Punjabi Farsi

MAKING YOUR LARGER THAN LIFE

This tongue belongs to the native Punjabis, who reside in the historical Punjab region of Pakistan and India. Descending from Shauraseni, the chief language used in drama in northern medieval India, it emerged as an independent language in the 11th century. At present, Punjabi is written in the Gurmukhi and Persian scripts and stands out as the tonal language among the Indo- Aryan family of languages.

ARE WE SAFE WITH KHODAA?

Traditionally known as Persian, Farsi – associated with some of the greatest ancient literary traditions – originated from a region of southern Iran, formerly known as Persis. A native Iranian Farsi speaker always bids farewell with khodaa hafiz (‘God protect you’). This affectionate parting phrase has been a catalyst of contention from defenders of the Arab world, arguing that khodaa translates to ‘god’, not ‘God’, and can be applied to any higher order. Derived from the Middle Iranian xvatay, it has its roots in the concept of ‘lord’, ‘ruler’ and ‘master’, showing how Iranian Muslims perceive the intimate relationship with their god. For that matter, Farsi speakers have not adopted ‘Allah’ (‘the God’ in Arabic), deeming ‘ khodaa’ irreplaceable in most contexts, whether conversational or formal, for both religious and linguistic reasons.

A native Iranian Farsi speaker always bids farewell with khodaa hafiz (“God Protect You”).