Tips on reading Persian words

In this page, you'll be presented with some handy tips on guessing the pronunciation of Persian words. Persian writing system is technically called "abjad". Abjad is a writing system that only has letters for consonants. Vowels are denoted either with diacritics or with a certain combination of consonants. Here are the letters of Persian abjad. Regarding the Latin letters used for showing Persian sounds, see this page on Persian letters and pronunciation:

Vowels in Persian language

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

Characteristics of Persian abjad

• Only 3 letters indicate more than one sound: ا (a), و (v) and ی (y).
• ا denotes no particular sound. At word initial, by means of diacritics, it can denote â a e o but elsewhere, it always denotes â.
• The sound â is always denoted. At word initial, it is denoted with the diacritic ~ placed above a ا i.e. آ. Elsewhere, ا always denotes â.
• The sounds a and e are never denoted with letters but with a certain diacritic.
• The case of the sound o is generally like a and e but sometimes, it is denoted with و (v).
• The sounds u and ow are always denoted with و (v).
• The sound i is always denoted; with ای (ay) at word initial and with ی (y) elsewhere.

Hints

• ا anywhere except at word initial, always denotes â.
• Initial ی always denotes y
• ی between two letters (except ا and و) almost always denotes i
• Final ی almost always denotes i
• Initial و always denotes v
• و between two letters (except ا, ی) almost always denotes u
• Final و almost always denotes u
• یی always denotes yi
• Final ه, except before ا, ی and و, typically denotes e.
• ای at word initial almost always denotes i.

Examples