نخستین اشاره‌ها به واژهٔ دری در آثار ابن مقفع، حمزه اصفهانی، ابن ندیم و یاقوت حموی دیده می‌شوند. این اشارات دربارهٔ گویش منطقه پارس در دوره پایانی شاهنشاهی ساسانیان بوده‌اند. بنابر گزارش ابن مقفع، پارسی، زبان موبدان و دانشمندان و اهالی پارس بوده‌است و منظور، پارسی میانه بوده که براساس سنت ادبی به پهلوی نیز شهرت یافته‌بوده. دری، زبان شهرهای مدائن، دادگاه سلطنتی ساسانیان و دربار تیسفون ساسانیان بوده‌است. در میان مردم خراسان، گویش مردم بلخ، غالب بوده‌است. دری در بخش‌های شرقی امپراتوری ساسانیان یعنی خراسان رواج داشته تا جایی که در دوره ساسانیان تدریجا زبان پارسی به زبان پارتی پیوند خورده و هیچ گویشی بجز پارسی در خراسان باقی نمانده‌است. بدین ترتیب دری یک شکل از زبان پارسی که گویش معمول پارس بوده، می‌باشد.[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dari The original meaning of the word darī is given in a notice attributed to Ebn al-Moqaffaʿ (Ebn al-Nadīm, ed. Tajaddod, p. 15; Ḵᵛārazmī, Mafātīḥ al-ʿolūm, pp. 116-17; Ḥamza Eṣfahānī, pp. 67-68; Yāqūt, Boldān IV, p. 846). This notice, which probably reflected the linguistic situation in Persia at the end of the Sasanian period, includes mention of pahlavī, literally, “the Parthian language” (or the dialects that grew out of it), pārsī, and darī. According to Ebn al-Moqaffaʿ, pārsī was “the language spoken by the mowbeds (priests), scholars, and the like; it is the language of the people of Fārs.” It is obvious that this language was none other than Middle Persian, traditionally known as Pahlavi. As for darī, “It is the language of the cities of Madāʾen; it is spoken by those who are at the king’s court. [Its name] is connected with presence at court. Among the languages of the people of Khorasan and the east, the language of the people of Balḵ is predominant. ” This notice has given rise to considerable discussion. The etymology given for the name is clear: It is derived from the word for dar (court, lit. , “gate”). Darī was thus the language of the court and of the capital, Ctesiphon. On the other hand, it is equally clear from this passage that darī was also in use in the eastern part of the empire, in Khorasan, where it is known that in the course of the Sasanian period Persian gradually supplanted Parthian and where no dialect that was not Persian survived. The passage thus suggests that darī was actually a form of Persian, the common language of Persia ], (GILBERT LAZARD). , “DARĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online editionبنابر گزارش مقدسی، دری، گویش صاحب منصبانِ بخارا بوده‌است. پژوهشگران بر این باورند که دری زبان رسمی و اداری و دیوانی شاهنشاهی ساسانی بوده و توسط صاحب منصبان ساسانی در شرق ایران گسترش یافته و به زبان صاحب منصبانِ خراسان قدیم تبدیل شده‌است. آثار ابن مقفع نشان‌گر گسترش دری به سوی شرق بوده‌است.On the basis of Moqaddasī’s report (p. 335) that darī was the chancery language in Bukhara, it has been thought that it was from the beginning a kind of formal Persian. Ḵānlarī (pp. 280-81) put forth the hypothesis that darī had been an official and administrative language of the Sasanian court, had become established in the east by officials of the Sasanian kingdom, and had thus became the chancery language of Khorasan. There is no doubt, however, that the official and administrative language of the Sasanians was not darī but Middle Persian (so-called Pahlavi). Ebn al-Moqaffaʿ’s account clearly indicates that darī was a spoken language, and it is obviously as a spoken language that it spread to the east, (GILBERT LAZARD). , “DARĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition