زیرا

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Classical Persian زیرا (zīrā).

Conjunction

زیرا • (zira)

1. because

References

• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “زیرا”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[1], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1022
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “zira”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

Persian

Alternative forms

• ازیرا (azērā / azirâ), ازیراکه (azērāki / azirâke), زیراکه (zērāki / zirâke)
• ازیراک (azērāk / azirâk), زیراک (zērāk / zirâk) (poetic)

Etymology

Compound of از (az, “of”) +‎ ایرا (ērā / irâ, “because”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈzeː.raː/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [zéː.ɾɑː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [zéː.ɾɑː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [zéː.ɾɑː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [zéː.ɾɔː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [zíː.ɹɒː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [zé.ɾɔ]

• Rhymes: -eːraː

Readings
Classical reading?	zērā
Dari reading?	zērā
Iranian reading?	zirâ
Tajik reading?	zero

Conjunction

زیرا • (zērā / zirâ) (Tajik spelling зеро)

1. (literary) because

   Synonym: چون (čūn / čun)

   چون که زیرا (colloquial) ― čun ke zirâ ― equivalent to English “because I said so” (literally, “because because”)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: zira
• → Chagatai: زیرا (zyrā /⁠zērā⁠/), زیراکه (zyrākh /⁠zērāki⁠/)
  • Uzbek: zero, zeroki
• → Middle Armenian: զէրէ (zērē), զէրայ (zēray), զէրա (zēra)
  • Armenian: զերե (zere)
• → Ottoman Turkish: زیرا (zira)
  • Turkish: zira
  • → Armenian: զիրա (zira)

References

• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971), “ēd”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 30