TABLE OF CONTENTS

Reading Lessons

The Dari Language ... ........... . .......... . Written Dari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 AI phabet Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Reading Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Lesson One. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Lesson Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Lesson Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Lesson Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Lesson Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Lesson Six . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Lesson Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Lesson Eight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Lesson Nine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Lesson Ten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Lesson Eleven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Lesson Twelve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Lesson Thirteen . . .. . .... . .. . .. ......... .. .. 27 Lesson Fourteen .. ... .. . . .. ............... . . 28 Lesson Fifteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Lesson Sixteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Lesson Seventeen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Lesson.Eighteen (without diacritical marks) . ..... 33 .Lesson Eighteen (with diacritical marks) . . . . . . . . 34

Dari

The Dari Language

Dari is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, and it's the native tongue of about half of the population. The other official language is Pasbto, spoken by about 35 percent. In addition, about 11 percent of Afghans speak a Turkic language (either Uzbek or Thrkmen) and there are numerous other languages as welt, such as Baluchi, Pashai, and Nuristani. Many Afghans are bilingual, often speaking more than one language as well as several dialects of those languages.

Although both Dari and Pashto are official languages, Dari is the primary means of communication. It's taught in schools and heard on national raclio, and it serves as the language of business and higher education. Because of its long and venerable literary tradition and its historical prestig~. it has a higher social status than Pashto. Dari is also spoken by some two and a half million people in Iran, Pakistan, and neighboring regions. As well as the official form (the fonn taught in this course, formerly called "Kabuli Dari"), it has a number of variants.

2

Dari

The Dari Language (continued)

Also called "Dari Persian" or "Eastern Persian," Dari is one of the three major Persian dialects; Modern Persian or Farsi (spoken in Iran) is another, and Tajik (spoken in Tajikistan) is the third. Dari and Tajik are considered a purer form of Persian- that is, they show less Arab influence- but all three dialect are more or less mutually intelligible. All belong to the Indo-Iranian group of languages, which is a sub­family of the Indo-European language .

Old Persian dates back to at least 500 n ; v ·r time, it gradually evolved to Middl r Dari Persian. During the reign of th ass 111i Is, who ruled over the eastern regions f P rsin rr m 224-651 AD, it became the official court Inn •tttt .

In fact, the name "Dari" most likely t rns from the Persian word darbar, meaning "court." As Lh prestige dialect, it spread to other regions a. w II.

After the Muslim conquest of Persia in the middle of the seventh century, Arabic replaced Dari as the official language of the Persians. This period lasted approximately two hundred years. During this time, Dari continued to evolve; it was influenced by Parthian (a middle Iranian language)

3

Dari

The Dari Language (continued)

Scholars consider this linguistic amalgamation to be the mother of both present-day Dari and Modern Persian I Farsi.

The differences between Dari Persian and Modern Persian I Farsi developed over time. Largely because of its mountainous geography, the people of the eastern region (including Afghanistan) bad less contact and interaction with other foreign languages than those of the western region. Modem Persian continued to be influenced by Arabic, as well as by some European languages, especially French. Dari Persian, on the other hand, remained "purer" and more classical, preserving its original language style and expressions. Today, Farsi Persian and Dari Persian are considered two different dialects.

4

Dari

Written Dari

Dari u e · a modified version of the Arabic alphabet, with thirty-two letters as opposed to lw nty-eight in Arabic. Dari does not have capital letters but uses an adapted form of Westem punctuation. Written Dari bas the following characteristics:

• It is read from right to left, except for numbers, which go from left to right.

• Dari letter are distinguished by one, two, or three dots, which are placed above or bel w the letter- or, in some cases, by the Jack of dots.

• As in English handwriting, most Dari letter connect to those that follow them. However, seven letters, called "non-connectors," connect nly to letters that precede them.

• When letters connect to a preceding letter, they often modify their shape, undergoing a reduction when the two are joined together.

• Some letters also modify their hape according to thei r position in a word - depending on whether they appear in initial, medial, or final position.

5

Dari

Written Dari (continued)

• In standard written Dari, the so-ca11ed "short vowels" are usually omitted. They may be represented by diacritical mark , as they are in these reading lessons. The three "long vowels," however --- often appearing in transliteration as "aa," "oo," and "ee" --- are separate letters and are written.

• The appearance of some letters may vary, depending on the choice of font.

A complete listing of the Dari alphabet and the diacriticaJ follows. The alphabet is listed as a two­page spread. You should use this chart for reference only, as all the information you need to do the readings is contained on the audio.

7 6

Dari Dari

Dari Alphabet Chart Dari Alphabet Chart ~ - - (Read from right to left.)

~ - - (Read from right to left.)

Symbol in Final Medial Initial Transliteration (Connected)

Name Name in Transliteration Letter

._ill alef I aa/' L I I I I L I

<l...J be '--' b

~ "!' ~ ,

<ll pe '--' p

~ ..1. ...J

., ., , ., ., <G te w

t ..::... :i .:i ,

s 6 .. ..1. .J

.(; se ..:.., ,

j ~ ..::::.... ..::... ~

jeem ~

ch ~ ..::::.... ..::... ., <l:::.. che [ ., ,

h c: ..::::.... ..::... l_,b. <l:::.. he halwa ( ,

kh c: ..::::.... ..::... cG. kheh ( , d J. J. .l JIJ daal .l

z .l J. .l Jlj zaal .l

r j j ..) 0..) re ..)

, ,

9 8

Dari Dari

Dari Alphabet Chart (continued) Dari Alphabet Chart (continued) .... - - (Read from right to left.) ~ - - (Read from right to left.)

Symbol in Final Medial Initial Transliteration (Connected)

Name Name in Transliteration Letter

b.) ze .)

z .> .> .)

zh :. :. .> ..> .)

~ ~

b.) zhe .) ~

~

s U"" ~ ..uJ ~ seen J"'

sh 0U ....._ ..uJ ~ sheen c.fo

s ~ .......0 ......:;) J~ sa ad u.::::. .-

z ~ .......0 ......:;) JL...; zaad u.::::.

t .b. .b. .b ~ toi .b

z J.:. J.:. .L; (S__,.L; zoi .L; (

(glottal stop) t .... ~

0:--c- ayn t gh r- .i ~

~ ghayn t f ..J. 1 .A

cU fe .._j q

~ .i .Q ~

.._ju qaaf L.9

11 10

Dari Dari

Dari Alphabet Chart (continued) Dari Alphabet Chart (continued) -+- - - (Read from right to left.)

-+- - - (Read from right to left.) Name Name in Transliteration Letter

Symbol in Final Medial Initial Transliteration (Connected) .._jl.S kaaf ...s:

k ...s. s. s: .._jl_S gaaf .3:

g ..s. ~ s I J l J

r-'1 laam J

~ meem f'

m r- ..4. ..a

~ noon u n u :a. .,j

JIJ waw J w/oo

" " J

h <1. + .A

~.I~ he do cheshma (> ·: J

L yaa <.S ee/y

(.$ =- =

12

Dari

Dari Alphabet Chart (continued)

~ - - (Read from right to left.)

Name in Transliteration Diacritical Sound I

I

fat' ha I zabar I I a I as in hat

kasra I zir I I e I as in shell ~

, zama I pish I I o I as in home

mad 1 I aa I as in father or awe

In Dari there is a special letter combination, 'i , called lam alef la, which represents the letter lam followed by alef

In addition, there is another letter, Arabic in origin, that functions both as a letter and as a diacritical. It is the hamza (~). Like the diacriticals, it sits above the line of writing. When used as a letter, it can appear anywhere in the word, and it indicates a glottal stop. When used as a diacritical, it makes some words that end in a vowel possessive; in this case it appears over the final vowel and has a I ye I sound. In either case, the hamza is rarely used and is omitted from modem keyboards.

13

Dari

The Reading lessons

There are eighteen Dad reading lessons recorded at the end of the program. You may choose to do the readings along with tbe units, after every other unit or so, or all together after completing the rest of the course. Feel free to repeat the reading lessons as often as necessary for practice with the Dari alphabet and the sounds it represents.

Some of the words and phrases you will read are taught in this course, but most are not, and --­especially in the early lessons --- a number of them are sirriply syllables rather than actual words. Actual words are used more and more as the number of letters introduced increases, and by Lesson Eighteen you will be reading for meaning.

15

Dari

Lesson One ~-- (Read from right to left.)

Page 14 is intentionally blank. I_; I_; .11 I .1

Ji .12 IJ .2

_;i .13 JIJ .3

IJi .14 IJIJ .4

.)IJi .15 I" ..) .5

l.)i .16 .)IJ .6

Jl_j .7

I.)IJ .8

IJI.) .9

.)1.) . 1.0

16

Dari

Lesson Two ~ (Read from right to left.)

_;L..... .11 Jl.)i .1

.)L.....1 .12 1.) .2 'I

).)Jl .13 .)I.) .3 ,[

).)IJ .14 I• .) .4

L.....l_; .15 Jl.) .5

).)JL..... .1 6 )J .6

.)I.) .7

J I .)I.) .8

L..... .9

I . 1 ... 1()

~-

17

Dari

Lesson Three (Read from right to left.)

..1L .11

_jL.....J4 .12

~ .13

).) ..1

I_;L..... .2

JW. .3

.)w.y:.. .14 J.)L..... \ J.)W. .4

' ~ y:.. .15 W,l · .) .) .5

I_>:~J .16 ,

.) .6

' .)..l .7

,

..1.).) .8

JY:,. .9

~ .10

-'

0\ .... Q) ....-; <"'! C') ~ v: ~ r-: 00 ~ 0

"" > ....... ~

~ u:: c: , - ....J• ·- -' ~') j 1 \ 1 \ . "') \ ·•'l 0

.:_"') )· ~l ··~

.:_"') ' ') J ell •1

··~ ....J• ell "')

·· ~ Q) ...1

....... ('l C') "<t II') \0 r- 00 - - ....... - ....... - --' ")\ \

\ ~ ·-•I ~~ -~ _') ~~ ~~ '-? / ··~ ·I / "')

~ -' \ ~ .. , ..

~ ..... <"'! C') '<:!: v: \0 r-: 00 ~ 0 :J -0 u..

j \ ~ .:_"') '') 3 \ ~ , .. ~ •1 ,., •1 c: 1 '') "') -? 'l 0

j' 1 \1 1 ell j "') )· / / ell "') )· Q) "') \ •1 1

...1 -? "')

N C') "<t II') \0 ....-; ..... 1 ,- ,-

· ~ ,_

·') 1. -~ j' ':l "') ) ·

00

'

26 ll 27

Dari .,. Dari ·-

Lesson Twelve , II Lesson Thirteen ,

'~ .11 f'~ .1 ,j; .11

.. ~ .1

II ~,,,,..., ''Q

- ·-Ji. '

t~ .12 c.s'y:;. .2 LL .12 ._,L....; .2

.,,. ·: ~

,I ~ .13 ._j 1.) .3 •• Y.\~ .13 IJ_j .3

II ~L;., .14 u-iWI <51~ .4

-~ .4 I ~ .14 ~,j ~ ~

~ ~

vO.; .15 '-:-'..)-'-0 .5 "II ~ .15 l,ji .5

~

~~ .16 <.>) i \ (5_,..::. i .6 II ~.) .16 I~G .6

t~ .17 )~ .7 !II ._,L .17 IJ.J .7 ~ •: ,. , . ~ '

.8 .8

w <SlY. .18 1..)0.,>4 -. f'JI~_,.;. \ ~JI_,- ~ .18 "':-'-...?

(5..) '.1:!.? . 19 L;., .9 '~ u'.J~ .19 JjJ .9 f'

·<.>).1:!). r-Y. ~~ .20 F.\~ .10 IIIII -~~~ .20 .JJ.J . I 0

28 ll 29

Dari 'II.

Dari ,. Lesson Fourteen ,_

Lesson Fifteen ·-c.,t~ .11 . ~ .I

~ .11 J~~ .1 I...J.J7 - ·-

··-- - .2 '.l'i .2

~~ .12 ~~ , . F .12 . 1.

J;."i . 13 La:; .3 111 ~ .13 .)~ .3

f" --: .. -~ - .4

Jb .4 .)"iJ .14 ........,:::..

~ .14 •: ": .u.

~I , c.,"il .15 ~\~ .5 ~ .15 WJb .5

I ~~ .6 . - .6

f")l.:. .16 II t=; .16 w_r:o. - ..

.7 - .7 JIJ .17 ~ ,.

~ .17 ~

I ~ JJ; .18 [f.) .8 t..) .18 J.\.;&. .8 ·-

~~ ·:·;_~ .19 <St.;. .9 -- .9 J f"~ .19 "-:'Y:.

U""'~ .20 0"~ .10 II ~0" l 4 ~ L.... .20 (~ .10

32

Dari

Lesson Seventeen (continued)

~ ' ._.>A_y..t .11

~ · .~ .12

eGG.. .13

b.)l:i.....u ~.J-A .14 ~ ~

,, ..S.),Y. .15

, ~~ .16 ~ 1..57

~0:)J J'i_Jl .17

' ~~~ .18

~ ., ,

~..::u.u~ .19

. I..>" I":"'_,..;.. ~WI <SI~ .20 '

33

Dari

Lesson 18 (without diacriticals)

•f'-)1.......

~~~

·~·~'-;{?

I . •(..j" ~

~0:1~ (54-

.~~~

·f'"Y. -'=4 etA~~ •u2·7·;_.2o

•f'"Y. .;1~4 r-=G.. If"

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

• ..!.:...Q~l~ 'l..Y" l ..::U.U.)J '10

34

Dari

Lesson 18

·t)l..:.. .1

, ~~~ .2

~

~ "" , I "" '

·~ ·~ '":-'_,.;. .3

<: I . - ~ I ~ ·U"' ~ ~L.4.&.1 u.!o60.!o .4

.- 5 , "" , :....u •

. hlbl~ 'U"'' ~~.J .10 . -:

b .6 •:

·u2·7.<; ~~ .7

, , ~ I ~ I ·tY. J-:1..:' <l.o <..S"b • u,7.; ~ .o .8

·t:; ))-;~ ~L:.. ~ .9

, ~ , .hlbl~ 'U"'' ~~.J .10

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DARI PERSIAN

VOICES

English-Speaking Instructor ...... ... .. .... .... ... Ray Brown Dari-Speaking Instructor ...... ....... ..... Jalil Abdul Karim Female Dari Speaker .... .. ...... .. ....... .... ... ... Zala Ibrahimi Male Dari Speaker ....... .. .. .... ... .... .......... Javed Rezayee

CouRSE WRITERS

Mirza Amiri + Joan Schoellner

EDITORS

Delaram Soltani + Beverly D. Heinle

REVIEWER

Adela Raz

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Beverly D. Heinle

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Sarah H. Mcinnis

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PeterS . Thrpin + Kelly Saux

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