What it means
واژه (vâzhe) means “word” in Persian. It is the Indigenous Persian alternative to the Arabic-origin کلمه, used in linguistic, literary, and reform-minded contexts.
How to use it
- این واژه قدیمی است (in vâzhe qadimi ast) “This word is old”
- واژهنامه (vâzhe-nâme) “dictionary, glossary”
- چند واژه یاد گرفتم (chand vâzhe yâd gereftam) “I learned a few words”
Pair
The Arabic-origin counterpart is کلمه (kalame), the everyday spoken default. واژه belongs to the Pure Persian register: linguists, lexicographers, and reformist writers prefer it. The compound واژهنامه (vâzhe-nâme), “word-book,” parallels فرهنگ (farhang) and is the standard Pure Persian term for “dictionary.” In casual speech most Iranians say کلمه; واژه appears in writing, academic talk, and language-policy contexts.
Cultural note
The Farhangestan, Iran’s official Persian Language Academy, prefers واژه in technical publications and uses it on its website. Search Iranian linguistics journals and you’ll see واژه everywhere; tune into a casual Tehrani conversation and you’ll hear کلمه. Picking واژه over کلمه signals that the speaker values Persian’s pre-Islamic vocabulary, a quiet ideological choice with literary roots back to Ferdowsi.
References
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