Appendix:Persian pronunciation

View Persian phonology for more general information. Also see Dari#Phonology and Tajik language#Phonology.

Read foot notes for the pronunciation information below for additional pronunciation information.

Vowels

IPA				Persian^[1]	Cyrillic
Iran	Dari	Classical + ENP	Tajik	Persian^[1]	Cyrillic
ɒː^[2]	ɑː	ɑː, aː^[3]	ɔː^[4]	آ, ـَا	О, о
æ^[5]	ä^[6]	a	ä^[6]	اَ، ◌َ	А, а
iː	eː			ای، ـیـ، ـی	Е, е
iː	iː		i^[7]^[8]	اِی، ـِیـ، ـِی	И, и, Ӣ, ӣ,
e	ɪ^[7]^[8]	i	i^[7]^[8]	اِ، ◌ِ	И, и
uː	oː		ɵː^[9]	او، ـو	Ӯ, ӯ
uː	uː		u^[10]	اُو، ـُو	У, у
o	ʊ^[10]	u	u^[10]	اُ، ◌ُ	У, у

^ Diacritics are based on Classical Persian. Due to phonemic mergers in Iranian Persian, the diacritic usage here may not be reflective of how diacritics are used in contemporary Iranian Persian.
^ In colloquial speech, frequently raised to /uː/ before nasals.
^ Exact quality uncertain.
^ variously described as [o̞], [ɒ], [ɔ] and [ɔː], some level of free variation is likely.
^ Typically raised to /e/ in the word final position. Occasionally raised elsewhere, particularly before a syllable with a high vowel.
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 In Dari and Tajik, ä is often realized as /æ/ in the word final position. I'm Dari this vowel may also be realize as ɑː before a glottal consonant.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 Often lowered to [e̞] before the glottal consonants /h/ or /ʔ/
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 Many linguists have reported phonetic instability of this vowel. According to SIL International's phonological report for Dari, this phoneme randomly varies between [ɪ] or [e̞]~[ɛ] and it is not possible to predict pronunciation. The University of Maryland and Encyclopedia Iranica report a combination of free variation and dialectal factors, with Iranica reporting that urban speakers in Kabul tend to realize this phoneme as /ɪ/. Wiktionary uses this analysis based on urban speakers in Kabul, this analysis is also more neutral to dialects such as Hazaragi and northern dialects that predominantly realize this vowel as a high or near-high vowel. However phonetic transcriptions should use [e̞] in cases where the vowel always or predominately lowered. Such as before glottal consonants and some loanwords.
Linguists at Georgetown Univeristy report some Tajik dialects have some variation between [i] and [ɛ] similarly to Dari, but not to the same extent.
^ Free variation with o and ʉ, interpreded by Wiktionary as ɵː
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 Often lowered to [o̞] before the glottal consonants /h/ or /ʔ/

Schwa and Epenthetic short vowels

In Dari and Tajik, particularly in colloquial speech, a short vowel in an unstressed syllable may be produced as a schwa ([ə]) or even as another short vowel. This occurs randomly and causes unstressed short vowels in these varieties to be unstable.
- In Dari /ä/ frequently is realized as [ə] or sometimes as [ʊ] after the accented/stressed syllable. Since the accented syllable is typically the last syllable of the lemma form, this only commonly occurs in inflicted forms.
  Example: خوَاهَم (xāham /⁠xā́ham⁠/) (formal) -> خوَاهُم (xāhum /⁠xā́jəm, xā́jʊm⁠/) (colloquial).
In Dari and Tajik, syllabic consonants are forbidden in the coda, being replaced by -[əC].
Example: Classical Persian (šikl /⁠ʃikl̩⁠/) and Iranian Persian (šekl /⁠ʃekl̩⁠/) vs Dari (šikl /⁠ʃɪkəl⁠/) and Tajik шикл (šikl /⁠ʃikəl⁠/).
In colloquial Dari an epenthetic short vowel may be randomly inserted in consonant clusters. In rare instances, short vowel may also be deleted between two open syllables.
- Dari does not forbid multi-consonant onsets like other dialects and as such epenthetic vowels do not always appear here. Though multi-consonant onsets are rare and only happen word initially.

Consonants

IPA			Persian	Cyrillic
Western Persian	Classical + ENP	Eastern Persian	Persian	Cyrillic
ʔ^[1]			ا، ء	N/A or Ъ, ъ
b	b~β	b^[2]	ب	Б, б
p^[3]			پ	П, п
t^[3]			ت، ط	Т, т
d͡ʒ			ج	Ҷ, ҷ
t͡ʃ^[3]			چ	Ч, ч
x^[1]			خ	Х, х
d	d~ð	d	د	Д, д
z	d~ð	z	ذ	З, з
ɾ^[4]			ر	Р, р
z			ز، ض، ظ	З, з
ʒ			ژ	Ж, ж
s			س	С, с
ʃ			ش	Ш, ш
ʔ^[1]			ع، ء	Ъ, ъ
ɣ			غ	Ғ, ғ
f			ف	Ф, ф
ɣ	q^[3]		ق	Қ, қ
k^[3]^[5]			ک	К, к
ɡ^[5]			گ	Г, г
l			ل	Л, л
m			م	М, м
h^[1]			ه، ح	Ҳ, ҳ
n^[6]			ن	Н, н
v	w^[7]	w, v^[8]	و	В, в
j			ی	Й, й

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 The glottal consonats /h/ and /ʔ/ are almost never pronounced in colloquial Dari. While these consonants are frequently droped in other colloquial dialects, they are not dropped near universally as they are in Dari
^ In some words, may also be realized as /w/ in colloquial speech. In Tajik the realizations [v] and [β] are also common.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 In Dari, Iranian and Tajik Persian, and presumably Classical Persian, all voiceless stops are aspirated.
^ In Eastern dialects the phoneme ɾ tends to be dropped before dental consonants. Though not in formal speech.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 (In Iranian Persian) May be palatized before a front vowel.
^ In Eastern dialects, morpheme-terminal n is ommitted in some high frequency words. Though in Tajik this only occurs in southern dialects.
^ Linguist Daniel A. Rees at Georgetown University argues that this phoneme was realized as /ʋ/ in Classical/Early New Persian, and the modern /w/ - /v/ split comes from a former /w/ - /v/ free variation.
^ In Tajik, [v] appears in proximity to unrounded vowels and [w] appears in proximity to rounded vowels. This phoneme is never realized as [v] in Dari, however.

Dialectal consonants

Also see Hazaragi dialect#Phonology

IPA		Persian
Hazaragi	Standard Dari	Non-Standard^[1]	Standard
ʈ	t	ٹ، ٹـ، ـٹـ، ـٹ ټ، ټـ، ـټـ، ـټ	ت، تـ، ـتـ، ـت
ɖ	d	ڈ، ـڈ ډ، ـډ	د، ـد

^ Characters from Urdu and Pashto are sometimes used by Hazargi linguists to denote retroflex consonants, but retroflex consonants are not typically denoted by speakers

[harakat-1] Diacritics are based on Classical Persian. Due to phonemic mergers in Iranian Persian, the diacritic usage here may not be reflective of how diacritics are used in contemporary Iranian Persian.

[Iranian_ā-2] In colloquial speech, frequently raised to /uː/ before nasals.

[classical_ā2-3] Exact quality uncertain.

[Tajik_o-4] variously described as [o̞], [ɒ], [ɔ] and [ɔː], some level of free variation is likely.

[Iranian_a-5] Typically raised to /e/ in the word final position. Occasionally raised elsewhere, particularly before a syllable with a high vowel.

[Dari_and_Tajik_a-6] 6.0 ^6.1 In Dari and Tajik, ä is often realized as /æ/ in the word final position. I'm Dari this vowel may also be realize as ɑː before a glottal consonant.

[Dari_and_Tajik_i-7] 7.0 ^7.1 Often lowered to [e̞] before the glottal consonants /h/ or /ʔ/

[variation_of_i-8] 8.0 ^8.1 Many linguists have reported phonetic instability of this vowel. According to SIL International's phonological report for Dari, this phoneme randomly varies between [ɪ] or [e̞]~[ɛ] and it is not possible to predict pronunciation. The University of Maryland and Encyclopedia Iranica report a combination of free variation and dialectal factors, with Iranica reporting that urban speakers in Kabul tend to realize this phoneme as /ɪ/. Wiktionary uses this analysis based on urban speakers in Kabul, this analysis is also more neutral to dialects such as Hazaragi and northern dialects that predominantly realize this vowel as a high or near-high vowel. However phonetic transcriptions should use [e̞] in cases where the vowel always or predominately lowered. Such as before glottal consonants and some loanwords.
Linguists at Georgetown Univeristy report some Tajik dialects have some variation between [i] and [ɛ] similarly to Dari, but not to the same extent.

[Tajik_ü2-9] Free variation with o and ʉ, interpreded by Wiktionary as ɵː

[Dari_and_Tajik_u-10] 10.0 ^10.1 Often lowered to [o̞] before the glottal consonants /h/ or /ʔ/

[Dari_glottals-11] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 The glottal consonats /h/ and /ʔ/ are almost never pronounced in colloquial Dari. While these consonants are frequently droped in other colloquial dialects, they are not dropped near universally as they are in Dari

[eastern_b-12] In some words, may also be realized as /w/ in colloquial speech. In Tajik the realizations [v] and [β] are also common.

[aspiration-13] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 In Dari, Iranian and Tajik Persian, and presumably Classical Persian, all voiceless stops are aspirated.

[eastern_r-14] In Eastern dialects the phoneme ɾ tends to be dropped before dental consonants. Though not in formal speech.

[Iranian_Palatization-15] 5.0 ^5.1 (In Iranian Persian) May be palatized before a front vowel.

[Eastern_n-16] In Eastern dialects, morpheme-terminal n is ommitted in some high frequency words. Though in Tajik this only occurs in southern dialects.

[classical_W-17] Linguist Daniel A. Rees at Georgetown University argues that this phoneme was realized as /ʋ/ in Classical/Early New Persian, and the modern /w/ - /v/ split comes from a former /w/ - /v/ free variation.

[Eastern_v-18] In Tajik, [v] appears in proximity to unrounded vowels and [w] appears in proximity to rounded vowels. This phoneme is never realized as [v] in Dari, however.

[19] Characters from Urdu and Pashto are sometimes used by Hazargi linguists to denote retroflex consonants, but retroflex consonants are not typically denoted by speakers

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