پ/p/In Arabic loans: ب ف
Arabic has no p: Persian p became b or f (pahlavān → bahlawān, pīl → fīl).
Script
Persian is written in the Arabic alphabet, with four letters added and two letters drawn differently. The real differences are in the reading.
The alphabet, side by side
32 Persian letters. Arabic has 28 of them; Persian added four.
- االفأَلِفfa /ʔ · ɒ/
ar /ʔ · aː/⇥ - ببِبَاءfa /b/
ar /b/ - پپِfa /p/Persian only
- تتِتَاءfa /t/
ar /t/ - ثثِثَاءfa /s/
ar /θ/ - ججیمجِيمfa /dʒ/
ar /dʒ/ - چچِfa /tʃ/Persian only
- ححِحَاءfa /h/
ar /ħ/ - خخِخَاءfa /x/
ar /x/ - ددالدَالfa /d/
ar /d/⇥ - ذذالذَالfa /z/
ar /ð/⇥ - ررِرَاءfa /ɾ/
ar /r/⇥ - ززِزَايfa /z/
ar /z/⇥ - ژژِfa /ʒ/Persian only⇥
- سسینسِينfa /s/
ar /s/ - ششینشِينfa /ʃ/
ar /ʃ/ - صصادصَادfa /s/
ar /sˤ/ - ضضادضَادfa /z/
ar /dˤ/ - ططاطَاءfa /t/
ar /tˤ/ - ظظاظَاءfa /z/
ar /ðˤ/ - ععینعَيْنfa /ʔ/
ar /ʕ/ - غغینغَيْنfa /ɢ/
ar /ɣ/ - ففِفَاءfa /f/
ar /f/ - ققافقَافfa /ɢ/
ar /q/ - كکافكَافfa /k/
ar /k/ - گگافfa /ɡ/Persian only
- للاملَامfa /l/
ar /l/ - ممیممِيمfa /m/
ar /m/ - ننوننُونfa /n/
ar /n/ - وواووَاوfa /v · u · o/
ar /w · uː/⇥ - ههِهَاءfa /h · e/
ar /h/ - يیِيَاءfa /j · i/
ar /j · iː/
⇥ does not join to the next letter
The four Persian letters
پ چ ژ گ — sounds Arabic does not have. In words Arabic borrowed from Persian, they were replaced.
چ/tʃ/In Arabic loans: ص ش ج
ch became ṣ, sh or j (čang → ṣanj 'cymbal').
ژ/ʒ/In Arabic loans: ز ج
zh became z or j. In Levantine Arabic j itself is often pronounced zh.
گ/ɡ/In Arabic loans: ج ق ك
g became j, q or k (gōhar → jawhar, gōz → jawz). The -ag/-ak of Middle Persian often shows up as Arabic -aj (barnāmag → barnāmaj).
ی/ي and ک/ك
Two letters that look a little different and are different characters on a computer. Pages with the right language tag draw the right shape.
یAs Persian ·
U+06CCيAs Arabic ·
U+064APersian ی has no dots at the end of a word (کرسی); Arabic ي keeps two dots below everywhere (كرسي). Arabic ى (alif maqṣūra, U+0649) is the dotless final that reads ā.
کAs Persian ·
U+06A9كAs Arabic ·
U+0643Persian ک has a stroke on top at the end of a word; Arabic ك has a small hamza-like mark inside. Same sound, two code points: search and spell-check treat them as different letters.
| As Persian | As Arabic | EN |
|---|---|---|
| کرسی | كُرْسِي | chair |
| ملک | مَلِك | king |
| علی | عَلِي | ʿAlī (name) |
| معنی | مَعْنَى | meaning |
Letters Persian pronounces alike
Persian kept the Arabic spellings but merged the sounds. Spelling is the only way to tell them apart.
Persian says /s/
- س/s/plain s
- ص/sˤ/emphatic s: tongue low, throat tight
- ث/θ/th as in 'thin'
Persian says all three as s. For Arabic: ث is the tongue between the teeth; ص darkens the vowels around it (ṣabr sounds like 'sobr').
Persian says /z/
- ز/z/plain z
- ذ/ð/th as in 'this'
- ض/dˤ/emphatic d
- ظ/ðˤ/emphatic th of 'this'
Four Arabic sounds, one Persian z. The trap for Persian speakers: ض is a d in Arabic, not a z (ḍarūrī, not 'zaruri').
Persian says /t/
- ت/t/plain t
- ط/tˤ/emphatic t
One t in Persian. In Arabic ط is emphatic and darkens the vowel: ṭifl, ṭālib.
Persian says /h/
- ه/h/plain h
- ح/ħ/breathy h from deep in the throat
Persian has one h. Arabic ح is a strong, breathy h squeezed in the throat: ḥubb, ṣaḥīḥ.
Persian says /ʔ / —/
- ع/ʕ/a voiced squeeze in the throat
- ء/ʔ/glottal stop (the catch in 'uh-oh')
In Persian both are a light glottal stop or nothing at all: maʿnā → maʾni, ʿilm → elm. Arabic ʿayn is a real consonant; learn it as one.
Persian says /ɢ ~ ɣ/
- ق/q/k pulled back to the uvula
- غ/ɣ/a gargled g (French r)
Tehran Persian has one sound for both — a stop at the start of a word, a fricative between vowels. Arabic keeps them apart: qalb 'heart' vs ghalab 'victory'.
Vowels
Persian reads Arabic i as e and u as o — kitāb becomes ketāb, ʿulūm becomes olum.
| Arabic | Persian | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| َ /a/ | /æ/ | قَلَم qalamقلم qalam |
| ِ /i/ | /e/ | عِلْم ʿilmعلم elm |
| ُ /u/ | /o/ | حُكْم ḥukmحکم hokm |
| ا /aː/ | /ɒ/ | كِتَاب kitābکتاب ketāb |
| ي /iː/ | /i/ | كَبِير kabīrکبیر kabir |
| و /uː/ | /u/ | مَعْلُوم maʿlūmمعلوم maʾlum |
| ـَوْ /aw/ | /ow/ | دَوْلَة dawlaدولت dowlat |
| ـَيْ /aj/ | /ej/ | شَيْخ shaykhشیخ šeyx |
ة written as ه or ت
Arabic ة (tāʾ marbūṭa) has no Persian letter. Persian writes it as ه (pronounced e) or as ت (pronounced t). Which one is a matter of each word's history.
ة → ه as ه
- مَدْرَسَةمدرسهmadreseschool
- إِدَارَةادارهedāreoffice
- عَلَاقَةعلاقهalāqeinterest, attachment (Ar. relationship)
ة → ت as ت
- حَرَكَةحرکتharakatmovement
- دَوْلَةدولتdowlatgovernment (Ar. state)
- رَحْمَةرحمتrahmatmercy
- صِحَّةصحتsehhathealth, accuracy
- قُدْرَةقدرتqodratpower
Tanwin in Persian adverbs
Persian kept the Arabic adverb ending -an (ـاً). The Persian adverbs and the Arabic ones match.
- فوراًفَوْرًاfowran · fawranimmediately
- اتفاقاًاِتِّفَاقًاettefāqan · ittifāqanby chance
- تقریباًتَقْرِيبًاtaqriban · taqrībanalmost
- حتماًحَتْمًاhatman · ḥatmancertainly
- مثلاًمَثَلًاmasalan · mathalanfor example
- اصلاًأَصْلًاaslan · aṣlanat all (with a negative)