The Persian Writing System
The Writing System
Introduction
The Persian alphabet, like the alphabets of many Muslim nations, is based on the 28letter alphabet of Arabic. It has 32 letters and is written from right to left. Four of these letters are devised exclusively for Persian. We shall see these letters later. The Persian alphabet does not use capital letters. It does, however, use a modified version of the Western punctuation system. Unlike the alphabet, the Persian numbers are written from left to right. Persian uses the same figures as Arabic, the language from which the Arabic numerals of English are derived. The Persian numbers, thus, can be easily compared with those in English. We shall discuss the numerals later. In the pages that follow, the alphabet is divided into a number of letter groups. Each letter group uses a basic form. After explaining each basic form, and the manner in which that form is made, individual letters are introduced and discussed. These individual letters are different from the basic form in the number of dots and the type of diacritics or symbols that may accompany them. The sequence used in the earlier stages of this study is not the same as the native sequence of letters taught in the schools in Iran. Once the students are familiar with the mechanism for producing letters and letter blocks, the native sequence will be introduced and memorized. This latter sequence is the one used in all alphabetizing of telephone directories, dictionaries, and other such manuals using the Persian alphabet. The entire Persian alphabet is presented on the next page. The letters are in their independent or isolated form. The sequence is the native sequence mentioned above in relation to the use of dictionaries, directories, etc. The following information is provided for each letter: the Persian name of the letter, the pronunciation or sound that the letter represents,1 the transliteration used to symbolize that letter in the Latin script (transliteration is an aid for the
Introduction
The Persian alphabet, like the alphabets of many Muslim nations, is based on the 28letter alphabet of Arabic. It has 32 letters and is written from right to left. Four of these letters are devised exclusively for Persian. We shall see these letters later. The Persian alphabet does not use capital letters. It does, however, use a modified version of the Western punctuation system. Unlike the alphabet, the Persian numbers are written from left to right. Persian uses the same figures as Arabic, the language from which the Arabic numerals of English are derived. The Persian numbers, thus, can be easily compared with those in English. We shall discuss the numerals later. In the pages that follow, the alphabet is divided into a number of letter groups. Each letter group uses a basic form. After explaining each basic form, and the manner in which that form is made, individual letters are introduced and discussed. These individual letters are different from the basic form in the number of dots and the type of diacritics or symbols that may accompany them. The sequence used in the earlier stages of this study is not the same as the native sequence of letters taught in the schools in Iran. Once the students are familiar with the mechanism for producing letters and letter blocks, the native sequence will be introduced and memorized. This latter sequence is the one used in all alphabetizing of telephone directories, dictionaries, and other such manuals using the Persian alphabet. The entire Persian alphabet is presented on the next page. The letters are in their independent or isolated form. The sequence is the native sequence mentioned above in relation to the use of dictionaries, directories, etc. The following information is provided for each letter: the Persian name of the letter, the pronunciation or sound that the letter represents,1 the transliteration used to symbolize that letter in the Latin script (transliteration is an aid for the