Dari Language History

Dari is an Iranian language, part of the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. Dari, the lingua franca of Afghanistan, is also known as Persian. It is the more common language used when speakers of different regional languages need to communicate. About 5,000,000 people speak Dari, approximately 1/3 of Afghanistan’s population. It is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, the other being Pashto. Afghans speak Dari in the northern and western parts of the country, as well as around the capital of Kabul. Dari is also considered New Persian.

Dari and Modern Iranian Persian use a slightly modified Arabic alphabet, with the addition of four letters. In Modern Persian, the vowels “a”, “e”, and “o” are not written. Many words can be written in similar ways. As a result, a speaker must determine through context which word is being referenced. Persian is written right to left and is a pluricentric language, which means that it has several standard versions. A language is pluricentric when it does not coincide with the nationality of its native speakers.

Old Persian

The oldest documents in Old Persian date from around the 6th century B.C.E. Old Persian was written in Old Persian cuneiform. Written Old Persian had an intricate grammatical system.

Middle Persian

The grammatical system of Middle Persian was not as intricate as that of Old Persian. Oral Middle Persian had significant influence on written Middle Persian. Middle Persian appears in the Sassanid era (224-651 B.C.E.) and began to transition to New Persian in the 8th century.

New Persian

New Persian is given different names in different areas: Dari in Afghanistan, Farsi in Iran and Tajiki in Central Asia.

New Persian developed over a span of 1000-1200 years. It is broken down into three stages: early, classical and contemporary. Many Islamic dynasties spoke New Persian during its classical stage which is when it was spoken on the Indian sub-continent and in the eastern parts of the Islamic world. English replaced Dari on the Indian subcontinent in 1837 when the British banned Dari. Classical New Persian transitioned into contemporary New Persian during the 19th century.

Russian, English, French and Arabic have influenced contemporary New Persian. French has influenced New Persian more than English because it is easier for New Persian speakers to pronounce French words. Persian has also influenced other languages, including Hindi, Turkish, Pashto, Uzbek, Swahili and Malay.

New Persian is also spoken in Tajikistan. Speakers in Tajikistan use the Cyrillic alphabet instead of the Perso-Arabic alphabet, and have been doing so since the creation of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic in 1929. The Republic disbanded in 1991, though speakers still use the Cyrillic alphabet today.

Speakers of New Persian sometimes use foreign words as synonyms for Persian words. This includes “merci”, the French for “thank you” although the New Persian speakers stress the first syllable rather than the second, as do French speakers.

Fingilish is the name given to words written in Persian using a Latin alphabet. Fingilish is often used in email and text messages.

Modern Day Dari-Speaking Countries

• Afghanistan
• Iran
• Tajikistan

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