Farsi vs Persian
Persian is a word that has been used in English language for thousands of years to refer to not just a language, but also to Persian culture and to a country that was once a great empire that controlled many different nations of modern times. The country that is today Iran was a part of this large empire that was called Persia. This article is to help people who remain confused between Persian and Farsi, the two words that are being used to refer to the language being spoken in Iran. Let us find out if there is any difference between Farsi and Persian.
Farsi is a word that is today being increasingly used by some media to refer to Persian language though, in many parts of the world, especially Iran, Farsi is not a synonym for Persian. Persian is an ancient language that is spoken, not just in Iran, but also in Tajikistan as well as Afghanistan. The version of the language spoken in Afghanistan is called Dari while the one spoken in Tajikistan is called Tajik. People in Iran refer to their language as Farsi, and this is the language that has come to dominate all other versions of Persian language. This is why some media try to refer to Persian as Farsi. This confusion is increased by Persian people living in western countries as they make use of both Farsi as well as Persian to refer to the language they speak.
To clear the confusion, it can be said that Farsi is the indigenous name of the language called Persian just as Germans refer to German language as Deutsch and Spanish people refer to their language as Espanol. To the western world, the language of Persia (now Iran) has always been Persian. After the revolution in Iran in 1979, many Persians fled their country to settle in western countries, and these people continued to refer to their language as Farsi. People in west associate the word Persian, with not just the language, but also Persian culture, food, carpet, poetry, and even dress. This is why the use of Farsi for Persian language in western countries is not liked by the people of Iran.
Summary
To sum up, Farsi is the most common dialect of Persian language and spoken by most people of Persian origin. The other two dialects are called Tajik and Dari being spoken by people in Tajikistan and Afghanistan respectively. Farsi is also called western Persian, whereas Dari is Eastern Persian, and Tajik is Tajik Persian. People in Iran and many other parts of the world do not like their language to be described as Farsi by western media as it delinks the great Persian culture and art from the minds of the readers and listeners.