DRAFT

PERSIAN IN NON-ARABIC SCRIPTS

Consonants
Standard LC Tajik-Persian in Judeo-Persian in Notes on
Persian Romanization Cyrillic Script Hebrew Script Judeo-Persian
Script
‫ﺍ‬ ‫א‬ not romanized
when initial; for
medial and final
use, see
Vowels; for
glottal stop/
hamzah, cf. ‫ء‬
‫ﺏ‬ Бб ‫בּ ;ב‬ may appear
Bb
without
dot/dagesh

v ‫ב‬ in Hebrew
loanwords
when
appropriate
‫پ‬ Пп *‫ף‬ ‫פּ ףּ* ;פ‬ may appear
Pp
without
dot/dagesh; cf.
‫ﻑ‬
‫ﺕ‬ Тт ‫ת‬ Cf. ‫ﺙ‬, ‫ﺓ‬
Tt
‫ﺙ‬ Сс ‫ת ;ס‬ usually in
Ss
loanwords; cf.
‫ﺕ‬,‫س‬
‫ﺝ‬ Ҷҷ ‫ִג ;֗ג ;ג׳‬ cf. ‫ﭺ‬, ‫ﻍ‬, ‫گ‬
Jj

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Consonants
Standard LC Tajik-Persian in Judeo-Persian in Notes on
Persian Romanization Cyrillic Script Hebrew Script Judeo-Persian
Script
‫ﭺ‬ Чч ‫ֶג ;צ׳ ץ׳* ;ג׳‬ cf. ‫ﺝ‬, ‫ﻍ‬, ‫گ‬,
Ch ch
‫ﺹ‬
‫ﺡ‬ Ҳҳ ‫ח‬ in loanwords
Ḥḥ

‫ﺥ‬ Хх cf. ‫ﻙ‬

Kh kh *ׄ‫כ ך* ; ׄכ ך‬
*‫כ ״ ך״‬
‫ﺩ‬ Дд ‫ד‬
Dd
‫ﺫ‬ Зз ‫ז‬ in loanwords;
Zz
cf. ‫ﺯ‬, ‫ﮊ‬, ‫ﺽ‬,
‫ﻅ‬
‫ﺭ‬ Рр ‫ר‬
Rr
‫ﺯ‬ Зз ‫ז‬ cf. ‫ﮊ‬, ‫ﺫ‬, ‫ﺽ‬,
Zz
‫ﻅ‬
‫ﮊ‬ Жж ֒‫ז‬
Zh zh
‫ﺱ‬ Сс ‫ס‬ cf. ‫ﺙ‬
Ss

Śś ‫שׂ ;ש‬ in Hebrew
loanwords; cf.
‫ﺵ‬
‫ﺵ‬ Шш ‫שׁ ;ש‬ Cf. ‫ﺱ‬
Sh sh
‫ﺹ‬ Сс usually in
Ṣ ṣ *‫צ ץ‬ loanwords; cf. ‫ﭺ‬

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Consonants
Standard LC Tajik-Persian in Judeo-Persian in Notes on
Persian Romanization Cyrillic Script Hebrew Script Judeo-Persian
Script
‫ﺽ‬ Зз ‫ז‬ in loanwords;
Z̤ z̤
cf. ‫ﺫ‬, ‫ﺯ‬, ‫ﮊ‬, ‫ﻅ‬
‫ﻁ‬ Тт ‫ט‬ usually in
Ṭṭ
loanwords; cf.
‫ﻅ‬
‫ﻅ‬ Зз
‫ט ;ז‬ usually in
Ẓẓ
loanwords; cf.

‫ﺫ‬,
‫ﺯ‬, ‫ﮊ‬, ‫ﺽ‬, ‫ﻁ‬
‫ﻉ‬ Ъъ
‫ע‬ in loanwords
ʿ (ayn)
‫ﻍ‬ Ғғ
‫֗ג ;ג‬ cf. ‫ج‬, ‫ﭺ‬, ‫گ‬
Gh, gh
‫ﻑ‬ Фф
*‫ף‬ ‫; ֗פ ֗ף* ;פ‬ cf. ‫پ‬
Ff

*‫̄פ ̄ף‬
‫ﻕ‬ Ққ
‫ק‬ usually in
Qq
loanwords
‫ﻙ‬ Кк may appear
Kk *‫כּ ךּ*;כ ך‬ without
dot/dagesh; cf.
‫ﺥ‬
‫گ‬ Гг
‫גּ ;ג‬ cf. ‫ج‬, ‫ﭺ‬, ‫ﻍ‬
Gg
‫ﻝ‬ Лл
‫ל‬
Ll
‫ﻡ‬ Мм
‫מם‬
Mm
‫ﻥ‬ Нн
‫נן‬
Nn

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Consonants
Standard LC Tajik-Persian in Judeo-Persian in Notes on
Persian Romanization Cyrillic Script Hebrew Script Judeo-Persian
Script
‫ﻭ‬ Вв
‫ ו‬or ‫וו‬ may be doubled
Vv
when not initial;
for use as a
vowel, see
Vowels
‫ﻩ‬ Ҳҳ
‫ה‬
Hh
‫ى‬ Йй
‫ י‬or ‫יי‬ may be doubled
Yy
when not initial;
for use as a
vowel, see
Vowels
‫ء‬ Ъъ
‫א‬ in loanwords;
ʼ
cf. ‫ﺍ‬
‫ﺓ‬ ‫ת‬ in Arabic
t
loanwords

* Asterisks mark “final forms” of the Hebrew letters—forms used only at the end
of a word.

Judeo-Persian consonant usage varies from text to text, and sometimes within
the same text. Therefore the table provides multiple Hebrew-character variants
of some Persian characters, but does not offer an exhaustive list of all
possibilities.

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VOWELS
Tajik-Persian vowels
Standard LC Tajik- Tajik-Persian Notes
Persian Romanization Persian in romanization for Judeo-
Script of Standard Cyrillic Persian
Persian script vowels, see
below
َ◌ Аа Aa
Aa
‫آ‬,‫ﺍ‬ Оо Oo
Āā
‫ى‬ Ӣӣ Ī ī
Ī ī
ِ◌ Ии Ii
Ii
‫ﻭ‬ Ӯӯ Ūū
Ūū
ُ◌ Уу Uu
Uu
Юю in loanwords

Ээ Ėė in loanwords

Ее in loanwords
Ee
Ёё in loanwords
Ëë
Яя in loanwords

Judeo-Persian vowels (‫ בּ‬is a place-holder for any consonant)

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Standard LC Romanization Judeo- Judeo-Persian Notes

Persian of Standard Persian in romanization for Tajik-
Persian Hebrew Persian
script vowels, see
above

‫ְבּ‬ e
unvocalized
texts do not
(sheṿa naʽ)
distinguish

ْ◌ sheva, /a/,
‫ְבּ‬ not romanized
/e/, /é/ or /i/
(sheṿa naḥ)

َ◌ ‫ַבּ‬ Aa
Aa

‫آ‬,‫ﺍ‬ Āā ‫ָבּא‬ Āā
when first
‫( ͂א‬alef with consonant is
maddah); ‫אָ‬ alif

‫ֶבּ‬ Ee unvocalized
texts do not
distinguish
sheva, /a/,
/e/, /é/ or /i/
ِ◌ ‫ִבּ‬ Ii unvocalized
Ii
texts do not
distinguish
sheva, /a/,
/e/, /é/ or /i/
‫ى‬ ‫ִבּי‬ Ī ī
Īī

‫ֵבּ‬ Éé unvocalized
texts do not
distinguish
sheva, /a/,

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Judeo-Persian vowels (‫ בּ‬is a place-holder for any consonant)

Standard LC Romanization Judeo- Judeo-Persian Notes
Persian of Standard Persian in romanization for Tajik-
Persian Hebrew Persian
script vowels, see
above

/e/, /é/ or /i/

‫ֵבּי‬ Ēē

‫בּוֹ‬ Oo

ُ◌ or ‫ﻭ‬
U u, Ū ū ‫בּוּ‬ Uu

Judeo-Persian diphthongs
‫◌ُو‬ ‫ַבּוְו ; ַבּוו‬
aw aw
‫◌َى‬ ‫ַבּיְי ; ַבּיי‬
ay ay
Judeo-Persian digraph
‫ٱل‬ al
al
(alif-lam)

This table does not provide a complete romanization for the voweling of
unvocalized Judeo-Persian texts. The ALA/LC Romanization table for Persian
may be consulted.