Letters (continued)
Now, in this point, you will learn about the value(s) of
each letter with a comparative approach to some other languages.
Before that, you should get acquainted to some words used in naming
other possible forms of some of the letters:
MUL
This word is exactly what we call "hamza"
(Persian: hamze) in Perso-Arabic writing system. It is equal to Hebrew
consonant "Aleph" and in Arabic orthography is used to represent the
sound of a glottal stop, transliterated in English as an apostrophe.
In Pársik, Perso-Arabic letter and sound "`ayn" is also written with
"mul" because in Persian there is no difference in the articulation of
"hamza" and "`ayn".
When we say "mul am", it means that a mul comes immediately before the
vowel "am"; and when we say "am mul", it means that the mul comes
immediately after the vowel "am".
"Mul" is a Persian word derived from the Persian infinitive "mulidan"
(to delay, to pause) and means "delay, pause". This is because when you
have a mul, you should have a very slight pause and should not pronounce
the next sound immediately. In the word "bad" (bad), we pronounce all
the sounds immediately one after another; but in the word "bàd" (then),
we pause slightly before pronouncing the sound "d": ba-[pause]-d.
VANDE
This word has no exact equivalent in English but literally means "a
thing that binds or relates something to another". It comes from the Old
Iranian root *band- (to bind) from Indo-European root
*bhendh- (to bind). You will learn more about its usage in "Some Rules
and Items" section.
Letter A, a
This letter has two main forms: A and Á.
"A" is pronounced like "a" in English "bad", in Hebrew "mayim", and in
Arabic "fahim".
Example: parande (bird), mard (man), jahannam (hell), bad (bad).
Examples for "mul am" (ä): masäle (problem), sanät (industry),
vosät (vastness, area).
Examples for "am mul" (à): bàd (then, afterwards, next), màni
(meaning), sày (attempt), rày (vote).
"Á" is pronounced like "a" in English "garden", in Hebrew "lavan"
(white), and in German "Bahn".
Examples: bárán (rain), sál (year), mádar (mother).
Examples for "mul ám" (ã): merãt (Liter. mirror), erãb
(terror, terrorization), anãm (tip, gratuity).
Examples for "ám mul" (â): ejtemâ (community, society), erjâ
(reference), ettelâ (information, informing).
"Å" shows that the letter "ám" is pronunced "á" in formal speech and
usually "u" in informal speech or colloquialism: nån (nán / nun), bárån
(bárán / bárun), ... . Note that it is not always necessary to write
this kind of "á" like "å"; but you should not write "u" instead of "å"
or "á". It is mandatory to use "å" in all Persian dictionaries to show
how the word is pronounced in colloquialism. Also, when writing an
informal speech, you should use "å" if the "ám" is pronounced like "um".
Letter B, b
Exactly like "b" in most of other
Indo-European languages.
Letter C, c
Exactly like "c" in Italian words "vincere,
cibo, certo, ci, ...", "ch" in English word "chat", and "tsch" in German
word "Deutsch".
Examples: catr (umbrella), moc (wrist), cera (why), cub (wood).
NOTE: After sounds (not letters) "s" and
"z", the consonant "c" is written like "ç" to avoid misreading and
mixing up with "sc" and "zc" which are pronounced differently.
You should bear in mind that the main letter for English "ch" in Pársik
is "ç", but for ease of use, we write it like "c" because in most cases
"s" and "z" do not come immediately before "c".
Examples: howzçe (little pool, small basin), tizçang
(sharp-clawed), bázçini (turn-over), kásçe (little bowl, little cup).
NOTE: When "c" comes immediately after
letters "s" and "z" ("sc" and "zc"), it changes their pronunciation
respectively to "sh" like in English word
"cash" and "j" in English/French word "deja vu" or French "j".
Examples: scomál (north), scirin (sweet), Maschad (Mashad, a city
in Iran), koscti (wrestling), tizçescm (sharp-sighted) [see the
difference between "sç" and "sc" in one word], musc (mouse), mascäl
(torch).
Letter D, d
Exactly like "d" in most of other
Indo-European languages.
Letter E,
e
Almost like "e" in English "bed", German "trennbar", and Italian "bello".
Examples: medád (pencil), se (three), be (to), ke (that, which,
...), ketáb (book).
Examples for "mul em": jomë
(Friday), jorë (gulp, sip), enëtáf (flexibility), enëkás (reflection),
monëm (beneficient).
Examples for "em mul": tálè (omen), tálèbini (horoscope), mottalè
(well-informed), jámè (universal), èdám (execution, putting to death),
ètedál (moderation).
Examples for "mul": manê (prohibition, ban), scamê (candle), sarê
(epilepsy), jozê (jot, part, particle), sceyê (object, thing).
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