The Alphabet

The Persian alphabet, a slightly modified form of the Arabic, consists of thirty-two letters, all primarily used as consonants. Four of these have secondary uses as vowels (see paras. 5, 6, 9 and 21), and there are also three vowel signs (see paras. 5, 6, 9) placed over or under the letter that precedes them (but normally omitted in writing or print).

The Script

The Persian script is written from right to left, and is cursive, that is to say, the letters of a word are normally joined to one another, even in the printed form.

A few (seven out of the thirty-two) do not join the following letter, thus leaving a gap in the word.

There are fifteen basic letter forms, the full number of thirty-two being made up by the use of one or more distinguishing dots over or under the letter and forming an integral part of it.

The shape of each basic form may be further modified by (a) a preceding joining stroke, and (except in the case of the seven ‘non-joining’ letters) (b) a following joining stroke, or (when no other letter follows) (c) a final tail or flourish.

The Nasx Script

There are three styles of writing with which the student will need to become familiar:

1. the printed style (nasx).

2. the copy-book style (nastaʔliq). (See Appendix A.)

3. the handwritten style (šekasté). (See Appendix B.)