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Description
This article examines four major Persian dictionaries—Dehkhoda (1940), Mo’in (1972), Sokhan (2003), and Aryanpur (2009)—through Tarp’s Function Theory of Lexicography (2008). Using a descriptive-analytical mixed-methods design, the study evaluates the dictionaries in terms of four lexicographical functions: text reception, text production, translation, and knowledge acquisition. The analysis is based on 12 lexical and grammatical categories, with three sampled lexical items from each category, yielding 144 dictionary-entry observations across the dataset. The findings reveal clear functional asymmetries. Dehkhoda performs most strongly in knowledge acquisition and text reception; Mo’in preserves much of this interpretive orientation in a more compact form; Sokhan demonstrates the strongest monolingual performance in text reception and contemporary communicative usability; and Aryanpur, as a bilingual dictionary, is highly effective for translation but very weak in knowledge acquisition. Overall, the study shows that modern Persian lexicography has moved gradually toward greater user orientation, though without achieving balanced multifunctionality. It concludes by arguing for stronger dialogue between Persian lexicography and international lexicographical scholarship and recommends the compilation of a Handbook of Persian Lexicography.