Closer Than You Think: The Deep Roots Connecting Iran and the West
Farsi Is a Cousin of English
The Indo-European Family
Both Farsi and English descend from Proto-Indo-European (PIE), spoken approximately 4500-2500 BCE in the Pontic-Caspian steppe (modern Ukraine/southern Russia). From this ancestor, the family branched: English through Germanic, Farsi through Indo-Iranian.
Farsi is NOT Arabic. This is the most important misconception to correct. Arabic is Semitic (related to Hebrew). Persian is Indo-European (related to English, French, German). The confusion arises because Persian adopted Arabic script after the 7th-century Arab conquest — but it retained its own grammar, pronunciation, and identity. Just as English absorbed massive French/Latin vocabulary after the Norman Conquest while remaining a Germanic language.
Persian is actually closer to English grammatically than it is to Arabic.
Why Farsi Is Surprisingly Easy for English Speakers
- No grammatical gender (no masculine/feminine nouns)
- No he/she/it distinction — one pronoun covers all
- Relatively simple grammar with logical structure
- Many shared Indo-European roots make vocabulary easier
- The alphabet is more phonetically consistent than English
- Most learners reach basic conversation within 3-6 months
Words You Already Know: 369+ English Words from Persian
Food & Drink
| English | Persian Origin | Path |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | shakar | Via Arabic, Latin, French |
| Candy | qand (قند) | Via Arabic, French |
| Lemon | limu (لیمو) | Via Arabic |
| Orange | narang (نارنگ) | Via Arabic (the “n” was absorbed into the article “une narenge” → “une orenge”) |
| Peach | From “Persia” itself | Latin persicum malum = “Persian apple” |
| Pistachio | pesteh (پسته) | Via Greek, Latin |
| Spinach | espenaj (اسپناج) | Via Arabic, Spanish |
| Jasmine | yasaman (یاسمن) | Via Arabic |
| Saffron | za’faran | Via Arabic, French |
| Sorbet/Sherbet | sharbat (شربت) | A sweet drink |
| Julep | gulab (گلاب) | gol = rose, ab = water |
| Pilaf | polow (پلو) | Rice dish |
| Lime | limu | Via French, Spanish |
Clothing & Textiles
| English | Persian Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pajamas | pai-jameh (پاجامه) | pa = leg, jameh = garment |
| Shawl | shal (شال) | Directly recognizable |
| Khaki | khaki (خاکی) | khak = dust; “dusty-colored” |
| Taffeta | tafta (تافته) | “Spun, woven” |
| Seersucker | shir-o-shekar | ”Milk and sugar” (light/dark stripes) |
Games
| English | Persian Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chess | shah (شاه) | “King” — the game of kings |
| Checkmate | shah mat (شاه مات) | “The king is helpless/dead” |
| Rook | rokh (رخ) | The castle piece |
Science & Philosophy
| English | Persian Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Algorithm | Al-Khwarizmi | Named after the Persian mathematician |
| Algebra | al-jabr | From Khwarizmi’s book title |
| Magic/Magician | Magi/Magus (مغ) | Zoroastrian priests |
Everyday Words
| English | Persian Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Paradise | pairidaeza (پردیس) | pairi = around, daeza = wall; “walled garden” |
| Bazaar | bazar (بازار) | Market |
| Caravan | karvan (کاروان) | Group of travelers |
| Jungle | jangal (جنگل) | Forest |
| Assassin | hashashin (حشاشین) | The medieval sect |
| Check (financial) | chak (چک) | “Legal document, deed, bill” |
| Kiosk | kushk (کوشک) | Pavilion |
| Divan | divan (دیوان) | Council-room; later, a couch |
| Azure | lazhward (لاجورد) | From lapis lazuli |
| Lilac | nilak (نیلک) | “Bluish” |
| Tulip | dulband (دلبند) | Via Turkish, turban-like shape |
| Musk | moshk (مشک) | Via Latin, Greek |
| Serendipity | Serendip | Old Persian name for Sri Lanka |
Wiktionary documents 369+ English terms derived from Persian.
Ancient Cousins: Words Shared Since Before History
These words are similar in Farsi and English because both inherited them from Proto-Indo-European:
Family
| English | Persian | PIE Root |
|---|---|---|
| Father | pedar (پدر) | *ph₂tḗr |
| Mother | madar (مادر) | *méh₂tēr |
| Brother | baradar (برادر) | *bʰréh₂tēr |
| Daughter | dokhtar (دختر) | *dʰugh₂tḗr |
| Sister | khahar (خواهر) | *swésōr |
| Widow | biveh (بیوه) | *h₁widʰéwh₂ |
Basic Vocabulary
| English | Persian | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Name | nam (نام) | PIE *h₁nómn̥ |
| Door | dar (در) | PIE *dʰwer- |
| Star | setareh (ستاره) | PIE *h₂stḗr |
| New | now/naw (نو) | PIE *néwos |
| Is | ast (است) | PIE *h₁ésti |
| Cow | gav (گاو) | PIE *gʷṓws |
| Mouse | mush (موش) | PIE *mūs |
| Two | do (دو) | PIE *dwóh₁ |
| Three | se (سه) | PIE *tréyes |
| Knee | zanu (زانو) | PIE *ǵónu |
| Eyebrow | abru (ابرو) | PIE *h₃bʰrúHs |
| Thunder | tondar (تندر) | Compare German “Donner” |
| Stand | istadan (ایستادن) | PIE *steh₂- |
Shared Prefixes
| Persian | European Equivalent | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| far(a)- | Latin pro-, English for- | Forward |
| ham- | Greek homo- | Same/together |
| ne- | Latin in-, English un- | Negation |
| bar- | Greek hyper- | Over |
| pira- | Greek peri- | Around |
”Iran” = “Land of the Aryans”
The name Iran derives from Aryānām — “Land of the Noble Ones.” The word arya originally meant “noble” or “lord” in Old Iranian and Sanskrit. It was the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranian peoples.
The Proto-Indo-Iranians migrated from the Eurasian steppe southward around 2000 BCE — one branch becoming Iranians (Persians, Medes, Parthians), the other becoming Indo-Aryans (spreading into India). Old Avestan (Zoroastrian scriptures) and Rigvedic Sanskrit are so close that almost any Sanskrit word can be converted to its Avestan equivalent by applying regular phonetic rules.
The term “Aryan” was tragically misappropriated by 19th-century European racial theorists and ultimately by Nazi ideology — which had absolutely nothing to do with its original meaning of “noble” as used by ancient Iranians and Indians.
Cultural Inventions That Traveled from Persia to the West
The Concept of Paradise
Old Persian pairidaeza → Greek paradeisos → Latin → every European language. The Persian walled garden became the Western religious concept of Paradise.
Chess
Originated in India, perfected in Persia during the Sassanid Empire. Shah (king), rokh (rook), shah mat (checkmate) — all Persian. Introduced to Europe through Muslim Spain in the 10th century.
Polo
Originated in Persia over 2,000 years ago as cavalry training. Both men and women played. Reached Britain through India in the mid-19th century.
The Postal System
Darius I’s Royal Road (2,500+ km) with relay stations inspired Herodotus’s words that became the US Postal Service’s unofficial motto: “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
Wine
Some of the earliest evidence of intentional winemaking comes from Iran. At Hajji Firuz Tepe in the Zagros Mountains, archaeologists found jars dating to 5400-5000 BCE with wine residue — pushing back the history of wine by 2,000 years.
Backgammon
Nard (نرد) emerged in Persia between the 3rd-6th century CE. Board games at Shahr-e Sukhteh in Iran date back 5,000+ years.
Banking
The English word “check/cheque” derives from Persian chak (چک) — “legal document, contract.” Medieval Persian merchants could deposit funds in one city and withdraw in another — an early form of banking.
Zoroastrian Roots of Western Religion
This may be the most profound and least-known connection.
The Transmission Point
During the Babylonian Exile (586-538 BCE), the Jewish people lived under the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus freed them. Persian religious concepts deeply influenced Second Temple Judaism, and through it, Christianity.
Concepts That Traveled from Zoroastrianism
| Zoroastrian Concept | Western Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Angra Mainyu (destructive spirit who chose evil) | Satan/The Devil |
| Amesha Spentas (Holy Immortals) | Angels |
| Detailed afterlife reward/punishment | Heaven and Hell |
| Bodily resurrection | Resurrection of the Dead |
| Final cosmic judgment | Last Judgment |
| Saoshyant (future savior born of a virgin, defeats evil, resurrects the dead) | The Messiah / Second Coming |
| Ahura Mazda vs. Angra Mainyu | Good vs. Evil as cosmic struggle |
Before the Babylonian Exile, Judaism had no developed concept of Satan as an independent evil force. The detailed eschatology of heaven, hell, resurrection, and final judgment entered Judaism primarily during the Persian period.
The Magi and Christmas
The Three Wise Men were Zoroastrian priests (Old Persian magush). And Yalda Night — the ancient Persian winter solstice celebration marking the “birth” of the sun god Mithra — may have influenced the dating of Christmas. The word “yalda” in Syriac literally means “birth” and was the Syriac Christian proper name for Christmas.
Persian Literary Influence on the West
Rumi: America’s Best-Selling Poet
Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207-1273) has been called “the best-selling poet in the United States.” His poetry on love, spirituality, and the human condition transcends cultural boundaries.
Omar Khayyam
Edward FitzGerald’s 1859 translation of the Rubaiyat became one of the most popular poetry collections in English, spawning “Omar Khayyam clubs” across the English-speaking world.
Hafez and Goethe
The great German writer Goethe was so moved by the 14th-century Persian poet Hafez that he wrote his West-Eastern Diwan (1819) as a poetic dialogue between himself and Hafez — “the German poet of Weimar and the Persian poet of Shiraz.”
The Thousand and One Nights
The earliest mentions refer to it as an Arabic translation of a Persian book called Hezar Afsan (“The Thousand Stories”). Its Persian origin is acknowledged by scholars.
The Core Argument
Iran is not culturally alien to the West. It is one of the West’s oldest cultural relatives and most significant intellectual contributors:
- A shared linguistic ancestor with English
- 369+ English words of Persian origin
- Religious concepts (heaven, hell, angels, Satan, messiah) that traveled from Persia into Judaism and Christianity
- Games (chess, polo, backgammon), agricultural products (wine, saffron, pistachios), and cultural concepts (paradise, banking, postal systems) that originated in Persia
- The best-selling poet in America is Persian
- The word “paradise” is Persian
- The first visitors to the newborn Christ were Persian
Iran isn’t joining something foreign. It’s reuniting with a civilization it helped create.
Sources: Wikipedia (Indo-European languages, Persian language, List of English words of Persian origin), Encyclopaedia Iranica, World History Encyclopedia, Wiktionary, Owlcation, The Collector, Jewish Encyclopedia, University of Idaho, Archaeology Magazine, various linguistic research