethnography for the purposes of nation building. These efforts were fraught with ambivalences because the “masses” were simultaneously praised as repositories of “authenticity” and looked down upon as a potential source of “backwardness.”
9 citations
TL;DR: This article investigated encounters between the two overall language resources (standard vs. non-standard and regional varieties) in two linguistic minority communities in Denmark, focusing on Turkish and Farsi mother tongue classes.
Abstract: Abstract This article investigates encounters between the two overall language resources – standard vs. non-standard and regional varieties – in two linguistic minority communities in Denmark. Concentrating on Turkish and Farsi mother tongue classes, the study departs from two interviews with the parents of mother tongue students. Additional ethnographic evidence from the respective mother tongue classes show when and how the two overall varieties of the respective languages are reacted to and valorized among the study participants. Two main issues are explored in this context: first, language ideological paradigms of dominance – anonymity and authenticity – and, second, the extension and expansion of language users’ ideologies regarding registers of language. The article concludes that during the encounters and discussions concerning ideological views supporting either of the overall language resources, a form for authority exists and becomes oriented to in line with the history of language policy of the countries of origin.
3 citations
Cites background from "Iranian Language Reform in the Twen..."
...…through spotting and removing foreign words (e.g., Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish loanwords), discussing the Arabic alphabet used in the two languages (the alphabet switch happened in Turkey in 1928), and revitalizing old linguistic forms and lexicons (Jernudd 1989; Karimi-Hakkâk 2005; Paul 2010)....
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...…and Standard Turkish have been constructed through the nationalistic and top-down modernization programs and language policy – including purism – (for Farsi see Karimi-Hakkâk 2005; Paul 2010; and for Turkish, Lytra 2013, 2015; Keyman and Yilmaz 2006) and more recent bottom-up language activisms....
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...…sites brought about another type of observation: Standard Farsi, which is associated with Tehran, was dominant.15 The Tehrani Farsi has been attributed for many decades as modern Standard Farsi, against which other varieties of the language have been appraised (Paul 2010) and sound “provincial.”...
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01 Jan 2021
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify ten terms in the field of epidemiology related to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic in 2020 and classify them into three groups: (1) terms that have no previously existing equivalent approved by the Academy of Persian Language and Literature (APLL), (2) terms for which the APLL has approved Persian equivalents but which are still in use in parallel with foreign ones.
Abstract: Amid the openness we witness in the world, it is difficult to control the mixing of foreign terms and loanwords that enter into the vocabulary of other languages – be it Arabic, Persian, or French. However, some countries are still setting out to codify the use of foreign terms and maintain their language and national identity. As such we find the Academy of Persian Language and Literature (APLL) in Iran with its attempt to preserve Persian identity, culture, civilization, and heritage. While its original goal was and still is to maintain the strength and originality of the Persian language, this task has become harder with the influx of new words from across all disciplines of science. Methodologically, this paper is based on a corpus analysis using the software Sketch Engine. The corpus contains texts from the online archives of numerous Persian-language Iranian newspapers. To shed light on foreign terms and their Persian equivalents this paper identifies ten terms in the field of epidemiology related to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic in 2020. The shortlisted terms can be categorized into three different groups: (1) terms that have no previously existing equivalent approved by the APLL, (2) terms that have been accepted and approved by the APLL for their prevalence in popular usage, and (3) terms for which the APLL has approved Persian equivalents but which are still in use in parallel with foreign ones. The ten epidemiology-related terms in this case study can be distributed among the three categories as follows: two in group 1, three in group 2, and five terms in group 3. Two examples of group 3 terms will be given compared to just one each from groups 1 and 2. The group 3 terms facilitate a direct comparison between approved and non-approved terms and are therefore especially relevant in the context of this study. This not only reveals the mixed success of APLL approved equivalents, but it shows more generally how the APLL has created new terms or reused existing terms and how the APLL carries out its tasks in the past, present, and future.