The Perso-Arabic script is a writing system that is based on the Arabic alphabet. Originally being used exclusively for the Arabic language, the Arabic script was modified to match the demands of being a writing system for the Persian language, adding four letters: پ [p], چ [ʧ], ژ [ʒ], and گ [g]. Many languages which use the Perso-Arabic script add additional letters. The Perso-Arabic script has been applied, beside the Persian alphabet itself, to the Urdu alphabet, Kurdish Sorani alphabet, Ottoman Turkish alphabet, Balochi alphabet, Punjabi Shahmukhi script, Tatar, Azeri, Tajik-Persian Alphabet and several others.
In order to represent non-Arabic sounds, new letters were created by adding dots, lines, and other shapes to existing letters. For example, the retroflex sounds of Urdu are represented orthographically by adding a small ط above their non-retroflex counterparts: د [d̪] and ڈ [ɖ]. The voiceless retroflex fricative [ʂ] of Pashto is represented in writing by adding a dot above and below the س [s] letter, resulting in ښ. The close central rounded vowel [ʉ] of Kurdish is written by writing two ﻭ [u], resulting in ﻭﻭ.
The Perso-Arabic script is exclusively written cursively. That is, the majority of letters in a word connect to each other. This is also implemented on computers. Whenever the Perso-Arabic script is typed, the computer connects the letters to each other. Unconnected letters are not widely accepted.
There are many Arabic-derived alphabets which were not influenced by the Perso-Arabic script, including Jawi (used for Malay), Sorabe (Malagasy), and many alphabets used in Northern Africa. These alphabets used other innovations for writing such common sounds as [p] and [g], instead of the Perso-Arabic letters پ and گ, although the Jawi script does use the same symbol for [ʧ] (چ ).
A characteristic feature of this script, possibly tracing back to Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, is that vowels are underrepresented. For example, in Classical Arabic, of the six vowels, the three short ones are normally omitted entirely (except in the Qur`aan), while the three long ones are represented ambiguously by certain consonants. Only Kashmiri, Uyghur and Kurdish, of the many languages using adaptations of this script, regularly indicate all vowels.
| Name | Transliteration | IPA | Final | Medial | Initial | Isolated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| / / / / | various, including [ɒ] | * | ﺍ | |||
| [b] | ||||||
| [p] | ||||||
| [t] | ||||||
| [s] | ||||||
| [ʤ] | ||||||
| / / | [ʧ] | |||||
| [h] | ||||||
| / | [x] | |||||
| [d] | ||||||
| [z] | ||||||
| [ɾ] | ||||||
| [z] | ||||||
| / | [ʒ] | |||||
| [s] | ||||||
| / | [ʃ] | |||||
| [s] | ||||||
| [z] | ||||||
| [t] | ||||||
| [z] | ||||||
| / | [ʔ] | |||||
| / | [ɣ] / [ɢ] | |||||
| [f] | ||||||
| / | [q] / [ɢ] | |||||
| [k] | ||||||
| [g] | ||||||
| [l] | ||||||
| [m] | ||||||
| [n] | ||||||
| / / | [v] / [u] | |||||
| [h] | ||||||
| , | [j] , [i] |
There are seven letters in the Persian alphabet that do not connect to other letters like the rest of the letters in the alphabet. These seven letters do not have initial or medial forms but the solo and the final forms are used instead because they do not allow for a connection to be made on the left hand side to the other letters in the word. For example when the letter alef is at the beginning of a word such as اینجا "injā" (here), the initial form of alef is used. Or in the case of اِمروز "emruz" (today) the letter re uses the final form and the letter vāv uses the initial form although they are in the middle of the word.
The following are not actual letters, but rather different orthographical shapes for letters, and in the case of the , a ligature. As to hamze, it has only a single graphic, since it is never tied to a preceding or following letter. However, it is sometimes 'seated' on a vāv, ye or alef, and in that case the seat behaves like an ordinary vāv, ye or alef respectively. Technically, hamze is not a letter, but a diacritic.
| Name | Transliteration | IPA | Final | Medial | Initial | Stand-alone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [ɒ] | — | — | ||||
| or | [eje] | — | — | |||
| [lɒ] | — | — |
Although at first glance they may seem similar, there are many differences in the way the different languages use the alphabets. For example, similar words are written differently in Persian and Arabic, as they are used differently.
The Persian alphabet adds four letters to the Arabic alphabet, [p], [g], [ʧ] (ch – chair), [ʒ] (zh – measure):
| Sound | Shape | Unicode name |
| [p] | پ | pe |
| [ʧ] (ch) | چ | che |
| [ʒ] (zh) | ژ | zhe |
| [g] | گ | gaf |
Former Use
A number of languages have used the Perso-Arabic script before, but have since changed.
The Perso-Arabic script is a writing system that is based on the Arabic alphabet. Originally being used exclusively for the Arabic language, the Arabic script was modified to match the demands of being a writing system for the Persian language, adding four letters: پ [p], چ [ʧ], ژ [ʒ], and گ [g]. Many languages which use the Perso-Arabic script add additional letters. The Perso-Arabic script has been applied, beside the Persian alphabet itself, to the Urdu alphabet, Kurdish Sorani alphabet, Ottoman Turkish alphabet, Balochi alphabet, Punjabi Shahmukhi script, Tatar, Azeri, Tajik-Persian Alphabet and several others.
In order to represent non-Arabic sounds, new letters were created by adding dots, lines, and other shapes to existing letters. For example, the retroflex sounds of Urdu are represented orthographically by adding a small ط above their non-retroflex counterparts: د [d̪] and ڈ [ɖ]. The voiceless retroflex fricative [ʂ] of Pashto is represented in writing by adding a dot above and below the س [s] letter, resulting in ښ. The close central rounded vowel [ʉ] of Kurdish is written by writing two ﻭ [u], resulting in ﻭﻭ.
The Perso-Arabic script is exclusively written cursively. That is, the majority of letters in a word connect to each other. This is also implemented on computers. Whenever the Perso-Arabic script is typed, the computer connects the letters to each other. Unconnected letters are not widely accepted.
There are many Arabic-derived alphabets which were not influenced by the Perso-Arabic script, including Jawi (used for Malay), Sorabe (Malagasy), and many alphabets used in Northern Africa. These alphabets used other innovations for writing such common sounds as [p] and [g], instead of the Perso-Arabic letters پ and گ, although the Jawi script does use the same symbol for [ʧ] (چ ).
A characteristic feature of this script, possibly tracing back to Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, is that vowels are underrepresented. For example, in Classical Arabic, of the six vowels, the three short ones are normally omitted entirely (except in the Qur`aan), while the three long ones are represented ambiguously by certain consonants. Only Kashmiri, Uyghur and Kurdish, of the many languages using adaptations of this script, regularly indicate all vowels.
| Name | Transliteration | IPA | Final | Medial | Initial | Isolated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| / / / / | various, including [ɒ] | * | ﺍ | |||
| [b] | ||||||
| [p] | ||||||
| [t] | ||||||
| [s] | ||||||
| [ʤ] | ||||||
| / / | [ʧ] | |||||
| [h] | ||||||
| / | [x] | |||||
| [d] | ||||||
| [z] | ||||||
| [ɾ] | ||||||
| [z] | ||||||
| / | [ʒ] | |||||
| [s] | ||||||
| / | [ʃ] | |||||
| [s] | ||||||
| [z] | ||||||
| [t] | ||||||
| [z] | ||||||
| / | [ʔ] | |||||
| / | [ɣ] / [ɢ] | |||||
| [f] | ||||||
| / | [q] / [ɢ] | |||||
| [k] | ||||||
| [g] | ||||||
| [l] | ||||||
| [m] | ||||||
| [n] | ||||||
| / / | [v] / [u] | |||||
| [h] | ||||||
| , | [j] , [i] |
There are seven letters in the Persian alphabet that do not connect to other letters like the rest of the letters in the alphabet. These seven letters do not have initial or medial forms but the solo and the final forms are used instead because they do not allow for a connection to be made on the left hand side to the other letters in the word. For example when the letter alef is at the beginning of a word such as اینجا "injā" (here), the initial form of alef is used. Or in the case of اِمروز "emruz" (today) the letter re uses the final form and the letter vāv uses the initial form although they are in the middle of the word.
The following are not actual letters, but rather different orthographical shapes for letters, and in the case of the , a ligature. As to hamze, it has only a single graphic, since it is never tied to a preceding or following letter. However, it is sometimes 'seated' on a vāv, ye or alef, and in that case the seat behaves like an ordinary vāv, ye or alef respectively. Technically, hamze is not a letter, but a diacritic.
| Name | Transliteration | IPA | Final | Medial | Initial | Stand-alone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [ɒ] | — | — | ||||
| or | [eje] | — | — | |||
| [lɒ] | — | — |
Although at first glance they may seem similar, there are many differences in the way the different languages use the alphabets. For example, similar words are written differently in Persian and Arabic, as they are used differently.
The Persian alphabet adds four letters to the Arabic alphabet, [p], [g], [ʧ] (ch – chair), [ʒ] (zh – measure):
| Sound | Shape | Unicode name |
| [p] | پ | pe |
| [ʧ] (ch) | چ | che |
| [ʒ] (zh) | ژ | zhe |
| [g] | گ | gaf |
Former Use
A number of languages have used the Perso-Arabic script before, but have since changed.
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