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:
“Most personal correspondence of today consists of letters the first half of which are given over to an indexed statement of why the writer hasn’t written before, followed by one paragraph of small talk, with the remainder devoted to reasons why it is imperative that the letter be brought to a close.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“The entire merit of a man can never be made known; nor the sum of his demerits, if he have them. We are only known by our names; as letters sealed up, we but read each other’s superscriptions.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“A hunger seized my heart; I read
Of that glad year which once had been,
In those fallen leaves which kept their green,
The noble letters of the dead.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)