Writing system

Persian writing system is technically called abjad. Abjad is a writing system that only has characters for consonants. Vowels are indicated either by means of diacritics, or by a combination of consonants. In this page, I'll try to give some hints to help you with reading Persian. Here are the characters of the Persian writing system:

letter shown with sounds as Letter shown with sounds as
ا - - ص s sad
ب b book ض z zoo
پ p pen ط t tea
ت t tea ظ z zoo
ث s sad ع ` glottal stop
ج j job غ gh ɣ (similar to French rue)
چ ch chain ف f fall
ح h hat ق gh like غ in Persian of Iran
خ kh Scottish loch, Spanish ojo ک k key
د d door گ g game
ذ z zoo ل l leg
ر r rug م m meal
ز z zoo ن n no
ژ zh measure و v van
س s sad ه h hat
ش sh shoe ی y yes

Vowels

Persian has seven vowel sounds: â a e i o ow u.

shown with sounds as
â hot
a ant
e egg
i eagle
o forty
ow U.S. English show
u rule

Specifications

In the Persian abjad:

  1. Just three letters indicate more than one sound: a (ا), v (و) and y (ی).
  2. a (ا) has no particular sound. At word initial, by means of diacritics, it can denote the sounds â a e o but elsewhere, it always denotes the sound â.
  3. The sound â is always indicated. At word initial, it is indicated with the diacritic (~) placed above a (ا) i.e. آ. Elsewhere, an alone a (ا) always denotes the sound â.
  4. The sounds a and e are never indicated with letters. They are indicated with certain diacritics.
  5. The case of the sound o is generally like a and e but sometimes, it is indicated with v (و).
  6. The sounds u and ow are always indicated with v (و).
  7. The sound i is always indicated: with ay (ای) at word initial and with y (ی) elsewhere.

Hints

  • a anywhere except at word initial, always denotes â sound
  • ay at word initial normally denotes i sound.
  • y between two letters (except a, v) almost always denotes i
  • v between two letters (except a, y) almost always denotes u
  • initial y always denotes y
  • initial v always denotes v
  • final y almost always denotes i
  • final v almost always denotes u
  • yy always denotes yi
  • final h preceded by a consonant almost always denotes e sound.
 Word Transcription Clue Pronunciation
ایران ayran irân irân
ویزا vyza vizâ vizâ
بانک bank bânk bânk
پارکینگ parkyng pârking pârking
تیم tym tim tim
فوتبال fvtbal futbâl futbâl
آمریکایی amrykayy âmrikâyi âmrikâyi
واکس vaks vâks vâks
مادر madr mâdr mâdar
برادر bradr brâdr barâdar
خاکی khaky khâki khâki
بازار bazar bâzâr bâzâr
گیتار gytar gitâr gitâr
ماهواره mahvarh mâhvâre mâhvâre
رادیو radyv râdyu râdiyo
تلویزیون tlvyzyvn tlvizyun televizyun
تلفن tlfn - telefon
هتل htl - hotel
اینترنت ayntrnt intrnt internet
رستوران rstvran rsturân resturân