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Judeo-Persian

Teacher: Dr Ilan Moradi

Class Level: Beginners & Advanced (basic knowledge of Persian is recommended for the Beginners class and required for the Advanced class)

Class Schedule 2025-26: Beginners class on Monday 9:30-10:30am UK Time; Advanced class on Mondays from 10:45-11:45am UK Time (you can check time-zone comparisons on sites such as this one)

Class Length: Beginners class 3-term class (Michaelmas Term 2025-Trinity Term 2026) ; Advanced class 3-term class (Michaelmas Term 2025-Trinity Term 2026) (Oxford dates of term are available on the University website)

Class Description: The Advanced class will be dedicated to Judeo-Persian language and literature of the Jews of the Iranian world (present-day Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia). Students will be familiarized with a wide array of Judeo-Persian sources from as early as the 9th century CE onwards while the poetical characteristic of Judeo-Persian literature will be emphasized. The reading of texts will enable us to discuss the evolution of Judeo-Persian from diachronic and synchronic perspectives, sociolinguistic aspects and the literary and religious heritage of Persian-speaking Jewry in its wider Jewish and Islamic contexts.

Reference Materials:
Standard New Persian grammar and dictionaries:
-Hayyim, Suleyman. New Persian-English Dictionary. Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim, 1934-1936. Available online at <https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/hayyim>.
-Lambton, Ann K. S. Persian Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
-Lazard, Gilbert. Dictionnaire persan-français. Paris: La Maison du dictionnaire, 2017.
-Mace, John. Persian Grammar: For Reference and Revision. London: Routledge, 2003.
-Yousef, Saeed and Hayedeh Torabi. Basic Persian: A Grammar and Workbook. London: Routledge, 2013.
Judeo-Persian language: 
-Gindin, Thamar E. ‘Judeo-Persian Communities viii. Judeo-Persian Language’. Encylopaedia Iranica, vol. XV, fasc. 2, pp. 132-139. Available online at <https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/judeo-persian-viii-judeo-persian-language>.
-Paul, Ludwig. A Grammar of Early Judaeo-Persian. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2013.
-Shaked, Sh. ‘Classification of Linguistic Features in Early Judeo-Persian Texts’. In Werner Sundermann et al. (eds.). Exegisti Monumenta: Festschrift in Honour of Nicholas Sims-Williams. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2009, pp. 449–61.
Judeo-Persian history and literature:
-Moreen, Vera B. In Queen Esther’s Garden: An Anthology of Judeo-Persian Literature. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
-Pirnazar, Nahid (editor). Judeo-Persian Writings: A Manifestation of Intellectual and Literary Life. New York: Routledge, 2021.
-Sarshar, Houman (ed.). Jewish Communities of Iran: Entries on Judeo-Persian Communities Published by the Encyclopedia Iranica. New York: Encyclopedia Iranica Foundation, 2011.
-Yeroushalmi, David. The Jews of Iran: Chapters in Their History and Cultural Heritage. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 2016.