A Grammar of the Persian Language

This is the seventh edition of the oldest known English grammar of the Persian language. First published in 1771, it was prepared by the noted orientalist Sir William Jones with the objective of acquainting the British in India with the Persian language so that they may decipher the documents of Indian princes. But it certainly rises well above this commonplace objective.

After acquainting the student with the 32 characters of the Persian alphabet and the mode of writing them from right to left, Sir Jones elucidates the fundamentals of Persian grammar-its morphology, analysis and syntax with profuse illustrations. The most attractive feature is that he uses verses by famous Persian poets as illustrations. This elevates a dull grammar to quite another plane. As one of the chief beauties of the Persian language is the use of compound adjectives, Sir Jones devotes a section of his book to explaining the principles of derivation of words, with suitable examples. The chapter on versification would prepare the base for understanding the poetic measures of Persian.

A reproduction of a Persian fable with its English translation is another interesting feature. A catalogue of valuable Persian books in philosophy, poetry and history and a specimen of the three forms of writing Persian-Niskhi, Talik and Shekesteh form the rest of its contents. The 50-page index of Persian words with their English equivalents was compiled by Mr. Richardson.

Even today, two centuries after it was first published, this grammar can effectively serve the needs of the student of the Persian language. It will also be of interest to scholars of Oriental studies.

Sir William Jones (1746-94), noted orientalist and jurist, requires no introduction to the East. Educated in Harrow and Oxford, he then began studying oriental and other languages. Appointed Judge in the Supreme Court in Calcutta, he gradually became deeply involved in studying oriental languages, especially Persian and Sanskrit. He founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784 and was its President till his demise ten years later.

In Persian, his works include a French translation of a Persian life of Nadir Shah (1770), a Persian grammar (1771), his version of Arabic Moallakat (1783), a translation of poems and six books of commentaries on Asiatic Poetry.

He is equally well-known as the first English scholar of Sanskrit. His works comprise translations of the ordinances of Manu, Sakuntala of Kalidasa, Hitopadesa of Pilpai, Gitagovinda of Jagadeva and extracts from the Vedas.

He studied every aspect of oriental learning and advanced them all. Realizing that the Western scholars lack of appreciation of Eastern culture was due to their ignorance of its languages, he translated some of the best Persian and Sanskrit literature into English thus making it accessible to them. If Eastern culture is now respected in the West, it is due to scholars like Sir Jones. It is a mark of his greatness that his grammar of the Persian language, even after two hundred years, is still of interest to scholars of the Persian language.

THE Persian language is rich, melodious, and elegant; it has been spoken for many ages by the greatest princes in the politest courts of Asia; and a number of admirable works have been written in it by historians, philosophers, and poets, who found it capable of expressing with equal advantage the most beautiful and the most elevated sentiments.

It must seem strange, therefore, that the study of this language should be so little cultivated at a time when a taste for general and diffusive learning seems universally to prevail; and that the fine productions of a celebrated nation should remain in manuscript upon the shelves of our public libraries, without a single admirer who might open their treasures to his countrymen, and display their beauties to the light; but if we consider the subject with a proper attention, we shall discover a variety of causes which have, concurred to obstruct the progress of Eastern literature.

Some men never heard of the Asiatic writings, and others will not be convinced that there is anything valuable in them; some pretend to be busy, and others are really idle; some detest the Persians, because they believe in Mahomed, and others despise their language because they do not understand it: we all love to excuse, or to conceal, our ignorance, and are seldom willing to allow any excellence beyond the limits of our own attainments; like the savages who thought that the sun rose and set for them alone, and could not imagine that the waves, which surrounded their island, left coral and pearls upon any other shore.

Another obvious reason for the neglect of the Persian language is the great scarcity of books, which are necessary to be read before it can be perfectly learned, the greater part of them are preserved in the different museums and libraries of Europe, where they are shewn more as objects of curiosity than as sources of information; and are ad- mired, like the characters on a Chinese screen, more for gay colours than for their meaning.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages