Literary Plurals for Body Parts
In standard conversational Farsi, you pluralize most nouns with ها. However, classical literature and poetry use a special suffix for paired body parts (like eyes and hands) or parts that grow in multitudes (like hair and eyelashes): ان.
- چشم (eye) becomes چشمان
- دست (hand) becomes دستان
- لب (lip) becomes لبان
| It seems that her eyes have many secrets. | به نظر میرسد که چشمان او رازهای زیادی دارند.be nazar mi-rasad ke cheshmân-e u râzhâ-ye ziyâdi dârand |
Poetic Imagery
These literary plurals are often surrounded by poetic vocabulary. You will frequently see them described as لطیف (delicate), possessing افسون (charm), or serving as inspiration for سرودن (composing poetry) and receiving a بوسه (kiss).
| She planted a soft kiss on my lips. | او بوسهای لطیف روی لبان من نشاند.u buse-i latif ruye lebân man neshând. |
| The poet composes poetry about the charm of your hands. | شاعر از افسون دستان تو میسراید.shâ'er az afsun-e dastân-e to mi-sarâyad. |
Spelling Variations: -vân and -gân
Words ending in certain vowels require a slight spelling change before adding the suffix.
If a body part ends in the vowel و, the suffix becomes وان:
- گیسو (tress) becomes گیسوان
- بازو (arm) becomes بازوان
- زانو (knee) becomes زانوان
| The wind is caressing her tresses. | باد دارد گیسوان او را نوازش میکند.bâd dârad gisuvân-e u râ navâzesh mikonad. |
| He caresses the tired arms and knees. | او بازوان و زانوان خسته را نوازش میکند.u bâzuân va zânuân khaste râ navâzesh mikonad. |
If a body part ends in a silent ه, the suffix becomes گان:
- مژه (eyelash) becomes مژگان
| Her eyelashes have fallen like a shadow on her face. | مژگان او مثل سایه روی چهرهی او افتادهاند.mozhgân-e u mesle sâye ru-ye chehre-ye u oftâde-and. |
The Literary Face
While standard Farsi uses صورت or چهره for "face," poetry frequently uses the highly literary word رخ (face or cheek). It takes the standard ان suffix to become رخان.
| The poet composes poetry about the beautiful faces. | شاعر دربارهی رخان زیبا شعر میسراید.shâ'er darbâre-ye rokhân-e zibâ she'r mi-sarâyad. |