On Jan. 27, 2024, 4:18 p.m. hamed:
The origin of Persian language is traced back to the ancient Indo-Iranian languages, which were spoken by the people who migrated from Central Asia to Iran and India in the second millennium BCE. Persian belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, along with other languages such as Kurdish, Pashto, and Balochi. Persian evolved from Old Persian, which was the official language of the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BCE), the first Persian empire that ruled over a large part of West Asia and Central Asia. Old Persian was written in cuneiform script, and some of its inscriptions are still preserved in sites such as Persepolis and Bīsitūn. Old Persian was influenced by other languages, such as Elamite, Akkadian, and Aramaic, which were spoken in the regions under the Achaemenid rule.
After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian continued to develop into Middle Persian, which was the official language of the Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE), the second Persian empire that rivaled the Roman and Byzantine empires. Middle Persian was written in Pahlavi script, which was derived from Aramaic script, and it also adopted many words and expressions from Aramaic, as well as from Greek, Parthian, and other languages. Middle Persian was the language of Zoroastrianism, the dominant religion of the Sasanian Empire, and it also produced a rich literature in various genres, such as epic, romance, and wisdom.
After the Arab invasion of Iran in the 7th century CE, Persian was influenced by Arabic, which became the official language of the Islamic caliphate. Persian adopted many Arabic words, especially in the fields of religion, science, and administration, and it also changed its script from Pahlavi to Arabic. However, Persian also retained its identity and vitality, and it emerged as a new language, known as New Persian or Modern Persian, in the 9th century CE. New Persian was the language of the Persianate culture, which spread across West Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia, under the rule of various dynasties, such as the Samanids, the Ghaznavids, the Seljuks, the Mongols, the Timurids, the Safavids, the Mughals, and the Qajars. New Persian produced a remarkable literature in poetry and prose, which influenced many other languages, such as Turkish, Urdu, Hindi, and Bengali. New Persian also diversified into several dialects and varieties, such as Iranian Persian, Dari Persian, and Tajiki Persian, which are spoken in different countries today.