How to Write Farsi
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The letters alif, be, pe, te, and se
The first five letters in the alphabet are "alif, be, pe, te," and "se." Farsi is written in a modified version of Arabic known as "Perso-Arabic script." It is written in the opposite way of English: Words are written from the right side of the page to the left. Take out your pen and draw a vertical line. You have just drawn an "alif." The letter "alif" is one of several in Persian that does not connect to a following letter. That does not mean that the letter cannot appear in the middle of a word, but does mean that it looks the same in the middle of a word as it would at the end. If a letter follows an "alif," the letter will take on the first letter form.
For the letters "be," "pe," "te," and "se," the basic form of the letter is the same. This is analogous to the lower case letter 'L" in English, which with the simple addition of some lines or dots can make it an "i", a "t", an "x", a "b", "p", and so on. The letter looks fairly similar at the beginning or middle of a word. They begin with a very short tic upwards, with varying amounts of dots under or above. "Be" has one dot below, "pe" has three below, "te" has two above and "se" has three above. When these letters are at the end of the word, use a similarly small tic upwards to finish the letter. - 2
Two dots can appear as a line, three as a carrot
The letters with two dots can be written an alternate way, with a short line (--) over the letter instead of two dots, as indicated to the side of the graph. The letters with three dots over can be written with a small (^) over the letter instead of the dots. - 3
The letters jim, che, He and xe
The next four letters of the alphabet are "jim," "che," "He" and "xe." Again, these four letters are the same basic shape with varying amounts of dots. This shape looks radically different depending on where it is in the word. As the first letter, it begins with a very short upwards stroke, continued by a longer downwards stroke going to the right, then flattening out to remain along the line to connect to the next letter. As a middle letter, it is written in much the same way, but without the beginning tic upwards. If you like, you could include the downwards tic for a more artistic flare. It is correct, but more difficult to execute, so sticking with the simplified version might be easier in the beginning. This is a difficult letter because of the shape: It moves the word downwards the length of the letter, so if you are writing a word with it, you may want to either begin your word well above the line, or just adjust where you consider the line to be. For both the middle and the first, the "jim" will have a dot below, the "che" will have a dot above, the "He" will have no dot and the "xe" will have one dot above.
As an end letter, the letter starts by sloping upwards from the line, then making a sharp pointed turn to go back to the line. At the line, your pen will turn back around to make a circle that ends up finishing nearly - or past - where the letter initially began. Aim to have about a third of the letter above the line and the rest of it below the line. The end letters will have the same number and configuration of dots, but this time the dots below will appear in the circle: jim will have one dot and che will have three. - 4
The letters dal, zal, re, ze and zhe
Letters "dal" and "zal," like the letter "alif," do not connect to a following letter. They look quite similar to the "be," "pe," "te," "se," and "she" letters, but with a much more pronounced beginning that proceeds right before turning left. They have a very small tic upwards at the end of the letter and sit completely above the line. When completed, they should look similar to a backwards, slightly rotated letter "c." The letter "zal" has one dot above it.
Letters "re," "ze" and "zhe" are another set of letters that are made out of the same basic shape. Like "alif," "dal" and "zal," they do not connect to following letters. They could be mistaken for "dal" and "zal," but they are written almost completely below the line, with only a third to quarter of the letter above it for the beginning. As an end letter, they are most easily written very similarly to how we woldl write a lower case "j" in English, but with a shorter stem. The letter "re" has no dots, "ze" has one, and "zhe" has three. - 5
The letters sin, shin, ta and za
"Sin" and "shin" are based on another similar shape. Of the letters you have practiced so far, this letter is closest to the letters "be," "pe", "te" and "se." The main difference between "sin" and "shin" are that they have two tics upwards instead of just one. As an end letter, they also take an extra large loop after the letter that should dip well below the line, finishing right back up with the original two tics. There is a variation for this letter that is quite confusing if you do not know it: It can be written as a long line, or, if at the end of the word, a long line with the loop at the end, as drawn off to the right. The letter "shin" has three dots above it. Note that there is a variation to "sin" and "shin" where each letter can be drawn, instead of with the tics, as a very long line running along the bottom of the writing space. This line must be long enough that it is clear this is an independent letter.
When you use "sad" and "zad" as an initial letter, begin slightly below the line, drawing an oval shape going towards the right and ending to the left of the beginning stroke. To finish the letter, you make a slight tic upwards and continue on to the other letter. When it is connected to two other letters, you bring the stroke leftwards along the line, go in an upwards oval shape to the right and end the oval. Continue that line on for another millimeter or so and make a slight tic upwards, then connect it to the next letter. When they are at the end of the word, instead of continuing the tic upwards to another letter, you will continue the letter in a large semi-circle loop, finally ending it on the line as you began. For the letter "zad," you simply draw a dot on top of the letter.
For the letters "ta" and "za," you write it the same way as for "sin" and "zad"--except there is no tic upwards after the letter. Instead, you continue on after the oval to the next letter. After you have finished writing the word, draw a line downwards to connect to the oval, making the letter look similar to a "b" in English. As before, the only difference between "ta" and "za" is that "za" has one dot over it. - 6
The letters 'ain, gain, fe and qaf
The next letters of the alphabet are "ain," "gain," "fe" and "qaf." "Ain" and "gain" are from the same basic shape, which at the beginning of a word looks like similar to a '"C" in English. Starting from halfway through your line, draw a "c," then bring the line at the bottom to the left, which is where your next letter will start. When the letter is in the middle of the word, start from the line, bring your pen in an upwards line slanting to the left, then bring it parallel to the line for a few millimeters, then bring your pen in a downwards motion back to the line. At the end of the word, instead of continuing on to the next letter after the downwards slope, bring the letter in a large loop beneath the line.
For the letters "fe" and "qaf," beginning the word, they start with a small straight line starting midway through the line and going to the left. Then, bring your pen upwards and to the right to continue the letter, then in a straight line back to the original line. They should end up looking fairly close to a backwards letter '"e," with a little notch at the beginning. When in the middle of the word, merely draw a tight oval and continue on to the next letter. At the end of the word, instead of stopping the letter at the line, you will continue to draw it below the line and loop it back around, similar to how the lines for "sad" and "zad" looked. "Fe" has one dot above it and "qaf" has two dots. - 7
The next letters are "kaf," "gaf," "lam," "mum" and "nun." There are two ways to write "kaf" and "gaf" at the beginning of a word: The first is to write it like the letters "dal" or "zal" and go back at the end of the word to add the diagonal line (or lines, for "gaf"). The other way is to begin the letter well above the line, drawing a diagonal downwards to the left and when you are about a third of the way above the line, shifting the line back to the right in a circular shape. The letter should then circle quickly back to the line and continue along the line to the left, where it will connect to the next letter. In the middle of the word, both letters are performed similarly to the letters "dal" and "zal"--coming from the left, draw a sharp diagonal upwards. Then, reverse back down to draw a semi-circle that will connect to the next letter (unlike "dal" and "zal"). If the letter is at the end of the word, simply draw a small tic at the end of the letter. "Kaf" should have one line connecting to the circular portion of the word, while "gaf" will have one line connecting to the rest of the letter and one line suspended above the first.
Lam looks very similar to alif and is by far the easiest letter to make. At the beginning of the word, draw a downwards stroke that rests on the line, then continue along the line to the next letter. That is a lam! In the middle of the word, draw an upwards stroke, continue downwards on the already drawn stroke, then continue along the line for a millimeter or so and connect to the next letter. At the end of the word, after the downwards stroke, bring your pen to below the line to finish off the letter with a large leftwards facing loop.
Mim looks like a very tiny 'o'. At the beginning of the word, just draw a very small circle by starting right above the line and moving in a counter-clockwise direction. At the end of the very small circle, you will continue the letter along the line to the next letter. In the middle of the word, start moving the line of writing up very slightly before the letter, and draw a small counter-clockwise circle resting on the line. At the end of the word, instead of continuing along the line, you will bring the letter into a straight line going well below the line you are writing on.
Nun looks quite similar to the letters be, pe, te and se. It begins with a very short tic drawn downwards to the line, then continuing along the line. In the middle of the word, there is simply the small tic upwards. At the end of the word, a more dramatic circle is drawn and should look similar to the ending in sin. It is important that the letter be complete - that is, the end of the half-circle must end above the line. Nun has one dot above it. - 8
Vav and ye
"Vav" is the next letter of the alphabet and is drawn similarly to "qaf" and "fe." However, "vav" does not connect to the letters following it. It starts a small straight line that can start midway through your writing space or along the line, whichever you prefer. Then, bring your pen upwards and to the right to continue the letter, then in a straight line past the original starting point and end with a slight loop opening to the left well below the line. It should also end up looking fairly close to a backwards letter "e," with a little notch at the beginning. Draw it the same way when it is in the middle or end of the word, since it does not connect to a following letter.
"He" is a difficult letter, only because it takes on so many different shapes. At the beginning of a word, it looks just like a "jim" but with a mum mixed in. That is, after the letter continues on the line and under the above loop, it has a small circle similar to a mum shape within. The letter should then continue along the line to connect to the next letter. In the middle of the word, there are two variations for how to draw "he." One is to just draw a small sloping downwards tic slightly below the line, then a vertical line ending at the line and continuing along the line to the next letter. The other variation is to begin the letter with a small oval shape going below the line counterclockwise, then continuing above the line to draw a clockwise oval. At the end, it should look similar to a figure 8 or the infinity sign. At the end of the word, it is drawn by going upwards from the line and drawing a shape continuing to the left, then downwards and ending up looking like a backwards letter "p." "Ye" is the final letter of the alphabet. At the beginning and middle of the word, it has the same basic shape as the "be," "pe," etc described above, but has two dots under the tic. At the end of the word, "ye" is a trick letter. It begins with an left-going upwards sloping line, curving back around to be going to the right, hitting the line and instantly curving back to a large loop going leftwards, and ending with an upwards stroke that ends at the line. When the letter is at the end of the word, the dots are not necessary.
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