We would like to point out that
FARSI (which is originally PARSI) is the native name of our
language and PERSIAN is its English equivalent; as the native name
of German language is 'Deutsch', but we never use 'Deutsch' in
place of 'German' in English; or native term of Greek Language is
"Ellinika" and always in English we say 'Greek' language, not 'Ellinika'
language. Same to "Espanol" vs. "Spanish".
Meanwhile the official institution "Farhangestan; The Academy of
Persian Language and Literature, in Tehran" (www.PersianAcademy.ir)
in an announcement has rejected the use of the word 'Farsi'
instead of 'Persian' in English. (I have attached it).
According to Dr. Hossein Sameie (visiting linguistics professor of
Emory University in Atlanta), "PERSIAN, alongside the name of a
language, may be used, as an adjective, for the other aspects of
our history and culture. For example, we can speak about 'Persian
Literature', 'Persian Gulf', 'Persian Carpet', 'Persian Food';
this way, 'Persian' may be a common concept and function as a link
between all aspects of Iranian [Persian] life, including language.
'Farsi' does not have such a characteristic"
The Announcement of the
Persian
Academy:
The Language of the nation of Iran [Persia] in English is
called "Persian" [or in other European languages: Persane,
Persisch, Persa, Persiska, etc.] and is known worldwide as
PERSIAN. Recently some people have been trying to use "Farsi"
instead of
Persian, the trend which has also been followed by some
non-Iranians. This has
occurred to the extent that it has raised the question "Which is
the correct word, in English, for the language of Iran's people,
Persian or
Farsi?!..."
This question was put to the
official institution FARHANGESTAN (Persian Language and Literature
Academy in Tehran) by the Commerce Department for Australia,
at Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In their 34th meeting on
7th of December 1992, the
Persian Academy unanimously passed the
resolution that this language must be called
PERSIAN and the
reasons given were:
1-
PERSIAN has been used in a
variety of publications including cultural, scientific and
diplomatic documents for centuries and, therefore, it connotes a
very significant historical and cultural meaning. Hence, changing
PERSIAN to
FARSI is to negate this established important
precedence.
2- Changing
PERSIAN to
FARSI may give the impression that it is a
new language, and this may well be the intention of some
Farsi
users.
3- It may also give the impression that
FARSI is a dialect of some
parts of Iran and not the predominant (official) language of this
country.
4- Fortunately,
FARSI has never been used in any research paper or
university document in any Western language and the proposal of
its usage will create doubt and ambiguity about the name of the
official language of our country.
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