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.’
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