Editing Dari (section)

== Etymology ==
Dari is a name given to the [[Persian language#New Persian|New Persian language]] since the 10th century, widely used in [[Arabic]] (compare [[Estakhri|Al-Estakhri]], [[Al-Muqaddasi]] and [[Ibn Hawqal]]) and Persian texts.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dari | title=DARĪ – Encyclopaedia Iranica | access-date=18 January 2012 | archive-date=24 November 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124025639/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/dari | url-status=live }}</ref>

Since 1964, it has been the official name in Afghanistan for the Persian spoken there. In Afghanistan, Dari refers to a modern dialect form of Persian that is the [[standard language]] used in administration, government, radio, television, and print media. Because of a preponderance of Dari native speakers, who normally refer to the language as ''Farsi'' ({{lang|fa|فارسی}}, "Persian"), it is also known as "Afghan Persian" in some Western sources.<ref name="CIA" /><ref name="www.sil.org" />

There are different opinions about the origin of the word ''Dari''. The majority of scholars believe that ''Dari'' refers to the Persian word ''dar'' or ''darbār'' ({{wikt-lang|fa|دربار}}), meaning "court", as it was the formal language of the [[Sassanid Dynasty|Sassanids]].<ref name=Iranica /> The original meaning of the word ''dari'' is given in a notice attributed to [[Abd-Allāh Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ|Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ]] (cited by [[Ibn al-Nadim]] in ''[[Al-Fehrest]]'').<ref>Ebn al-Nadim, ed. Tajaddod, p. 15; Khjwārazmī, ''Mafātīh al-olum'', pp. 116–17; Hamza Esfahānī, pp. 67–68; Yāqūt, Boldān IV, p. 846</ref> According to him, "''Pārsī'' was the language spoken by priests, scholars, and the like; it is the language of [[Fars province|Fars]]." This language refers to [[Middle Persian]].<ref name="Iranica" /> As for ''Dari'', he says, "it is the language of the cities of Madā'en; it is spoken by those who are at the king's court. [Its name] is connected with presence at court. Among the languages of the people of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] and the east, the language of the people of [[Balkh]] is predominant."<ref name="Iranica" />

Dari Persian spoken in Afghanistan is not to be confused with the language of [[Iran]] called [[Dari (Zoroastrian)|Dari]] or Gabri, which is a language of the Central Iranian subgroup spoken in some [[Zoroastrian]] communities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=prd |title="Parsi-Dari" Ethnologue |publisher=Ethnologue.org |date=19 February 1999 |access-date=19 August 2013 |archive-date=7 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707181510/http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=prd |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=gbz |title="Dari, Zoroastrian" Ethnologue |publisher=Ethnologue.org |date=19 February 1999 |access-date=19 August 2013 |archive-date=7 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707065844/http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=gbz |url-status=live }}</ref>