# Persian:  Life



## panjabigator

What is the word for life in Persian?

I know the following words from Urdu:  حيات (Hayaat) and zindagii (It is very hard to type in Urdu on this comp!)


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## Bienvenidos

The Persian is the same as the Urdu  

Zendagi - Life


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## Alijsh

Bienvenidos said:


> I will try to use a link that Alijsh gave me to type the Persian;


 
No it has been converted wrong. you should write "zndgy" to get it converted correctly. Anyway, here I write it: زندگی

we say *zendegi* and our Azeri compatriots says *zindagi*. I wonder if it's used in other Turkic languages. I must add that its middle Persian form is *zindagih*.

*hayât* (حیات) is a dead Arabic loanword however we didn't use it in the spoken language from the beginning. it was just used in literature sometimes.


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## panjabigator

I have never heard Hayaat either...it is only used in literature, for all I know.

Zingagi, the way you wrote it (or rather, the azeri way) is the way we say it.


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## badgrammar

Alijsh said:


> No it has been converted wrong. you should write "zndgy" to get it converted correctly. Anyway, here I write it: ?????
> 
> we say *zendegi* and our Azeri compatriots says *zindagi*. I wonder if it's used in other Turkic languages. I must add that its middle Persian form is *zindagih*.
> 
> *hayât* (????) is a dead Arabic loanword however we didn't use it in the spoken language from the beginning. it was just used in literature sometimes.



Hayat (accent goes where? ) is the word in Turkish, I believe, but I never heard of any word for life that sounds like Zindegi ozindagi in Turkish (though I obviously am not an authority  ).


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## Chazzwozzer

badgrammar said:


> Hayat (accent goes where? ) is the word in Turkish, I believe, but I never heard of any word for life that sounds like Zindegi ozindagi in Turkish (though I obviously am not an authority  ).


Arabic loans _*hayat *_and _*ömür *_do exist, but not _*zindagi *_or something. The word _*yaşam*(yaşa- "to live")_ was coined in 1966 and it pretty much caught on! It's very probable to hear these three words nowadays.


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## Abbassupreme

zistan/ zendegi kardan, in case you're curious, is "to live", but I hear the latter a LOT more.


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## Bienvenidos

Yes, I agree with ABBA.

*zendagi mikonam -- I am living, etc.*


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## Abbassupreme

Wait a second . . . . . isn't hayât used in Persian to mean "yard/field/garden"?


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## Alijsh

Abbassupreme said:


> Wait a second . . . . . isn't hayât used in Persian to mean "yard/field/garden"?


This one is written differently: حیاط


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## Alijsh

Abbassupreme said:


> zistan/ zendegi kardan, in case you're curious, is "to live", but I hear the latter a LOT more.


For us, "zistan" is a bookish word that's never used in spoken language. We always say "zendegi kardan".


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## panjabigator

How about the word "hasti?"


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## Alijsh

panjabigator said:


> How about the word "hasti?"


*hasti* comes from verb *hastan* (to be, to exist; Spanish: estar, ser). It means existence.


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## Abbassupreme

Alijsh said:


> *hasti* comes from verb *hastan* (to be, to exist; Spanish: estar, ser). It means existence.


 
No, I don't think that's true.  There is no such thing as "hastan".  "Hasti" is derived from the infinitive "budan" or "to be". There is no two ways of saying "to be" in Persian as in Spanish.  The conjugations would be as follows:
1. present first person: hastam
2. preterite first person: budam
3. present "you" form: hasti
4. preterite "you" form: budi
5. present third person: hast/ast
6. preterite third person: bud
et cetera, et cetera.


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## Abbassupreme

hastan would be the "Ustedes/ellos" form of "to be", as in "they are"/"Ishaan hastan" or, better yet, "Are they here?"/"Ishaan hastan?"


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## avok

> What is the word for life in Persian?


 
*May it be "jan" or "can" the Turkish version (borrowed from Persian) ?*


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## Abbassupreme

I think omr=soul, or MAYBE life
jaan (spoken Persian= jun=joon)= life essence (?) or maybe life, as well.
Can isn't used, but the two I just mentioned are.


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## badgrammar

avok said:


> *May it be "jan" or "can" the Turkish version (borrowed from Persian) ?*



I always thought of the Turkish "can" (pronounced jaan) as "heart", but of course, it must mean "life".


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## Alijsh

Abbassupreme said:


> No, I don't think that's true. There is no such thing as "hastan". "Hasti" is derived from the infinitive "budan" or "to be". There is no two ways of saying "to be" in Persian as in Spanish. The conjugations would be as follows:


Based on Persian Dictionary of Late Dr. Moin, we do have the verb *hastan*. Its conjugation is: *hast-am/i/-/im/id/and*. However, for tenses other than present, we use conjugations of verb *budan*. He also mentions that there has been originally a difference between verbs *hastan* and *astan*. *astan* is "to be" and *hastan* "to exist"*.* 

This difference is still found to some extent. We say *kojâ hasti* and not *kojâ asti*, don't we? We say *doxtar-e xubi ast* and not *hast*, don't we? (However, I have noticed that dear Afghans don't pronounce initial h. I don't know if it also applies to this case or not. Please enlighten us!). The auxiliary verb for present perfect is *astan* (e.g. rafte ast which literally means s/he is gone). And as you see, we say *hasti* for existence and not *asti*.


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## avok

Abbassupreme said:


> Can isn't used, but the two I just mentioned are.


 
 "can = jaan " it is just the Turkish orthography , "can" is pronounced as "jaan" and is a borrowed word from Persian.




> Hayat (accent goes where? ) is the word in Turkish, I believe, but I never heard of any word for life that sounds like Zindegi ozindagi in Turkish (though I obviously am not an authority  ).


 

In Turkish, there is in deed a word that might be related to Persian Zindegi, it is "zinde" and it simply means "healthy" or something alike


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## Alijsh

avok said:


> In Turkish, there is in deed a word that might be related to Persian Zindegi, it is "zinde" and it simply means "healthy" or something alike


*Zende* (zenda, zinda, zinde) means "alive, live (adj.) in Persian. Its middle Persian is *zindag* from which *zindagi* (life) has been made by adding prefix *-i*. As I already said, this prefix makes noun from an adjective and vice versa.


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## Chazzwozzer

badgrammar said:


> I always thought of the Turkish "can" (pronounced jaan) as "heart", but of course, it must mean "life".


True, it also means* "heart".*


avok said:


> In Turkish, there is in deed a word that might be related to Persian Zindegi, it is "zinde" and it simply means "healthy" or something alike


Indeed, it is of Persian origin, meaning* "fit,"* *"sinewed" *or simply* "alive".*


Abbassupreme said:


> I think omr=soul, or MAYBE life


Turkish _*ömür *_must have the same origin as Persian _*omr*_. It has been borrowed from Arabic.


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## panjabigator

Abbassupreme said:


> I think omr=soul, or MAYBE life
> jaan (spoken Persian= jun=joon)= life essence (?) or maybe life, as well.
> Can isn't used, but the two I just mentioned are.



/Umar/ in Urdu means age.  And jaan means beloved/dear, and is tagged on to the end of words:  ammajaan-mom, bhaiijaan-brother...etc


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## panjabigator

Oh, and /jaan/ can also mean life in Urdu.


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## panjabigator

Alijsh said:


> *Zende* (zenda, zinda, zinde) means "alive, live (adj.) in Persian. Its middle Persian is *zindag* from which *zindagi* (life) has been made by adding prefix *-i*. As I already said, this prefix makes noun from an adjective and vice versa.



Urdu too has the word /zindaa/ which means alive.


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## badgrammar

avok said:


> "can = jaan " it is just the Turkish orthography , "can" is pronounced as "jaan" and is a borrowed word from Persian.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In Turkish, there is in deed a word that might be related to Persian Zindegi, it is "zinde" and it simply means "healthy" or something alike



Aah, but wait!  I wonder if in fact the "zinde" (health) is Turkish might be more related to the French "santé" (Turkish has lots and lots of borrowed French)...  

However, French has been so influenced by so many other languages, that "santé" (from sain - healthy, sound, fit) may trace its origins back to Persian, or perhaps Arabic...?

Good thing we found this forum, who else would be interested in all this etymology?   Great way not to get invited to more parties!


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## avok

badgrammar said:


> Aah, but wait! I wonder if in fact the "zinde" (health) is Turkish might be more related to the French "santé" (Turkish has lots and lots of borrowed French)...


 
Nope, it is not French   and it means rather "fit" or "alive" than "healthy".  And being interested in all this etymology does not necessarily mean not liking parties.


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## Bienvenidos

Alijsh said:


> Based on Persian Dictionary of Late Dr. Moin, we do have the verb *hastan*. Its conjugation is: *hast-am/i/-/im/id/and*. However, for tenses other than present, we use conjugations of verb *budan*. He also mentions that there has been originally a difference between verbs *hastan* and *astan*. *astan* is "to be" and *hastan* "to exist"*.*
> 
> This difference is still found to some extent. We say *kojâ hasti* and not *kojâ asti*, don't we? We say *doxtar-e xubi ast* and not *hast*, don't we? (However, I have noticed that dear Afghans don't pronounce initial h. I don't know if it also applies to this case or not. Please enlighten us!). The auxiliary verb for present perfect is *astan* (e.g. rafte ast which literally means s/he is gone). And as you see, we say *hasti* for existence and not *asti*.



Yes, we don't pronounce the intial H, so both verbs sound exactly the same to me! The difference can't even be noticed in spoken conversation. I actually found your post really interesting because of that reason; we don't pronounce the H.


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## Bienvenidos

Also, *jân *means both "*dear*" and "*body*", for the record.


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## badgrammar

avok said:


> Nope, it is not French   and it means rather "fit" or "alive" than "healthy".  And being interested in all this etymology does not necessarily mean not liking parties.



That was not what I meant to say. It as just an attmept at humor, feeble it may have been, sorry if it did not work  .  But I know that my endless fascination with french nasal vowels (are there 3 or 4,) and my wonderings about the origins of words are not always subjects that inspire passionate debate amongst my local friends.  That is why I like WRF:  We discuss here because we are drawn to languages.
Really, it was just a joke.  It is not always easy to understand humor withour knowing someone. 

As I was wondering, perhaps the French "santé" comes from another origin than latin or other European languages.  Such as the the word "zinde" that sounds very similar.


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## avok

badgrammar said:


> That was not what I meant to say. It as just an attmept at humor, feeble it may have been, sorry if it did not work  . Really, it was just a joke.


 
I know, I made a joke too   oh I really do not know anything about a possible relationship between  santé and zinde but remember "santé" is a noun whereas zinde is an adjective so even if there is a relationship, this would be with French "sain" the adjective form of "santé"  But again a better tranlation of "zinde" would be French "vivant" rather than santé   Can "vivant" and "zinde" be cognates ??


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