Academy of Persian Language and Literature

Iran's Academy of Persian Language and Literature (Persian:فرهنگستان زبان و ادب فارسی, pronounced|farhangestɒn e zabɒn o adab e fɒrsi) is a body controlled by the Iranian government presiding over the use of the Persian language in Iran and other Persian speaking countries. The academy members are academics of Persian literature and linguistics from Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan.

History

The academy was founded in 1935. Mohammad Ali Foroughi and Ali Asghar Hekmat were the main founders of the academy.

Memorable names, notable literary figures and highly celebrated Iranologists and scholars were the members of the academy upon its foundation. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/arts/story/2006/05/060517_jb_culture-academy.shtml] , such as:

*Abbas Eqbal Ashtiani
*Abdolazim Gharib
*Ahmad Matin-Daftari
*Ali Akbar Dehkhoda
*Ali Akbar Siyasi
*Ali Asghar Hekmat
*Badiozzaman Forouzanfar
*Ebrahim Poordavood
*Homayun Foruzanfar
*Isa Sadiq
*Mahmoud Hessaby
*Mohammad Ali Foroughi
*Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh
*Mohammad Ghazvini
*Mohammad Hejazi
*Mohammad Taghi Bahar
*Qasem Ghani
*Rashid Yasemi
*Said Nafisi
*Zabihollah Safa

--Some international scholars were also involved, such as: [Gozaresh-e Farhangestan Vadzeh, Tehran SH.1317 / 1938]
*Arthur Christensen from Denmark
*Henry Masset from France
*Hussain Haykal from Egypt
*Raf'at Pasha from Egypt
*Professor Jan Rypka from Czechoslovakia

First Farhangestan

SAMAD POURNAJAFI

econd Farhangestan

Third Farhangestan

Aims and activities

The Academy's main activity has been creating and approving official Persian equivalents for the foreign general or technical terms. It has also created an official orthography of the Persian language, titled "Dastur e Xatt e Fársi" (Persian Script Orthography). The academy also promotes research on Persian language and literature, other Iranian languages, Persian heritage, Iranology and Iranian culture.

Iranian law requires those equivalents to be used in all official communications of government bodies and government-owned companies, and in product names of all private companies.

Membership

Academy's presidents to this day have been Hassan Habibi (a previous first vice president) and Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel (the present Speaker of Parliament).

The academy members (permanent and associated) are selected from Master's of Persian literature and linguistics from Iran and other Persian speaking countries throughout the world as Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Up to 10 permanent chairs (out of 25 permanent chairs) have been devoted to non-Iranian nationals.

Announcement of the Academy about the English name of Persian language

The Academy of the Persian Language and Literature has delivered a pronouncement on the English name of Persian language when and rejected any usage of the word "Farsi" instead of Persian/Persa/Persane/Persisch in the Western languages. The announcement reads:

1) "Persian" has been used in a variety of publications including cultural, scientific and diplomatic documents for centuries and, therefore, it carries a very significant historical and cultural meaning. Hence, changing "Persian" to "Farsi" would negate this established important precedent.

2) Changing the usage from "Persian" to "Farsi" may give the impression that Farsi is a new language, although this may well be the intention of some users of Farsi.

3) Changing the usage may also give the impression that Farsi is a dialect used in some parts of Iran rather than the predominant (and official) language of the country.

4) The word "Farsi" has never been used in any research paper or university document in any Western language, and the proposal to begin using it would create doubt and ambiguity about the name of the official language of Iran.

Supporting this announcement, gradually other institutions and literary figures separately took similar actions throughout the world. [http://www.iranian.com/Features/Dec97/Persian/] [http://www.persiandirect.com/articles/2004/july/id_00003.htm] [http://www.persiandirect.com/articles/2004/july/id_00001.htm] [http://heritage.chn.ir/en/Article/?id=88]

See also

* Persian language
* Persian culture
* Iranology

External links

* [http://www.persianacademy.ir Official website of Academy of Persian Language and Literature] (in Persian)
* [http://www.persian-language.org/ Official website of the Assembly for the Expansion of the Persian Language شوراي گسترش زبان و ادبيات فارسي]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/arts/story/2006/05/060517_jb_culture-academy.shtml 71st anniversary of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature] (BBC Persian)
* [http://heritage.chn.ir/en/Article/?id=88 Announcement of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature about the name of Persian language]
* [http://www.ariadic.com AriaDic Persian / English Dictionary with pronunciation]
* [http://www.foroughfarrokhzad.org Forough Farrokhzad Poetry in English]

References