User talk:Fakhredinblog

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[edit] Request for edit summary

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[edit] Farsi vs. Persian

Farsi is a useful synonym for Modern Persian language that does see use in English language sources, and is listed in the OED as an English word. The problem is that "Persian" is ambiguous because of its associations with ancient Persia, i.e. it may refer to Old Persian or Middle Persian just as much as Modern Persian. Your comparison with français etc. is a bit disingenious, since these are not in actual use. "Farsi" has a status similar to "Hindi", "Urdu", "Kazakh", "Bengali", "Telugu", "Hausa", "Tagalog", and any number of other languages. To be fair, however, the OED also cites opposition to "Farsi",

1984 Bull. British Soc. Middle Eastern Studies XI. 123 It may still not be too late to put an end to the grotesque affectation of applying the name ‘Farsi’ to the language which for more than five hundred years has been known to English-speakers as Persian.

and I do not insist on using "Farsi" at all, Modern Persian language is perfectly correct; just Persian otoh is a little ambiguous, but alright if the context is clear. dab (𒁳) 16:38, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Thank you Dieter for your message. I understand why you feel that Persian is a bit "ambiguous," as it may refer to Old Persian as well as Modern Persian. In this sense, the name of the language is very much similar to Greek. It may refer to Ancient Greek, Koine Greek, Medieval Greek , or Modern Greek. Using the word Farsi in place of Modern Persian is like using the name Helenic instead of Modern Greek to distinguish it from other forms of Greek languages. This distinction, if necessary, can be directly pointed out in the text or in the speech, and we don't need to start using a different name for that.
About Farsi being listed in Oxford English Dictionary, I must say that the word is currently in use in English language (no doubt!), and, therefore, appears in the dictionaries. However, the official organization that can make a decision if this usage is justified or not is The Academy of Persian Language and Literature. In a pronouncement, the Academy has clearly rejected using the word Farsi in Western languages. I attach the document here for more information. FakhredinBlog (talk) 15:11, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
The Academy of the Persian Language and Literature has delivered a pronouncement on the English name of Persian language and rejected any usage of the word "Farsi" instead of Persian/Persa/Persane/Persisch in the Western languages. The announcement reads:
1) "Persian" has been used in a variety of publications including cultural, scientific and diplomatic documents for centuries and, therefore, it carries a very significant historical and cultural meaning. Hence, changing "Persian" to "Farsi" would negate this established important precedent.
2) Changing the usage from "Persian" to "Farsi" may give the impression that Farsi is a new language, although this may well be the intention of some users of Farsi.
3) Changing the usage may also give the impression that Farsi is a dialect used in some parts of Iran [Persia] rather than the predominant (and official) language of the country.
4) The word "Farsi" has never been used in any research paper or university document in any Western language, and the proposal to begin using it would create doubt and ambiguity about the name of the official language of Iran [Persia].