In Persian, many colors get their names from nature. One of the most frequent suffixes to make an adjective is “-i”. Then, guessing the meaning of a color shouldn’t be difficult if you know the meaning of a noun, not always though. Here are some examples:

– noqre(h) → silver  :  noqre(h)i → silver color

– qahve(h) → coffee : qahve(h)i = brown

– surat → face : surati (the color of face)

As far as we know, for all languages, there is just one universal rule with no exception, which says all linguistic rules have exceptions. The exception for colors in Farsi is “sabz”, green, while “sabzi” means herbs.

Persian Colors

Finally, among these colors in Farsi, some colors are more significant in Iranian culture and Persian speaking countries. One of them is the famous “Persian Blue”. For Persian speakers, this color is what is called “âbi” and then to describe other shades of blue, we add explanation, for instance, “âbi-ye âsemâni” is sky blue. Another important color in architecture is turquoise color “firuze(h)i”, most probably because there are many turquoise mines in this neighborhood. In poetry, colors play important roles especially the colors of flowers, trees, sky, stars and night. Recently, using colors in elections and for distinguishing political parties is becoming a trend but it is not very common yet.

Now with all these explanations, you are more motivated to learn colors. Let’s start with the easiest ones: