Dari: Enjoy your meal!

[seitt]

Greetings,

Please, how exactly do you pronounce the extra kasre in Dari?

Perhaps we can take the Dari (and Farsi) expression ‘نوش جان’ (Enjoy your meal! / Bon appétit!). It seems to be spelt ‘noshe djan’ in English, but is the E short or long – or is it more like a short I?

Best wishes, and many thanks,

Simon

 

[eskandar]

Pronunciation of Dari or Afghan Persian will vary between different regions, but the standard pronunciation of the kasre in Dari, as far as I know, is a short 'i' as in English 'bit'.

 

[Qureshpor]

Tajik Persian appears to have preserved at least some of the older vowels more faithfully. A good specimen of the pronunciation is in the following song in which the izaafat is pronounced as "i" and not "e". Type the following on Youtube.

"Tajikan Parsi-Inspired by Rudaki's Booy Joye Molian Aayad Aamee"

 

[Abu Talha]

Pronunciation of Dari or Afghan Persian will vary between different regions, but the standard pronunciation of the kasre in Dari, as far as I know, is a short 'i' as in English 'bit'.

Hello, Eskandar,

Is the regular kasra that occurs in the middle of a word the same as the vowel of the izaafat? I thought I had read somewhere that the izaafat was its own vowel and is only represented by a kasra to conform to the Arabic script and because of the similarity it bears with the Arabic إضافة . Is that so?

 

[eskandar]

Is the regular kasra that occurs in the middle of a word the same as the vowel of the izaafat?

Hello Daee. In Iranian Persian they are the same vowel, and to the best of my knowledge this is the case in Afghan Persian (Dari) too.

I thought I had read somewhere that the izaafat was its own vowel and is only represented by a kasra to conform to the Arabic script and because of the similarity it bears with the Arabic إضافة . Is that so?

Hm, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "the izaafat is its own vowel". It's true that in Iranian Persian the sound is closer to [e] than to the that we associate with the Arabic kasra.

 

[Abu Talha]

Hello Daee. In Iranian Persian they are the same vowel, and to the best of my knowledge this is the case in Afghan Persian (Dari) too.

I see. Thank you.

Hm, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "the izaafat is its own vowel".

Nevermind, I'm not quite sure what I mean myself! I'll have to read up on it and get my terms right.

 

[seitt]

Many thanks, for the excellent help.