Editing Iran (section)

== Etymology ==
{{Main|Name of Iran}}
[[File:Irnp105-Grobowce Naqsh-E Rustam.jpg|alt=Inscription of Ardeshir Babakan (ruling 224–242) in Naqsh-e Rostam|thumb|Rock relief of [[Ardashir I]] (224–242 AD) in [[Naqsh-e Rostam]], inscribed "This is the figure of Mazdaworshipper, the lord Ardashir, King of Iran."]]
The term ''[[Iran (word)|Iran]]'' {{Gloss|the land of the Aryans}} derives from [[Middle Persian]] {{transliteration|pal|Ērān}}, first attested in a 3rd-century inscription at [[Naqsh-e Rostam]], with the accompanying [[Parthian language|Parthian]] inscription using {{transliteration|xpr|Aryān}}, in reference to the [[Arya (Iran)|Iranians]].{{Sfn|MacKenzie|1998}} {{transliteration|pal|Ērān}} and {{transliteration|xpr|Aryān}} are oblique plural forms of [[Demonym|gentilic]] nouns ''ēr-'' (Middle Persian) and ''ary-'' (Parthian), deriving from [[Proto-Iranian language]] ''*arya-'' (meaning '[[Aryan]]', i.e. of the Iranians),{{Sfn|MacKenzie|1998}}{{Sfn|Schmitt|1987}} recognised as a derivative of [[Proto-Indo-European language]] ''{{PIE|*ar-yo-}}'', meaning {{Gloss|one who assembles (skilfully)}}.<ref>Laroche. 1957. Proto-Iranian ''*arya-'' descends from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) ''{{PIE|*ar-yo-}}'', a ''yo-''adjective to a root {{PIE|*ar}} "to assemble skillfully", present in Greek ''harma'' "chariot", Greek ''aristos'', (as in "[[aristocracy]]"), Latin ''ars'' "art", etc.</ref> According to [[Persian mythology|Iranian mythology]], the name comes from [[Iraj]], a legendary king.{{Sfn|Shahbazi|2004}}

Iran was referred to as ''Persia'' by [[Western world|the West]], due to [[Greeks|Greek]] historians who referred to all of Iran as {{transliteration|grc|Persís}}, meaning 'the land of the [[Persians]]'.<ref name="Arnold Wilson">{{Cite book |last=Wilson, Arnold |title=The Persian Gulf (RLE Iran A) |date=2012 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-136-84105-7 |page=71 |chapter=The Middle Ages: Fars |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FocirvdZKjcC}}</ref><ref name="Fishman">{{Cite book |last1=Borjian |first1=Maryam |title=Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: Volume 2: The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts |last2=Borjian |first2=Habib |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-539245-6 |editor-last=Fishman |editor-first=Joshua A |location=New York |page=266 |language=en |chapter=Plights of Persian in the Modernization Era |quote='Iran' and 'Persia' are synonymous. The former has always been used by Iranian-speaking peoples themselves, while the latter has served as the international name of the country in various languages, ever since it was introduced by the Greeks some twenty-five centuries ago. In 1935, however, the nationalist administration under Reza Shah Pahlavi (see below) made a successful effort to replace 'Persia' with 'Iran,' apparently to underline the nation’s 'Aryan' pedigree to the international community. The latter term used to signify all branches of the Indo-European language family (and even the 'race' of their speakers), but was practically abandoned after World War II. |editor-last2=García |editor-first2=Ofelia}}</ref><ref name="Lewis1984">{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Geoffrey |year=1984 |title=The naming of names |journal=British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=121–124 |doi=10.1080/13530198408705394 |issn=0305-6139}}</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/place/Persia Persia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615050900/https://www.britannica.com/place/Persia |date=15 June 2022 }}, ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', "The term Persia was used for centuries{{nbsp}}... [because] use of the name was gradually extended by the ancient Greeks and other peoples to apply to the whole Iranian plateau."</ref> ''Persia'' is the [[Fars province]] in southwest Iran, the 4th largest province, also known as ''Pârs''.<ref name="Your Gateway to Knowledge">{{Cite web |title=Your Gateway to Knowledge |url=https://knowledgezon.co.in/ |access-date=3 April 2024 |website=Knowledge Zone |language=en}}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Fars Province, Iran |url=https://www.persiaadvisor.com/about-persia/fars-province/ |access-date=2 May 2024 |website=Persia Advisor |language=en-US |archive-date=2 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240502233108/https://www.persiaadvisor.com/about-persia/fars-province/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Persian language|Persian]] ''Fârs'' (فارس), derived from the earlier form ''Pârs'' (پارس), which is in turn derived from ''Pârsâ'' ([[Old Persian]]: 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿). Due to Fars' historical importance,<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Encyclopaedia Iranica |title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=https://iranicaonline.org/ |access-date=3 April 2024 |website=iranicaonline.org |language=en-US |archive-date=10 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410171658/https://iranicaonline.org/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=12 May 2005 |title=Eight Thousand Years of History in Fars Province, Iran |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297866767 |access-date=3 April 2024 |website=Research Gate}}</ref> ''Persia'' originated from [[Fars (territory)|this territory]] through Greek in around 550 BC,<ref>{{Cite web |title=From Cyrus to Alexander : a history of the Persian Empire {{!}} WorldCat.org |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/733090738 |access-date=3 April 2024 |website=search.worldcat.org |language=en |archive-date=3 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403133123/https://search.worldcat.org/title/733090738 |url-status=live}}</ref> and Westerners referred to the entire country as ''Persia'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Austin |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3tAqIU0dPsC&q=original+homeland+of+the+Persians.&pg=PA140 |title=One Thousand Languages: Living, Endangered, and Lost |date=2008 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-25560-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dandamaev |first=M. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ms30qA6nyMsC&q=Fars+or+Persis&pg=PA4 |title=A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire |date=1989 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-09172-6 |language=en}}</ref> until 1935, when [[Reza Shah]] requested the international community to use its native and original name, ''Iran'';<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 January 1935 |title=Persia Changes Its Name; To Be 'Iran' From Mar. 22 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/01/01/archives/persia-changes-its-name-to-be-iran-from-mar-22.html |access-date=26 December 2018 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225141734/https://www.nytimes.com/1935/01/01/archives/persia-changes-its-name-to-be-iran-from-mar-22.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Iranians called their nation ''Iran'' since at least 1000 BC.<ref name="Your Gateway to Knowledge"/> Today, both ''Iran'' and ''Persia'' are used culturally, while ''Iran'' remains mandatory in official use.<ref name="artarena">{{Cite web |title=Persia or Iran, a brief history |url=http://www.art-arena.com/history.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523020103/http://www.art-arena.com/history.html |archive-date=23 May 2013 |access-date=21 June 2013 |publisher=Art-arena.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Christoph Marcinkowski |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9khRsDDuX8C&pg=PA83 |title=Shi'ite Identities: Community and Culture in Changing Social Contexts |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-643-80049-7 |page=83 |quote=The 'historical lands of Iran' – 'Greater Iran' – were always known in the Persian language as Irānshahr or Irānzamīn. |access-date=21 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frye |first=Richard Nelson |date=October 1962 |title=Reitzenstein and Qumrân Revisited by an Iranian |journal=The Harvard Theological Review |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=261–268 |doi=10.1017/S0017816000007926 |jstor=1508723 |s2cid=162213219 |quote=I use the term Iran in an historical context [...] Persia would be used for the modern state, more or less equivalent to "western Iran". I use the term "Greater Iran" to mean what I suspect most Classicists and ancient historians really mean by their use of Persia – that which was within the political boundaries of States ruled by Iranians.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Richard Frye |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9QOfAvCP1jkC&pg=PA13 |title=Persia (RLE Iran A) |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-136-84154-5 |page=13 |quote=This 'greater Iran' included and still includes part of the Caucasus Mountains, Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iraq; for Kurds, Baluchis, Afghans, Tajiks, Ossetes, and other smaller groups are Iranians |access-date=21 June 2013}}</ref><ref>Farrokh, Kaveh. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. {{ISBN|1-84603-108-7}}</ref>

The Persian pronunciation of ''Iran'' is {{IPA|fa|ʔiːˈɾɒːn||}}. [[English in the Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth English]] pronunciations of ''Iran'' are listed in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' as {{IPAc-en|ɪ|ˈ|r|ɑː|n}} and {{IPAc-en|ɪ|ˈ|r|æ|n}},<ref name="Oxford_Iran">{{Cite web |title=Iran |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/iran |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229033251/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/iran |archive-date=29 December 2016 |access-date=7 February 2017 |website=Oxford Dictionaries}}</ref> while [[American English]] dictionaries provide pronunciations which map to {{IPAc-en|ɪ|ˈ|r|ɑː|n|,_|-|ˈ|r|æ|n|,_|aɪ|ˈ|r|æ|n}},<ref name="MW_Iran">{{Cite web |title=Iran |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Iran |access-date=7 February 2017 |website=Merriam-Webster |archive-date=10 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510231403/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Iran |url-status=live}}</ref> or {{IPAc-en|ɪ|ˈ|r|æ|n|,_|ɪ|ˈ|r|ɑː|n|,_|aɪ|ˈ|r|æ|n}}. The ''[[Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary|Cambridge Dictionary]]'' lists {{IPAc-en|ɪ|ˈ|r|ɑː|n}} as the British pronunciation and {{IPAc-en|ɪ|ˈ|r|æ|n}} as the American pronunciation. [[Voice of America]]'s pronunciation guide provides {{IPAc-en|ɪ|ˈ|r|ɑː|n}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How do you say Iran? |url=https://pronounce.voanews.com/phrasedetail.php?name=IRAN |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211080458/http://pronounce.voanews.com/phrasedetail.php?name=IRAN |archive-date=11 February 2017 |access-date=7 February 2017 |website=Voice of America}}</ref>