Similarities Between Turkish and Persian

In this language challenge, two Turkish speakers from Turkey, Şimal and Ahmet, go up against two Persian speakers from Iran, Shahrzad and Omid. We explore some of the similarities between the two languages with words and sentences. For any questions, suggestions, or feedback, contact us on Instagram:

Turkish and Persian belong to two different language families but have influenced one another significantly throughout history. Turkish is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages and has official status in Tukey and Cyprus. In addition, Turkish is recognized as a minority language in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Iraq, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania. Although the majority of Turkish speakers reside in Turkey, large number of Turkish speakers reside in Germany, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, as well as parts of Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. In the 1920s, after the Turkish Republic was established, Atatürk replaced the Ottoman Turkish alphabet with a Latin alphabet.

Persian (Farsi) is an Indo-European language and classified as Indo-Iranian. Persian is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, as well as some other parts of the Middle East, Central and South Asia. Both Persian and Turkish have influenced one another and in this video we explore these influences and try to see to what extent Turkish and Persian speakers can understand one another.

[BahadorAlast]

Based on a few requests, we’ve made this video a bit shorter (10 minutes). However, there are also many requests for longer videos (over 15-20 minutes). We’ll try to balance it out by having short and long ones in the coming months. Enjoy the video and try to keep your comment respectful. We can't respond to every comment here in timely fashion, if you would like a quick response, please contact us on Instagram:

[thief]

I am a Turkish literature teacher. I am learning Persian langauge. Greetings from Turkey.

[lukrasta]

Love Iran from turkey :)
Beatiful country, Beatiful People ❤

[terracottapie]

I am Turkish and my boyfriend is Persian. Whenever we do not know the meaning of a word in English, we try Turkish and Persian versions and we usually end up understanding each other better. :D

[zhanibekussenbek]

I'm Qazaq and I understand all the words 😃 Thanks for great video! 😀😎

[as]

Bahador, your idea to start from similarities and common roots in seemingly different cultures, is really nice.

[larivièr]

Greetings from Turkey! I have honestly loved this video so much. Turkey and Iran have many common words. We have been living together on these lands for centuries and I think we share the same culture.

[senaakdogan]

I'm so interested in Persian architecture and its culture! I love Persian language too lots of love from a Turkish girl to all Persian people! Xx

[IamBatman]

I am a Nepali and i am familiar with two words they said.
Aina - Mirror
Hapta - week

[psyshgerkulesysh]

IRAN + TURKEY, ones of the most interesting and ancient civilizations. Allah bless you!

[ahmadghondal]

Almost all the words said in this video are commonly being used in Pashto too, which is an eastern iranian language, (spoken widely in Afghanistan). Pashto, Turkish and Urdu are heavily influenced by Farsi and this shows how connected we are to each other.

[AleksandarGospic]

When they guess you should write the word on screen in both languages, so we can compare how it is said in both languages :)

[SajidAmazai]

I am a Pakistani and I speak Urdu. I found out that the following words are used in Urdu

Chaman-Garden
Aiyna-Mirror
Hafta-Week
Moshtari-Jupiter
Kalb-Heart (Most often it said Dil)
Maghaz-Brain
Bahar-Spring
Zanjeer-Chain
Piyaz-Onoin

That's amazing and interesting.

[AmirTavassoly]

Love the video Bahador jan, I had a great time watching it!! Thanks for your amazing work 😊😊😆😆

[avaesfandiari]

I have been in Antalya before 5 times when I was about 5 years old and I love Antalya. It was so much fun. The hotels were the best. ❤️Antalya

[FootballManagerTaraz]

Actually Turkish of pre Ataturk era was much more closer to Persian & Arabic, but Ataturk made a linguistic reforms & replaced all words of Non-Turkic origin with Turkic ones. So thanks to Ataturk Turkish is clearly Turkic language today.

[ferdatekinturhan]

I am Turkish and we do this all the time with my Iranian husband. It’s really fun! Thanks guys! 🙏🏼✨🎈

[dansugardude]

These similarities are due to borrowing and influence, but the languages come from completely separate families

[TurkaCris]

we Turks I think learned many words from Persians when passing from Central Asia to Anatolia :)

[newpersia]

your new Persian speaking friend, Omid is also smart .and I vote for longer videos you should not try to make it short, it takes what it takes its a cultural interaction .and even
those side talks like "planet Jupiter" is Interesting. thank you guys.