Dari

Dari, a language of Indo-Iranian origin, is one of the official languages spoken in Afghanistan (Pashto is the other official language of Afghanistan). Dari is a dialect of Farsi (or Persian), the official language of Iran, and the two languages are so similar in their structure, syntax, and lexicon that Iranians and Afghans can communicate with each other with little difficulty. Nevertheless, there are some distinctive differences between the two. The accent in Dari is not quite as stressed as in Farsi; the vowel systems of the two languages differ; and Dari employs more consonants than Farsi. Finally, when a designation is specified, Dari adds a suffix, ra.

Dari uses a modified Arabic script with thirty-two alphabetic characters, and the language has many loan-words from Arabic as well as Persian. There is a formal and more proper version of the language as well as an informal one. In fact, the word "Dari" originates from the word "dar," or "darbari," which means "court language." Dari, like Pahlavi Middle Persian, is thought to have been spoken in the eastern Iranian royal courts. The language, however, may have originated as common people's speech, which later became formalized to bring it to the level required for use in the royal courts. Today the language has evolved to a stage where the formal style is more closely associated with Farsi, while the informal one resembles more the language spoken in Tajikistan.

Dari is spoken by approximately 5 million people in Afghanistan. Several ethnic groups, including the Chahar Aimak, Hazara, and Tajik, speak Dari as their main language. In Afghanistan Dari is spoken when people who speak different languages come together.

Dari has a rich literary tradition and history. It was the language chosen by several prominent ancient and modern literary figures to weave an epic tale or compose a touching poem. Poets who wrote in the Dari language include Abu Hafs-I Sughdi, Abu al-Abbas-I Marvarzi, and Yazid Ibn-I Mifraq. A modern Afghani poet, Ustad Khalilullah Khalili, also writes in Dari, and many critics consider his use of the Dari language to be brilliant. Khalili has written almost fifty literary works, which include poems, fiction, history, and Sufi studies, all representing some of the finest literary points of the Dari language.

Adamec, Ludwig W. (1997) Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan. 2d ed. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Norton, Augustus Richard, ed. (1996) Civil Society in the Middle East. Leiden, Netherlands, and New York: Brill.

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