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title: Persian
description: Persian (Farsi) is a southwestern Iranian language and the cultural lingua franca of Iran, Afghanistan (Dari), and Tajikistan. Its elegant literary canon spans Rumi, Hafez, and Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.
llms_summary: "Persian. (Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran). Profile. Grammatical Typology SOV, Fusional-Analytic. L1 Native Speakers 70000000 (70M). Language Family Indo-European / Indo-Iranian / Iranian. Language Vitality Index 9/10 (National) scale. Number of Countries 3 countries. Standard Script Perso-Arabic (Farsi alphabet). Total Speakers 110000000 (110M). UNESCO Risk Category Safe. Web Domain Share (%) 0.4 %. Writing System Complexity Level 3 (Abjad) level. Linguistics & Culture. Persian (Farsi) is a southwestern Iranian language and the cultural lingua franca of Iran, Afghanistan (Dari), and Tajikistan. Its elegant literary canon spans Rumi, Hafez, and Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.  canonical profile on Structured Pages"
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# Persian

Persian (Farsi) is a southwestern Iranian language and the cultural lingua franca of Iran, Afghanistan (Dari), and Tajikistan. Its elegant literary canon spans Rumi, Hafez, and Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.

*Last updated: 2026-08-04*

## Record

- **Title**: [Persian](https://structuredpages.com/persian/?format=md)
- **Place**: Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
- **Range**: iran · afghanistan · tajikistan
- **Use case**: Linguistics & Culture
- **Website**: https://www.persianacademy.ir/
- **Contact address**: Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
- **Coordinates**: 35.6892, 51.389

### Summary

Persian (Farsi) is a southwestern Iranian language and the cultural lingua franca of Iran, Afghanistan (Dari), and Tajikistan. Its elegant literary canon spans Rumi, Hafez, and Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.

### Description

## Historical Evolution

Old Persian (Achaemenid inscriptions) evolved through Middle Persian (Pahlavi) into New Persian, relexified with Arabic after the Islamic conquest yet retaining Indo-European core grammar. Classical Persian flourished in Samanid Bukhara and Safavid courts. Tajik uses Cyrillic; Afghan Dari shares the Iranian standard with modest phonetic differences.

## Phonology

Modern Persian has six vowels and a consonant inventory lacking emphatic and pharyngeal Arabic series in native words. Stress is typically final. Arabic loans may restore some pharyngeals in careful pronunciation, but everyday Tehran speech simplifies them.

## Syntax

Persian is SOV with ezāfe linking (ـی) between modifiers and nouns, expressed in writing with ye. No grammatical gender; plural marking optional. Verbal system uses past stem + personal endings; continuous aspect via "dār- + verb".

### Categories

- language
- iranian

### Attributes

| Property | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Grammatical Typology | SOV, Fusional-Analytic |
| L1 Native Speakers | 70000000 (70M) |
| Language Family | Indo-European / Indo-Iranian / Iranian |
| Language Vitality Index | 9/10 (National) scale |
| Number of Countries | 3 countries |
| Standard Script | Perso-Arabic (Farsi alphabet) |
| Total Speakers | 110000000 (110M) |
| UNESCO Risk Category | Safe |
| Web Domain Share (%) | 0.4 % |
| Writing System Complexity | Level 3 (Abjad) level |