1.3 Persian Alphabet

الفبا فارسی

Alef  آ

Alef (ا) is the first Persian letter and a non-connector. It has only independent and final shapes. It appears with three different diacritics as shown below. We usually review vowels with the letter Alef first:

Let’s see a few more examples of these vowels with a letter “be” (ب):

Here we are going explain each letter in group base on their similarity in shapes:

Alef  آ

“B” ب Group

All the letters of the ب series have similar shape in their independent, initial, medial, and final positions. They can only be differentiated by dots and diacritics.

Here you see examples of the ب series in different positions in the word (keep in mind the following words are only for practice and not all words will have meanings):

Content: Please note that these words are for practice only and not all words will have meanings.

Exercise 1 ب Group (PDF)

“Jim” ج Group

Persian letters of the “jim” ج group look alike, but the placement of dots distinguishes them. Please learn the shape and the placement of the dots. Letters of the ج series are also connectors. They join the following letters in words. Like other connectors, letters of the ج series look different at the initial and middle positions. However, the final position and the full form of ج series look alike.

Here you see examples of the ج series in different positions in the word (keep in mind the following words are only for practice and not all words will have meanings):

Please join the letters to form a word. Please note that these words are for practice and not all words will have meanings.

Exercise 2 خ Group (PDF)

“Daal” د & “Re”  رGroup

These letters in Persian are non-connectors and do not join with following letters in the word. However, these letters will join with the preceding letters in words. Also, notice the difference in shapes of dal and re groups.

As dal and re groups do not connect with following letter, they do not change their shapes in the initial, middle, and final positions.

Please join the letters to form a word. Please note that these words are for practice and not all words will have meanings.

Exercise 3 د , ر Group (PDF)

“Sin” س Group

These two letters “s” and “sh” have only one difference: “sh” ش is written with three dots on the top of the “s” س. These are connectors and like most connectors, letters in the “sin” س group take the variant in the initial and medial positions, and the full form in the final position.

“Saad” ص Group

Saad and zaad are similar-looking letters, except that zaad has a dot. Please also note that the letters س and ص are homophonous and give the sound of “s” as in English “sample”. ض is also homophonous with  ذand ز and gives the sound of “ze” as in English zero.

Here you see examples of the س series and ص series in different positions in the word (keep in mind, the following words are only for practice and not all words will have meanings):

Exercise 4 Groupس , ص (PDF)

“Ta” ط & “Za” ظ Group

ط and ظ are each homophonous with different letters of the Persian alphabets. They remain the same in all positions.

Here you see examples of the ط & ظ series in different positions in the word (keep in mind the following words are only for practice and not all words will have meanings):

Exercise 5 Group ص (PDF)

“Eiyn” ع Group

Eiyn (ع) and ghain (غ) are similar-looking letters. However, Eiyn gives vowel sounds whereas ghain is a voiced velar fricative consonant sound. Both have different shapes at initial, middle, and final position.

Here you see examples of the غ & ع series in different positions in the word (keep in mind the following words are only for practice and not all words will have meanings):

Exercise 6 Group ع (PDF)

Fe ” ف “ Group

Letters in the ف group have different full forms. The variants are identical and only distinguishable by the number of dots above the letter.

Here you see examples of the ق & ف series in different positions in the word (keep in mind the following words are only for practice and not all words will have meanings):

Exercise 7 Group ف (PDF)

Kaaf  ” ک ” & Gaff ” گ “

Kaaf and gaff look similar, except gaff has two strokes connected to the right side. They are connectors and have the different shapes at the initial, middle, and final positions.

Here you see examples of the گ & ک series in different positions in the word (keep in mind the following words are only for practice and not all words will have meanings):

Exercise 8 Group ک , گ (PDF)

Laam “ل” & Mim “ م” & Noon “ن “

ل , م, and ن are three distinct letters. They do not belong to the same group. Variants of ن are similar to ب group variants and follow the same rule.

Here you see examples of the م & ن series in different positions in the word (keep in mind the following words are only for practice and not all words will have meanings):

Exercise 9 Group ل , م , ن (PDF)

Additional Letters, Symbols, & Vowels: ه -و- ی –  ً – ٍ- ٌ- ء- ّ

Here you see examples of the ای & ی in different positions in the word (keep in mind the following words are only for practice and not all words will have meanings):

Exercise 10 Group ی (PDF)

Vaav “و ” Varies

He-dow-cheshm ” ھ” & Unpronounced-he ” ه “

Here you see examples of the ه & هـ in different positions in the word (keep in mind the following words are only for practice and not all words will have meanings):

Exercise-11 Group ه (PDF)

Hamzeh ” ء “

Exercise 12 Group ء (PDF)

Tashdid “ ّ “

When two identical consonants occur in a row, one is removed and Tahdeed is inserted on top of the remaining consonant اّ.

Tanvin ”  ً  ٌ  ٍ”​

This is an Arabic symbol which came to Persian language. It produces the sound of /an/ and is always placed on top of ا (alef).

!سپاس