Some tips on reading Persian

Writing system

Persian writing system is technically called abjad. Abjad is a writing system that only has characters for consonants. Vowels are indicated either by means of diacritics, or by a combination of consonants. In this page, I'll try to give some hints to help you with reading Persian. Here are the characters of the Persian writing system:

letter	shown with	sounds as	Letter	shown with	sounds as
ا	-	-	ص	s	sad
ب	b	book	ض	z	zoo
پ	p	pen	ط	t	tea
ت	t	tea	ظ	z	zoo
ث	s	sad	ع	ø	glottal stop
ج	j	job	غ	ğ	ɣ (similar to French rue)
چ	č	chain	ف	f	fall
ح	h	hat	ق	q	q (similar to French rue)
خ	x	Scottish loch, Spanish ojo	ک	k	key
د	d	door	گ	g	game
ذ	z	zoo	ل	l	leg
ر	r	rug	م	m	meal
ز	z	zoo	ن	n	no
ژ	ž	measure	و	v	van
س	s	sad	ه	h	hat
ش	š	shoe	ی	y	yes

Vowels

Persian has seven vowel sounds: â a e i o ow u.

shown with	sounds as
â	hot
a	ant
e	egg
i	eagle
o	forty
ow	U.S. English show
u	rule

Specifications

In the Persian abjad:

Just three letters indicate more than one sound: a (ا), v (و) and y (ی).
a (ا) has no particular sound. At word initial, by means of diacritics, it can denote the sounds â a e o but elsewhere, it always denotes the sound â.
The sound â is always indicated. At word initial, it is indicated with the diacritic (~) placed above a (ا) i.e. آ. Elsewhere, an alone a (ا) always denotes the sound â.
The sounds a and e are never indicated with letters. They are indicated with certain diacritics.
The case of the sound o is generally like a and e but sometimes, it is indicated with v (و).
The sounds u and ow are always indicated with v (و).
The sound i sound is always indicated. With ay (ای) at word initial and with y (ی) elsewhere.

Hints

Persian	Transliteration	Clue	Pronunciation	Meaning
ایران	ayran	irân	irân	Iran
ویزا	vyza	vizâ	vizâ	visa
بانک	bank	bânk	bânk	bank
پارکینگ	parkyng	pârking	pârking	parking
تیم	tym	tim	tim	team
فوتبال	fvtbal	futbâl	futbâl	football
آمریکایی	amrykayy	âmrikâyi	âmrikâyi	American
واکس	vaks	vâks	vâks	wax
مادر	madr	mâdr	mâdar	mother
برادر	bradr	brâdr	barâdar	brother
خاکی	khaky	khâki	khâki	khaki
بازار	bazar	bâzâr	bâzâr	bazaar
گیتار	gytar	gitâr	gitâr	guitar
ماهواره	mahvarh	mâhvâre	mâhvâre	satellite
رادیو	radyv	râdyu	râdiyo	radio
تلویزیون	tlvyzyvn	tlvizyun	televizyun	television
تلفن	tlfn	-	telefon	telephone
هتل	htl	-	hotel	hotel
اینترنت	ayntrnt	intrnt	internet	internet
رستوران	rstvran	rsturân	resturân	restaurant

a anywhere except at word initial, always denotes â sound
ay at word initial normally denotes i sound.
y between two letters (except a, v) almost always denotes i
v between two letters (except a, y) almost always denotes u
initial y always denotes y
initial v always denotes v
final y almost always denotes i
final v almost always denotes u
yy always denotes yi
final h almost always denotes e sound.