Dari: Difference between revisions

As defined in the [[2004 Constitution of Afghanistan]], Dari (or Farsi) is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan; the other is [[Pashto]].<ref name="CAL">{{cite web|url=http://www.cal.org/co/afghan/alang.html|title=The Afghans&nbsp;– Language Use|access-date=24 October 2010|publisher=Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)|location=United States|date=30 June 2002|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504071911/http://www.cal.org/co/afghan/alang.html|archive-date=4 May 2011}}</ref> Dari is the most widely spoken language in Afghanistan and the [[first language|native language]] of approximately 25–55%<ref name="CIA" /><ref name="AFGHANISTAN v. Languages">{{cite web |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afghanistan-v-languages |title=Afghanistan v. Languages |quote=Persian (2) is the most spoken languages in Afghanistan. The native tongue of twenty five percent of the population ... |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]], online ed. |work=Ch. M. Kieffer |access-date=10 December 2010 |archive-date=29 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429162829/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afghanistan-v-languages |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="UCLA">{{cite web |url=http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=191&menu=004 |title=Dari |publisher=[[University of California, Los Angeles]] |work=UCLA International Institute: Center for World Languages |access-date=10 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605045226/http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=191&menu=004 |archive-date=5 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&#af|title=The World Factbook|date=2013-10-15|access-date=2020-01-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015094344/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&#af|archive-date=15 October 2013}}</ref> of the [[demography of Afghanistan|population]].<ref name="UCLA" /> Dari serves as the [[lingua franca]] of the country and is understood by up to 78% of the population.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/afghanistan|title=South Asia :: Afghanistan – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov|access-date=2021-07-02|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126065551/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/afghanistan/|url-status=live}}</ref>

 

 

== Etymology ==

Persian replaced the Central Asian languages of the Eastern Iranics.<ref name="NourzhanovBleuer2013">{{cite book|author1=Kirill Nourzhanov|author2=Christian Bleuer|title=Tajikistan: A Political and Social History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nR6oAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|date=8 October 2013|publisher=ANU E Press|isbn=978-1-925021-16-5|pages=27–}}</ref> Ferghana, Samarkand, and Bukhara were starting to be linguistically Darified in originally Khorezmian and Soghdian areas during [[Samanid]] rule.<ref name="NourzhanovBleuer2013 2">{{cite book|author1=Kirill Nourzhanov|author2=Christian Bleuer|title=Tajikistan: A Political and Social History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nR6oAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|date=8 October 2013|publisher=ANU E Press|isbn=978-1-925021-16-5|pages=30–|access-date=28 August 2016|archive-date=6 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006155342/https://books.google.com/books?id=nR6oAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|url-status=live}}</ref> Dari Persian spread around the Oxus River region, Afghanistan, and Khorasan after the Arab conquests and during Islamic-Arab rule.<ref name="Lapidus2002">{{cite book|author=Ira M. Lapidus|title=A History of Islamic Societies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I3mVUEzm8xMC&pg=PA127|date=22 August 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-77933-3|pages=127–}}</ref><ref name="Lapidus2012">{{cite book|author=Ira M. Lapidus|title=Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qcPZ1k65pqkC&pg=PA255|date=29 October 2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-51441-5|pages=255–}}</ref> The replacement of the Pahlavi script with the Arabic script in order to write the Persian language was done by the Tahirids in 9th century Khorasan.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ira M. Lapidus|title=Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qcPZ1k65pqkC&pg=PA256|date=29 October 2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-51441-5|pages=256–}}</ref> The Dari Persian language spread and led to the extinction of Eastern Iranian languages like [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]] and [[Khwarezmian language|Khwarezmian]] with only a tiny amount of [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] descended [[Yaghnobi language|Yaghnobi]] speakers remaining, as the ancestors of [[Tajiks]] started speaking Dari after relinquishing their original language (most likely Bactrian) around this time, due to the fact that the Arab-Islamic army which invaded Central Asia also included some Persians who governed the region like the [[Sassanids]].<ref name="Bergne2007">{{cite book|author=Paul Bergne|title=The Birth of Tajikistan: National Identity and the Origins of the Republic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3coojMwTKU8C&pg=PA5|date=15 June 2007|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-84511-283-7|pages=5–}}</ref> Persian was a prestigious high-ranking language and was further rooted into Central Asia by the Samanids.<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul Bergne|title=The Birth of Tajikistan: National Identity and the Origins of the Republic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3coojMwTKU8C&pg=PA6|date=15 June 2007|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-84511-283-7|pages=6–|access-date=10 October 2016|archive-date=6 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006155343/https://books.google.com/books?id=3coojMwTKU8C&pg=PA6|url-status=live}}</ref> Persian also phased out Sogdian.<ref name="MeriBacharach2006">{{cite book|author1=Josef W. Meri|author2=Jere L. Bacharach|title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: L-Z, index|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaV-IGZ8VKIC&q=sogdian+islam&pg=PA829|year=2006|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-96692-4|pages=829–|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=6 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006155344/https://books.google.com/books?id=LaV-IGZ8VKIC&q=sogdian+islam&pg=PA829|url-status=live}}</ref> The role of lingua franca that Sogdian originally played was succeeded by Persian after the arrival of Islam.<ref name="LaetHerrmann1996">{{cite book|author1=Sigfried J. de Laet|author2=Joachim Herrmann|title=History of Humanity: From the seventh century B.C. to the seventh century A.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WGUz01yBumEC&q=sogdian+islam&pg=PA468|date=1 January 1996|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=978-92-3-102812-0|pages=468–}}</ref>

 

 

== Geographical distribution ==