There is power in naming a language in the context of its own culture. And we want to put that power in our user’s hands.

In addition to updating existing language names to respect local cultures, we also want to provide choices for speakers whose language has more than one name.

Dari and Farsi are two variants of the Persian language. In written form, Dari and Farsi can be considered mutually intelligible due to their similar grammar and syntax. However, their spoken forms differ in vocabulary, pronunciation, and history.

To give our users this choice, Amara’s integration with Vimeo now supports exporting subtitles labeled Dari [prs] to Vimeo, in addition to subtitles labeled Farsi [fa-af].

Note: Since Vimeo only supports Farsi, there are limitations:

• Dari subtitles exported from Amara will still show up as [fa-af] on Vimeo
• If a video on Amara has both Farsi and Dari tracks, only Farsi will export to Vimeo

Persian Language Differences:

Language differences come in many forms: vocabulary, pronunciation, and national borders (to name just a few). As cultures grow and change, so do their languages. As Dari evolved, for example, it adopted words from Pashto, Urdu, and English. While Farsi created its own vocabulary in modern fields like medicine and computer science, Dari used English words like “hardware, processor, and software.”

Vowel pronunciation also differs between Dari and Farsi, making the distinction between the two language forms very important for video audiences. For example, Farsi merged majhul vowels ( ē / ī and ō / ū in International Phonetic Alphabet) while Dari kept them separate.

Dari and Farsi have different vocabulary for common household items (like chair, eraser, hammer and pepper), so speakers of Dari and Farsi can have some difficulty understanding each other in casual settings. However, in formal settings like news reports or educational media, there is a greater chance of understanding between Dari and Farsi speakers.

Persian Language History:

Originally called “Parsi,” the Persian language belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages. This language existed long before any of its current speakers’ countries were founded. Let us take a look at how Persian has evolved through conquest, linguistics, and policy.

In Old Persian, speakers named their own language: “Pārsa.” Over the Aegean Sea, the Greeks Hellinized the name: Περσίς (or “Persís”). Through further trade and conquest, the name was Latinized: “Persian/Persa/Persane/Persisch” and this is how speakers of Western languages historically referred to the Persian language.

“Farsi” is an Arabicized name of the Persian language adopted in 1st millenium AD after the Arab conquest of Iran. Standard Arabic did not contain the phoneme /p/, so the /p/ was changed to /f/. Farsi is the official language of Iran.

“Dari” was the name of the court language of the late Sassanid period and of classical Persian poetry. Today, Dari is the name of the Persian language variant spoken in Afghanistan, along with their other official language Pashto. 

Farsi and Dari evolved around divergent cultural and political boundaries, but they have a shared history. It is important that we can use the names we identify with for our own languages. But let us not forget this history or the names that came before. It can be an enlightening journey to trace languages from the farthest branches all the way back to their roots.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Dari and Farsi the same? What are the Differences between Farsi and Dari?

Both Dari and Farsi are variants of the Persian language but they vary in vocabulary, borrowed words, and pronunciation.
Dari has many adopted words from Pashto, Urdu, and English while Farsi created its own vocabulary in modern fields like medicine and computer science. Vowel pronunciation also differs between Dari and Farsi, making the distinction between the two language forms very important for video audiences. Dari and Farsi have different vocabulary for common household items (like chair, eraser, hammer and pepper), so speakers of Dari and Farsi can have some difficulty understanding each other in casual settings.

Can Farsi speakers understand Dari?

In their spoken form, Farsi and Dari are not mutually intelligible. So a Farsi speaker would not be able to automatically understand something said in Dari and the other way around.
The written forms of Farsi and Dari are closer to each other than their spoken forms. But there are still differences in vocabulary that could make reading difficult for speakers of the other variant.

Dari vs Persian, What are the differences?

Dari is a variant of the Persian language.
The Persian language has three standard variants: Iranian Persian, Dari Persian, and Tajiki Persian. The name “Farsi” comes from an Arabicized name of the Persian language, originally called “Parsi.”