- Does Persian distinguish genders?
- What are the different ways of indicating gender for human beings?
- How is gender indicated for animals?
- Are there any feminine forms in Persian?
Old Persian has three genders but Modern Persian is a gender-neutral language. It does not distinguish between masculine, feminine or neuter genders. In English, there are “he”, “she” and “it” for different genders but Persian uses the same pronoun for all genders. The fact of being male or female is expressed lexically rather than grammatically. That is, gender is indicated by words rather than by inflections.
Different Words for Genders
Some nouns have different words for male and female genders.
| Male | Female |
|---|---|
| مرد mard man |
زن zan woman |
| برادر barâdar brother |
خواهر khwâhar sister |
| پسر pesar boy; son |
دختر dokhtar girl; daughter |
| خروس khorus rooster |
مرغ morgh hen |
| اسب asb horse |
مادیان mâdiyân mare (female horse) |
Indicating Gender in Human Beings
Regarding nouns that do not have different words for male and female human beings, the words mard (man), zan (woman), pesar (boy), dokhtar (girl) can be used to indicate their gender.
| Male or Female | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| پلیس polis police |
پلیس مرد polis-e mard policeman |
پلیس زن polis-e zan policewoman |
| بازیگر bâzigar actor, actress |
بازیگر مرد bâzigar-e mard actor |
بازیگر زن bâzigar-e zan actress |
| پزشک pezeshk doctor |
پزشک مرد pezeshk-e mard male doctor |
پزشک زن pezeshk-e zan female doctor |
| دانشجو dâneshju student |
دانشجوی پسر dâneshju-ye pesar boy student |
دانشجوی دختر dâneshju-ye dokhtar girl student |
Arabic Feminine Forms
Some Arabic loanwords have brought their feminine form into Persian as well:
| Male or Female | Female | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| شهید | شهیده | martyr |
| مدیر | مدیره | manager |
| شاعر | شاعره | poet |
These feminine forms are only found in written Persian and they are optional forms. That is, شاعر still means a “poet”, whether male or female. Persian does not distinguish genders and it is not considered natural to use a suffix to feminize a noun.
Indicating Gender in Animals
Regarding animal nouns that do not have different words for male and female, the adjectives nar (male) and mâdde (female) are used to indicate their gender:
| Male or Female | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| شیر shir lion, lioness |
شیر نر shir-e nar male lion |
شیر ماده shir-e mâdde lioness |
| sag سگ dog |
سگ نر sag-e nar male dog |
سگ ماده sag-e mâdde female dog |
| gorbe گربه cat |
گربه‌ی نر gorbe-ye nar male cat |
گربه‌ی ماده gorbe-ye mâdde female cat |