Different publications have reported different statistics for the languages of Iran; however, the top three languages spoken are consistently reported as Persian, Azeri and Kurdish.
Although Persian (Farsi) is the predominant and official language of Iran, a number of languages and dialects from three language families—Indo-European, Altaic, and Afro-Asiatic—are spoken. Roughly three-fourths of Iranians speak one of the Indo-European languages.
The three branches of the modern Indo-Iranian languages are Indo-Aryan, Iranian, and Nuristani.
There are 79 living languages spoken in Iran, which includes 65 indigenous tongues. Here's a closer look at this country's linguistic landscape.
Farsi is a Persian Language, but technically speaking, so are Dari and Tajik. Dari is the spoken language of Afghanistan, and Tajik is the spoken language of Tajikistan.
In fact, Farsi is not only in a separate language group from Arabic but it's also in a separate language family. Arabic is in the Afro-Asiatic family while Farsi is in the Indo-European family. Coincidentally, Portuguese is also in the Indo-European language family, but it also differs from Farsi in many ways.
To say “hello,” you would use “salaam alaykum” (may peace be upon you) or simply “salaam” (peace). If you're leaving, you can part ways by saying “khoda hafez,” which means, “may God protect you.”
Khoshgelam. Literally, “my beautiful”, khoshgelam is a word you can say to your lady friend. Iranian moms also love calling their daughters khoshgelam . Variations on this are khoshgele (usually a man says this) or khoshgel khânum (something like “Miss beautiful”).
The memoir by Firoozeh Dumas is called Funny in Farsi because it is written in a humorous tone. Dumas wrote the book to describe what she experienced with her family moving from Iran to California.
The Sources of Jurisprudence. Iran, Azerbaijan, and Iraq today are predominantly followers of the Shi`ite branch of Islamic faith. In Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Central Asia, where the Sunni branch of Islam dominates the religious Persian-language works reflect the Sunni school of Islamic thought.
How hard is it to learn? Persian is a relatively simple language to grasp grammatically. Nouns have no gender and there are no articles. Persian is a very poetic, soft and song-like language and has been described as one of the most beautiful languages of the world.
Persian is a subgroup of West Iranian languages that include the closely related Persian languages of Dari and Tajik; the less closely related languages of Luri, Bakhtiari, and Kumzari; and the dialects of Fars Province.
Different publications have reported different statistics for the languages of Iran; however, the top three languages spoken are consistently reported as Persian, Azeri and Kurdish.
Today, Persian is spoken in three countries: Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. In each country it has a different name: Persian (Farsi) in Iran, Dari in Afghanistan and Tajiki in Tajikistan.
Compliments in Iranian culture are an example of mutual respect, which includes special behaviours in the community. It is very common even among those who have no particular relationship with each other, such as a customer and a shopkeeper, two neighbours and persons who have no previous friendship.
When Iranians greet each other, they take their time and converse about general things. The most common greeting is "salaam alaykum" or more simply "salaam" (hello). Iranians give gifts at various social occasions such as returning from a trip or if someone achieves a major success in their personal or business life.
Cheek kissing in Iran is relatively common between friends and family. Cheek kissing between individuals of the same sex is considered normal. However, cheek kissing between male and female in public is considered to be a punishable crime by the government, but it is known to occur among some young Iranians.
As for the question that which of them is older, then Persian takes the prize if we include the history of its earliest version. The Old Persian had been around since 550-330 BC until it transitioned into the Middle version of the tongue in 224 CE. Old Arabic, on the other hand, emerged in the 1st century CE.
Iran and Turkey are not Arab countries and their primary languages are Farsi and Turkish respectively. Arab countries have a rich diversity of ethnic, linguistic, and religious communities.
Compared to Turkish, Persian has been more heavily influenced by Arabic, but like Turkish, the language structure and grammar hasn't been affected by Arabic, and the speakers of Persian cannot communicate with Arabic speakers using Persian language and vice versa.