Persian alphabet
| It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Perso-Arabic script. (Discuss) |
| Persian alphabet | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ﺍ ﺏ پ ﺕ ﺙ ﺝ چ | |||||
| ﺡ ﺥ ﺩ ﺫ ﺭ ﺯ ژ | |||||
| ﺱ ﺵ ﺹ ﺽ ﻁ ﻅ | |||||
| ﻉ ﻍ ﻑ ﻕ ک گ | |||||
| ﻝ ﻡ ﻥ هـ ﻭ ﻱ | |||||
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History · Transliteration Diacritics · Hamza ء Numerals · Numeration |
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| Persian language |
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History Writing systems
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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. The Persian alphabet is commonly written in a calligraphic style known as Nasta'liq.
Letters
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 | c / č / ch | [ʧ] |
| ﺡ | ﺣ | ﺤ | ﺢ | he | h | [h] |
| ﺥ | ﺧ | ﺨ | ﺦ | khe | x / kh | [x] |
| ﺩ | — | — | ﺪ | dāl | d | [d] |
| ﺫ | — | — | ﺬ | zāl | z | [z] |
| ﺭ | — | — | ﺮ | re | r | [ɾ] |
| ﺯ | — | — | ﺰ | ze | z | [z] |
| ژ | — | — | ﮋ | zhe | ž / 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 / ow | [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.
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):
| Sound | Shape | Unicode name |
| [p] | پ | peh |
| [ʧ] (ch) | چ | tcheh |
| [ʒ] (zh) | ژ | jeh |
| [g] | گ | gaf |
Word boundaries
Typically words are separated from each other by a space. Certain morphemes (such as the plural ending '-hâ') are written without a space but separated from the previous word with a zero-width non-joiner.
See also
- Persian phonology
- Perso-Arabic script
- Scripts used for Persian
- Nasta'liq Script
- Persian numerals (http://www.laits.utexas.edu/persian/persianword/numbers.htm)
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)





