“Parlare l’inglese φαρσί”: il persiano come criterio di language proficiency?

In the following reflections, we explore the historical and lexicographical story of the neo- Greek adverb φαρσί (fārsi), generally used in colloquial language to indicate the ability to speak a language “fluently” and, by extension, to denote a particular skill in other intellectual activities as well. Generally, the term is etymologised from Turkish (Ottoman) far(i)si “Persian”, referring to the “prestige” enjoyed by the latter language in the Ottoman world itself. Despite the considerable diffusion of this etymological reading, there are currently no studies devoted to the issue. After a discussion of the actual and articulated historical dimension of the “prestige” of the glottonym fārsi in the Neo-Persian context from which it originates, we build here the premises for a cultural history of the term and its sociolinguistic identity, following a possible Balkan track that could explain its specific characteristics of use and diffusion in South-Eastern Europe.