بیگار

Persian

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Persian byk'l (/⁠bēgār⁠/, “corvee, forced labour”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /beː.ˈɡaːɾ/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [beː.ɡɑːɾ]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [beː.ɡɑːɾ]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [beː.ɡɔːɾ]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [biː.ɡɒːɹ]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [be.ɡɔɾ]

Readings
Classical reading^?	bēgār
Dari reading^?	bēgār
Iranian reading^?	bigâr
Tajik reading^?	begor

Noun

بیگار • (bēgār / bigâr) (Tajik spelling бегор)

corvee, forced unpaid labour
- c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 149:
  گفت عیسی یا رب این اسرار چیست
  میل این ابله درین بیگار چیست
  guft īsā yā rabb īn asrār čīst
  mayl-i īn ablah darīn bēgār čīst
  Jesus cried, “O Lord, what are these hidden purposes (of Thine)?
  What is (the meaning of) this fool's inclination (to engage) in this fruitless work?
  (Classical romanization)

Further reading

Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “بیگار”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

References

^ MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) “bēgār”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 18