a TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS MODERN PERSIAN John Maceet ie Fhe impression ES opel 1968, OL ISPS 0 940 05807 2 Pret nt rin Ta en rag Pa, ime PREFACE Penstaw is an Indo-European language, that is it is related. to the tongues spoken in Western Europe, As a result of the spread of Islam after the death of the Prophet, many Arabic words were introduced into Persian, which came to be written with the Arabic alphabet ; yet in its grammatical structure and its asic vocabulary Persian remains Indo- European, hence quite unlike Arat Persian is therefore an easy language for us to learn to speak ; at first the writing and reading of it seem difficult, but with the right approach we can learn even this quickly. ‘This book attempts to teach the basis of the reading and writing, with the minimum of grammar, in the first dozen lessons ; thereafter the grammar and idiom of the language can be explored more fully. A transliteration in Roman ‘characters is given for the first few appearances of every ‘word, phrase or sentence, but you should try as soon as you. ccan to pick out the words direct from the Persian script, reading them several times over to accustom your eye to the forms. Plenty of practice is given in this, in the early lessons of the book. ‘The book is in three main parts— Alphabet, Grammar, and Vocabulary-building, and in addition it has a Key to the exercises, an Index, and vocabulasies each way. The book is called Teach Yourself Modern Persian ; this is important. Arabic forms of speech and orthography do appear in everyday Persian talking and writing, and where they. do we have mentioned them ; but there isno more need“ PRErack for the student of Modern Persian to learn Arabic than ‘here is for the person learning, say, French to know Latin first. Ido not speak, understand, read, or write Arabic beyond the half-dozen or so examples of it which appear in this book. ‘You ought to enjoy learning Persian—Tran isa fascinating ‘country, unique in her long history of civilisation and art. Iran is\ being re-discovered by thousands of English: speaking people—British and American—and it is their need to understand and be understood among this friendly. and hospitable people that has prompted the writing of this ook I should lke to take this opportunity of thanking Professor Savory, of the University of Toronto, and Mr. Leonard Cutts, the Editor-in-Chief, for their many Dietpful suggestions on the text Tam also indebted to Messrs. Bruno Cassirer, of Oxford, for their kind permission to reproduce the miniatures on pp. 98 and 117, and to the Trustees of the British Museum for allowing me to reproduce drawings of the archacological fragments on pp. 89, 79, and 201. JOHN MACE. Nore: Ivan is the countey ; Iranian the nationality: Persian tus pational language, orginally the tongue of Fars ia the south ‘of Tran. in Eagish Porsia tweed to men Tram, but tia iy teallye rDummy at Dt feck bee 1 Lt Aine pt Beto Lt ah, thd, f. Glottal Stop. ft gh. Nombers 1-10 2 Arabic letters, s,s, and k. Persian sh 1 Parr Two.—Grammar : 13. 130. 4 1 6, 163, v7. 7 8, 3a, Personal Pronouns. Past Teme | |)! Textmss Negatives. Definite Direct Object. Object Pronouns Questions. Positive and Nogative Answers. Text Plurals. Pronunciation. These, Thote : ‘Text. Present of fo be. Past and Present of io have Indefinite Sutix, Hamed Poste eee Eesje: Revision ft : Prosent Tense. Pronunciation, Sufix be. Text | Prepositions we eo Prebix nfo. Verbs in bh, Text (al) dead Verbs in ~f- and -d-. Verbs in adam, Expreaions | Numbers 1-10, Cardinal and Ordinal ss 105,