HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Academy of Persian Language and Literature (APLL) ( fa, فرهنگستان زبان و ادب فارسی, ''Farhangestân-e Zabân-o Adab-e Fârsi'') is the regulatory body for the Persian language, headquartered in Tehran, Iran. Formerly known as the Academy of Iran (, ''Farhangestân-e Iran''), it was founded on May 20, 1935, by the initiative of Reza Shah, the founder of
Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...
. The academy acts as the official authority on the language, and contributes to linguistic research on Persian and other languages of Iran.


History


Early efforts

The first official attentions to the necessity of protecting the Persian language against foreign words, and to the standardization of
Persian orthography Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and u ...
, were under the reign of Naser al-Din Shah of the
Qajar dynasty The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic origin, ...
in 1871. After Naser al-Din Shah, Mozaffar al-Din Shah ordered the establishment of the first Persian association in 1903. This association officially declared that it used Persian and
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
as acceptable sources for coining words. The ultimate goal was to prevent books from being printed with wrong use of words. According to the executive guarantee of this association, the government was responsible for wrongfully-printed books. Words coined by this association, such as ''rāh-āhan'' () for "railway", were printed in ''Soltani Newspaper''; but the association was eventually closed due to inattention. A scientific association was founded in 1911, resulting in a dictionary called ''Words of Scientific Association'' (), which was completed in the future and renamed ''Katouzian Dictionary'' ().


Establishment of the academy

The first academy for the Persian language was founded on May 20, 1935, under the name ''Academy of Iran''. It was established by the initiative of Reza Shah, and mainly by Hekmat e Shirazi and Mohammad Ali Foroughi, all prominent names in the nationalist movement of the time. Ferdowsi, in fact, was a motivation behind Reza Shah's decision to remove the foreign loanwords from Persian, replacing them with Persian equivalents. In 1934, Reza Shah ordered to rebuild Ferdowsi's tomb and set up a country-wide ceremony in honor of a thousand years of
Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
since the time of Ferdowsi, titled '' Ferdowsi Millenary Celebration'', inviting notable Iranian and foreign scholars. The members of the academy included a number of notable literary figures and highly celebrated scholars upon its foundation, including
Abbas Eqbal Ashtiani Abbas Eqbal Ashtiani ( fa, عباس اقبال آشتیانی; 1896-97 – February 10, 1956) was an Iranian literary scholar, historian, translator, and man of letters. Eqbal Ashtiani was born in Ashtian. He was educated at Dar ul-Funun (House ...
,
Mohammad-Taqi Bahar Mohammad-Taqi Bahar ( fa, محمدتقی بهار; also romanized as Mohammad-Taqī Bahār; 10 December 1886 in Mashhad – 22 April 1951 in Tehran), widely known as Malek osh-Sho'arā ( fa, ملک‌الشعراء) and Malek osh-Sho'arā Bahā ...
,
Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda Allameh Ali Akbar Dehkhodā ( fa, علی‌اکبر دهخدا; 1879–March 9, 1956) was a prominent Iranian linguist and lexicographer. He was the author of the Dehkhoda Dictionary, the most extensive dictionary of the Persian language pu ...
, Mohammad Ali Foroughi,
Badiozzaman Forouzanfar Badiozzaman Forouzanfar or Badi'ozzamān Forūzānfar (also Romanized as "Badiʿ al-Zamān Furūzānfar") (12 July 1904 in Boshrooyeh in Ferdows County – 6 May 1970 in Tehran) ( fa, بدیع‌الزمان فروزانفر, born ''Ziyaa' ...
, Homayun Forouzanfar, Qasem Ghani, Abdolazim Gharib, Mohammad Ghazvini, Mohammad Hejazi, Ali-Asghar Hekmat, Mahmoud Hessabi, Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh, Ahmad Matin-Daftari, Saeed Nafisi, Ebrahim Pourdavoud, Isa Sadiq, Zabihollah Safa,
Ali Akbar Siassi Ali-Akbar Siassi PhD ( fa, Ali-Akbar Siyāsĩ; 1896 – 27 May 1990) was a notable Iranian intellectual, psychologist and politician during the 1930s and 1960s, serving as the country's education and foreign minister, chancellor of University of ...
, and Rashid Yasemi. Some foreign scholars were also involved, such as Arthur Christensen (from
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...
), Muhammad Husayn Haykal (from
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
), Abduqodir Maniyozov (from
Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
), Henry Masset (from
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
), Raf'at Pasha (from Egypt), Jan Rypka (from
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
), Dodikhudo Saymiddinov (from Tajikistan), and Muhammadjon Shakuri (from Tajikistan) and Syed Waheed Ashraf (from
India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
). Rpferdosi.jpg, Reza Shah officially dedicating the Tomb of Ferdowsi upon conclusion of the Ferdowsi Millenary Celebration. Ferdowsi millenary congress.jpg, Participants of the Ferdowsi Millenary Congress in Tehran. ferdowsi tomb4.jpg, The Tomb of Ferdowsi in
Tus, Iran Tus ( Persian: توس Tus), also spelled as Tous or Toos, is an ancient city in Razavi Khorasan Province in Iran near Mashhad. To the ancient Greeks, it was known as Susia ( grc, Σούσια). It was also known as Tusa. Tus was divided into ...
. Statue of Ferdowsi in Tus, Iran.jpg, The statue of Ferdowsi in
Tus, Iran Tus ( Persian: توس Tus), also spelled as Tous or Toos, is an ancient city in Razavi Khorasan Province in Iran near Mashhad. To the ancient Greeks, it was known as Susia ( grc, Σούσια). It was also known as Tusa. Tus was divided into ...
.
The academy was a key institution in the struggle to re-build Iran as a nation-state after the collapse of the Qajar dynasty. During the 1930s and 1940s, the academy led massive campaigns to replace the many
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
,
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, and
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
loanwords whose immense use in Persian during the centuries preceding the foundation of the Pahlavi dynasty had created a literary language considerably different from the spoken Persian of the time.


Functions

The academy strives to protect the integrity of the Persian language. It heads the academic efforts for linguistic research on the Persian language and its sister Iranian languages. It has also created an official orthography of Persian. The attention of the academy has also been towards the persistent infiltration of Persian, like many other languages, with foreign words, as a result of the globalization process. The academy constantly campaigns for the use of Persian equivalents of new loanwords. If no equivalents exist, it has the task of linguistically deriving such words from existing Persian roots, and actively promoting the adoption of these new coinages in the daily lives. The Iranian law requires those equivalents to be used in the official media, governmental affairs, and product management of all companies.


The Encyclopedia of Persian Language and Literature in South Asia

The Encyclopedia of Persian Language and Literature in South Asia (
India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
) was established in 1993 in order to compile the Encyclopedia of Persian Language and Literature in South Asia, presenting the range of Iranian-Islamic language and culture and its impact on the subcontinent. Demonstrating the contribution of Iranian and Islamic culture and the role of Persian language and literature in the history and culture of this region, as well as examining the long-standing commonalities and connections of these two ancient lands, especially in the post-Islamic period, is the main structure of this encyclopedia.


Membership

The academy members are selected from masters of
Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
and
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...
. After the 1979 Revolution, Hassan Habibi was appointed as the academy's president, and he remained in that position until his death due to heart failure in January 2013. The current president is
Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel ( fa, غلامعلی حداد عادل, born 9 May 1945) is an Iranian philosopher, conservative and principlist politician and former chairman of the Parliament. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council ...
. The following is a list of both living and deceased permanent members of the academy since the 1979 Revolution.


Permanent members


Current

*
Abdolmohammad Ayati Abdolmohammad Ayati ( fa, عبدالمحمد آیتی) was an Iranian author, translator and researcher in the field of philosophy, history and Persian and Arabic literature. He was born on 5 May 1926 in Borujerd, Borujerd County, Lorestan Provin ...
* Hassan Anvari * Mahmood Abedi * Kamran Fani * Ahmad Samiei Gilani * Badrozzaman Gharib *
Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel ( fa, غلامعلی حداد عادل, born 9 May 1945) is an Iranian philosopher, conservative and principlist politician and former chairman of the Parliament. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council ...
(president) * Hossein Masoumi Hamedani * Gholam Sarvar Homayoun (from Afghanistan) * Houshang Moradi Kermani * Bahaoddin Khorramshahi *
Mohammad Dabir Moghaddam Mohammad Dabir Moghaddam ( fa, محمد دبیرمقدم) is an Iranian linguist and professor at Allameh Tabatabaee University and a permanent member of Academy of Persian Language and Literature.http://www.isna.ir/news/91113018330/محمد دب ...
*
Mehdi Mohaghegh Mehdi Mohaghegh, sometimes transliterated Mahdi Muhaqqiq, (born 1930, Mashad, Iran) is an Iranian scholar specializing in Persian literature, Islamic studies and philosophy. He has a Ph.D. in both Ilahiyyat (theology) and Persian language and li ...
* Fatollah Mojtabaei * Mohammad Ali Movahhed *
Abolhassan Najafi Abolhassan Najafi ( fa, ابوالحسن نجفی, also Romanized as "Abolhasan Najafī"; 28 June 1929 – 22 January 2016) was an Iranian writer and translator. Najafi was born in Najaf, Iraq, into a family from Isfahan. He began his literary ac ...
* Salim Neysari *
Nasrollah Pourjavady Nasrollah Pourjavady is an Iranian philosopher, Sufi scholar and a professor of philosophy at the University of Tehran in Tehran, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located i ...
* Fazlollah Qodsi (from Afghanistan) * Ali Ravaghi * Esmaeil Sa'dat * Ali-Ashraf Sadeghi * Yadollah Samareh * Bahman Sarkarati *
Mohammad Jafar Yahaghi Mohammad-Jafar Yahaghi ( fa, محمدجعفر یاحقی}; also Romanizedd as Mohammad-Ja’far Yāhaghghi; born 1947 in Ferdows, South Khorasan, Iran) is a celebrated Iran, Persian writer, literary critic, editor and translator and distinguished pr ...
* Mohammad Hossein Yamin (from Afghanistan)


Deceased

*
Qeysar Aminpour Kaiser Aminpour (1959-2007; fa, قیصر امین‌پور) was an Iranian poet. Aminpour was one of the several distinguished poets who can be considered the founder of post-Revolution Iranian poetry. Biography Aminpour was born in Gatvand near D ...
* Ahmad Aram * Mohammad Taqi Danesh Pajouh * Hamid Farzam * Hassan Habibi (former president) * Javad Hadidi * Mohammad Khansari * Abdolreza Houshang Mahdavi * Abdolghader Meniasov (from Tajikistan) * Mostafa Mogharebi * Muhammadjon Shakuri (from Tajikistan) * Mohammad Mohit Tabatabaei * Ahmad Tafazzoli


Announcement of the Academy about the name of the Persian language in foreign languages

On November 19, 2005, the Academy of the Persian Language and Literature delivered a pronouncement on the name of the Persian language, rejecting any use of the word ''Farsi'' (instead of English ''Persian'', German ''Persisch'', Spanish ''persa'', French ''persan'', etc.) in foreign languages. The announcement reads: # ''Persian'' has been used in a variety of publications including cultural, scientific, and diplomatic documents for centuries and, therefore, it carries a very significant historical and cultural meaning. Hence, changing ''Persian'' to ''Farsi'' would negate this established important precedent. # Changing the usage from ''Persian'' to ''Farsi'' may give the impression that "Farsi" is a new language, although this may well be the intention of some users of ''Farsi''. # Changing the usage may also give the impression that "Farsi" is a dialect used in some parts of Iran rather than the predominant (and official) language of the country. # The word ''Farsi'' has never been used in any research paper or university document in any Western language, and the proposal to begin using it would create doubt and ambiguity about the name of the official language of Iran. Supporting this announcement, gradually other institutions and literary figures separately took similar actions throughout the world.


See also

* Iranian studies *
Persian studies Persian studies ( Persian: مطالعات فارسی) is the study of the Persian language and its literature specifically. It is differentiated from Iranian studies which is a broader, more interdisciplinary subject that focuses more on the hist ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy of Persian Language and Literature 1935 establishments in Iran Organizations established in 1935 Cultural organisations based in Iran Language regulators Persian language Persian literature Education in Iran
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...