Hostname: page-component-65f69f4695-bd75b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-06-28T07:57:40.240Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

English Loanwords in Persian

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 June 2025

Neda Sahranavard Open the ORCID record for Neda Sahranavard [Opens in a new window]
Neda Sahranavard*
Affiliation:
Program in Global Languages & Cultures, School of Humanities, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
*
Email: nsahrana@uci.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

English words and phrases have been creatively adopted, adapted, and appropriated by Persian speakers, resulting in a Persianized form of English that is widely used in daily conversations in Iran. This article aims to identify and describe various English loanwords and phrases commonly integrated into everyday Persian discourse, reflecting Iran’s sociolinguistic globalization. The research is guided by two key questions: How do Iranians Persianize English words and phrases in daily conversations? And what broader patterns emerge in this Persianization process? To address these questions, a qualitative analysis was conducted to examine the prevalence and patterns of English loanwords in Iranian discourse. The findings suggest that Persianized English creates a hybrid mode of expression that blends Persian linguistic traditions with contemporary English influences, shaping identity and communication within Iranian society. The study concludes by recommending further research on the effects of Persianized English on public discourse, media, education, and the daily cultural practices of Iranians.

Keywords

daily Iranian discourseEnglish loanwords in Persiannativization of EnglishPersianizationrelocation of English

Information

Type
Article
Information
Iranian Studies , First View , pp. 1 - 16
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Association for Iranian Studies.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Aktürk-Drake, Memet. “Language Dominance as a Factor in Loanword Phonology.” The International Journal of Bilingualism: Cross-disciplinary, Cross-linguistic Studies of Language Behavior 21, no. 5 (2017): 584–599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Btoush, Al, Mohammad, A. “English Loanwords in Colloquial Jordanian Arabic.” International Journal of Linguistics 6, no. 2 (2014): 109–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alomoush, Omar. “Linguistic Landscaping in Medical Settings: English as a De Facto Language in Jordanian Medical Spaces.” English Today (2021): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078421000304Google Scholar
Appadurai, A. Modernity at Large: The Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Meaniapolice: University of Minnesota Press, 1996.Google Scholar
Baumgardner, Robert, and Brown, Kimberley. “English in Iranian Magazine Advertising.” World Englishes 31 (2012): 292–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blommaert, Jan. The Sociolinguistics of Globalization. New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolton, Kingsley. “World Englishes: Current Trends and Future Directions.” In World Englishes: Rethinking Paradigms, edited by Low, Ee Ling, and Pakir, Anne, 200–221. London: Routledge, 2018.Google Scholar
Borjian, Maryam. “The Rise and Fall of a Partnership: The British Council and the Islamic Republic of Iran (2001–09).” Iranian Studies 44, no. 4 (2011): 541–562.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borjian, Maryam. English in Post-Revolutionary Iran. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2013.Google Scholar
Borjian, Maryam. “The Diverging Images of Globalization.” In Language and Globalization, edited by Borjian, Maryam, 14–26. London: Routledge, 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buschfeld, Sarah, and Schneider, Edgar W.. “World Englishes: Postcolonial Englishes and Beyond.” In World Englishes: Rethinking Paradigms, edited by Low, Ee Ling, and Pakir, Anne, 30–46. London: Routledge, 2018.Google Scholar
Canagarajah, Suresh A. “The Ecology of Global English.” International Multilingual Research Journal 1, no. 2 (2007): 89–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cannon, Garland, and Kaye, Alan S.. The Persian Contributions to the English Language: An Historical Dictionary. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 2001.Google Scholar
Dabir-Moghaddam, Mohammad. “Academy of Persian Language and Literature.” In The Oxford Handbook of Persian Linguistics, edited by Sedighi, Anousha, and Shabani-Jadidi, Pouneh, 318–327. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2018.Google Scholar
Devereux, Robert. “The Persian Contribution to English.” Islamic Quarterly 30, no. 1 (1986): 54–61.Google Scholar
Fallatah, Wafaa. “Bilingual Creativity in Saudi Stand-Up Comedy.” World Englishes 36, no. 4 (2017): 666–683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuller, Janet, and Lehnert, Heike. “Noun Phrase Structure in German-English Codeswitching: Variation in Gender Assignment and Article Use.” The International Journal of Bilingualism: Cross-Disciplinary, Cross-Linguistic Studies of Language Behavior 4, no. 3 (2000): 399–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghorbanpour, Amir, Kambuziya, Alyieh, Dabir-Moghaddam, Mohammad, and Agha-Golzadeh, Ferdows. “Loanword Syllable Adaptation in Persian: An Optimality-Theoretic Account.” Journal of Universal Language 20, no. 2 (2019): 95–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodrich, Negin H. “English in Iran: A Sociolinguistic Profile.” World Englishes 39 (2020): 482–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jazayery, Mohammad Ali. “Western Influence in Contemporary Persian: A General View.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 29, no. 1 (1966): 79–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenks, Christopher, and Won Lee, Jerry. “Birthright Englishes: Managing Chinese Identities While Using English in Hong Kong.” English Today 37, no. 1 (2021): 26–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kachru, Braj B. “Englishization and Contact Linguistics.” World Englishes 13, no. 2 (1994): 131–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kachru, Braj B. “The Paradigm of Marginality.” World Englishes 15, no. 3 (1996): 241–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kay, Gillian. “English Loanwords in Japanese.” World Englishes 14, no. 1 (1995): 67–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaye, Alan S. “Persian Loanwords in English.” English Today 20, no. 4 (2004): 20–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Eun-Young Julia. “Creative Adoption: Trends in Anglicisms in Korea.” English Today 28, no. 2 (2012): 15–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Jaime Shinhee. “Linguistic Constructions of Modernity: English Mixing in Korean Television Commercials.” Language in Society 35, no. 1 (2006): 59–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Jerry Won. “Transnational Linguistic Landscapes and the Transgression of Metadiscursive Regimes of Language.” Critical Inquiry in Language Studies 11, no. 1 (2014): 50–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacKenzie, Ian. “Anglicization of European Lexis.” In The Anglicization of European Lexis, edited by Furiassi, Cristiano, and Pulcini, Virginia, and Félix Rodríguez González, 27–42. Amesterdom & Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahootian, Shahrzad. “Language Contact and Multilingualism in Iran.” In The Oxford Handbook of Persian Linguistics, edited by Sedighi, Anousha, and Shabani-Jadidi, Pouneh, 318–327. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2018.Google Scholar
Mangrio, Riaz Ahmed. The Morphology of Loanwords in Urdu: The Persian, Arabic and English Strands. Newcastle, Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016.Google Scholar
Mirvahedi, Seyed Hadi. “Linguistic Landscaping in Tabriz, Iran: A Discursive Transformation of a Bilingual Space into a Monolingual Place.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 242 (2016): 195–216.Google Scholar
Mirvahedi, Seyed Hadi. “The Sociolinguistics of Iran’s Language in the Diaspora.” The Sociolinguistics of Iran’s Languages at Home and Abroad, edited by Mirvahedi, Seyed Hadi, 284–290. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haghighi, Mohammadian, Fatemeh, and Norton, Bonny. “The Role of English Language Institutes in Iran.” TESOL Quarterly 51, no. 2 (2017): 428–438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Onysko, Alexander. “Exploring Discourse on Globalizing English.” English Today 25, no. 1 (2009): 25–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Onysko, Alexander. “Modeling World Englishes from the Perspective of Language Contact.” World Englishes (2016): 191–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pandharipande, Rajeshwari. “On Nativization of English.” World Englishes 6, no. 2 (1987): 93–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paraskiewicz, Kinga. “English Loanwords in New Persian.” Folia Orientalia 52 (2015): 281–292.Google Scholar
Pennycook, Alastair. Language as a Local Practice. London, UK: Taylor & Francis Group, 2010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rezaei, Saeed, and Tadayyon, Maedeh. “Linguistic Landscape in the City of Isfahan in Iran: The Representation of Languages and Identities in Julfa.” Multilingua 37, no. 6 (2018): 701–720.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riazi, Abdolmehdi. “The Four Language Stages in the History of Iran.” In Decolonisation, Globalisation: Language-in-Education Policy and Practice, edited by Angel, M. Y. Lin, and Peter, W. Martin, 98–114. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2005.Google Scholar
Rubdy, Rani. “Hybridity in the Linguistic Landscape: Democratizing English in India.” In The Global-Local Interface and Hybridity: Exploring Language and Identity, edited by Rubdy, Rani, and Alsagoff, Lubna, 43–65. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2018.Google Scholar
Rüdiger, Sofia. “Mixed Feelings: Attitudes Towards English Loanwords and Their Use in South Korea.” Open Linguistics 4, no. 1 (2018): 184–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sadeghi, Ali Ashraf. “Language Planning in Iran: A Historical Review.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 148 (2001): 19–30.Google Scholar
Sahranavard, Neda, and Won Lee, Jerry. “The Persianization of English in Multilingual Tehran.” World Englishes 41, no. 2 (2020): 135–317.Google Scholar
Salakhyan, Elena. “The Emergence of Eastern European English.” World Englishes 41, no. 2 (2012): 331–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saldaña, Johnny. Fundamentals of Qualitative Research. New York, US: Oxford University Press, 2011.Google Scholar
Samar, Reza G., and Meechan, Marjory. “The Null Theory of Code-Switching versus the Nonce Borrowing Hypothesis: Testing the Fit in Persian-English Bilingual Discourse.” The International Journal of Bilingualism: Cross-Disciplinary, Cross-Linguistic Studies of Language Behavior 2, no. 2 (1998): 203–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saraceni, Mario. The Relocation of English: Shifting Paradigms in a Global Era. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, Edgar W. English Around the World: An Introduction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011.Google Scholar
Spilioti, Tereza. “The Weirding of English, Trans-Scripting, and Humour in Digital Communication.” World Englishes 39, no. 1 (2019): 106–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yarshater, Ehsan. “Ventures and Adventures of the Persian Language.” In Persian Language, Literature and Culture: New Leaves, Fresh Looks, edited by Talattof, Kamran, 195–215. London, UK: Routledge, 2015.Google Scholar
Zarrinabadi, Nourollah, and Mahmoudi-Gahrouei, Vahid. “English in Contemporary Iran.” Asian Englishes 20, no. 1 (2018): 81–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar