Questions & Answers about آنها در خیابان شعار دادند.
Why is شعار (slogan) singular in Farsi, even though the translation says 'chanted slogans'?
In Farsi compound verbs, the noun portion is usually treated as a generic concept rather than a specific item. شعار دادن literally means 'slogan-giving' or 'engaging in the act of slogans.' Making it plural (شعارها دادند) would sound unnatural here unless you were referring to a specific, counted list of different slogans.
Why is the verb دادن (to give) used for chanting?
Farsi relies heavily on combining nouns with 'light verbs' to create actions. While English uses the specific verb 'to chant', Farsi conceptualizes emitting or broadcasting a slogan as 'giving' it out (شعار دادن). You have seen this pattern in other compound verbs like پاسخ دادن (to answer/give an answer) or توضیح دادن (to explain/give explanation).
This lesson focuses on the -khâh suffix (seeking/demanding). How might we apply that to the protestors in this sentence?
While not directly in this sentence, people chanting slogans are typically seeking something. You can form adjectives or nouns describing them by attaching خواه (the present stem of خواستن, to want/seek) to the noun they demand. For instance, if they want freedom (آزادی), they are آزادیخواه (freedom-seekers). If they demand justice (عدالت), they are عدالتخواه (justice-seekers).
In spoken Farsi, would native speakers pronounce the verb exactly as written here?
No, in everyday conversation, the final د in the 'they' ending () is almost always dropped. So (dadand) is pronounced as (dadan). Context and the subject (they) make it clear to the listener that this is the past tense 'they chanted' rather than the infinitive 'to chant'.