Compounds
New words can often be formed in Persian by compounding. A common compound is that of a noun or adjective with the present stem of a verb:
| ketâb | book | foruŝ | presence stem to sell | ketâbforuŝ | book Seller |
| dâstân | story | nevis | presence stem to write | dâstânnevis | novelist |
| boland | loud | gu | presence stem to say | bolandgu | speaker |
| xande | laugh | âvar | presence stem to bring | xandeâvar | funny |
| mihan | homeland | parast | presence stem to worship | mihanparast | patriot |
| sorur | ioy | âmiz | presence stem to mix | sorurâmiz | joyfully |
| pul | money | dâr | presence stem to have | puldâr | rich |
| hasrat | jealousy | angiz | presence stem to cause | hasratangiz | causing jealousy |
Some phrases of the bound conjunction “e” have become compound nouns. They can usually be recognized by assuming one stress:
| toxmemorq | egg | âberu | honor | sarfenazar | waiver |
The same applies to the bound conjunction “o”:
| sarosedâ | noise | âbohavâ | climate | baroru | appearance |
Often the past and the present stem of a verb are compounded using the bound conjunction “-o”:
| jost | past stem of to search | ju | present stem of to search | jostoju | search |
| goft | past stem of to say | gu | present stem of to say | goftogu | dialogue |
| poxt | past stem of to cook | paz | present stem of to cook | poxtopaz | cooking |
There are some adjectives that are found as the first component of a compound in many cases:
| xoŝ | pleasant | bad | bad | kam | little |
| xoŝgel | beautiful | badrixt | ugly | kamâb | arid |
| xoŝbâvar | naive | badaxlâq | ill-humored | kambud | deficit |
Conversely, there are some nouns that are found as the second component of a compound in many cases:
| xâne | house | nâme | letter | kâr | work |
| golxâne | greenhouse | dâneŝnâme | encyclopedia | varzeŝkâr | athlete |
| ketâbxâne | library | kârnâme | certificate | tâzekâr | newcomer |
Many nouns and adjectives are formed by compounding simple nouns, adjectives and numbers:
| âb | water | anbâr | stock | âbanbâr | cistern |
| qul | giant | peykar | body | qulpeykar | huge |
| câhâr | four | pâ | foot; leg | câhârpâ | quadruped |
| tiz | sharp | huŝ | Intelligence | tizhuŝ | clever |
A compound may be extended:
| pâk | clean | kon | present stem of to do | pâkkon | eraser |
| barf | snow | barfpâkkon | windshield wiper |
Compounds may also include derivatives as components:
| rang | color | rangin | colored |
| kamân | bow | ranginkamân | rainbow |
Derivatives
Another way of forming new words in Persian is the derivation of a word by a prefix or suffix. However, there is also the so-called zero-derivation, by which a word can be changed to another part of speech without any further actions:
| bozorg | great; the great |
| âsibdide | injured, the injured |
Some prefixes and suffixes are words that have developed to a prefix or suffix due to common compounding.
Prefixes indicate a more general aspect and thus operate each on a relatively large amount of words:
| Prefix | Indicates | Example | Meaning | Referenced word | Meaning |
| ham- | mutuality | hamkâr | colleague | kâr | work |
| nâ- | negation | nârâhat | uncomfortable | râhat | comfortable |
| bâ- | possession | bâhuŝ | intelligent | huŝ | intelligence |
| bi- | shortage | biadab | rude | adab | courtesy |
| abar- | largeness | abarqodrat | superpower | qodrat | power |
| be- | possession | benâm | nominate | nâm | name |
| qeyre- | contrast | qeyretabi’i | unnatural | tabi’i | natural |
| qâbele- | ability | qâbelecâp | printable | câp | |
| piŝ- | precedence | pishnamâyeŝ | preview | namâyeŝ | performance |
| por- | fullness | porâb | water-rich | âb | water |
Although suffixes are more numerous, however, they usually operate on a smaller number of words:
| Suffix | Indicates | Example | Meaning | Referenced word | Meaning |
| -mand | possession | kârmand | employee | kâr | work |
| -estân | place | bimârestân | hospital | bimâr | ill |
| -gar | activity | gozâreŝgar | reporter | gozâreŝ | report |
| -dân | container | namakdân | salt shaker | namak | salt |
| -ce | reduction | daftarce | booklets | daftar | booklet |
| -bân | activity | bâqbân | gardener | bâq | garden |
| -ak | reduction | pesarak | stripling | pesar | boy |
| -in | material | âhanin | iron | âhan | ironclad |
| -vâr | existence | omidvâr | hopeful | omid | hope |
| -nâk | property | namnâk | humid | nam | humidity |
| -âne | circumstance | ruzâne | daily | ruz | day |
| -gin | property | anduhgin | sad | anduh | sadness |
| -kade | place | honarkade | art gallery | honar | art |
| -gâh | place | darmângâh | clinic | darmân | healing |
| -âsâ | similarity | qulâsâ | huge | qul | giant |
| -vand | membership | ŝahrvand | citizen | ŝahr | city |
An exception is the suffix “-i”, which is used both for nominalization and adjectival and thus has a fairly large operation radius:
| bozorg | great | bozorgi | greatness | cub | wood | cubi | wooden |
There are also suffixes forming a noun or an adjective from the present stem of a verb:
| Suffix | Indicates | Example | Meaning | Referenced word | Meaning |
| -eŝ | nominalization | tâbeŝ | shine | tâb | present stem of to shine |
| -ande | activity | bâzande | loser | bâz | present stem of to lose |
| -ân | activity | ravân | fluent | rav | present stem of to run |
| -â | activity | binâ | seeing | bin | present stem of to see |
| -âr | nominalization | neveŝtâr | writing | neveŝt | present stem of to write |
The suffix “-e” forms the participle from the past stem of a verb, which can be simultaneously interpreted as an adjective:
| bast | past stem of to close | baste | closed |
| poxt | past stem of to cook | poxte | cooked |
Also compound words can be derived:
| tiz | sharp | hush | intelligence |
| tizhuŝ | clever | tizhuŝi | cleverness |
