Tuesday, June 25, 2013

گل و خار همیشه با هم است

گل و خار همیشه با هم است 

gol      va   xār    hamiše bā    ham ast
flower and thorn always with also is
A flower and thorn are always together.
“No rose without a thorn.”
flower – gol – گل
and – va – و
thorn – xār – خار
always – hamiše – همیشه
together – bā ham – با هم
to be– budan – بودن

Well look at that, a collocation. bā ham means with also in a literal sense, but paste on a layer of idiom and get together.

زنبور همیشه پشت گله

زنبور همیشه پشت گله 

zanbur hamiše pošt.e gol-e
bee always behind flower-is
“A bee is always behind the flower.”

bee – zanbur – زنبور
always – hamiše – همیشه
behind (preposition) – pošt.e – پشت
flower – gol – گل

Persian has prepositions, which is somewhat odd (according to typology) for SOV languages. Also, the form of budan is reduced to just a suffixed -e.

مرغ همسایه غاز است

مرغ همسایه غاز است 
morγ-e hamsāye γāz ast
chicken-EZF neighbor goose is
The neighbor's chicken is a goose.
“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”
chicken – morγ – مرغ
neighbor – hamsāye – همسایه
goose – γāz – غاز
to be– budan – بودن

Ezafe is the way Persian shows possession (among other things). Since it isn't written, it can be tricky to find in writing (for beginners).

Monday, June 24, 2013

سال به سال٬ دریغ از پارسال

سال به سال٬ دریغ از پارسال 

sāl be sāl, dariγ az pārsāl
year to year regret from last-year
Year to year, regret [comes] from last-year

“Year after year we long for (what we left behind) the previous year.”
 year – sāl – سال
to – be – به
regret – dariγ – دریغ
from – az – از
 last year– pārsāl– پارسال

Persian looks nice and elliptical in its sayings.

ماهی را هروقت از آب بگیری تازه است

ماهی را هروقت از آب بگیری تازه است 

māhi rā    har   vaqt az     āb      begiri tāze  ast
fish   DO each time from water take   fresh is
Whenever you catch the fish it is fresh.
“Never too late”
fish – māhi – ماهی
specific direct object – rā – را
 each, every – har – هر
time, hour – vaqt – وقت
from – az – از
water – āb – آب
take – begiri – بگیری
fresh – tāze – تازه
to be – بودن

Sunday, June 2, 2013

کوه به کوه نمی‌رسد٬ آدم به آدم می‌رسد

کوه به کوه نمی‌رسد٬ آدم به آدم می‌رسد 

kuh         be kuh          ne-mi-resad,        ādam be ādam mi-resad
mountain to mountain not-IMP-meet      man   to  man   IMP-meet
Mountains don’t meet, but people do.
It's a small world. 
man, human – ādam – آدم

mountain – kuh – کوه

  to – be – به

دیوار موش داره٬ موش هم گوش داره


دیوار موش داره٬ موش هم گوش داره 
divār muš    dār-e,   muš     ham  guš dār-e
wall  mouse has-3s  mouse also  ear  has-3s
Walls have mice, and the mice have ears.
  also – /ham/– هم

Wiktionary notes that this word occurs after the phrase it modifies similar to how English too follows what it modifies.

wall – /di'vâr/ – دیوار


mouse – /muš/ – موش
Finally a cognate that's somewhat apparent.

ear – /guš/ – گوش


 to have – /dâš'tan/ – داشتن
This is a verb that does heavy duty in idioms.

سنگ مفت٬ گنجشک مفت

سنگ مفت٬ گنجشک مفت
sang moft gonješk moft
stone free   sparrow free  
Stones are free and so are the sparrows.
“Nothing to lose!”

  free – /moft/ – مفت

According to wiktionary, مفت, is an informal word that can imply both English meanings: free1 as a bird and free2 beer. This proverb also shows how Persian, at least in its proverbs, can drop the copula.

stone – /sang/ – سنگ

Also carries some idiomatic meanings pertaining to weight, both literal (gravity) and figurative (diginity)

sparrow – /gon'ješk/ – گنجشک