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A COMPLETE COURSE
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IRAQ FOR BEGINNERS

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written by

Nick Pendar, Ph.D., Iowa State University

edited by
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ZvjezdanaYrzi{ Ph.D., and Atousa Mirzaei
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S A U D IA R A B I A

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IRAN
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LIVING TANGUAGE'&
 ACKTOWTEDGMEilTS

Copyright @ zcr'1 by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc. Thanks to the Living Language team: Tom Russell, Nicole Benhabib,
christopher warnasch, zviezdana verzich, suzanne Mceuade, shaina
Living Language is a member of the Random House InformationGroup Malkin, Elham shabahat, Denise De Gennaro,Linda K. schmidt, Lisbeth
Dyer, Alison skrabek, Tom Marshall, Fabrizio La Rocca,Tigist Getachew,
Living Language and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
and Sophie Ye Chin.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
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recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by Living Language, an imprint of Random House,

Inc.

www.livinglanguage. com

Editor : Zvlezdana Y rzi(.

Production Editor: Lisbeth DYer
Production Manager: Thomas Marshall
Interior Design: Sophie Ye Chin

First Edition

I SBN : 978-r- 4ooo-z347-9

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATESOF AMERICA

1098765432r
 0utline
Course
List of Abbreviations ix

Introduction x

How to Use This Course x

Farsi or Persian xiii

Farsi Writing System

Farsi Alphabet xiv

The Sounds of Farsi

Reading Farsi

Written vs. Spoken Farsi

VOCABUTARY GRAM MAR

Greetings and Introductions Personal Pronouns 7

PossessiveForms 8
The Present Tense 8

Kinship Terms PossessiveConstructions Lg

with PossessiveEndings

Plurals zo

DefiniteNouns,Indefinite 2L
Nouns, and lralll

Home Objects and Colors Yes/No Questions j2

Questions Using Question 33

Words

Adjectives 33
Numerals and Partitives 34

Course
0utline
 VOCABULARY G RAM MAR VOCABULARY 6 RAM MAR

:1.. _-.tll,,,lJf.,'=$n r D0tffi.'?-,.l l*,' , f ffi #l ia;rM IGp r n $'fiN.rgr

r ff fi
Daily Routine Verb Forms 45 Food and Restaurants ExpressingLikes and rrg
Numbers 11-2o 49 Dislikes

Telling Time 5o D o u b l e . . .d i . . . e - : a n d r2r

+ + Constructions
Using .4t i flSayred1,rnay, r22
iftffir'$.,iit'r ff;'=f,'$$li$ f "f 5 I T Y 5T
might)
Education and Schools Simple PastTense 6z
63 .
Negation

PrepositionalPhrases 65
iil* Hlril ffirs'i# ,i,rlial
Health and Doctors PresentPerfect ry3
Numbers 2r-99 67
Verbs after 0i-13s, 135
(fxast-anf , to want)
Hl$# ff-l# liffi tt$l,I',nA M U S E U M . ?.'.,3
Questionswith 'tr-i,r ry6
Around the City and Giving Imperatives and the 77 (l&qredrl, how much) and
Directions Subjunctive Mood u r+ (/dend ta/, how many)

Comparatives and 79
Superlatives T E S S O ] Ir r P A R L I A M Hvt=E
ENTA ffi' wiiil
Ordinal Numbers 8o Politics,Media, and the PastProgressive r48
Numbers 1oo-t,ooo 8z Internet
Conditional Sentences r+g
Embedded Clauseswith eS r50
'[:s=#$oifi
i'#.i*ffi 'dfi
lN'd p [:,'"1 87 (/ke/, that)
,F"'..-'1r'
Travel, Months, and DaYsof Counting Units 93
the Week Future Tense 94
Errands and Money Polite Past 16o
Nationalities 95
PassiveVoice (Present t6t
' Tense)
L E S S O I {8 DOE 5 T HI 5 F I T i;=|"=',1,il i,l.,- 1.o':l
Middle Voice L63
Clothing and Shopping The Subjunctive Mood 105

Past Habitual 107

# $$o,m;fl.
$i'nip;#/r=#ffi
ft iii[n ffi
Obfect Endings on Verbs ro8 Work and the Office Temporal Clauseswith 175
45 flveqt-i ke/, when)
"$r
Expressing Manner 176
The Modal !"1+(&ayedi, 177
must)

vl tarsl C o u r sO
e utline
 V O C A BLUA R Y 6 RAM MAR LlsToF ABBREUIATIOlIS
adl adjective
Interests and Recreation Adverbial Clauseswith 189 adv. adverb
d al+ Uja-V,ket/, where)
art. article
Using; (/por/, full),
aux. auxiliary verb
# (A*-/,little), and
c.l .0s+ I (hil,/bedun-e/, colloq, colloquial
without) to MakeAdiectives
conj. conjunction
Emphatic.S (4"0 192
tut. formal
inter. interiection
inful. informal
Nature, Weather, and Sports Reflexive Pronouns 20,4
lit. literally
Exclamatory Sentences 205
n. noun
Impersonal Construction zo6
nutn. numeral
p. preposition
Farsi-English Glossary 2rr
pl. plural
English-Farsi Glossary 247
pro. pronoun
sg. singular
v. verb

;n{;;i
 tltTROllucTloll llrc dialogue.Many will be relatedto the topic of the lesson;some will be
rt'latedto the grammar you'll be learning in that particular lesson.
So you've decidedto learn Farsi.Congratulations! Learning a new language I)iulogue
is one of the best and most rewarding decisions you can make in your
't'he
lifetime. It opens up a door to a whole new world and a window into the dialogue in each lesson servesthe double purpose of allowing you to
minds of the people in that world. There is no better way to understand a read and hear natural Farsi at work and teaching you about Farsi culture as
nation and communicate with its people than by studying their literature well. Read these dialogues carefully; they'll contain the grammar and key
and culture in their native language. At the same time, learning any new phrasesthat you will be learning later in the lesson. Don't be afraid to read
language is also a major commitment. It takes time, practice, and a great lhem several times, in fact, and to listen to them on the recordings a few
deal of patience.You learned your native languageduring the first seven or times as well. Always go at your own pace,and stick with a section until
so years of your life through constant exposure to and use of the language' you're comfortable with it.
You shouldn't expect to learn a new language fluently in any time shorter Vocabulary
than that. However, you can learn the basics of a language, understand
everyday conversations,and make yourself understood to a fair degree in The vocabulary list contains new words from the dialogue as well as
a couple of years with consistent practice and the right kind of input. This other words related to the overall topic of the lesson.You can refer to this
course is designedto help you take that initial step toward mastering Farsi, list while reading through the dialogue, but of course the translation of
the language of Iran. This course covers most major Farsi grammatical the dialogue is also provided. use the vocabulary lists to build a good
concepts and basic vocabulary used in everyday situations' It should give foundation for your Farsivocabulary one topic at a time. Experiment with
you the head start you need toward becoming a proficient speaker of different methods of learning vocabulary-spoken or written repetition,
Farsi. flash cards,practice sentences,web searches,etc. Be creative,and find what
works for vou.
HOW TO USETHIS COURSE Key Phrases
This beginner-level course is designed to use both audio and visual The key phrases section contains more practical words or phrases related
instruction to help you master the basics of Farsi. No previous knowledge to the lesson topic. Don't worry if you don't grasp the grammar behind
of Farsi at all is assumed. each phrase right away. Treat the phrasesas extended vocabulary lists; the
Following this introduction, you'll find a sectionthat teachesyou everything grammar will be filled in as you progress,and the idiomatic and practical
you need to know about Farsi spelling and pronunciation. Use it in expressionsyou learn in the key phrasessection will come in handy.
conjunction with the audio to become fully acquainted with the sounds of Culture Notes
Farsi. Imitate the native speakersthat you hear,but don't be worried if you
don't sound quite native yourself; after all, you're not. Good pronunciation Each lesson contains two culture notes. These notes are intended to give
will come in time. fust use the pronunciation section enough that you're you a window on Farsi culture. The notes cover such topics as food,
familiar with the sounds and spelling of Farsi. Then you can begin the clothing, manners, and etiquette, and they also offer practical advice for
fifteen lessons,each of which is dedicated to a particular topic and to a anyone traveling to the Farsi-speakingregion.
number of structural points. Grammar
As a general piece of advice,fight the urge to skip ahead or rush over any Each lesson contains a number of notes on particular aspectsof Farsi
part of this course. It's designed in a careful sequencerand each section grammar. These notes are introduced in a careful sequence,so that they
iepresents a building block that adds to everything before it while at the build on one another and explain the key structures you encounter in the
same time preparing you for everything that comes after it. Always move lesson,particularly in the dialogue. Each point is explained in plain and
aheadat your own pace; if you don't understand something, or if you don't simple language,and there are plenty of examplesto help you understand.
feel quite comfortable with some point, simply go over it again. That's the (lrammar can be tricky for many beginning language learners, especially
best way to make sure your learning experience is painless and effective. with a language that looks and sounds so different from English. But
Each lesson of this course contains the following sections: lake your time on the grammar notes. Grammar is the nuts-and-boltsof
irny language learning; without it, you wouldn't know how to put words
VocabularyWarmUp Iogether!
The vocabulary warm-up kicks off the lessonwith key words you'll hear in

**--*--
x Farsi Howto UseThisCourse
ixi
I I
i
 Exercises GIossary

The exercisesin each lessonwill give you more opportunities to practice At the end of this book you'll find a Farsi-English/English-Farsi
the grammar and vocabulary you ve learned in each lesson.Each lesson glossary. It includes all of the words from the vocabulary lists, plus
includes an answer key at the end so that you can check your progress. any important vocabulary that's taught in the grammar notes. It also
includes a wide range of common and practical words that may not
Independent Challenge
come up in the context of this course. It's not meant as a complete
The most important part of learning a language is practice. These dictionary but it certainly includes enough to be a valuable reference
challengeactivities are designedto give you ideas for finding contexts in tool for the beginning student of Farsi.
your life where you can practice your Farsi' They're meant as a guide; if
As you use this course,keep this in mind: languagelearning is a gradual
you feel inspired to createyour own independent challengeactivities,go
process; it won't happen overnight. still, with repeated exposure and
right ahead.The more contact you have with a language,the better you'll
practice, you'll find yourself becoming a better and better Farsi speaker
learn it. And don't forget about the internet. Language learners have
each time you pick up this course. But languagesaren't used by books;
an incredible tool at their disposal-they can find newspapers,blogs,
they're used by people. so, if you can, seek out speakersof Farsi where
online references,travel and tourism sites,and much, much more, all of
you live or on the internet. That way, you can practice the languageand
which can be used to add depth and color to languagelessons.
discover new people while you do.
Audio
I+$t-,,#?
The audio portion of this course is divided into two sets: Set A and Set /moveffeq baS-id!/
B. Good luck!
SetAincludes the dialogue,vocabulary,keyphrases,and severalgrammar
examplesfrom each lesson.This part of the audio course should be used
FARSIOR PERSIAl{?
along with the book, following the order of each lesson and allowing
you to hear the words on the page in spoken Farsi. A good approach is The languageyou are about to learn has two names-Farsi and persian.
to read each section first without the audio, so that you're prepared to The reasonsfor this are historical. A long time ago,from about 64g BCE,
get the most out of the audio when you do listen to it. Then, take it step- the Persians (a tribe belonging to the people who called themselves
by-step and listen to each section at a time, always allowing yourself the Aryans) ruled a vast area including present-dayIran, Iraq, Afghanistan,
time and repetition that you need. Turkey, Syria, Armenia, and even parts of Egypt. They also had many
xHelpful Hint: once you've listened to the dialogue severaltimes while battles with the Greeks.The Greekswould call these people perses.The
word then traveled through Europe and ended up in English as persians.
reading along in the book, try listening to it without the help of the book. The word Persia was used throughout history by Europeans to refer to
This will help attune your ear to Farsi, and it will make understanding the country of the Persiansand their language.
the spoken languageeasier down the line.
The people of Persia,however, called their country Iran (from an old
Set B is intended to be used on the go to supplement your studies. Iranian word meaning the land of the Aryansl and their language parsi,
It contains the dialogue from each lesson, broken down into easily and later, Farsi.In 1935,Reza shah, the ruling king of persia at the time,
digestible sentenceswith English translations. You'll hear pauses after askedthe international community to call the country by its native name,
each line of dialogue; use the pause to repeat the line and practice your Iran. Thus the words Persiaand persian gradually lost their popularity
pronunciation. Set B also includes several audio-only exercisesthat do and gave way to Iran and,Farsi as the names of the country and its official
not appear in the book but are based on exactly the same grammar language, respectively.some Iranians still prefer to call their language
points. A good way to make use of Set B is to listen to it following each "Persian"rather than "Farsi"when they are speaking English in order to
lesson,once you've comfortably completed reading the text and listening stay connected to their history. In this book we will call the languageby
to the Set A audio. Use Set B wherever it's convenient for you-in the its native name, Farsi,but from time to time the word "persian" may be
car,on the train, at the gym, while you do dishes,in the garden-it's up used to refer to the people, culture, and languageof Iran.
to you. You can also use Set B as a review of lessonsyou completed long
ago to keep you on your toes!

'i
1..............-
x i l : Farsi Farsior Persian? t...
1
lI x l l l
i
 F A R S IW R I T I l { G S Y S T E M
The writing systemof modern Farsi is basedon the Arabic alphabet with
a few extra symbols for sounds that do not exist in Standard Arabic. END MIDDLE ltu']"yr'
The script differs significantly in several ways from the English writing a a

Itel (-.1 JJ
system.
s
First, the script goes from right to left, which means that Farsi books
I'l lsel IJ
&
J
I
J

open from the left. This is something that you should definitely keep in
mind, becausereading a mystery novel backwards is no fun.
lil liiml i*+ ee + -r.-
)
Second, many letters are connected to each other within words. This
lrl Itel 4s. e
_c_ 5
n
S:
oj

means that for each letter there could be more than one form, and the ht hel 4-s 77 sj

form used depends on the letter's position in the word and whether or /xl
**''', l*el 4+ ) ei
not it can connect to the following letter.
Third, some vowel sounds are not represented in the alphabet. These
ldt **_ /daV Jil \ J
;-
vowels are shown using diacritics (small markings above and below lzl lzall cJli \ \ J
the letters) only in children's books, but they do not exist in writing for lrel .) J ) )i
adults. -;" ;- -l
This means that beginners may have difficulty figuring out the
l'"1 ) J ) i
.**.;
& s &i
pronunciation of a word based on its written form alone. This might lzel ti
) )
sound discouraging at first, but it isn't as hard as you might think, L,J'
especially considering that the pronunciation of English words isn't .--;
& &
exactly predictable from their written forms either. Remember how you !l *I *lt

learned to pronounce the first f in palient as a sh sound and how you rE & s
learned not to pronounce the c in indigt, not to mention the difference ..- -'.-_t'_'" _

between the i's in each?In order to facilitate learning the Farsi alphabet, s .ra
you will be provided with phonetic alphabet pronunciations next to
words where necessarv.
Ital IT T T T
l;;l TI T T T
F A R S IA T P H A B E T l'eynl Ut*,, t_e
e)
I'

There are 32letters in Farsi alphabet. The following table shows the Farsi lqeynl ,'rr-.c *
-(---.;(- I
'

alphabet.For eachletter, its different forms, its name, and the sound or sounds
vt..
-**;-;;***-*-
associatedwith it are also shown. BecauseFarsi is written from right to left,
lrel :^f IJ 3 s
tables containing Farsi text are arranged from right to left, too. Remember to lg rl Lltl I
read the following table and other tables like it from the right.
karl LilS gS .5. 5. sl
le"rl K <=
FARSI
ALPHABET
f lla l rY ,I
(J I
*.*"":*-**-*
SOUND NAMEOFTHELETTER LETTER lmiml _tr t: 4

i BEclll"rNg lnl lnunl o9 O J J i

j

lal tel u la-lefI ,-ilj itl l"l lvavl ;l; J I

- j

hl h:l a **
I J J ht h"l .{-l + A
,-*.*"*]
lpl
4J* (-i
€ J
.t
J
.3 lvl lvel tu JJ
lp:l
--l
xiv Farsi FarsiAlphabet
I
 The forms in the column labeled beginning appear at the beginning of producethe actualFarsisoundsrepresentedbythesesymbolsbycomparing
the word, those in the column labeled middle come in the middle of the the pronunciation guides in the vocabulary sections of the book with the
word, and the ones in the column labeled end come at the end of the pronunciations of the words on the accompanyingCDs.To distinguish the
word. phonetic transcriptionsof the Farsiwords from their English translations,
the phonetic symbols are placed between two slanted lines (/ /).
We can also categorize letters based on whether they get attached to
their adjacentletters, and on which side or sides,as follows:
Phonetic Symbols for Farsi Consonant Sounds

The table shows the Farsi consonant sounds.The letters that correspond
a. Forms that attach only to the following letter (the one on their to the sounds representedby the phonetic symbols appear in boldface
left): type in the examples.

A
F A R SCI O N S O N A N T S
b. Forms that attach only to the preceding letter (the one on their
right):

Li r# 3 j ) I I e e e e & c! ? c+ t SYMBOL A P P R OMX IA T E

E N G L I SSHO U N D
F A R SEI X A M P L E

Ls4 r O t d.(.S d Li 6 C & F I

lbl r bat, cab ibal, with !.1

c. Forms that attach to both the preceding and the following let- Ita;!1,
:*i"s.itl
ters:
*.t.tlb &
S + r l * !J.ll
SS S SS
&,
JJ J JJ
lr I church l6zl,thing-h
!8
lp-l(l:screw$
J+J il<. 5. s 3,
lda; r l,door ') J
ldt door, cord
d. Forms that don't attach to their adjacent letters: /-ma_dd/,tide l-o

6 0I lfl farm, calf lfill, elephantd$

lkefl, foam 5i$
You may have noticed that for some sounds there are severalletters. For
example, the letters L-)a, U and & all represent the /s/ sound, and ! lsl ;il,;;; lgoll, flower gJK
and c3 both representthe /t/ sound. There is a historical reason for that. lseslrdos1(l
As mentioned before, the writing system of Farsi was borrowed from lholul,peach3lil
thl heart
Arabic after the adoption of Islam. The older writing systems died out lmehl,fog 43
during the period when Arabic was the official language in Iran. The
Arabic sound system is more complex than that of Farsi,and when Per- ttil i;il, b;Js; ljui"l, chifk 4+j|
sians adopted the script that was written for that more complex sound lkejl, crookedg-\
system,they ended up with many letters that, to them, all sounded the q-i$
lkl kite lkifl, bag,purs"
same. But instead of dropping those letters from the alphabet, they de- lkr'la,kl, trick .5$'
cided to keep them in words they borrowed from Arabic.
lrl lamb llampl,lightbulb?fY
lmall,possessiot
dl
T H E S O U l I I ' SO F F A R S I man ,I LE
frrrr-,nf
l^l
The phonetic alphabet that we will be using is shown below together with lkeml,li11lg f'5
a description of what sound each symbol represents and an example of ;;;;
lnl
each.Farsi has twenty-two consonant sounds and six vowel sounds.These
sounds are listed in the tables below. For each phonetic symbol, at least lpl pool, map lpuU,-o.,"y cJ-.,:4
one illustrative English example (where possible)and one Farsi example llampl,lightbulb ?.7
are given to show you what sound the symbol represents.You can learn to
------l--..--
I
XVI Farsi TheSoundsof Farsi I xvll
I
 fl
example,the word ,=rl5 (book)is transcribedas /ketab/,and the word
SYMBOL A P P R OM X IA T E F A R SEI X A M P L E (librarv)
4jL: i;;rr.) ir tr.ni.ribed as /xane/.Then,the word 4j\-;ijs
E N G T I SSHO U N D will be transcribedas /ketab-xane/.Thistranscriptionhighlightsthe facts
that diLsr.l$ (library)is made up of two smallermeaningfulunits and
lql ( s e en o t e r lqofll,lock glri
that it literallymeansbook house.
below) /qaSoq/,spoond;^il-{
ltl root, car (see lrahl,road,*ay ol-,1 Symbols for Farsi Uowel Sounds
Phonetic
note z below) f sa-lf, head-F
The table below consistsof the phonetic symbols for Farsivowel sounds'
lsl soon, bass l"upl,soup\f-ry As with the previous table, the letters in the English examples that
, cherryg*)S
lgilasl correspond to the sound representedby the phonetic symbol appear in
Itl team, bat Itiml , team l# boldface type.
l kotl , coat, j acket.:3 :
*,r*"
lvelil, but q5J_9
t l
valley, cave FARSIVOWELS
lguul,cow,bull _9lS
l';,1 (;;;
";l; 3 lxubf, good+JA :JMBOL
EXAMPTE fAl_slEXAMPLE
below) f rr.ixf, nail S*'
lv keep, bean fimanf,faith gLaJl
lir t;ii;; lyurl,."*p;;i;p; /sib/,apple!tt-
friend J$ /ali/, excellentJLe
lroyl: ztncLSJ) ;;;;; uli!
;rn;",
6J;;;1,
lzibal,beautiful\j
/;i cape,bait (see
lrl zebra, maze note l below) /mewaly', toothbrush t-Sl o^n+
goutj /se/, three 4-.,r
fb2zl,
tt'l ;r';';;,i"i;;;;, lzalel,deit',4llj lal at fenarf,pomegranat" $1
beige I peL-vakl,".iro .Sl:I lpederl, father JJd
( s e en o t e 4 l'alif, excellentJ!. lvl suit, boot fuf,he,*" :l
/sut/, whistle sJ$
below) l"n'Yl, effort CSLtt
'l;
bowl, coat (see , coat,
fkatf ,ti.i;, +
Notes: ngte 2 below) loose 1 u!
/sol/,
( t ) T h es o u n d/ q / d o e s n ' e
t x i s ti n E n g l i s hl .t s o u n d sl i k ea g b u t p r o n o u n c e d
lal bar 'l^bl,*u,",q.rl
with the backof the tonguetouchingthe very backof the soft part of the
r o o fo f y o u rm o u t h ,t h e s a m ep l a c ew h e r et h e F r e n c hr i s p r o d u c e d .
harl,load-,fu
lbabal,dadt-i-r
( z )T h es o u n d/ r / i s r o l l e d ,a l m o s ts i m i l a rt o t h e l t a l i a no r S p a n i s hr .
(l) /x/ doesn'texistin Englisheither.lt is the soft frictionsoundthat one
Notes:
hearsin the Germanpronunciationof ch in the word Bach.Thissound is
producedby lightlytouchingthe soft part of the roof of your mouth with ( 1 ) T h e/ e / s o u n di n E n g l i s hi s a l w a y sf o l l o w e db y t h e / y / s o u n d ,a s i n t h e
t h e b a c ko f y o u rt o n g u e . aboveexamples(capeand boit). Farsi,on the other hand, resembles
( + ) T h e s o u n d / ' / d o e s n o t t y p i c a l l ya p p e a ri n s t a n d a r dE n g l i s h l. t i s , Frenchin this respect;/e/ is not followedby the /y/ sound'
h o w e v e rf,o u n d i n c e r t a i nd i a l e c t s F
. o r e x a m p l e y, o u c a n h e a r i t i n t h e
pronunciation ( z ) S i m i l a r l y/ o i s a l w a y sf o l l o w e db y t h e / w / s o u n d ,a s i n c o o f ,
, / in English
Cocl<ney of t in the word bottle, lba'll.
bowl, or boot, but in Farsithis is not the case.
You will also noticethat the phonetictranscriptionsof the words may
c o n t a i nh y p h e n s( - ) . H y p h e n sw i l l b e u s e d t o s e p a r a t et h e m e a n i n g f u l
partsof words (e.9., suffixesand prefixes)from each other to facilitate
p r o n u n c i a t i oans w e l l a s u n d e r s t a n d i nogf t h e m e a n i n g so f w o r d s . F o r

-J------
x v i i [ , rr si TheSoundsof Farsi lxrx
I
 READIlIG FARSI The letter (9 is also pronounced lyl,when it is precededor followed by
another vowel.
The Uowel lal
g;Y eqglj t-,;l; t!
Let us -now try to make some words with these letters. consider the
letters | (l"l), + (bn, 4 (th, J (/d/), and O (nll. we can make several The abovewords, for example,are,from right to left, lyal @rl,lyarf
,(com-
words with these. panion, friend), lvayl (wow), and /ay/ (dirt). (Notice that when d and I
are put together,they show up as Y /l"/ )
For example,r-.,J is pronounced labland means water. Rememberto
read from righf to left. what do you think this word rorrrrd, tik t0l+i-
The Uowel lul
If you said /aban/, you are right. gl-lj
1r.trr,"name of the eighth month in So far the vowels we have been using in our words have been lal and lil.
the Persiancalendar.Now try this,gf .lLrl
Here's another one: fuf,which is written with J. But you must be careful
Yes,it is /abadan/
Ohl+i is the name of a city in southern Iran. Usually, with this one. This letter stands for fulas well as loland even the conso-
if lis the first letterin thL word, it appearsas
iand is pronoun ced lal.The nant fvf . Let's look at some examplesof J used for lul.
same letter may appear as I at the beginning of a word, but it will sound
like lnl,lel,or lol. Our first example is:j

Now try this word: Jlq This word is pronounced fbuf, and it means smell or scent.

It is pronounced /bad/ and means wind. Now try this: J-.!

How about this? r..:JE This time the consonant J /r/ is also used. This word is pronounced
lnurland means light, as in sunlight.
This one is pronoun ced ftabf, and it means swing.
Here'sanother word:J.!i
Now take a look at this word:gt-r
This one is pronounced lburland means blonde.
It is pronounced fnanf, and it means bread.
Now try these:)J) 6JJJ , )-S,J-6 ,J3i 6JJ*{
And this: clU
They are pronounced, from right to left, /sur/ (banquet), /5uri (salty),
what do you think this one sounds like? Did you say
lnabl? yes! This /kur/ (blind), lgurl (grave),/dur/ (far), andfzurf (force).
word meansgenuine.
J is also pronounced fvf , as in 313 fvavf,the name of the letter J; this
Now try this: Uh pronunciation is usually found when J is preceded or followed by an-
This should be easy now. It is pronounced other vowel. Look at these examples:
fdanal, and it means
knowledgeable.
clls erJl3 .3L .,-913
Let'stry a longer word: tJlJtJ From right to left, the abovewords aref gavf(cow/bull), lnavl $avy ship),
This one is the opposite or l-rlr. It is pronounced lvanl pathtub), and /vaf (whale).
fnadanl,and it means
ignorant.
The Uowel fof
The Uowel t,l As mentioned before, sometimes J is also used for the vowel lol.Here
This vowel is also written in the Farsi script. The letter for it is c9 and all are some examples of its use as lol.
its variants. Let's look at some examples of its use. 3J e3i c_9'r
,',.,!l 6j e;-,; e;J ecJ# 6!rr.r These words aref nof (new), ltol (you, sg.),and /do/ (two).
Thesewords are, from right to left, lsibl(apple),
/bif (shovel), ldirl(late), J is often used as lol when it's at the end of a syllable, and the vowel is
I zirI (under),I tizI (sharp), and /bist/ (twenty). pronounced lowl (kind of like the English word row). Other times, /o/ is
not written. To help beginners, elementary textbooks may use diacritics

ReadingFarsi 1---:---
i XXI
to clarify which vowel follows a consonant. This diacritic, which we will FARSIVOWELS
also use sometimes,is', a little J placed above a consonant. See these
examples: 1"." f-;;*'^-; f-;.;;---f;;;-;;;;;,--i
4 .LljS ,3i ,J-1]
----" j_/yl_ WRITTEN
SYMBOL

r * 1 VOWTT i WRINTN
SYMBOL

L_, _l i_-
Thesewords are,from right to left, lbordl (took), ldoml (tail),/5of (loose),
and/pof (bridge), [:,r-]
The Uowel lal
k-j---i
Note: Fromnow on, whereverwe want to show a diacriticalone,we will
This vowel is not written either. The diacritic used for it is -, a small
placeit overor undera smallhorizontalline (J, as in the table above,for
slanted line placed above the consonant that precedes it in pronuncia-
convenience.
tion. Look at these examples:
J! cp- e.l_!,pi ,p,;,+
GeminateConsonants
These words are, from right to left, lbedl pad), hn l (bass), ldeml
Farsi uses geminate consonants especially in words that have been bor-
(breath), ldr-rdl (pain),/sremm/ (poison),and /serd/ (cold).
rowed from Arabic. A geminate consonant is pronounced twice as long
lrel may also follow l, as in these examples: as a simple consonant. Look at the following words, for example, from
right to left. In all of these pairs, the first word uses simple consonants
_,pl ,_,;rl 6qbrl ed.r.'u1 and the secondone contains a geminate consonant.In beginners'books,
Thesewords are,from right to left, f estf (is),/esb/ (horse), lebrl (cloud), geminates are shown with the diacritic symbol - above the letter.
and I a'mrI (order, decree).

fderref,valleyoji lderldoor -,1i

The Uowel lef
lbetel,child {"; /del,what $
This vowel is not represented by a letter of the alphabet either. The dia-
critic used for it to help learners is -, a little slanted line placedunder the lgellel,herd 41ff, 4(
lgelel,complaint
consonant that carries it. Look at these examples:

+t$ elrr rjl This should get you started. Other rules about reading the Farsi script
will follow as we progress through the course. Diacritics will be used
Thesewords are, from right to left,ldei,l (fortress), lsedal(sound,voice), in this book, but as the course progresses,their use will be gradually
and/ketab/ (book). reduced,especiallyfor known words.
lf lel is at the beginning of a word, then the letter lis used to show it.

o_;l"rJ
,dttj! e,r'ju! W R I T T E l I U S . S P O K E I IF A R S I
These words are, from right to Ieft, /estep/ (steppe), lesbatl (proof), and Spoken Farsi deviates from written Farsi in many respects.This is of
course true of all languages,but in Farsi it is more noticeable. |ust to give
ledarel(office).
you an idea of the differences that can exist between words in speech
If lel is at the end of a word, then it is written with o, as in these ex- and in writing, note that in English the form going fo is usually pro-
amples. nounced gonna, and want fo and got toare pronounced wanna and gotta,
o++ co_;l.tle4r,rc4.r respectively.

These words are, from right to teft, lbel (to), /se/ (three), ledarel (office), In Farsi, especially in the dialect of Tehran, many lal sounds turn into /u/
and /pedide/ (phenomenon). before lml and lnl in spoken language. Also, many common verb stems
get reduced to a single consonant, and many endings change. These dif-
The following table summarizes the discussion of vowels and their sym- ferences will be pointed out as we go along.
bols in Farsi.

Writtenvs.Spoken
Farsi