Short Vowels
   

[tag resources shortvowels_01]a[/tag] is a low front open vowel, very close to [æ]. It may be compared with [-a-] in ‘cat’, but without the [-y-] off-glide; it is also very close to [á]. (Compare and contrast the English man and Persian من mán ‘I’).
[tag resources shortvowels_02]e[/tag] is an open-mid front vowel, very close to [ɛ]. It may be compared with [-e-] in “let”.
[tag resources shortvowels_03]o[/tag] is a close-mid to open-mid back vowel. It may be compared with the [-o-] in the second syllable of ‘colonize’. Normally, English /o/ is accompanied by a “w” off-glide (as in ‘roller’); this is not the case in Persian.

Listen to the short vowels in the following set:

head a as in sar [tag resources shortvowels_04]سَر[/tag]
secret e as in serr [tag resources shortvowels_05]سِرّ[/tag]
slippery o as in sor [tag resources shortvowels_06]سُر[/tag]

When short vowels are followed by a consonantal cluster within the same syllable, they are lengthened; as in the following words:

leaf ba׃rg [tag resources shortvowels_07]بَرگ[/tag]
loose ha׃rz [tag resources shortvowels_08]هَرز[/tag]
he/she/it did ka׃rd [tag resources shortvowels_09]کرد[/tag]
affection mehr [tag resources shortvowels_10]مِهر[/tag]
inquiry po׃rse [tag resources shortvowels_11]پُرس[/tag]
cold sa׃rd [tag resources shortvowels_12]سَرد[/tag]
city sha׃hr [tag resources shortvowels_13]شَهر[/tag]
fear ta׃rs [tag resources shortvowels_14]تَرس[/tag]
expense xa׃rj [tag resources shortvowels_15]خرج[/tag]
bear xe׃rs [tag resources shortvowels_16]خِرس[/tag]
dry xo׃šk [tag resources shortvowels_17]خُشک[/tag]
yellow za׃rd [tag resources shortvowels_18]زَرد[/tag]
chest, breast; up; fruit bar [tag resources shortvowels_19]بَر[/tag]
every har [tag resources shortvowels_20]هَر[/tag]
deaf kar [tag resources shortvowels_21]کر[/tag]
mist, fog meh [tag resources shortvowels_22]مِه[/tag]
full por [tag resources shortvowels_23]پُر[/tag]
head sar [tag resources shortvowels_24]سَر[/tag]
king shah (short /a/) [tag resources shortvowels_25]شَه[/tag]
wet tar [tag resources shortvowels_26]تَر[/tag]
donkey xar [tag resources shortvowels_27]خَر[/tag]
(colloquial) throat, esophagus xer [tag resources shortvowels_28]خِر[/tag]
happy xoš [tag resources shortvowels_29]خُوش[/tag]
gold zarr [tag resources shortvowels_30]زَرّ[/tag]