Namaeh Farhangistan

Namaeh Farhangistan

The Art of Dialogue Translation

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Alvand Bahari
Researcher of Persian language and literature, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/nf.2026.522428.1410
Abstract
The divergence between spoken and written Persian manifests across three linguistic levels: grammatical, lexical, and phonetic. These differences are hierarchically ordered in significance, with grammatical distinctions outweighing lexical ones and lexical distinctions superseding phonetic variations, although native speakers of the language often perceive phonetic shifts—such as colloquial contractions in speech—as more salient than grammatical or lexical differences. Many translators similarly prioritize phonetic reduction (e.g., contractions) when rendering dialogues, thereby neglecting grammatical and lexical divergences. This overemphasis leads to a tendency to treat phonetic simplification as the primary—or even sole—method of distinguishing spoken and written registers. This study critically examines Persian translations of dramatic dialogues, specifically focusing on translators’ adherence to grammatical and lexical norms of spoken Persian and their use of colloquial lexical forms. For analysis, a segment from Samuel Beckett’s play Endgame has been selected. Six published Persian translations of this text are compared, with direct quotations retaining the translators’ original orthography and punctuation. The evaluation highlights shortcomings arising from inattention to grammatical and lexical conventions of spoken Persian, as well as inappropriate lexical truncation.
Keywords
Spoken Persian
dialogue recording
phonetic reduction
colloquial contractions
literary translation
Subjects
References
Sources are in Persian unless otherwise specified.
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Namaeh Farhangistan
Volume 25, Issue 1 - Serial Number 101
Nameh Farhangestan (Grammar)
March and April 2026
Pages 91-106

  • Receive Date 19 May 2025
  • Accept Date 13 July 2025