Vowels
Iranian Persian has six vowel sounds: “â”, “a”, “e”, “i”, “o” and “u”. Since Persian writing system is abjad (consonantal alphabet), vowels do not appear in writing normally.
| Vowel | IPA | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| â | ɒ: | hot | آب âb (water) |
| a | æ | cat | ابر abr (cloud) |
| e | e | egg | پدر pedar (father) |
| i | i: | eagle | فیل fil (elephant) |
| o | o | forty | گل gol (flower) |
| u | u: | rule | روز ruz (day) |
Diphthongs
Persian diphthongs are produced by combining the vowels i and u with other vowels. Iranian Persian has five diphthongs: “ây”, “ey”, “oy”, “uy” and “ow”.
| Combination | Diphthong | IPA | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| â + i | ây | /ɒ:j/ | ice | چای čây (tea) |
| e + i | ey | /ej/ | case | سیل seyl (flood) |
| o + i | oy | /oj/ | boy | هوی hoy (an exclamation) |
| u + i | uy | /u:j/ | - | روی ruy (zinc) |
| o + u | ow | /oʊ/ | bone | موز mowz (banana) |
Consonants
There are 23 consonant sounds in Persian. The sounds /t/, /s/, /h/, /z/, /ʔ/ and /ɣ/ are denoted with more than one letter.
- The letters ت - ط denote /t/.
- The letters ث - س - ص denote /s/.
- The letters ح - ه denote /h/.
- The letters ذ - ز - ض - ظ denote /z/.
- The letters ع - ء denote /ʔ/.
- The letters غ - ق denote the same sound in standard Iranian Persian but historically, they have distinct sounds which is still found in many dialects.
| Consonant | Letter(s) | IPA | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | ب | b | book | برادر barâdar (brother) |
| č | چ | t͡ʃ | chain | چهل čehel (forty) |
| d | د | d | door | در dar (door) |
| f | ف | f | fall | فیل fil (elephant) |
| g | گ | g | game | گل gol (flower) |
| ǧ | غ ق |
ɣ | French rire | قورباغه ǧurbâǧe (frog) |
| h | ه ح |
h | hat | هفت haft (seven) |
| j | ج | d͡ʒ | job | جنس jens (type) |
| k | ک | k | key | کار kâr (work) |
| x | خ | x | German Buch Spanish ojo |
خوب xub (good) |
| l | ل | l | leg | لب lab (lip) |
| m | م | m | meal | مادر mâdar (mother) |
| n | ن | n | no | نان nân (bread) |
| p | پ | p | pen | پدر pedar (father) |
| r | ر | r | rug (thrilled as in Italian) | روز ruz (day) |
| s | س ث ص |
s | sad | سال sâl (year) |
| š | ش | ʃ | shoe | شب šab (night) |
| t | ت ط |
t | tea | توپ tup (ball) |
| v | و | v | van | ورزش varzeš (sport) |
| y | ی | j | yes | یک yek (one) |
| z | ز ذ ض ظ |
z | zoo | زانو zânu (knee) |
| ž | ژ | ʒ | s in measure French je |
ژله žele (jelly) |
| ø | ع ء |
ʔ | glottal stop | معنی maøni (meaning) |
Monograph vs. Digraph
It is best to denote each consonant with a single letter and avoid a combination of two letters to represent one sound. Adjacent consonants do not always merge together to form a single sound. For example, in the word mazhab (مذهب), the consonants z and h are pronounced individually and do not represent the zh sound (/ʒ/). That is, mazhab is pronounced maz-hab and not ma-zhab. The digraphs “ch, gh, kh, sh, zh” are what Persian speakers use in everyday life but they are not appropriate for educational purposes.
| Digraph | Monograph |
|---|---|
| ch | č |
| gh | ğ |
| kh | x |
| sh | š |
| zh | ž |
Letter ğ
In academic books, غ is denoted with ɣ and sometimes with q. However, the letter ɣ belongs to Greek alphabet and is not a letter of Latin alphabet. Moreover, the letter q denotes ق in dialects that differentiate between غ and ق, including Afghan and Tajik Persian. Therefore, q should not be used to denote غ. My proposition is ğ. It is a Latin-based character and in harmony with the digraph-monograph pattern of other letters: ch-č, sh-š, zh-ž and gh-ğ.
Letter č
The letter c does not represent any sound per se. Therefore, both c and č can be used in lieu of ch. In academic books, č is more prevalent.
Letter ø
The letter ø, or any other letter that denotes glottal stop, is the sole letter I consider essential to be added to what used by native speakers. The reason is explained in the section about glottal stop.