Farsi

یاد گرفتن yād gereftán

Root Metaphor

یاد yad – what the son remembers about the father including commands – i.e. commandments

Illustrative Example of Root Metaphor

Farsi - Yad

Etymology

Vernacular: یاد /yād gereftán/ - appeared 900 AD, means to put into memory. یادگرفتن yad – what the son has (possessions or memory of commands) of the father geraftan – act of doing. About the time of written records of what the poets wrote, “If you don’t have yad you have nothing.” Literary: آموختن /ɑːmoːxtan/ - appeared 900 AD ­– to be (or become) skilled especially in the arts.  Liturgic: درک کردن /dark kardan/ – to perceive through the senses. Scientific: فراگفتن /fæɾɒː gereftán/ - 1200 AD to surround or fill a gap.

Common phrases

Common phrases about learning
  • درس خواندن
    • to read a lesson – generally used to refer to studying
  • خرخوانی
    • cramming or studying a lot – also negative connotation as one who can recite but does not understand
  • درک کردن 
    • to reach a somethinggenerally used to refer to realizing or understanding
  • پی بردن
    • to find and follow footsteps – generally used to refer to understand
Common phrases about teaching
  • آموزگار
    • the root word stems from the interpreters of religion. Teachers were those that interpreted religion for you – generally referred to as the teacher
  •  معلم
    •  the giver of knowledge, generally referred to as the teacher
  • پرورش
    • to help to grow, generally referred to as the act of teaching
Common phrases about knowledge
  • علم
    •  the visible truth – generally referred to as knowledge
  • اندیشه
    • that which the mind creates – generally referred to as knowledge

Phrases about knowing

  • دانستن
    • to have an awareness of something – generally used to describe knowing
  • به حساب آوردن
    • that which can be counted or measured - generally used to describe knowing
  • تشخیص دادن
    • to know one thing from another or to be able to discern - generally used to describe knowing

Commentary

Who your father is very important to your identity in terms of your ethnicity and your tribe.  As such remembering your father, and the commands/heritage that he passed down is paramount to learning. The father (پدر bringer of safety) decides and give. The brother (برادر bringer of father’s commands), which could be any male, enforces or enacts the father’s commands. Enacting the father’s commands and learning is a male purpose. For mothers (مادر bringer of life) and daughters (دختر bringer of milk), learning and teaching is not their purpose – their purpose is to provide life and to bring milk. Note at the time when this terminology emerged, genders as we understand them today did not exist. Gender was biological.

Implicit Spatial Associations

The giving metaphor implies a passive recipient.

Please cite this article as:
Francis, K., Davis, B. & Sabbaghan, S. (2020). "یاد yad" (Farsi) in Metaphors of Learning in Different Languages. https://doi.org/10.11575/8B7N-V637. https://learningmetaphors.com


⇦ Back to Map
⇦ Back to List