Breakdown of سال نو خجسته باد.
سالsâl
year
نوno
brand-new (of things)
خجستهkhojaste
auspicious / happy (occasions)
بادbâd
may it be (optative)
Questions & Answers about سال نو خجسته باد.
What exactly is bâd in this sentence, and how does it relate to the normal verb to be?
Bâd is the historical optative mood (a form used to express wishes or prayers) of the verb budan (to be). It literally translates to "may it be." While classical Persian had a full set of optative verbs, modern Farsi only retains this specific 3rd-person form, mostly frozen in formal greetings and well-wishes.
Can I conjugate bâd for other pronouns, like saying "may I be auspicious"?
No, in modern Farsi, bâd (and its negative counterpart, mabâd) is considered a "defective" verb because it only exists in this 3rd-person singular form. To express wishes for yourself or others, you would just use a normal sentence construction with the present subjunctive.
Is khojasteh a common everyday word for "happy"?
No, khojasteh is a highly formal and literary adjective meaning "auspicious", "blessed", or "fortunate". You wouldn't use it to describe your own mood (you would use khoshhâl for that). It is almost exclusively reserved for formal congratulations, poetry, and set phrases like this New Year greeting.
Just to check my grammar, why isn't there an ezâfe linking now and khojasteh?
Because sâl-e now (the new year) is the subject of the sentence, and khojasteh (auspicious) is the predicate adjective. You only use the ezâfe to link nouns to modifiers within the same noun phrase. Here, you are stating what you wish the subject to be, so the chain of ezâfe stops after now.
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