Farsi vs Dari vs Tajik vs Samarkandi (Persian Varieties)

The Persian language has many different accents and dialects, spoken primarily in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, a significant percentage of the population in Uzbekistan, as well as by minorities who are native to other countries across Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, and the Caucasus. Although some people consider "Farsi" to be the term for the Iranian variety, the fact is that "Farsi" or "Parsi" is the endonym for the Persian language, and the term is natively used to refer to the language among all Persian speakers, not only Iranians. The terms "Dari" and "Tajik" are more often used by non-Persian speakers than Persian speakers themselves, who, regardless of their country, use the endonym Farsi or Parsi when speaking their language.

▶ Check out the book resources on Farsi (Persian), Dari and Tajiki at the platform Lingvora ◀ https://lingvora.com/

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In this video, Leila will represent the Iranian variety, from Jahrom, in the Fars province, Seyed Reza will represent Dari, the variety spoken in Afghanistan, from Maidan Shar in the Maidan Wardak province, Chehrona will represent the Tajik variety, from Istaravshan in the Sughd Province, we also feature the Samarkandi dialect of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, represented by Yusuf. The Samarkandi accent, which is considered a Tajik accent, is not the same as the way the language is spoken in Tajikistan or even in Bukhara, as it is somewhat a unique dialect with noticeable Russian and Turkic influence.

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When talking about the Tajik variety of Persian, and the Persian language in Central Asia, it's vital to mention the Samanids (سامانیان), an empire that was established by the descendants of Saman Khoda, a wealthy Iranian Zoroastrian noble who converted to Islam. The Samanid Empire is part of the Iranian Intermezzo, which saw the creation of a Persianate culture and identity that brought the Persian language and traditions into the fold of the Islamic world. Ferdowsi and Rudaki were both born and lived during the Samanian era. Ferdowsi died after the collapse of the Samanian under the Ghaznavids, while Rudaki lived his whole life under the Samanids. Samanids revived the Persian language and culture more than the Buyids and the Saffarids, and despite being Sunni Muslims, they considered themselves to be descendants of the Sasanian Empire and took pride in having Zoroastrian ancestors. During the Samanid era in the 9th and 10th centuries, there was a large amount of growth in Persian literature, mostly in poetry, which expanded across Central Asia.

The Persian language is classified as one of the Western Iranian languages, and has strongly influenced many different languages, including numerous Turkic languages, as well as well as Armenian, Georgian, and many languages in the Indian subcontinent.

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Full Translation of Chehrona's statement:

The city of Istaravshan is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, and it was founded in the 6th century BC by the Achaemenid king Cyrus. The first name of the city was Kurushkada, and since it was located on the eastern frontier of the empire, it was intended to be a military city, mainly housing soldiers. Also, the way the city was designed and built testifies to its military past. The city consisted of three “layers”, surrounded by a wall (aka a citadel). The first layer was called shahristan, which consisted of caravanserais and defence buildings. The second layer was called rabat, where the city's population lived, and the innermost layer was called dizh, where the king's/ruler's castle and the Zoroastrian fire temples stood.

Although the city was built to keep the nomadic tribes at bay since the city was on the Silk Road, lots of crafts developed here. Even today, the city’s streets are known based on what craft its people practiced, such as sobungaron (soap makers), shonataroshon (comb makers), qassobon (butchers), etc.

A bit about the name of the city: After the Achaemenid empire, it became part of the Greco-Bactrian Empire and thrived as Cyropolis. After the Hellenic period, it existed as an independent state of Ustrushana and its capital Bunjikat. Like its neighbouring states, its population was Sogdian and its name from Sogdian means “A Shining Star” (ust – star, and rushana – shining). Eventually, it was incorporated into the Samanid empire and in the 13th century, it was seized by the Mongols and burned. After it was incorporated into the Timurid dynasty, its name was changed to Turkic Uro-teppa and it had this name till the year 2000.