Persian/Alphabet

The Persian Alphabet:
The six vowels and 23 consonants of Persian are written using a modified version of the Arabic alphabet with four extra Persian letters to represent sounds which do not exist in Arabic. Its Persian name is, which is the equivalent of the English “ABCs”.

Transcription
UniPers is used as a guide to pronunciation in this book:

Pronunciation
Most letters in this system of transcription can be pronounced like their English equivalents, but some deserve special attention:

Differing Systems of Transcription
There are several different systems of transcription in use for Persian, and no one official system. This can cause difficulties when more than one textbook is consulted, and may lead an absolute beginner to confuse the different letters. There are too many differences to be listed here, but it is useful to be familiar with the most significant examples:

Some common differences include:‎


 * may be transcribed as ā, á, A, aa, or a. For example,  may be written elsewhere as bābā, bábá, bAbA, baabaa, or baba.  In texts where ‹â› is transcribed as a, the short ‹a› sound may be written as æ or there may be no written distinction between the long and short sounds.
 * Short ‹a› may be transcribed as æ, especially in texts where a represents long ‹â›. For example,  may be written elsewhere as æbr and  as baba.
 * may be transcribed as ch or č. For example, may be written elsewhere as chetor or četor.
 * may be transcribed as kh. For example, may be written elsewhere as khub.
 * may be transcribed as sh or s. For example, may be written elsewhere as shoma or soma.
 * Long ‹u›, may be transcribed as oo. For example, may be written elsewhere as doost.