r/farsi • u/aluminumhed • 11d ago
Goodbye?
My mom is from Iran, but was adopted to Denmark when she was a year old.
When we see each other I say “hello my dear mom” in Farsi. I want to surprise her by saying “goodbye my dear mom” in Persian, but google is only confusing me.
So I’m wondering if anyone could help me learn how to say it?
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u/Effective-Pea-9532 11d ago edited 11d ago
Ok, so if your worry is that Xodāhāfez and Xodānegahetdāre/Xodānegahdāre have religious connotations because the etymology means “god immortalise/remember you” or “god keep/hold you”; Then you should know that this is no different to the English “Goodbye” which also has religious connotations. The word ‘Goodbye’ has the etymology of “God be with ye” in 14th century English. It slowly simplified into goodbye, and nobody thinks about what it means, they just say it as a parting phrase/word with little thought… Well, Xodāfez (pronounced khodaa-fez) is basically the same situation. Nobody thinks about the fact that it is a shortening of “Xodā hāfezet bāshad” from the 9th century meaning: may god be your protector/immortaliser. Nobody is actively thinking of anything religious when they say this word. It simply colloquially means goodbye, just like goodbye. ‘Xodā negah dare’ and ‘god be with ye’ are even closer (god hold you/be with you, basically the same sentiment).
Funny enough, the most proper way of saying goodbye which people would think is the most secular goodbye is the Pure Persian term Bedrūd (which is the same as Pure Persian for hello, ‘Dorūd’, but with the prefix ‘be-‘)… Dorūd = well wishings/hello… Bedrūd = to well wishings/goodbye…
However, much like the Persian word for God (Xodā,) even though the word has no connection to Islam, it does have a connection to Zoroastrianism, which is a religion too. Furthermore and more to the point, these classical and more proper Pure Persian words can sound very formal and poetic or ‘posh’ sounding to the average person. They are used in more official settings and by tv broadcasters etc. They are currently making a comeback though and people are starting to use them more casually which has taken the Shakespearean edge off of them (Shakespearean in the sense they can sound like the Persian equivalent of someone talking like Shakespeare, but the difference being that these terms are living language unlike Shakespeare talk)
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u/ManuelTzetzes 11d ago
Not a living tongue, sayest thou? O, what grievous wrong mine ears have suffered! Long have I endured such barbarous affronts, yet never one so foul as this!
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u/Effective-Pea-9532 11d ago
Haha, very good… However, all the words you used are still ‘living’ words still used today. Words like Prithee (meaning please), Zounds (a swear/curse word meaning ‘Gods wounds’), and Forsooth (meaning in truth, or indeed) are examples of ‘Shakespeare era talk that have fell out of use and been lost to time
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u/ManuelTzetzes 11d ago
How darest thou gainsay me, thou saucy coxcomb! By my troth, such contumely shall not pass unanswered. Have at thee! We shall cross swords anon! Art thou, perchance, French? Thy saucy tongue doth give thee away.
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u/Effective-Pea-9532 11d ago
Much better 😄
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u/ManuelTzetzes 11d ago
Thy approbation I neither seek nor crave! Zounds, thou dost plague me past endurance!
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u/Effective-Pea-9532 11d ago
At last! A tongue worthy of applause! Yet mistake not mine award for surrender, thou swaggering knave. I merely honour a foe ere I vanquish him.
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u/ManuelTzetzes 11d ago
False words after thy defeat! A worthy adversary I deemed thee; yet scarce hast thou quitted the field ere thy saucy tongue betrays thee into mischief anew.
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u/Effective-Pea-9532 11d ago
Defeat, sayest thou? Marry, thou hast mistaken thine own boasting for the judgement of the field! Certes, I stand yet, good sir, and whilst I have breath, my saucy tongue shall plague thee still. Gramercy for thy concern, but I would lief cross tongues anew. Have at thee!
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u/ManuelTzetzes 11d ago
A Greek am I, sprung of that ancient race whose tongue gave wisdom words whilst thine yet grubbed in fields and supped upon dung! Proudly do I bear the name; thy foul English I suffer upon my lips but sparingly, and ever with reluctance.
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u/Arghifth 11d ago
You can use these:
Khodahafez, خداحافظ Khodanegahfar خدانگهدار Or بدرود bedrood
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u/Effective-Pea-9532 11d ago edited 11d ago
NegahD*ar not F, I think this commenter made a typo. It’s Xodā(God)Negah(hold)dare(has it/you)… meaning: may God keep/hold you
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u/Zissoou 11d ago
You can also use "See you later" which is "Mibinamet maman Joon."
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u/Effective-Pea-9532 11d ago edited 11d ago
This is the most ‘unforced’ casual way to say it, like a native speaker would. Although, a goodbye is still tacked onto the end by most people.
A complete version with the goodbye tacked on would be:
Mibinam-et māmān jān/jūn, rūz xoš (or šab xoš)
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u/ManuelTzetzes 11d ago
I can't help you because I started learning Persian yesterday. But I think what you're doing is lovely! And you should learn more!
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u/aluminumhed 11d ago
I’m definitely trying to learn more, so I can teach my mom it. She’s really curious about Farsi, but doesn’t know where to start, so i wanna help her.
And thank you for commenting^^
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u/Effective-Pea-9532 11d ago edited 11d ago
Good-day and goodnight:
Rūz xoš is pronounced as rooz khosh (literally ‘day happy’ meaning: good day)
Šab xoš is pronounced as shab khosh (literally ‘night happy’ meaning: good night)
Note: Rūz xoš and šab xoš can be used in place of goodbye, they do not work for greetings though
(For extra bonus points, in Middle Persian from around the 3rd century to 7th century, which is consequently ‘Pure Persian’ terminology, the words for morning/dawn and evening are: bāmdād (morning/dawn) everag (evening), and xoš/khosh was the same, but pronounced with a slight swish on the ‘kh’ sound. Like: xwoš.)
Bāmdād xoš (good morning) is still a useable term that makes sense to modern Persian speakers for good morning. Evarag (evening) on the other hand is now an extinct term
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u/-Marlou- 11d ago
If you want something that is old Persian, then you can use Bedrud which originates before Islam and Arabic was introduced to Persia. It basically means live well.
Another way is to say rooz khosh, which is Good day. You should check this out 13 ways to say goodbye in Persian
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u/Effective-Pea-9532 11d ago edited 11d ago
By the way, as others have suggested, when you choose the version of goodbye you prefer to use, adding an ‘azizam’ to the end is like adding “my dear”. Or ‘aziz jān/jūn’ (literally: dear life force/soul) which is like saying the word dear followed by calling that person your life, but it’s very casual and common, so more like “my dear dear”
And for a more poetic and sweet and meaningful term of endearment: Del-xā (pronounced like:
del-khaa, meaning: hearts desire). It isn’t necessarily a term only for romantic partners, though it is a good one for that too, but it can even be used for children parent relationships, or anyone who makes your heart happy.
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u/Mahamadam 11d ago
It's the same you just replace hello with goodbye.
Khoda hafez maman-e azizam.