pronounced as /notice/The phonology of the Persian language varies between regional dialects, standard varieties, and even from older variates of Persian. Persian is a pluricentric language and countries that have Persian as an official language have separate standard varieties, namely: Standard Dari (Afghanistan), Standard Iranian Persian (Iran) and Standard Tajik (Tajikistan).[1] The most significant differences between standard varieties of Persian are their vowel systems. Standard varieties of Persian have anywhere from 6 to 8 vowel distinctions, and similar vowels may be pronounced differently between standards. However, there are not many notable differences when comparing consonants, as all standard varieties a similar amount of consonant sounds. Though, colloquial varieties generally have more differences than their standard counterparts. Most dialects feature contrastive stress and syllable-final consonant clusters. Linguists tend to focus on Iranian Persian, so this article may contain less adequate information regarding other varieties.
| Close | iː | uː | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | æ | ɒː |
| Front | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| long | short | short | long | ||
| Close | iː | ɪ ~ (ɛ) | ʊ | uː | |
| mid | eː | oː | |||
| Open | a ~ ä | ɑː | |||
| Close | i | ʉ ~ ɵ̞ | u |
|---|---|---|---|
| mid | e | ɔː | |
| Open | a | ||
The graph to the right reflects the vowels of many educated Persian speakers from Tehran.[2] [3]
In Iranian Persian there are three short vowels: pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/, and three long vowels: pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/. The three short vowels are only short when in an open syllable (i.e. without a coda) that is non-final (regardless of stress); e.g. Persian: صِدا pronounced as /[seˈdɒː]/ "sound", Persian: خُدا pronounced as /[xoˈdɒː]/ "God". In an unstressed closed syllable, they are around 60 percent as long as a long vowel. Otherwise all vowels are long; e.g. Persian: سِفْت تَر pronounced as /[seˑfˈtʰtæːɾ]/ "firmer".[4] When the short vowels are in open syllables, they are also sometimes unstable and may tend to assimilate in quality to the following long vowel (both in informal and formal speech). Thus, Persian: دِویسْت pronounced as //deˈviːst// "two hundred" ranges between pronounced as /[de̝ˈviːstʰ]/ and pronounced as /[diˈviːstʰ]/; Persian: شُلوغ pronounced as //ʃoˈluːɢ// "crowded" ranges between pronounced as /[ʃo̝ˈluːɢ]/ and pronounced as /[ʃuˈluːɢ]/; Persian: رَسیدن pronounced as //ræsiːˈdæːn// "to arrive" ranges between pronounced as /[ræ̝siːˈdæːn]/ and pronounced as /[resiːˈdæːn]/; and so on.
In Dari the short vowels are pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ in Kabul, however pronounced as /link/ is pronounced as pronounced as /link/ in other regions such as Herat.[5] In Dari and Tajik /a/ is the most common vowel and at the end of the word may be pronounced as pronounced as //æ//. Unlike Iranian Persian, Dari has 5 long vowels pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, and pronounced as /link/. The Dari vowel pronounced as /link/ and the Iranian vowel pronounced as /link/ are, respectively, the unrounded and rounded versions of the same vowel. ('roundness' referring to the shape of the lips during pronunciation)
In Iranian Persian Word-final pronounced as //o// is rare except for Persian: تُو pronounced as /[tʰo]/ "you" and nouns of foreign origin. Word-final pronounced as //æ// is very rare in Iranian Persian, with the exception being Persian: نه pronounced as /[næ]/ "no". The word-final pronounced as //æ// in Early New Persian mostly shifted to pronounced as //e// in contemporary Iranian Persian, and pronounced as /[e]/ is also an allophone of pronounced as //æ// in word-final position. pronounced as //e// is the most common short vowel that is pronounced in final open syllables.
The status of diphthongs in Persian is disputed.[6] [7] Some authors list pronounced as //ei, ou, ɒi, oi, ui//,[6] others list only pronounced as //ej// and pronounced as //ou//, but some do not recognize diphthongs in Persian at all.[6] [7] A major factor that complicates the matter is the change of two classical and pre-classical Persian diphthongs: pronounced as //ai/ > /ei// and pronounced as //au/ > /ou//. This shift occurred in Iran but not in some modern varieties (particularly of Afghanistan).[6] Morphological analysis also supports the view that the alleged Persian diphthongs are combinations of the vowels with pronounced as //j// and pronounced as //w//.[7]
The Persian orthography does not distinguish between the diphthongs and the consonants pronounced as //j// and pronounced as //w//; that is, they are both respectively written as Persian: ی and Persian: و.
pronounced as //ou// becomes pronounced as /link/ in the colloquial Tehran dialect but is preserved in other Western dialects and standard Iranian Persian.
| IPA | Letter | Romanization | Example(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as /link/ | ـَ,ـه; | a | pronounced as //na// Persian: نَه "no" |
| pronounced as /link/ | ـا, آ,ـىٰ; | ā | pronounced as //tɒː// Persian: تا "until" |
| pronounced as /link/ | ـِ,ـِه; | i | pronounced as //kɪ// Persian: کِه "that" |
| pronounced as /link/ | ـِیـ,ـِی; | ī | pronounced as //ʃiːr// Persian: شیر "milk" |
| pronounced as /link/ | ـی; | ē | pronounced as //ʃeːɾ// Persian: شی٘ر "lion" |
| pronounced as /link/ | ـُ,ـُو; | u | pronounced as //tʊ// Persian: تُو "you" (singular) |
| pronounced as /link/ | ـُو; | ū | pronounced as //zuːd// Persian: زُود "early" |
| pronounced as /link/ | ـو; | ō | pronounced as //zoːɾ// Persian: زو٘ر "strength" |
| IPA | Letter | Romanization | Example(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as //aj// | ـَیْ; | ay | pronounced as //kaj// Persian: کَیْ "when?" |
| pronounced as //aw// | ـَوْ; | aw | pronounced as //naw// Persian: نَو "new" |
In the modern Perso-Arabic alphabet, the short vowels pronounced as //æ//, pronounced as //e// and pronounced as //o// are usually left unwritten, as is normally done in the Arabic alphabet. (See .)
Early New Persian inherited from Middle Persian eight vowels: three short i, a, u and five long ī, ē, ā, ō, ū (in IPA: pronounced as //i a u// and pronounced as //iː eː ɑː oː uː//). It is likely that this system passed into the common Persian era from a purely quantitative system into one where the short vowels differed from their long counterparts also in quality: i > pronounced as /link/; u > pronounced as /link/; ā > pronounced as /link/. These quality contrasts have in modern Persian varieties become the main distinction between the two sets of vowels.[8]
The inherited eight-vowel inventory is retained without major upheaval in Dari, which also preserves quantitative distinctions.[9]
In Western Persian, two of the vowel contrasts have been lost: those between the tense mid and close vowels. Thus ē, ī have merged as pronounced as /link/, while ō, ū have merged as pronounced as /link/. In addition, the lax close vowels have been lowered: i > pronounced as /link/, u > pronounced as /link/; this vowel change has also happened in many dialects of Dari. The lax open vowel has become fronted: a > pronounced as /link/, and in word-final position further raised to pronounced as /link/. Modern Iranian Persian does not feature distinctive vowel length.[10]
In both varieties, ā is more or less labialized and raised in Dari. Dari ō is also somewhat fronted.[9]
Tajiki has also lost two of the vowel contrasts, but differently from Western Persian. Here, the tense/lax contrast among the close vowels has been eliminated. That is, i and ī have merged as pronounced as /link/, and u and ū as pronounced as /link/. The back vowels have chain shifted as well. Open ā has been rounded and raised to an open-mid vowel pronounced as /link/ (compare with Canaanite shift). In northern dialects, mid ō (transcribed phonologically as (ӯ) in the Cyrillic script and "ū" in the Latin script) has shifted to pronounced as /link/, while in southern dialects, mid ō has shifted upward and merged with ū (and u) as pronounced as /link/.
A feature of Eastern Persian dialects is the systematic lowering of i and ī (both (и) in Tajiki) to e and ē (both (е) in Tajiki), and u and ū (both (у) in Tajiki) to o and ō (both (ӯ) in Tajiki), directly before a glottal consonant (pronounced as /link/ or pronounced as /link/) that is in the same syllable; loanwords from Arabic generally undergo these changes as well. However, since (ӯ) (o, ō) has merged into (у) (u, ū) in most dialects of southern and central Tajikistan, (у) (pronounced as /link/) is realized before the glottal consonants in those dialects instead. (This phenomenon also occurs in neighbouring Urdu and Hindi, but it is only the short vowels i and u that are lowered to e and o before pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/.)
The following chart summarizes the later shifts into modern Tajik, Dari, and Western Persian.[9] [11] [12]
| Early New Persian | Dari | Tajiki | Western Persian | Example | Tajik | Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | Persian: شَب | Tajik: шаб | šab | night |
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | Persian: باد | Tajik: бод | bād | wind |
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | Persian: دِل | Tajik: дил | dil | heart |
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | Persian: شِیر | Tajik: шир | šīr | milk | |
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | Persian: شی٘ر | Tajik: шер | šēr | lion | |
| pronounced as //aj// | pronounced as //aj// | pronounced as //aj// | pronounced as //ej// | Persian: کَیْ | Tajik: кай | kay | when |
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | Persian: گُل | Tajik: гул | gul | flower |
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | Persian: نُور | Tajik: нур | nūr | light | |
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | Persian: رو٘ز | Tajik: рӯз | rōz | day | |
| pronounced as //aw// | pronounced as //aw// | pronounced as //aʋ// | pronounced as //ow// | Persian: نَو | Tajik: нав | naw | new |
| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| Stop/ Affricate | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Fricative | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Tap/Trill | pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ | |||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
Alveolar stops pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ are either apical alveolar or laminal denti-alveolar. The voiceless obstruents pronounced as //pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/// are aspirated much like their English counterparts: they become aspirated when they begin a syllable, though aspiration is not contrastive.[16] The Persian language does not have syllable-initial consonant clusters (see below), so unlike in English, pronounced as //p, t, k// are aspirated even following pronounced as /link/, as in Persian: هَسْتَم pronounced as //ˈhæstæm// ('I exist').[17] They are also aspirated at the end of syllables, although not as strongly.
The velar stops pronounced as //pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/// are palatalized before front vowels or at the end of a syllable.
In Classical Persian, the uvular consonants Persian: غ and Persian: ق denoted the original Arabic phonemes, the fricative pronounced as /link/ and the plosive pronounced as /link/, respectively. In modern Tehrani Persian (which is used in the Iranian mass media, both colloquial and standard), there is no difference in the pronunciation of Persian: غ and Persian: ق. The actual realisation is usually that of a voiced stop pronounced as /link/, but a voiced fricative pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ is common intervocalically. The classical pronunciations of Persian: غ and Persian: ق are preserved in the eastern varieties, Dari and Tajiki, as well as in the southern varieties (e.g. Zoroastrian Dari language and other Central / Central Plateau or Kermanic languages).
Some Iranian speakers show a similar merger of Persian: ج and Persian: ژ, such that pronounced as /link/ alternates with pronounced as /link/, with the latter being restricted to intervocalic position.
Some speakers front pronounced as /link/ to a voiceless palatal fricative pronounced as /link/ in the vicinity of pronounced as /link/, especially in syllable-final position. The velar/uvular fricatives are never fronted in such a way.
The flap pronounced as /link/ has a trilled allophone [{{IPA|r}}] at the beginning of a word;[16] otherwise, they contrast between vowels wherein a trill occurs as a result of gemination (doubling) of [{{IPA|ɾ}}], especially in loanwords of Arabic origin. Only [{{IPA link|ɾ}}] occurs before and after consonants; in word-final position, it is usually a free variation between a flap or a trill when followed by a consonant or a pause, but flap is more common, only flap before vowel-initial words. An approximant pronounced as /link/ also occurs as an allophone of pronounced as //ɾ// before pronounced as //t, d, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, l//; pronounced as /[ɹ]/ is sometimes in free variation with pronounced as /[ɾ]/ in these and other positions, such that Persian: فارْسِی ('Persian') is pronounced pronounced as /[fɒːɹˈsiː]/ or pronounced as /[fɒːɾˈsiː]/ and Persian: سَقِرْلات ('scarlet') pronounced as /[sæɣeɹˈlɒːt]/ or pronounced as /[sæɣeɾˈlɒːt]/. pronounced as //r// is sometimes realized as a long approximant pronounced as /[ɹː]/.
The velar nasal pronounced as /link/ is an allophone of pronounced as /link/ before pronounced as //k, ɡ//, and the uvular nasal pronounced as /link/ before pronounced as //q//.
pronounced as //f, s, ʃ, x// may be voiced to, respectively, pronounced as /[{{IPAplink|v}}, {{IPAplink|z}}, {{IPAplink|ʒ}}, {{IPAplink|ɣ}}]/ before voiced consonants; pronounced as //n// may be bilabial pronounced as /link/ before bilabial consonants. Also pronounced as //b// may in some cases change into pronounced as /link/, or even pronounced as /link/; for example Persian: باز ('open') may be pronounced pronounced as /[bɒːz]/ as well as pronounced as /[βɒːz]/ or pronounced as /[vɒːz]/ and/or pronounced as /[vɒː]/, colloquially.
The pronunciation of Persian: و pronounced as /link/ in Classical Persian shifted to pronounced as /link/ in Iranian Persian and Tajik, but is retained in Dari. In modern Persian pronounced as /[w]/ may be lost if preceded by a consonant and followed by a vowel in one whole syllable, e.g. Persian: خواب pronounced as //xwɒb/ ~ [xɒb]/ 'sleep', as Persian has no syllable-initial consonant clusters (see below).
| Phoneme | Persian alphabet | Tajik alphabet | Example | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: پ | Tajik: п | pronounced as //pɪˈdar// | Persian: پِدَر، پَدَر | Tajik: падар | 'father' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ب | Tajik: б | pronounced as //baɾɑːˈdar// | Persian: بَرادَر | Tajik: бародар | 'brother' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ت, ط | Tajik: т | pronounced as //tɑː// | Persian: تا | Tajik: то | 'until' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: د | Tajik: д | pronounced as //doːst// | Persian: دوسْت | Tajik: дӯст | 'friend' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ک | Tajik: к | pronounced as //kɪʃˈvar// | Persian: کِشْوَر | Tajik: кишвар | 'country' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: گ | Tajik: г | pronounced as //ɡʊˈɾoːh// | Persian: گُروه | Tajik: гурӯҳ | 'group' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ع, ء | Tajik: ъ | pronounced as //maʔˈnɑː// | Persian: مَعْنا | Tajik: маъно | 'meaning' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: چ | Tajik: ч | pronounced as //t͡ʃoːb// | Persian: چوب | Tajik: чӯб | 'wood' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ج | Tajik: ҷ | pronounced as //d͡ʒaˈvɑːn// | Persian: جَوان | Tajik: ҷавон | 'young' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ف | Tajik: ф | pronounced as //fɪˈʃɑːr// | Persian: فِشار | Tajik: фишор | 'pressure' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: و | Tajik: в | pronounced as //viːˈʒa// | Persian: وِیژه | Tajik: вижа | 'special' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ث, س, ص | Tajik: с | pronounced as //sɑːˈja// | Persian: سایه | Tajik: соя | 'shadow' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ذ, ز, ض, ظ | Tajik: з | pronounced as //ɑːˈzɑːd// | Persian: آزاد | Tajik: озод | 'free' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ش | Tajik: ш | pronounced as //ʃɑːh// | Persian: شاه | Tajik: шоҳ | 'king' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ژ | Tajik: ж | pronounced as //ʒɑːˈla// | Persian: ژاله | Tajik: жола | 'dew' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: خ | Tajik: х | pronounced as //χɑːˈna// | Persian: خانه | Tajik: хона | 'house' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: غ | Tajik: ғ | pronounced as //ʁarb// | Persian: غَرْب | Tajik: ғарб | 'west' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ق | Tajik: қ | pronounced as //ɢaˈlam// | Persian: قَلَم | Tajik: қалам | 'pen' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ح, ه | Tajik: ҳ | pronounced as //haft// | Persian: هَفْت | Tajik: ҳафт | 'seven' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: م | Tajik: м | pronounced as //mɑːˈdar// | Persian: مادَر | Tajik: модар | 'mother' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ن | Tajik: н | pronounced as //nɑːn// | Persian: نان | Tajik: нон | 'bread' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ل | Tajik: л | pronounced as //lab// | Persian: لَب | Tajik: лаб | 'lip' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ر | Tajik: р | pronounced as //eːˈɾɑːn// | Persian: ایران | Tajik: Эрон | 'Iran' |
| pronounced as /link/ | Persian: ی | Tajik: й | pronounced as //jɑː// | Persian: یا | Tajik: ё | 'or' |
Before every initial vowel onset, a glottal stop pronounced as /link/ is pronounced (e.g. ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ('Iran')).
In standard Iranian Persian, the consonants pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ are pronounced identically.
Consonants, including pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/, can be geminated, often in words from Arabic. This is represented in the IPA by doubling the consonant, Persian: سَیِّد Tajik: саййид pronounced as /[sejˈjed]/.[18]
Syllables may be structured as (C)(S)V(S)(C(C)).[16] [19]
Persian syllable structure consists of an optional syllable onset, consisting of one consonant; an obligatory syllable nucleus, consisting of a vowel optionally preceded by and/or followed by a semivowel; and an optional syllable coda, consisting of one or two consonants. The following restrictions apply:
The Persian word-accent has been described as a stress accent by some,[20] and as a pitch accent by others.[21] In fact, the accented syllables in Persian are generally pronounced with a raised pitch as well as stress; but in certain contexts words may become deaccented and lose their high pitch.[22] [23]
From an intonational point of view, Persian words (or accentual phrases) usually have the intonation (L +) H* (where L is low and H* is a high-toned stressed syllable), e.g. Persian: کِتاب pronounced as //keˈtɒ́b// 'book'; unless there is a suffix, in which case the intonation is (L +) H* + L, e.g. Persian: کتابم pronounced as //keˈtɒ́bæm// 'my book'. The last accent of a sentence is usually accompanied by a low boundary tone, which produces a falling pitch on the last accented syllable, e.g. Persian: کِتاب بُود pronounced as //keˈtɒ̂b buːd// 'it was a book'.
When two words are joined in an Persian: اِضافَه ezafe construction, they can either be pronounced accentually as two separate words, e.g. Persian: مَرْدُمِ اِینْجا pronounced as //mærˈdóme inˈd͡ʒɒ́// 'the people (of) here', or else the first word loses its high tone and the two words are pronounced as a single accentual phrase: pronounced as //mærˈdome inˈd͡ʒɒ́//. Words also become deaccented following a focused word; for example, in the sentence Persian: نامَهٔ مامانَم بُود رُو میز pronounced as //nɒˈmeje mɒˈmɒnæm bud ru miz// 'it was my mom's letter on the table' all the syllables following the word Persian: مامان pronounced as //mɒˈmɒn// 'mom' are pronounced with a low pitch.
Knowing the rules for the correct placement of the accent is essential for proper pronunciation.[24]
| Formal | Informal | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as //diːˈde.æm// Persian: دِیدَهاَم | pronounced as //diːˈdæm// | 'I have seen' | |
| pronounced as //ˈdiːdæm// Persian: دِیدَم | pronounced as //ˈdiːdæm// | 'I saw' |
When spoken formally, Iranian Persian is pronounced as written. But colloquial pronunciation as used by all classes makes a number of very common substitutions. Note that Iranians can interchange colloquial and formal sociolects in conversational speech. They include:[24] [25]