# Persian: star



## Wolverine9

Do you use both _setaareh _and _taaraa_?  Which is more common?  What about _axtar _and _najm_?

Also, is there a specific word used for star in the sense of movie star or celebrity?


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## IMANAKBARI

Hi !


Wolverine9 said:


> Do you use both _setaareh _and _taaraa_?  Which is more common?  What about _axtar _and _najm_?
> Yes, all these names are common in Iran. But Setareh and Tara are most common for the new generation.
> Axtar (Akhtar) is not appreciated by the new generation.
> Najm is not feminine.
> 
> Also, is there a specific word used for star in the sense of movie star or celebrity?
> _setaareh ! _
> we say :ستاره سینما


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## Treaty

_tara _is only used as girl's name (probably imported from India?). Arabic _najm _and_ kokab _are no longer used in Persian for ages (except for rare girl's name). _setareh _is the most common form of saying "star". _axtar _is usually used in literary or religious contexts. Both _setareh_ and _axtar_ are also common girl's names. 

_setareh_ is also used for (movie, sport, ...) stars and celebrities. It can mean either "famous" or "skilled" (or both) in this sense.

Oops! It seems IMAN has did also a great job here before me. I cannot believe I've been writing this for 8 mins!


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## Wolverine9

Sorry, I didn't mean used as names, but rather used in the Persian language as words for star.

Thank you both, though, for mentioning which are common as names.


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## IMANAKBARI

Wolverine9 said:


> Sorry, I didn't mean used as names, but rather used in the Persian language as words for star.



Ah, so, we use more Setaareh for it.


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## Wolverine9

Besides _setaareh_, is _axtar _(rarely as stated) the only other word that's in current usage?


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## Treaty

Wolverine9 said:


> Besides _setaareh_, is _axtar _(rarely as stated) the only other word that's in current usage?


Except _tara, _all are currently used (or can be used). setareh is used like in 99% of times. akhtar, kokab and najm are used in other 1%. Normally, the other three are used in some literary or religious contexts, while setareh is used in all contexts.


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## IMANAKBARI

Axtar is common, but this word is used in scientific language.
For exemple : A woman do not say to her husband:
Ah my love look at this pretty Axtar that shines in the sky !! 
She say : look at this pretty setaareh ...


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## IMANAKBARI

Treaty said:


> Except _tara, _all are currently used (or can be used). setareh is used like in 99% of times. akhtar, kokab and najm are used in other 1%. Normally, the other three are used in some literary or religious contexts, while setareh is used in all contexts.



 nice analyse !


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## Wolverine9

IMANAKBARI said:


> Axtar is common, but this word is used in scientific language.
> For exemple : A woman do not say to her husband:
> Ah my love look at this pretty Axtar that shines in the sky !!
> She say : look at this pretty setaareh ...



LOL 

Since usage as names was brought up, is/was axtar also used as a surname?  It is in India and Pakistan.


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## IMANAKBARI

I never heard that, but it is not impossible !


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## Treaty

Edmund Akhtar was a famous Iranian football player. However, he was Armenian by ethnicity.


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## IMANAKBARI

Treaty said:


> Edmund Akhtar was a famous Iranian football player. However, he was Armenian by ethnicity.



Ah yes !!!  Bravo !!


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## Qureshpor

Indeed, axtar is used as a name both for males and females amongst Muslims (especially from Urdu, Punjabi speech background) of the Subcontinent, although the name is far more common amongst females. How many people know that it means a "star", that is another story. The words for "star" in Urdu are "taaraa" and "sitaarah" whilst in Punjabi, I would say "taaraa" is the far commoner.


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## Wolverine9

QURESHPOR said:


> How many people know that it means a "star", that is another story.



I'm sure the ones who have _axtar _as a name probably know.


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## Wolverine9

Treaty said:


> _tara _is only used as girl's name (probably imported from India?).



It might be a loan from India or it could be a contraction of _setaareh_; however, if the latter is true then it should be _taareh _instead of _taaraa_.


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## fdb

sitāra and axtar are both genuine Iranian words, but axtar is mostly usually in the context of astrology for “asterism”, or “signs of the zodiac” (Arabic pl. burūj), while haft sitāra are the “seven planets” of Ptolomaic astronomy (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn).


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## Wolverine9

fdb said:


> sitāra and axtar are both genuine Iranian words, but axtar is mostly usually in the context of astrology for “asterism”, or “signs of the zodiac” (Arabic pl. burūj), while haft sitāra are the “seven planets” of Ptolomaic astronomy (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn).



Is taaraa or taareh also a genuine Iranian word, a loan word, or a contraction of setaareh?


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## Treaty

Tara is an Iranian name (not sure if Persian), its meaning is star. However, it can be borrowed India since many Persian poets lived there. (Note the importance of Tara in both Hindu and Bhuddist religions).


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## Qureshpor

Wolverine9 said:


> It might be a loan from India or it could be a contraction of _setaareh_; however, if the latter is true then it should be _taareh _instead of _taaraa_.


Only if the word ends in -h, but it does n't. It ends in an alif (-aa). Also, I don't believe the -eh pronunciation is universal in Iran. Tehran, as far as I know, is not the centre of the universe!

H تارا तारा_tārā [S. तार (for स्तार)+कं; and S. तारा fem.], s.m. A *star;* planet; falling star, meteor; the pupil of the eye:_


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## fdb

Sanskrit has both tar- and star- in the same meaning, but Iranian seems to have only star- (long grade stār-). tārā is Hindi/Urdu.


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## Wolverine9

QURESHPOR said:


> Only if the word ends in -h, but it does n't. It ends in an alif (-aa).



I meant that if it were a contraction of setaareh, the word would be taareh instead of taaraa.


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## Wolverine9

fdb said:


> tārā is Hindi/Urdu.



Also Sanskrit.

I guess the name must have have been borrowed into Persian as Treaty suggested.


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## Treaty

Selecting the name _Tara_ for girls is a recent phenomenon (maybe 40 yrs). The oldest mention of _tara_ in Persian is probably after 1600 in Jahangiri dictionary (named after Mughal king of India) and of a poet called Eishi of Shushtar (عیشی شوشتری) who was possibly in India at that time (they are mentioned in Dehkhoda dictionary.


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## Wolverine9

Treaty said:


> Selecting the name _Tara_ for girls is a recent phenomenon (maybe 40 yrs).



Western influence may have contributed to that.

Hayyim and Steingass list another word for star in Persian: _astar_.  This presumably is a corruption of the Greek _aster_.  If the Indic _tārā _and Greek _aster _are both present in Persian, then that could be due to astronomy/astrology since both the Indians and Greeks were adept in these fields.


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## Treaty

Wolverine9 said:


> Western influence may have contributed to that.
> 
> Hayyim and Steingass list another word for star in Persian: _astar_.  This presumably is a corruption of the Greek _aster_.  If the Indic _tārā _and Greek _aster _are both present in Persian, then that could be due to astronomy/astrology since both the Indians and Greeks were adept in these fields.


In formal New Persian a word never starts with two consonants. Therefore, all such words in Mid. Persian or Avestan were changed either by placing a vowelbefore the word or between consonants:
_spah_ (army) -> _s*e*pah
shtaw (hurry) -> sh*e*tab_
_spand_ (holy, 12th month) -> _*e*spand_
_frogh_ (shine, bright) -> _*a*frugh, f*o*rough_
_fkan_ (overthrow) -> _*a*fkan_

_setareh_ and _axtar_ were originally _star(ag)_ and _xt'r _respectively. It is possible that _astar _is a changed version of Old Persian _star._ 
Besides, Iranians were also as much adept in those fields.


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## fdb

sitāra and astar are both Iranian, not Greek. In Old Iranian (Avestan) the word for “star” has three stem forms: full grade star-, long grade stār-, and zero-grade stṛ-. In Middle Persian we have stārag from *stār-aka-, and star from some case form of *star-.


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