Persian sounds and letters

Persian sounds and letters

Phonics is the most important stage in reading and writing because reading and writing are done alphabetically. The letters of the alphabet are the conventional signs of the sounds. Persian words are written right to left. Also, the Persian alphabet has no upper or lower case and capital letters simply do not exist.

The appearance of Persian letters changes depending on its position. Accordingly, Persian letters form in an isolated, initial (joined on the left), medial (joined on both sides) and final (joined on the right) position.

Forms of Persian sounds and letters

Forms of the sounds (letters of the alphabet) are written in the writing line. If you consider the different forms of Persian alphabet and their shapes on the writing line, the letters of the alphabet are divided into two distinct categories:

• The shape of a bunch of Persian letters attached to the following letters on the writing line. You can see these letters here:

ایـ   یـ   بـ   تـ  پـ   ثـ        حـ   خـ   جـ   چـ        سـ    شـ   صـ   ضـ       طـ  ظـ     عـ   ـعـ   غـ   ـغـ         فـ   قـ     کـ  گـ     لـ   مـ   نـ   هـ   ـهـ  ـیـ

• The shape of another bunch of Persian letters unattached to the following letters on the writing line. These letters do not stick to the next letter in words. You can see these letters here:

آ  ا  ـو  و  ی       ب  پ  ت  ث        ج  چ  ح  خ      د  ذ  ر  ز  ژ    س ش ص ض    ع  ـع   غ   ـغ    ف  ق  ک  گ  ل  م  ن  و  ه  ی

Persian sounds

Persian has six vowel sounds and two diphthongs: â (/ɒː/) آ , a (/æ/) اَ , e (/e/)اِ, I (/iː/) ایـ , o (/o/) اُ , u (/uː/) او , ey (/ej/) and ow (/ow/).

Sounds in Persian are divided into two categories in terms of stretching the sound. Some of the letters have continuous sound such as ( س، ش، آ، ر، م، خ،…) and other letters have short pronunciation such as ( ب، پ، ج،گ،…).