The Persian Alphabet looks like a work of art.
The curves, the squiggles and dots! it is creative genius.
The same shape with a dot has a completely different sound! I love it! and so do my children. They love tracing it, creating characters out of it and making words that sound like the letters in bubble writing.
But I digress, here are some of my favourite combos to help introduce them to you.
The Persian alphabet has 32 official letters
(that doesn't include the short vowels).
The letters change form depending on their position in a word or when they appear seperate from other letters.
It is important to note that Persian books are read from right to left. The short vowels are usually omitted from literature. They are depicted by markings above and below the letters
|
َ ِ ُ |
(they have the phonetic sounds of 'ah' 'eh' and 'oh)
Now lets get into the letters!
Lets start with the hard ones that most people
(including myself get mixed up):
خ ح ج چ
Che, Jím, he and Khe
Che like choghondar [beetroot]
changes shape between forms
چچچ چ
Jím like Jújeh [baby chick]
Changes shape between forms
حجج ج
'He' like hamám [bath]
changes shape between forms
ححح ح
The duo:
غ ع
Ayn, Ghayn
Ayn like a'ynak [glasses]
changes shape between forms
ععع ع
ghayn like ghazá [food]
changes shape between forms
غغغ غ
