Lesson 3 – Letters from /alef/ to /he/

In lesson 2 we studied long vowels with the help of three letters , , and .

So far, we have learned some letters that helped us a lot with learning vowels. To do this, I introduced some end letters like  and  at the very beginning and it was inevitable. To explain the long vowels, we needed these letters. Now that we are familiar with the short and long vowels, which are the most important part of our job at this stage, it will not be difficult to learn and pronounce all letters (alphabets) from the very beginning with the help of those vowels. In learning Persian alphabets, sometimes, it is possible to find the English equivalents for them. Nevertheless, not all Persian letters necessarily have an English equivalent. Therefore, during these lessons, for further explanation we try to find the English and sometimes, other languages equivalents to make it easier to understand.

As you know, Persian language is built on 32 letters. Let’s try them one by one.

Note: each letter has a name, which may not necessarily be the same as its pronunciation. In one word,each letter has a name and can potentially have six pronunciations when combined with the vowels.

1- –  this is called Alef /ælef/. You know the explanation of this letter.  this one comes at the beginning of the words and pronounced as /a:/ only. Do you remember it? Perfect!  this one appears anywhere in the words: beginning, middle, and end and accepts all six vowels. Please pronounce it again with both short and long vowels. You will say:  

2-  –  this is called /be/ as in bed. When combined, it may be pronounced as:

3-  –  this is called /pe/ as in pet. When combined, it may be pronounced as:

4-  –  this is called /te/ as in ten. When combined, it may be pronounced as:

Now that we have reviewed the letters from the beginning, it is easy for us to learn the rest of the letters. Today, we will learn some more letters.

5-  –  this is called /se/ as in set. When combined, it may be pronounced as:

6-  –  this one is called /Jim/. When combined, it may be pronounced as: 

7-  –  this is called /che/ as in chess. When combined, it may be pronounced as: 

8-  –  this is called /he/ as in hen. When combined, it may be pronounced as: .

Lesson 2 – The Alphabet, Long Vowels

So far, we have learned many things, such as short vowels, three big letters along with their small forms, the correct pronunciation of the letters and so on. We also learned how to write these letters. Do you remember those letters? Perfect! Now try to review them before we proceed.

Today, we are going to learn long vowels with the help of the same letters. Then, you will be able to pronounce each letter with six vowels (sounds, as used more frequent in Persian). From now on, make the habit of pronouncing each letter with these six vowels. If this is correctly done, you will become unbelievably fluent in learning and pronouncing the letters.

Ready? Let’s begin!

As you know, we have three long vowels in Persian. Although we can put some signs on or under the letters as we did it with the short vowels, I am trying to avoid doing this with the long vowels here. Therefore, we are not going to put some symbols on or under the letters. We can find these long vowels by detecting some letters. This will make it easier.

If you remember, I told you that all big letters come at the end of the words and may stand either attached or separated from other letters with only one exception. Today, we will see that exception.

Look at this letter.  This is the big letter ‘A’ in Persian, which unlike all other big letters comes at the beginning of the words only. Do you still remember the big letter B and P? As you remember, they come at the end of the words and may stand either attached or separated from other letters. But, here, the big letter  (the only exception) does not attach to other letters. It stands separated only.

The pronunciation of this letter is not so difficult. It has only one pronunciation, and does not accept any other short and long vowels. You have to pronounce it as /a:/ in arm.

In one word,  this is the big letter ‘A’ in Persian and pronounced as /a:/ in arm.

Is that clear? If you need to know how the big letter  is pronounced in Persian

 This one is the small letter ‘a’ in Persian. It may appear anywhere in words: beginning, middle, and in the end. This letter can accept all six main vowels, including short and long vowels.

Now that we are familiar with the long vowel /a:/ in Persian, we are ready to learn two other long vowels. Those are /i:/ as in see. And /u:/ as in two.

 This is the big letter ‘Y’ in Persian. Only this letter can be pronounced as /i:/ sound. /i:/ as in see.

Note: like all other big letters, this comes at the end of the words and may stand either attached or separated. This can be pronounced as /i:/ Mostly when it is attached to other letters.

 This one is the small letter ‘y’ in Persian. Like all other small letters, it comes at the beginning or middle of the words and accepts all six vowels.

The last one is the long sound /u:/.

As I told you before, some Persian letters have only one form. That is to say, their small and big forms are equal.

This letter is one of them.  This is the only letter that may be pronounced as /u:/. /u:/ as in two.

I guess you may find these explanations a little bit confusing. Nevertheless, this is the only way to explain the long vowels. I am now trying to make it easier to understand through writing.

As you remember, this is ‘B’ in Persian: . Last week, we learned how to pronounce this letter with short vowels: . Toady we will pronounce it with the long vowels too.

1-  this is pronounced as /ba:/ in barter. 

2-  this is pronounced as /bi:/ in beat. 

3-  this one is pronounced as /bu:/ in boot. 

Now, try to pronounce  with the help of these three long vowels. You will say: . 

Well done! Was it really difficult? Now, we pronounce the letter  with the help of six main vowels. Ready? Don’t forget to read from right to left.

From now on, we should pronounce each letter with these six sounds.

Now it’s your turn.

 This is ‘p’ in Persian. Try to pronounce it with the six vowels. You will say: . Great job! 

Finally,  this is’T’ in Persian. Try to pronounce it with the six vowels. You will say: .

All right. This is the end of lesson two. Please remember that the most difficult part of our job is pronouncing the letters with these six vowels, which is the start point of entering into a new language. We wouldn’t have this much problem after we learned the letters successfully.