Persian alphabet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the modern Persian alphabet. For other scripts that have been used to write the Persian language, see Scripts used for Persian.

Persian languages
History Dialects Dialects and varieties Persian language Grammar Nouns Verbs Vocabulary Pronunciation Dari Tajik Grammar Hazaragi Bukhori Writing systems Persian alphabet Tajik alphabet

The script used for the Persian language is a form of the Perso-Arabic script, which is derived from Arabic alphabet with four extra letters. Several letters are pronounced differently in Persian than in Arabic. A slightly further modified form of the script is used for Urdu/Hindustani. The Persian alphabet is commonly written in a calligraphic style known as Nasta'liq. Below are the 32 letters of Persian.

Solo	Initial	Medial	Final	Name	Translit.	IPA
ﺍ	آ‎ / ا‎	ﺎ‎	ﺎ‎	alef	ā / aa / ʼ / ʾ / ’	various, including [ɒ]
ﺏ‎	ﺑ‎	ﺒ‎	ﺐ‎	be	b	[b]
پ‎	ﭙ‎	ﭙ‎	پ‎	pe	p	[p]
ﺕ‎	ﺗ‎	ﺘ‎	ﺖ‎	te	t	[t]
ﺙ‎	ﺛ‎	ﺜ‎	ﺚ‎	se	s	[s]
ﺝ‎	ﺟ‎	ﺠ‎	ﺞ‎	jim	j	[ʤ]
چ‎	چ‍ ‎	‍چ‍ ‎	‍چ‎	che	ch	[ʧ]
ﺡ‎	ﺣ‎	ﺤ‎	ﺢ‎	he	h	[h]
ﺥ‎	ﺧ‎	ﺨ‎	ﺦ‎	khe	kh / x	[x]
ﺩ‎	—	—	ﺪ‎	dāl	d	[d]
ﺫ‎	—	—	ﺬ‎	zāl	z	[z]
ﺭ‎	—	—	ﺮ‎	re	r	[ɾ]
ﺯ‎	—	—	ﺰ‎	ze	z	[z]
ژ‎	—	—	ژ‎	zhe	zh	[ʒ]
ﺱ‎	ﺳ‎	ﺴ‎	ﺲ‎	sin	s	[s]
ﺵ‎	ﺷ‎	ﺸ‎	ﺶ‎	šin	š / sh	[ʃ]
ﺹ‎	ﺻ‎	ﺼ‎	ﺺ‎	sād	s	[s]
ﺽ‎	ﺿ‎	ﻀ‎	ﺾ‎	zād	z	[z]
ﻁ‎	ﻃ‎	ﻄ‎	ﻂ‎	tā	t	[t]
ﻅ‎	ﻇ‎	ﻈ‎	ﻆ‎	zā	z	[z]
ﻉ‎	ﻋ‎	ﻌ‎	ﻊ‎	eyn	ʻ / ‘	[ʔ]
ﻍ‎	ﻏ‎	ﻐ‎	ﻎ‎	qeyn	q / gh	[ɣ] / [ɢ]
ﻑ‎	ﻓ‎	ﻔ‎	ﻒ‎	fe	f	[f]
ﻕ‎	ﻗ‎	ﻘ‎	ﻖ‎	qāf	q / gh	[ɣ] / [ɢ]
ک‎	ﮐ‎	ﮑ‎	ﮏ‎	kāf	k	[k]
گ‎	ﮔ‎	ﮕ‎	ﮓ‎	gāf	g	[g]
ﻝ‎	ﻟ‎	ﻠ‎	ﻞ‎	lām	l	[l]
ﻡ‎	ﻣ‎	ﻤ‎	ﻢ‎	mim	m	[m]
ﻥ‎	ﻧ‎	ﻨ‎	ﻦ‎	nun	n	[n]
و‎	—	—	ﻮ‎	vāv	v / u	[v] / [u]
ﻩ‎	ﻫ‎	ﻬ‎	ﻪ‎	he	h	[h]
ﻯ‎	ﻳ‎	ﻴ‎	ﯽ‎	ye	y , i	[j] , [i]

Letters lacking an initial or medial version are never tied to the following letter, even within a word. As to ﺀ‎ hamze, it has only a single graphic, since it is never tied to a preceding or following letter. However, it is sometimes 'seated' on a vāv, ye or alef, and in that case the seat behaves like an ordinary vāv, ye or alef.

Technically, hamze is not a letter, but a diacritic.

[edit] Other characters

The following are not actual letters, but rather different orthographical shapes for letters, and in the case of the lām alef, a ligature.

Stand-alone	Initial	Medial	Final	Name	Trans- literation	IPA value
ﺁ‎	—	—	ﺂ‎	alef madde	ā	[ɒ]
ۀ‎	—	—	ﮥ‎	he ye	-eye or -eyeh	[eje]
ﻻ‎	—	—	ﻼ‎	lām alef	lā	[lɒ]

Although at first glance they may seem similar, there are many differences in the way the different languages use the alphabets. For example, similar words are written differently in Persian and Arabic, as they are used differently.

The Persian alphabet adds four letters to the Arabic alphabet, [p], [g], [ʧ] (ch – chair), [ʒ] (zh – measure):