Letters
Below are the 32 letters of the modern Persian alphabet. Since the script is cursive, the appearance of a letter changes depending on its position: isolated, beginning (joined on the left), middle (joined on both sides), and end (joined on the right) of a word.
The letter names are mostly identical to the ones used in Arabic, except for the Persian pronunciation of the consonants. The only ambiguous name is he used for both ﺡ and ه. For clarification, these are often called ḥe-ye jimi (literally "jim-like ḥe" after jim, the name for the letter ج that uses the same base form) and he-ye do-češm (literally "two-eyed he", after the contextual middle letterform ﻬ), respectively.
| Name | DIN 31635 | IPA | Contextual forms | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End | Middle | Beginning | Isolated | |||
| ʾalef | ā / ʾ | , | ـا | ـا * | آ / ا * | ﺍ |
| be | b | ـب | ـبـ | ﺑ | ب | |
| pe | p | ـپ | ـپـ | ﭘ | پ | |
| te | t | ـت | ـتـ | ﺗ | ﺕ | |
| s̱e | s̱ | ـث | ـثـ | ﺛ | ﺙ | |
| jim | j | ﺞ | ـجـ | ﺟ | ﺝ | |
| che | č | ﭻ | ـچـ | ﭼ | ﭺ | |
| ḥe(-ye jimi) | ḥ | ﺢ | ـحـ | ﺣ | ﺡ | |
| khe | x | ﺦ | ـخـ | ﺧ | ﺥ | |
| dāl | d | ـد | ـد* | ﺩ* | ﺩ | |
| ẕāl | ẕ | ـذ | ـذ* | ﺫ* | ﺫ | |
| re | r | ـر | ـر* | ﺭ* | ﺭ | |
| ze | z | ـز | ـز* | ﺯ* | ﺯ | |
| že | ž | ـژ | ـژ* | ژ* | ژ | |
| sin | s | ـس | ـسـ | ﺳ | ﺱ | |
| šin | š | ـش | ـشـ | ﺷ | ﺵ | |
| ṣād | ṣ | ـص | ـصـ | ﺻ | ﺹ | |
| z̤ād | z̤ | ـض | ـضـ | ﺿ | ﺽ | |
| ṭā | ṭ | ـط | ـطـ | ﻃ | ﻁ | |
| ẓā | ẓ | ـظ | ـظـ | ﻇ | ﻅ | |
| ʿeyn | ʿ | ـع | ـعـ | ﻋ | ﻉ | |
| ġeyn | ġ | / | ـغ | ـغـ | ﻏ | ﻍ |
| fe | f | ـف | ـفـ | ﻓ | ﻑ | |
| qāf | q | / / (in some dialects) | ـق | ـقـ | ﻗ | ﻕ |
| kāf | k | ـک | ـکـ | ﮐ | ک | |
| gāf | g | ـگ | ـگـ | ﮔ | گ | |
| lām | l | ـل | ـلـ | ﻟ | ﻝ | |
| mim | m | ـم | ـمـ | ﻣ | ﻡ | |
| nun | n | ـن | ـنـ | ﻧ | ﻥ | |
| vāv | v / ū / ow | / / / / (in Dari) | ـو | ـو* | و* | و |
| he(-ye do-češm) | h | ـه | ـهـ | هـ | ﻩ | |
| ye | y / ī / á | / / / (in Dari) | ﯽ | ـیـ | ﻳ | ﻯ |
Read more about this topic: Perso-Arabic Alphabet
Famous quotes containing the word letters:
“Bolkenstein, a Minister, was speaking on the Dutch programme from London, and he said that they ought to make a collection of diaries and letters after the war. Of course, they all made a rush at my diary immediately. Just imagine how interesting it would be if I were to publish a romance of the “Secret Annexe.” The title alone would be enough to make people think it was a detective story.”
—Anne Frank (1929–1945)
“A man who publishes his letters becomes a nudist—nothing shields him from the world’s gaze except his bare skin. A writer, writing away, can always fix himself up to make himself more presentable, but a man who has written a letter is stuck with it for all time.”
—E.B. (Elwyn Brooks)
“Deafness produces bizarre effects, reversing the natural order of things; the interchange of letters is the conversation of the deaf, and the only link with society. I would be in despair, for instance, over seeing you speak, but, instead, I am only too happy to hear you write.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)