With NASA's New Horizons flyby of the first trans-Neptunian object dominating Persian-language science news at the time, the article asks which Persian rendering of the object's name is more appropriate: “Pluton” or “Pluto.”
Both forms had been used in Persian and in other languages. The article traces the name to Greek Πλούτων, referring to the god of the underworld, and notes that its Greek pronunciation contains a final n. It further observes that several European languages—including French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and Polish—use forms that likewise retain an n-like ending. [source]
The author points out that the Persian Dehkhoda Dictionary used the form equivalent to “Pluton,” and states that many classical astronomy books published in Iran in earlier decades likewise used that form. [source]
More recently, however, the form equivalent to “Pluto” had become increasingly common in Iran, following English usage. The article gives examples including BBC Persian, the Iranian astronomy magazine Nojum, and many astronomy websites and Facebook pages reporting on New Horizons. [source] [source] [source]
The author argues that retaining the final n is not difficult for Persian speakers and can make derived adjectives more natural in Persian. The Persian adjective built from “Pluton,” the article says, is smoother than one formed from “Pluto.” It also notes that English itself uses the adjective Plutonian, which restores the n.
The article distinguishes this from the English term plutoid, which is not simply the adjective for Pluto but a term applied to a class of trans-Neptunian dwarf planets.
On these linguistic and historical grounds, the author concludes—tentatively—that the traditional Persian form corresponding to “Pluton” may be the more suitable name for Persian speakers when referring to what the article describes as the largest known trans-Neptunian object.
The original dictionary, terminology, and supporting links are preserved below. [source] [source]