Home / Azeri / Azeri for Persian Speakers / Lesson 1
Shared vocabulary
If you speak Persian, you already know hundreds of Azeri words. Centuries of contact mean that everyday Azeri in Iran is full of shared vocabulary. This first lesson shows how much you already have.
In this lesson
If you speak Persian, you already know hundreds of Azeri words. Centuries of contact mean that everyday Azeri in Iran is full of shared vocabulary. This first lesson shows how much you already have.
Key words and phrases
| Persian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| کیتاب | kitab | book (Persian ketāb) |
| مکتب | məktəb | school (Persian maktab) |
| شهر | shəhər | city (Persian shahr) |
| بازار | bazar | bazaar (Persian bāzār) |
| خالچا | khalcha | carpet (Persian ghāliche) |
| دوست | dost | friend (Persian dust) |
| همیشه | həmishə | always (Persian hamishe) |
| خوش گلمیسیز | khosh gəlmisiz | welcome (Persian khosh āmadid) |
A head start
Azeri is a Turkic language, unrelated to Persian in its grammar, but it has borrowed widely from Persian and Arabic, which Persian also borrowed from. In Tabriz the overlap is even greater, because people move between the two languages every day.
Your Persian gives you vocabulary, the script and much of the culture. What is new is the grammar, which works by suffixes, and vowel harmony.
Practice: guess the meaning
You can probably understand these without help.
| 1 | بو کیتاب چوخ یاخشیدیر. | Bu kitab chokh yakhshıdır. This book is very good. |
| 2 | من مکتبه گئدیرم. | Mən məktəbə gedirəm. I’m going to school. |
| 3 | دوستوم بازاردادیر. | Dostum bazardadır. My friend is in the bazaar. |
| 4 | همیشه چای ایچیرم. | Həmishə chay ichirəm. I always drink tea. |
Culture note. Notice that the shared words keep their Persian meaning, but the endings around them are pure Azeri: məktəb-ə, dost-um, bazar-da.
Practice
- Which Persian word gives Azeri dost?
Show answer
Dust, friend.
- Is Azeri related to Persian?
Show answer
No; it is a Turkic language, but it shares much vocabulary.
- What is the main new thing for Persian speakers?
Show answer
The grammar (suffixes) and vowel harmony.
Next. Next, Persian words in everyday Azeri.