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Persian Pronunciation Guide for English Speakers
Persian is written in a modified Arabic script and has six vowel
sounds and about thirty consonants. Several consonants have no
direct English equivalent, and short vowels are often not written.
This guide follows the pronunciation of
Modern Iranian Persian (Tehrani standard), with
occasional notes on
Classical or Dari pronunciation. Examples are shown
with Persian script, transliteration, and IPA.
| Persian Letter |
Pronunciation Symbol |
Example (Persian) |
Similar English Sound |
| َ (zammeh a) |
/æ/ |
مَن [mæn] “I” |
Like “a” in “cat” |
| ِ (kasreh e) |
/e/ |
دِل [del] “heart” |
Like “e” in “bed” |
| ُ (żammeh o) |
/o/ |
خُشک [xoʃk] “dry” |
Like “o” in “story” |
| ی |
/iː/ |
سیب [siːb] “apple” |
Like “ee” in “see” |
| و |
/uː/ or /v/ (context) |
نور [nuːr] “light” / ولی [væli] “but”
|
“oo” in “food” / “v” in “very”
|
| آ |
/ɒː/ |
مادر [mɒːdær] “mother” |
Like “a” in “father” |
| خ |
/x/ |
خوب [xuːb] “good” |
Scottish “loch” (no English equivalent)
|
| غ / ق |
/ɣ/ (Tehran) or /q/ (Classical)
|
غذا [ɣæˈzɒː] “food” |
French “r” or Arabic “ghayn”
|
| ع |
[ʔ] or [ʕ] (often silent)
|
عشق [ʔeʃq] “love” |
Glottal stop (“uh-oh”)
|
| ر |
/ɾ/ or /r/ |
رنگ [ræŋ] “color” |
Single tap like Spanish “pero”
|
| ش / س |
/ʃ/ vs /s/ |
شب [ʃab] “night” / سَر [sær] “head”
|
“sh” in “shoe” vs “s” in “see”
|
| ژ |
/ʒ/ |
ژاله [ʒɒːle] “dew” |
“s” in “measure” |
| چ |
/tʃ/ |
چای [tʃɒːj] “tea” |
“ch” in “chair” |
| ج |
/dʒ/ |
جام [dʒɒːm] “cup” |
“j” in “jam” |
| ق / غ distinction |
merged /ɣ/ (modern) |
طاق [tɒːɣ] “arch” |
Voiced “kh” sound deep in the throat
|
Stress in Persian
In Modern Persian, stress normally falls on the
last syllable of a word, except for many verb forms
and some common words (e.g. مادر [ˈmɒːdær]). Stress
is not shown in writing and is less contrastive than in English.
Dialect Notes at a Glance
Tehrani Persian: Standard in Iran; /ɣ/ and /q/
merged; short vowels more centralized.
Dari Persian: Spoken in Afghanistan; keeps clearer
/a/ and /o/ contrasts; more rolled /r/.
Tajik Persian: Written in Cyrillic; final vowels
more open; /w/ sound for some “v”.
Classical Persian: Older literary standard;
distinct /q/ and /ɣ/; longer vowel durations.
Helpful Symbols and Conventions
IPA brackets [ ] show exact sounds. Slashes / / show phonemes. Short
vowels (a, e, o) are usually omitted in writing and must be learned
from context. Persian letters with dots (ب پ ت ث ج چ...) mark
distinct sounds, and three letters (پ چ ژ) are unique to Persian and
not found in Arabic.
