Tips on Reading Persian Words

In this page, you will be presented with some handy tips on guessing the pronunciation of Persian words. Persian writing system is a consonant alphabet. It has only letters for consonants. Vowels are marked with diacritics or a certain combination of consonants. Here are the letters of Persian alphabet:

Characteristics of Persian Alphabet

• 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 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 for Guessing Pronunciation

• ا anywhere except at word initial, always denotes â.
• Initial ی always denotes y
• ی between two letters (except for ا and و) almost always denotes i
• Final ی almost always denotes i
• Initial و always denotes v
• و between two letters (except for ا and 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