اصفهان

See also: أصفهان

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian اِصْفَهَان (isfahān), from earlier سِپَاهَان (sipāhān), from Middle Persian, ultimately from Old Persian *spādānah (“army”) or *spādānām (“of the armies”), from 𐎿𐎱𐎠𐎭 (s-p-a-d /⁠spādaʰ⁠/, “army”), from Proto-Iranian *cwáHdah (“army”).

Proper noun

اصفهان • (isfahan)

1. Isfahan (a major city in Iran; the former capital of Iran, from 1598–1736)

Descendants

• Turkish: İsfahan

Further reading

• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “اصفهان”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[1], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 129

Persian

Alternative forms

• اصفاهان (isfāhān / esfâhân), صفاهان (sifāhān / sefâhân), اصبهان (isbahān / esbahân), اصباهان (isbāhān / esbâhân), اسپهان (ispahān / espahân), سپاهان (sipāhān / sepâhân)

Etymology

From earlier form, سپاهان (sipahān / sepahân) from Middle Persian [script needed] (spʾhʾn /⁠Spāhān⁠/) ultimately from Old Persian *spādānah (“connected with the army”) or *spādānām (“of the armies”), from 𐎿𐎱𐎠𐎭 (s-p-a-d /⁠spādaʰ⁠/, “army”), from Proto-Iranian *cwáHdah (“army”); see there for further information.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ʔis.fa.ˈhaːn/, /ʔis.fi.ˈhaːn/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɪs.fä.ɦɑ́ːn], [ʔɪs.fe̞.ɦɑ́ːn]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɪs.fä.ɦɑ́ːn], [ʔɪs.fe̞.ɦɑ́ːn]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔɪs.fɑːɑ́ːn], [ʔɪs.fi.jɑ́ːn]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔis.fɔːɔ́ːn], [ʔis.fi.jɔ́ːn]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔes.fæ.ɦɒ́ːn], [ʔes.fe.ɦɒ́ːn]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔis.fä.ɦɔ́n], [ʔis.fi.ɦɔ́n]

Readings
Classical reading?	isfahān, isfihān
Dari reading?	isfahān, isfehān
Iranian reading?	esfahân, esfehân
Tajik reading?	isfahon, isfihon

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːn

Proper noun

اصفهان • (isfahān / esfahân) (Tajik spelling Исфаҳон)

1. Isfahan (a city in Iran, the seat of Isfahan County's Central District and the capital of Isfahan Province, the third largest city of Iran; the former capital of Iran, from 1598–1736)
2. Isfahan (a county of Iran, around the city)
3. Isfahan (a province of Iran)

Inflection

Predicative forms of اصفهان (esfahân)

	singular	plural
1st person (“I am, we are”)	اصفهانم (esfahânam)	اصفهانیم (esfahânim)
2nd person (“you are”)	اصفهانی (esfahâni)	اصفهانید، اصفهانین△ (esfahânid, esfahânin△)
3rd person (“he/she/it is, they are”)	اصفهان است، اصفهانه△ (esfahân ast, esfahâne△)	اصفهانند، اصفهانن△ (esfahânand, esfahânan△)

^△ Colloquial.

Derived terms

• اصفهانی (isfahānī / esfahâni)

Descendants

• → Arabic: أَصْفَهَان (ʔaṣfahān)
• → Azerbaijani: İsfahan
• → Chagatai: اصفهان (ʾṣfhān)
  • Uyghur: ئىسپاھان (ispahan)
  • Uzbek: Isfahon
• → English: Isfahan, Ispahan
• → French: Isfahan, Ispahan
• → Italian: Isfahan, Ispahan
• → New Latin: Isfahānum, Ispahānum
• → Spanish: Isfahán, Ispahán