System of Transcription
   

The system of transcription that is used in this website is a limited version for English-speaking learners. It should be understood that transcriptions should not be too heavily relied upon since they can become a crutch. It is recommended that you train your eye to look at the Persian characters, not at the transcriptions, as you use this site. In addition, dialects and regional preferences can result in different acceptable pronunciations of the same word.

However, we have provided simplified phonetic transcriptions of Persian in most areas of this site. The general conventions for vowels are:

a as in [tag resources Transcription01008a]sar[/tag] سر head
ā as in [tag resources Transcription01008b]sār[/tag] سار starling
e as in [tag resources Transcription01009a]ser[/tag] سر benumbed
u as in [tag resources Transcription01009b]sur[/tag] سور feast
o as in [tag resources Transcription01010a]sor[/tag]

سر slippery
i as in [tag resources Transcription01010b]sir[/tag] سیر garlic

The following two symbols are used:

` (grave accent) = ع [tag resources alphabet-edit-21]eyn[/tag]
´ (acute accent) = ء [tag resources Madd-1-20b]hamze [/tag]

For consonants, to prevent confusion such as can occur between such compounds as [-kh-] and [-k.h-]; e.g., [tag resources Transcription01026a]نخود[/tag] noxod ‘pea’ and [tag resources Transcription01026b]نکهت[/tag] nak.hat ‘fragrance, scent,’ etc., the following set is sometimes used:

چ c [tag resources Transcription01029a]ch[/tag], as in [tag resources Transcription01029b]cahār[/tag] چهار ‘four’
خ x [tag resources Transcription01029d]kh[/tag], as in [tag resources Transcription01029e]xub[/tag] خوب ‘good’ (voiceless fricative velar)
ژ ž [tag resources Transcription01031a]zh[/tag], as in [tag resources Transcription01031b]žāle[/tag] ژاله ‘dew(-drop)’ (pronounced like the [s] in ‘measure,’ ‘pleasure,’ and [g] in ‘beige.’
ش š [tag resources Transcription01033a]sh[/tag], as in [tag resources Transcription01033b]šab[/tag]شب ‘night’
غ γ [tag resources Transcription01034a]gh[/tag], as in[tag resources Transcription01034b] غار [/tag]γār ‘cave’ (voiced fricative velar, pronounced very close to the French /r/. In the Tehrani dialect, under the Turkish influence, which is spoken by a large population in Tehran, γ is articulated as q. Occasionally an overcompensation takes place in the Tehrani dialect; such as pronouncing [tag resources Transcription01040a]qalam[/tag]قلم ‘pen’ as [tag resources Transcription01040b]γalam[/tag]
ق q [tag resources Transcription01041a]qh[/tag], as in [tag resources Transcription01041b]quri[/tag] قوری ‘teapot’ (exclusive to words of Arabic or Turkic/ Mongolian origin.)

This system helps us define such words as [tag resources Transcription01044a] نژاد[/tag] nežād ‘race’ and [tag resources Transcription01045b]نزهت[/tag] nazhat ‘purity, immaculateness’ (From the Arabic nuzha), in which [z] and [h] are both articulated.

With vowels, in Persian there is only one /i/, which is invariably long, so i is used, instead of the /ī/ used by formal linguists. This is also the case with /u/ instead of /ū/. A final [-e] must always be pronounced as [-é] (as in the French fermé ‘closed’). It must never be pronounced with an off-glide as [-ey]). This is the sound which in Persian is orthographically normalized as the terminal silent /h/, written as ﻪ.

Additionally, since there is no pharyngeal sound in Persian, vowels are sometimes transcribed as /’/in the middle of the word, but initially, as /a, e, o/:

[tag resources Transcription01022a]معمار[/tag]
me’mār
‘mason’

[tag resources Transcription01023a]سؤال[/tag]
so’āl

[tag resources Transcription01023b]عمر[/tag]
omr
‘life, life span’

[tag resources Transcription01023c]امر [/tag]
amr
‘command’

[tag resources Transcription01023d]اسم[/tag]
esm
‘name’

The semivowel /y/ is used initially in a syllable—whether it is in the beginning or in the middle of the word—and after any vowel, and when the /i/ is not a vowel; e.g., [tag resources Transcription01055a]یاد[/tag] yād ‘memory,’ [tag resources Transcription01056a]نایاب[/tag] nāyāb ‘unattainable’; [tag resources Transcription01056b]پاینده[/tag] pāyande ‘perpetual,’ [tag resources Transcription01056c]رویگر[/tag] rūygar ‘zink-worker, coppersmith.’ (It is needless to mention that after short vowels, /y/ by default creates a diphthong: /ay/, /ey/, /oy/)

Semitic /Ḥ/ and Persian /h/ are both transcribed as /h/ (= glottal fricative).

Semitic /ﻄ/ and Persian /ت/ are both transcribed as /t/ (= voiceless alveolar plosive).

All /ذ/, /ز/, /ض/, /ظ/ are transcribed as /z/ (= voiced alveolar fricative).

All /ث/, /س/, /ص/, are transcribed as /s/ (= voiceless alveolar fricative).

(For more detail, see the section on phonology.)

Some examples:

things, objects plural, ašiyā’ [tag resources Transcription01072a]اشیاء[/tag]
pain, grief, affliction alam [tag resources Transcription01073a]اَلم[/tag]
worship, the act of worshipping parasteš [tag resources Transcription01074a]پرستش[/tag]
a swallow parastū [tag resources Transcription01075a]پرستو[/tag]
inquiry porseš [tag resources Transcription01076a]پرسش[/tag]
anteroom pastu [tag resources Transcription01077a]پستو[/tag]
endurance, tolerance tahammol [tag resources Transcription01079a]تحمّل [/tag]
timid, fearful tarsu [tag resources Transcription01080a]ترسو[/tag]
chin čāne [tag resources Transcription01081a]چانه[/tag]
soil, earth; Earth xāk [tag resources Transcription01082a]خاک[/tag]
hallway dālān [tag resources Transcription01083a]دالان [/tag]
crazy; mad divāne [tag resources Transcription01084a]دیوانه[/tag]
weasel rāsu [tag resources Transcription01085a]راسو[/tag]
set out ravāne [tag resources Transcription01086a]روانه[/tag]
dew(drop) žāle [tag resources Transcription01087a]ژاله[/tag]
general sardār [tag resources Transcription01088a]سردار[/tag]
a thing, and object (sometimes spelled شیئى) šey’ [tag resources Transcription01089a]شیء[/tag]
seek talab [tag resources Transcription01090a]طلب[/tag]
covetousness, greed tama’ [tag resources Transcription01091a]طمع[/tag]
tyranny zolm [tag resources Transcription01092a]ظلم[/tag]
flag, banner alam [tag resources Transcription01093a]عَلم[/tag]
sorrowful, sad γamgin [tag resources Transcription01094a]غمگین[/tag]
pill qors [tag resources Transcription01095a]قرص[/tag]
heart; counterfeit qalb [tag resources Transcription01096a]قلب[/tag]
a loan qarz [tag resources Transcription01097a]قرض[/tag]
effort, endeavor kušeš [tag resources Transcription01098a]کوشش[/tag]
mountain kuh [tag resources Transcription01099a]کوه[/tag]
ladanum lādan [tag resources Transcription01100a]لادن[/tag]
nest lāne [tag resources Transcription01101a]لانه[/tag]
Muhammad; the name of the prophet of Islam mohammad [tag resources Transcription01102a]محمّد[/tag]
ill, sick; patient mariz [tag resources Transcription01103a]مریض[/tag]
teacher mo’allem [tag resources Transcription01104a]معلّم[/tag]
kind, affectionate mehrbān/mehrabān [tag resources Transcription01105a]مهربان[/tag]
lamenting, groaning nālān [tag resources Transcription01106a]نالان[/tag]
groan, lamentation nāle [tag resources Transcription01107a]ناله[/tag]
a ruined and desolate place virāne [tag resources Transcription01108a]ویرانه[/tag]
guidance hedāyat [tag resources Transcription01109a]هدایت[/tag]