Language is a way of communication between two persons to share feelings, thoughts, and ideas. Languages may differ from others based on Argot, Cant, Creole, Jargon, Dialect, Colloquial language, Lingo, Patois, Lingua Franca, Pidgin, Slang, etc. A language has a system of sound and pattern of written words used by people of a country to region to communicate with others. The world has around 6500 spoken languages, including Tajik and Persian.

Tajik

Tajik or Tajiki is also called Tajiki Persian. It’s a variety of Persian language spoken in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Tajik is similar to Dari Persian and considered a dialect of Persian. About 1000 years ago, it was called the Persian though later, in the beginning of the twentieth century, it was recognized as a variety of Persian. Bukhara and Samarqand –cities of central Asia- are the center of Tajik speakers. It got the status of an official state language in 1998 by the law.

Persian

Persian is a descendant of Indo- Iranian language, also called Farsi. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, as Dari Persian and Tajikistan as Tajik, respectively. Dari Persian and Tajik are the dialectical forms of Persian language. Persian is natively called the Lingua Franca of Iran.

Tajik vs. Persian

Both are intelligible languages (only in spoken, but not written) means the speakers of both languages understand the difference in style and meanings. Tajik is the later version of the Persian language, has many similarities but has the following variations as well.

Difference in Dialect

Tajik and Persian are much similar but differ in dialect. Tajik is written in Cyrillic while Persian is written in the Persian alphabet (an altered Arabic script).

Difference in Grammar

The main difference in Tajik and Persian language is the construction of Present progressive tense.

In Tajik grammar, the present progressive tense comprises of the present progressive participle “to be.” The word order in the Tajik language is subject-object-verb. For example, I letter writing be (sentence structure), meaning I am writing a letter.

In Persian grammar, the present progressive tense comprises of the verb “to have” followed by the continuous past tense, perfect tense and conjugated verb. For example, I have work to (sentence structure), meaning I am working/ I do work.

Difference in Spelling/ Writing style

Both languages have much difference in spellings as they contain different writing styles.

Persian /tɒ:/ (  (تا, Tajik /to/ means “until”.

Persian /i:rɒ:n/ (ایران ), Tajik /ЭPОН/ means “Iran”.

Persian /sa:je/ (سایہ ) , Tajik /coᴙ/ means “shadow”.

Difference in Pronunciation

From the pronunciation point of view, these languages have a slight difference as follows.

The phrase “Good Morning” in Tajik “Subh ba Khayr” and in Persian “Sobh bekheyr.”

Word “Friday” in Tajik “Jum’ a” and in Persian “Jom’e.”

The phrase “Good Night” in Tajik “Shab ba khayr” and in Persian “Sahb –etaan khoosh.”

Difference in Phonology

In the Tajik language, there are 30 alphabets, including 6 vowel phonemes and 24 consonants phonemes.

In Persian language, there are 32 alphabets, including 6 vowel phonemes and 26 consonant phonemes.

Difference in Vocabulary

Tajik and Persian have different collocations and features of some words.

Tajiks say ‘Kalaan’ as big while Persians say ‘Bozorg.’

Tajiks say ‘Pedarkalaan’ as grandfather while Persians say ‘Pedarbozorg.’

Tajiks say ‘Maadarkalaan’ as grandmother while Persians say ‘Maadarbozorg.’

Tajiks say ‘kalaan shodan’ means ‘to grow up’ while Persians say ‘Bozorg shodan.

Tajik has conservative vocabulary, and loanwords are borrowed from Russia in the fields of socioeconomics, government, and technology. Persian has rich vocabulary; makes profound use of word building; combines noun, adjective, stem, and affixes; form new words by compounding.

Difference on the base of Religion

In Tajikistan, 98% population is of Muslims (Sunni), while Persian speakers are Shia.

Official language

Tajik is the official language of Tajikistan.

Persian is the official language of Iran.

Final Thought

Summing up the whole, Tajiki is descendant of Persian language as they are considered the different dialects of the same language. Tajik/ Tajiki is mainly spoken in Tajikistan, and Persian is the language of Iran. A person who understands one language can quickly learn and understands the other one due to intelligibility between languages. Both languages have similarities and differences as well but have the same purpose that is communication.

This article has covered all the possible differences between two languages; Tajik and Persian. We hope you have a better understanding now. Good luck!