جعفری

Persian

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒaʔ.fa.ˈɾiː]

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒäʔ.fä.ɾíː]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒɑː.fä.ɾíː]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒɔː.fä.ɾí]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒæʔ.fæ.ɹíː]
- (Tehrani) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒæː.fæ.ɹíː]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒäʔ.fä.ɾí]

Readings
Classical reading^?	ja'farī
Dari reading^?	ja'farī
Iranian reading^?	ja'fari
Tajik reading^?	jaʾfari

Etymology 1

From a Caspian language, probably Mazanderani جفری (jaferi). Cognate with Transoxianan Persian obsolete (žâfa, “a kind of herb, saffron?”), dialectal (zâfe, “a kind of Persian shallot”), and Sanskrit जवा (javā, “saffron, rose”). Related to (za'ferân, “saffron”).

It is a misspelling to match to Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib, the prophet’s companion, even though there is no correlation. See also گل لالب بوسی (gol-e lâ lab busi, “Mirabilis jalapa”) which most people recognize as گل لاله عباسی (gol-e lâle 'abbâsi, “the tulip of ʿAbbās”).

Noun

جعفری • (ja'fari)

parsley
ja'fari didam ke bar ja'far savâr
ja'fari mixord o az ja'far gozašt
I saw a [man named] Ja'far riding on a camel
he was eating parsley and crossed the stream

Descendants

→ Azerbaijani: cəfəri

Etymology 2

From (ja'far) +‎ (-i, suffix forming adjectives).

Proper noun

جعفری • (ja'fari)

a surname, Jafari