SIMON & SCHUSTERS

PIMSLEUR

dari
persian

reading booklet
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and Recorded Program 2009 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Reading Booklet 2009 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Mfg. in USA.

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 Acknowledgments

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

Executive Producer
Beverly D. Heinle

Producer & Director

Sarah H. McInnis

Recording Engineers
Peter S. Turpin Kelly Saux

Simon & Schuster Studios, Concord, MA

iii
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www.Pimsleur.com
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Reading Lessons Lesson One

The Dari Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Written Dari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Alphabet Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
.3
Reading Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
.4
Lesson One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 .5
Lesson Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
.6
Lesson Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Lesson Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.7
Lesson Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.8
Lesson Six . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
.9
Lesson Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Lesson Eight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
22
Lesson Nine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1123
Lesson Ten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
24
Lesson Eleven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
.13
Lesson Twelve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Lesson Thirteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1427
Lesson Fourteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 28
Lesson Fifteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
.16
Lesson Sixteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Lesson Seventeen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 31
Lesson Eighteen (without diacritical marks) . . . . . . .18 33
Lesson Eighteen (with diacritical marks) . . . . . . . . .19 34

.20
v
 DARI Persian

Lesson
The Dari1Language

Dari is one of the two official languages of

Afghanistan, and its the native tongue of about half
of the population. The other official language is
Pashto, spoken by about 35 percent. In addition,
about 11 percent of Afghans speak a Turkic language
(either Uzbek or Turkmen) and there are numerous
other languages as well, 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. Its taught in schools and heard
on national radio, and it serves as the language of
business and higher education. Because of its long
and venerable literary tradition and its historical
prestige, 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 form taught in this
course, formerly called Kabuli Dari), it has a
number of variants.
 DARI Persian

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 dialects
are more or less mutually intelligible. All belong to
the Indo-Iranian group of languages, which is a sub-
family of the Indo-European languages.

Old Persian dates back to at least 500 BC; over

time, it gradually evolved to Middle Persian, or
Dari Persian. During the reign of the Sassanids,
who ruled over the eastern regions of Persia from
224-651 ad, it became the official court language.
In fact, the name Dari most likely stems from
the Persian word darbar, meaning court. As the
prestige dialect, it spread to other regions as well.

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)
and Arabic, and it was written with the Arabic script.
2
 DARI Persian

The Dari Language (continued)

Scholars consider this linguistic amalgamation to

be the mother of both present-day Dari and Modern
Persian / Farsi.

The differences between Dari Persian and

Modern Persian / Farsi developed over time. Largely
because of its mountainous geography, the people of
the eastern region (including Afghanistan) had less
contact and interaction with other foreign languages
than those of the western region. Modern 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.

3
 DARI Persian

Written Dari

Dari uses a modified version of the Arabic

alphabet, with thirty-two letters as opposed to
twenty-eight in Arabic. Dari does not have capital
letters, but uses an adapted form of Western
punctuation. Written Dari has the following
characteristics:

It is read from right to left, except for numbers,

which go from left to right.

Dari letters are distinguished by one, two, or

three dots, which are placed above or below the
letter or, in some cases, by the lack of dots.

As in English handwriting, most Dari letters

connect to those that follow them. However, seven
letters, called non-connectors, connect only 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 shape according

to their position in a word depending on whether
they appear in initial, medial, or final position.
4
 DARI Persian

Written Dari (continued)

In standard written Dari, the so-called

short vowels are usually omitted. They may be
represented by diacritical marks, 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

diacriticals follows. The alphabet is listed as a two-
page spread. You should use this chart for reference
only, as all the information you need to do the
readings is contained on the audio.

5
 DARI Persian

Dari Alphabet Chart

(Read from right to left.)
Symbol in Final Medial Initial
Transliteration (Connected)
aa / / /
b
p
t
s
j
ch
h
kh
d
z
r

6
 DARI Persian

Dari Alphabet Chart

(Read from right to left.)

Name Name in Transliteration Letter

alef
be
pe
te
se
jeem
che
he halwa
kheh
daal
zaal

re

7
 DARI Persian

Dari Alphabet Chart (continued)

(Read from right to left.)
Symbol in Final Medial Initial
Transliteration (Connected)
z
zh
s
sh
s
z
t
z

(glottal stop)

gh
f
q

8
 DARI Persian

Dari Alphabet Chart (continued)

(Read from right to left.)

Name Name in Transliteration Letter

ze

zhe
seen
sheen
saad
zaad
toi
zoi
ayn
ghayn
fe
qaaf

9
 DARI Persian

Dari Alphabet Chart (continued)

(Read from right to left.)

Symbol in Final Medial Initial

Transliteration (Connected)
k
g
l
m
n
w / oo
h
ee / y

10
 DARI Persian

Dari Alphabet Chart (continued)

(Read from right to left.)

Name Name in Transliteration Letter

kaaf
gaaf
laam
meem
noon
waw
he do cheshma
yaa

11
 DARI Persian

Dari Alphabet Chart (continued)

(Read from right to left.)

Name in Transliteration Diacritical Sound

fatha / zabar / a / as in hat

kasra / zir / e / as in shell

zama / pish / o / as in home

/ aa / as in
mad father or awe

In Dari there is a special letter combination, ,

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
/ ye / sound. In either case, the hamza is rarely used
and is omitted from modern keyboards.
12
 DARI Persian

The Reading Lessons

There are eighteen Dari reading lessons recorded

at the end of the program. You may choose to do the
readings along with the 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 simply 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.

13
DARI Persian

Lesson One
)(Read from right to left.

.11 .1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14 .4

.15 .5

.16 .6

.7

.8

.9

.10
15
 DARI Persian

Lesson Two
)(Read from right to left.

.11 .1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14 .4

.15 .5

.16 .6

.7

.8

.9

.10
16
 DARI Persian

Lesson Three
)(Read from right to left.

.11 .1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14 \ .4

.15 .5

.16 .6

.7

.8

.9

.10
17
 DARI Persian

Lesson Four

.11 .1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14
.4

.15 .5

.16 .6

.7

.8

\ .9

\ .10
18
 DARI Persian

Lesson Five

\ .11 .1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14 .4

.15 .5

\ .16 .6

.17 .7

.18 .8

.9

.10
19
 DARI Persian

Lesson Six

.11 .1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14 .4

.15 .5

.16
\ \ .6

.17 .7

.18 .8

.9

.10
20
 DARI Persian

Lesson Seven

.11
.1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14 .4

.15 .5

.16 .6

.17 .7

.18 .8

.9

.10
21
 DARI Persian

Lesson Eight

\ .11 .1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14 .4

.15 .5

.16 \ .6

.17 .7

.18 .8

.9

.10
22
DARI Persian

Lesson Nine

.11 .1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14 .4

.15 .5

.16 .6

.17 .7

.18 .8

.9

.10
23
 DARI Persian

Lesson Ten

.11
.1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14 .4

.15 \ .5

.16 .6

.17 .7

.18 .8

.19 .9

.20 .10
24
 DARI Persian

Lesson Eleven

.11 .1

.12 .2

\ .13 .3

.14 .4

.15 .5

.16 .6

.17
.7

.18 .8

.19 .9

.20 \ .10
25
 DARI Persian

Lesson Twelve

.11 .1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14
.4

.15
.5

.16 \
.6

.17 .7

.18 .8

.19 .9

. .20
\ .10
26
 DARI Persian

Lesson Thirteen

.11 .1

.12 .2

\ .13 .3

.14 .4

.15 .5

.16 .6

.17 .7

.18 - \ .8

.19 .9

. .20 .10
27
 DARI Persian

Lesson Fourteen

.11 .1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14 .4

.15 \ .5

.16 .6

.17 .7

.18 .8

.19 .9

.20 .10
28
 DARI Persian

Lesson Fifteen

.11 .1

.12 .2

.13 .3

.14 .4

.15 .5

.16 .6

.17 .7

.18 \ .8

.19 .9

.20 .10
29
 DARI Persian

Lesson Sixteen

.11 .1

.12
.2

\ .13 .3

.14 .4

.15 .5

.16 .6

.17 \ .7

.18 \ \ .8

.19 .9

. .20 .10
30
 DARI Persian

Lesson Seventeen

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

(continued on page 32) .10

31
DARI Persian

)Lesson Seventeen (continued

.11

.12

.13

.14

.15

.16

.17

.18

.19

.
.20
32
DARI Persian

)Lesson 18 (without diacriticals

. .1

.2

. .3

.4

. .5

.6

. .7

. .8

. .9

. .10
33
DARI Persian

Lesson 18

. .1

.2

. .3

.4

. .5

.6

.
.7

. .8

. .9

.
.10
34