Linguistics
Dari: linguistics
Dari sounds, pronunciation, grammar and core vocabulary.
دری
01Pronunciation
Each letter with its usual sound.
Persian alphabet
| Letter | Romanisation | Sound (IPA) | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | ā / not written | ɒː, ʔ | Awaiting licence review |
| ب | b | b | Awaiting licence review |
| پ | p | p | Awaiting licence review |
| ت | t | t | Awaiting licence review |
| ث | s | s | Awaiting licence review |
| ج | j | d͡ʒ | Awaiting licence review |
| چ | ch | t͡ʃ | Awaiting licence review |
| ح | ḥ | h | Awaiting licence review |
| خ | kh | x | Awaiting licence review |
| د | d | d | Awaiting licence review |
| ذ | z | z | Awaiting licence review |
| ر | r | ɾ | Awaiting licence review |
| ز | z | z | Awaiting licence review |
| ژ | zh | ʒ | Awaiting licence review |
| س | s | s | Awaiting licence review |
| ش | sh | ʃ | Awaiting licence review |
| ص | ṣ | s | Awaiting licence review |
| ض | z̤ | z | Awaiting licence review |
| ط | ṭ | t | Awaiting licence review |
| ظ | ẓ | z | Awaiting licence review |
| ع | ‘ | ʔ | Awaiting licence review |
| غ | gh | ɣ, ɢ | Awaiting licence review |
| ف | f | f | Awaiting licence review |
| ق | q | ɢ, ɣ | Awaiting licence review |
| ک | k | k | Awaiting licence review |
| گ | g | ɡ | Awaiting licence review |
| ل | l | l | Awaiting licence review |
| م | m | m | Awaiting licence review |
| ن | n | n | Awaiting licence review |
| و | v / ū / aw | v, uː, ow | Awaiting licence review |
| ه | h | h | Awaiting licence review |
| ی | y / ī / ay | j, iː, ej | Awaiting licence review |
| آ | ā | ɒː | Awaiting licence review |
| ء | ʼ | ʔ | Awaiting licence review |
Sound values are a teaching guide for the standard language, labelled to verify. Dialects differ. To verify
Sources Wikimedia Commons: pronunciation recordings, each under its own open licence. (2026) To verify
02Core words compared
Ten everyday words across the languages of the region.
| Meaning | Persian | Kurmanji | Sorani | Zazaki | Balochi | Azerbaijani | Armenian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| water | آبāb | av | ئاوaw | awe | āp | su | ջուրjur |
| bread | نانnān | nan | نانnan | nan | nān | çörək | հացhatsʻ |
| mother | مادرmādar | dê | دایکdayk | maye | māt | ana | մայրmayr |
| father | پدرpedar | bav | باوکbawk | pî | pit | ata | հայրhayr |
| house | خانهkhāne | mal | ماڵmał | keye | lōg | ev | տունtun |
| night | شبshab | şev | شەوşew | şewe | shap | gecə | գիշերgisher |
| two | دوdo | du | دووdû | di | do | iki | երկուerku |
| three | سهse | sê | سێsê | hîrê | sē | üç | երեքerekʻ |
| eye | چشمcheshm | çav | چاوçaw | çim | chamm | göz | աչքachkʻ |
| name | نامnām | nav | ناوnaw | name | nām | ad | անունanun |
Persian, Kurdish, Zazaki and Balochi are Iranian languages, and many of their core words are related. Azerbaijani is Turkic and Armenian is its own branch of Indo-European, so their words differ. To verify
Sources Steingass. A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary. Routledge and K. Paul. Digital edition: Digital Dictionaries of South Asia, University of Chicago. (1892) Verified; Chyet. Kurdish-English Dictionary. Yale University Press. (2003) To verify; Wahby and Edmonds. A Kurdish-English Dictionary. Clarendon Press. (1966) To verify; Paul. Zazaki: Grammatik und Versuch einer Dialektologie. Reichert. (1998) To verify; Jahani and Korn. Balochi. In Windfuhr (ed.), The Iranian Languages. (2009) To verify; Johanson and Csató (eds.). The Turkic Languages. Routledge. (1998) To verify; Dum-Tragut. Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian. John Benjamins. (2009) To verify
03Sources
Verified Public domain. The digital edition was reachable on 2026-10-23.
Chyet. Kurdish-English Dictionary. Yale University Press. 2003
To verify
Wahby and Edmonds. A Kurdish-English Dictionary. Clarendon Press. 1966
To verify
Paul. Zazaki: Grammatik und Versuch einer Dialektologie. Reichert. 1998
To verify
Jahani and Korn. Balochi. In Windfuhr (ed.), The Iranian Languages. 2009
To verify
Johanson and Csató (eds.). The Turkic Languages. Routledge. 1998
To verify
Dum-Tragut. Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian. John Benjamins. 2009
To verify
Cite this page
- APA
Iranian Diaspora Cooperation & Development Council. (2026). Dari: Linguistics. iranians.global. https://iranians.global/language/languages/prs/linguistics/
- Chicago
Iranian Diaspora Cooperation & Development Council. 2026. “Dari: Linguistics.” iranians.global. https://iranians.global/language/languages/prs/linguistics/.
- BibTeX
@misc{idcdc2026_language_languages_prs_linguistics, author = {{Iranian Diaspora Cooperation \& Development Council}}, year = {2026}, note = {Licence: CC BY 4.0}, title = {Dari: Linguistics}, url = {https://iranians.global/language/languages/prs/linguistics/}, howpublished = {https://iranians.global/language/languages/prs/linguistics/}, }- RIS
TY - ELEC AU - Iranian Diaspora Cooperation & Development Council DA - 2026/// PY - 2026 ID - idcdc2026_language_l N1 - Licence: CC BY 4.0 TI - Dari: Linguistics UR - https://iranians.global/language/languages/prs/linguistics/ ER -
04Research and sources
Recent and relevant work on this page’s subject, from approved open scholarly sources. Metadata and links only. Titles stay as published. Not yet reviewed.
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THE DARI LANGUAGE AND WORD FORMATION ISSUES IN IRANIAN STUDIES
Alimova Kh.Z. · 2024 · Zenodo
ArticleDataCiteZenodoOpenAIREOpen accessCC-BY-4.0
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Adam Baker · 2016 · Journal of the International Phonetic Association
ArticleOpenAlexCrossrefOpen access
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Jawid Ahmad Baktash, Mursal Dawodi, Nadira Ahmadi · 2026 · arXiv
PreprintarXivOpen access
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The Expansion, Popularity and Status of Dari Persian Language In India
null Sayed Jan Sateh, null Ghulam Reza Safdari · 2024 · Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Studies
ArticleOpenAIREOpen access
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Meri Fuji Siahaan · 2023 · Diligentia: Journal of Theology and Christian Education
ArticleDOAJOpen access
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Theoretical Perspectives on the Genesis of the Dari Language
Uktamova Khilola, Nishanbayeva Aziza · 2023 · Proceedings of the 2nd Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies
ArticleCrossref
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4. Persian, Farsi, Dari, Tajiki: Language Names and Language Policies
Brian Spooner · 2012 · BRILL eBooks
ChapterOpenAlexCrossrefOpen access
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DERIVATIONAL WORD FORMATION IN THE DARI LANGUAGE: AFFIXATION AS A PRIMARY MECHANISM
Uktamova Khilolaxon Azamat qizi · 2025 · Zenodo
ArticleDataCiteZenodoOpen accessCC-BY-4.0
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Ghezal Ahmad Jan Zia · 2020 · Technische Universität Berlin
OtherDataCite
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Seyed Isa Mousavi, Mohammad Amin Nasseh, Akram Korani · 2026 · Treasury of Persian Language and Literature
ArticleCrossref
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A Comparative Study of Dari Persian and English Language Consonant Sounds
Mahmood Usmanyar · 2022 · Journal of Language Teaching and Research
ArticleCrossrefOpenAIREOpen access
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Climatic Changes and Its Role in the Formation of Literary Styles of Dari Language and Literature
Moutasimbillah Omed, Mohammad Fida Alakozay, Sunatullah Noori · 2024 · Nangarhar University International Journal of Biosciences
ArticleOpenAIRE
Sources, licences and fetch dates: arXiv (Metadata CC0 1.0; papers under their own licences), 2026-10-23; Crossref (Metadata facts, any use; abstracts may be publisher-owned and are never shown), 2026-10-23; DataCite (CC0 1.0 (DataCite metadata)), 2026-10-23; DOAJ (Metadata CC0 1.0 (DOAJ); articles under their own open licences), 2026-10-23; OpenAIRE (CC BY 4.0 (OpenAIRE Graph)), 2026-10-23; OpenAlex (CC0-1.0 data; metered API (free key)), 2026-10-23; Zenodo (Metadata CC0 1.0; each record under its own licence), 2026-10-23.