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How Persian script works: right to left and joining
Persian is written in a version of the Arabic script, from right to left, with letters that join to their neighbours. It looks daunting, but there are only 32 letters, most share a handful of basic shapes, and you can read real words within days. This first lesson explains how the system works before you learn any letters.
In this lesson
Persian is written in a version of the Arabic script, from right to left, with letters that join to their neighbours. It looks daunting, but there are only 32 letters, most share a handful of basic shapes, and you can read real words within days. This first lesson explains how the system works before you learn any letters.
Key words and phrases
| Persian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| سلام | salām | hello (read right to left: س ل ا م) |
| ایران | Irān | Iran |
| تهران | Tehrān | Tehran |
| کتاب | ketāb | book |
| ا د ذ ر ز ژ و | alef, dāl, zāl, re, ze, zhe, vāv | the seven letters that never join to the left |
Right to left
Persian runs from right to left, and so do books: the front cover is on what an English reader would call the back. Numbers are the exception, written left to right.
Letters that join
Most letters join to the letter before and after them within a word, so each letter has up to four forms: on its own (isolated), at the start of a word (initial), in the middle (medial) and at the end (final). The forms are related; usually the initial and medial forms are a shortened version of the full letter.
Seven letters, ا د ذ ر ز ژ و, join only to the letter before them, never to the one after. After one of these, the next letter starts afresh, which is why ایران has gaps inside it.
Dots and vowels
Many letters share a basic shape and are told apart only by dots: ب پ ت ث are the same shape with one, three, two and three dots. Long vowels (ā, i, u) are written with letters; short vowels (a, e, o) are usually not written at all. You learn to supply them from your knowledge of the word, just as English readers know how to say “read” in context.
Reading practice: spot the joins
You do not need to read these yet. Look at where each word breaks, and find the non-joining letters.
| 1 | سلام | salām hello: لا join to the right only, so ا ends the join before م |
| 2 | ایران | Irān Iran: breaks after ا and after ر |
| 3 | دوست | dust friend: د and و stand alone, then ست joins |
| 4 | کتاب | ketāb book: کتا joins, then ب stands alone after ا |
Good to know. Persian uses four letters that Arabic lacks: پ چ ژ گ (p, ch, zh, g). If you have studied Arabic script, you already know most of the rest.
Practice
- Which direction is Persian written?
Show answer
Right to left (but numbers left to right).
- How many letters are in the Persian alphabet?
Show answer
32
- Name the seven letters that never join to the left.
Show answer
ا د ذ ر ز ژ و
- Are short vowels usually written?
Show answer
No; only long vowels are written.
- How are ب and ت told apart?
Show answer
By their dots: one below for b, two above for t.
Next. Next, your first letters: alef, ā, be and pe.