چرا

Persian

From Middle Persian ME lʾd (čim rāy, “why”),^[1] from Proto-Iranian *čim (“what”) + *rādi- (“reason, thing”), literally, “what reason”.^[2] The former is from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kím ~ čím, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷím (“what”), while the latter is a lexicalization of the locative singular of Proto-Iranian *rād-, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *HraHdʰ-, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ- (“to think, arrange, accomplish”).^[3] By surface analysis, (če, “what”) +‎ (rây, “reason”).

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰʊ́.ɾɑː]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰʊ́.ɾɑː]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃʰú.ɾɔː]


Iranian Persian	چرا
Dari	چرا
Tajik	чаро

چرا • (čerâ)

why
Synonyms: برای چه (barâye če), برای چی (barâye či), واسه چی (vâse či)

čerâ rafti širâz?
Why did you go to Shiraz?

چرا • (čerâ)

From (čar, present stem of (čaridan, “to graze, pasture”)) +‎ (-â, “nominal suffix”).^[4]

چرا • (čarâ)

^ MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 22
^ Rastorgujeva, V. S., Edelʹman, D. I. (2003) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 2, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, page 203
^ Edelʹman, D. I. (2020) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 6, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, page 451; 456
^ Rastorgujeva, V. S., Edelʹman, D. I. (2003) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 2, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pages 227-8