Silent and Consonantal /h/

It must be understood that the Silent /h/ is merely an orthographic feature—that is to say, the correct way of using a specific writing system. In Persian using Arabic script, it represents a terminal [-e] sound (normally from classical [-a]); as in the words, بچّه bacce ‘child,’ and خانه xāne ‘house, home.’

After long vowels, however, a final [-h] is a Consonantal /h/, (or real, not silent) and it is very well pronounced:

شاه
šāh
‘king’

کوه
kuh
‘mountain’

In monosyllabic words the [-h] is always a consonantal [-h]. The following is a list of the main monosyllabic words with the consonantal [-h]:

آه
āh
noun: ‘a sigh;’ interjection: ‘ah!, Alas!’

’اَه
ah
interjection expressing contempt: ‘ugh! fie!’

اِه؟
eh
interjection expressing disbelief: like the English “Really?”

اُه
oh
interjection expressing astonishment: ‘oh!’

بَه
bah
interjection expressing pleasure; like the English, ‘oh, wow!’

بِه
beh
‘quince’

تَه
tah
‘the end, bottom’

جَه
jah jahīdan
infinitive: ‘to jump’

چَه
cah cāh
‘a well’

دَه
dah
‘ten’

دِه
deh
‘village’

رَه
rah rāh
‘road, way, path, route’

زِه
zeh
‘gut, bow-string (made of gut);’ interjection: ‘Bravo!’

شَه
šah šāh
‘king’

کَه
kah kāh
‘straw, hey’

کِه
keh
‘small, little, young’

کُه
koh kūh
‘mountain’

گَه
gah gāh
‘time of; place of’

گُه
goh
‘excrement, stool, shit’

لِه
leh
‘smashed’

مَه
mah māh
‘moon; month’

مِه
meh
‘fog, mist; great(est)’

نُه
noh
‘nine’

وَه
vah
‘interjection: oh, alas; would to God!’

As can be seen in the above list, some words with a long vowel might have a variation in short vowel, normally in the classical Persian, but not in Modern Persian (with the exception of poetry, where classical features are retained and still used). The [-h] at the end of these words is still a consonantal [-h] and is treated as such; as in: شاه šāh ~ شَه šah, کوه kūh ~ کُه koh, etc.

In addition to the words cited above, the following is a partial list of such words. While suffixes cannot be connected to the silent /h/ (that is, خانه‌ها, never خانهها), any suffix, including the indefinite enclitic ی would connect to the end of these words:

aware, knowing āgāh ~ āgah آگاه ~ آگَه
crowded, abundant, thick anbuh ~ anboh انبوه ~ انبُه
destroyed, ruined, spoiled, wasted tabāh ~ tabah تباه ~ تبَه
fox rubāh ~ rubah روباه ~ روبَه
black; dark siyāh ~ siyah سیاه ~ سیَه
headgear kolāh ~ kolah کُلاه ~ کُلَه
short; brief kutāh ~ kutah کوتاه ~ کوتَه
sin, iniquity, fault, crime, vice gonāh ~ gonah گُناه ~ گُنَه
glance, sight; eye negāh ~ negah نگاه ~ نگَه

Any words with the suffix گاه/ـگاه gāh/gah ‘place of…, location of…; time of…’ falls into this category; as in, اردوگاه ordugāh ‘camp, encampment’ (military or otherwise), دانشگاه dānešgāh ‘university,’ پالایشگاه pālāyešgāh ‘refinery,’ صبحگاه sobgāh ‘dawn,’ شامگاه šāmgāh ‘dusk.’