Page:Persian manual pocket companion 1877.djvu/25

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vowels and orthographical signs.
7


Observation

5. When s and h, or z and h, represent two separate letters following each other, as in اسْهَل as,hal, " more or most easy' and اَزهار az,hār, "plants," a comma will be inserted, as shown in the examples.

At the end of Arabic words ه h is often marked with two dots, thus ة, and sounded like t. In such words the Persians generally convert the ة into ت t; sometimes they leave the ة unaltered, and frequently they omit the two dots, in which case the letter becomes imperceptible in sound.

Vowels and Orthographical Signs.

6. The primitive vowels in Arabic and Persian are three in number.

The first is called فَتْحَه fatḥa, and is written thus , over the consonant to which it belongs. It is represented by the letter a in calendar.

The second is called کَسْرَه kasra, and is written thus , under the consonant to which it belongs. It is represented by the letter i in sip, or fin. In the Roman character it is represented by i unaccented.

The third is ضَمّه ẓamma, which is written thus , over its consonant. Its sound is like that of u in the words pull, push ; or like oo in foot, hood ;