Persian: Long ē sound in Dari

Jamal31

Banned
American English
Hello,

I was wondering if the vowel ē in Dari only occurs in Persian native words, or also in Arabic words? Additionally, does it appear in other foreign language words?
 
  • Hi. Do you mean 'ee' as in 'peel'? It happens in Arabic words too. Examples: kasseef (dirty), badeel (alternative), areez (broad).
     
    For example, in Persian Farsi and Arabic these the the long 'i' sound which occurs when a Yeh comes after a Kasreh and doesn't have a vowel itself, i.e. ـِي and sounds like the 'i' in 'machine'. In Afghan Farsi though, as well as older Farsi, there is a long 'e' sound, which sounds like the 'ee' in the word 'eel'. So for example, instead of 'Iran' in Persian Farsi, some Afghans pronounce it as 'Eran'.
     
    [ē] doesn't appears in Arabic words but I'm not sure of Russian and English loans. By the way, I think among the main formal Persian dialects only Tajik has retained [ē]. Dari has also lost it.
     
    [ē] doesn't appears in Arabic words but I'm not sure of Russian and English loans. By the way, I think among the main formal Persian dialects only Tajik has retained [ē]. Dari has also lost it.

    Most Persian dialects in Afghanistan (except in the West of the country, e.g. Herat), and also formal Persian as spoken by educated Afghans, distinguish clearly between historic /ī/ and historic /ē/. Afghans are very disapproving of the fact that Persians do not (supposedly) know the difference between “milk” (šīr) and “lion” (šēr).
     
    Back
    Top