The Barbari Alphabet - Dari Persian Letters, Vowels, Consonants & more

Q: How many letters are in the Barbari (Dari) alphabet?

The Barbari (Dari) alphabet consists of 32 letters [1] . These 32 letters include the 28 standard Arabic letters plus 4 letters unique to Persian script: پ (pe) , چ (che) , ژ (zhe) , and گ (gaf) . These additional letters represent sounds found in Persian/Dari but absent in classical Arabic.

Q: What is the difference between Barbari, Dari, and Persian (Farsi)?

Barbari, Dari, and Persian (Farsi) are closely related varieties of the same language [3] : • Dari (دری) — the Afghan variety, one of Afghanistan's two official languages • Persian/Farsi (فارسی) — the Iranian variety, official language of Iran • Tajik — spoken in Tajikistan, written in Cyrillic script • Barbari — a traditional name used for Dari/Afghan Persian, sometimes referring to specific regional dialects All three varieties have high mutual intelligibility and share the same Perso-Arabic writing system.

Q: Is Barbari written right to left?

Yes! Barbari (Dari) is written from right to left [1] . This is a characteristic of all scripts derived from the Arabic writing tradition. The direction applies to all aspects of Dari text: • Words are written right to left • Lines of text flow from top to bottom, right to left • Books open from right to left Numbers, however, are written left to right even within RTL text (following international conventions).

Q: Why doesn't Dari write vowels?

Dari uses an abjad writing system — a type of alphabet where only consonants are written, and vowels are indicated by context or optional diacritical marks [1] . Short vowels can be shown using harakat (small marks above/below letters): • Fatha (َ) — short /a/ sound • Kasra (ِ) — short /e/ or /i/ sound • Damma (ُ) — short /o/ or /u/ sound In practice, harakat are usually omitted in modern texts. Fluent readers recognize words from their consonantal pattern and context, similar to how English readers might understand "wrd" as "word".

Q: Where is Dari spoken today?

Dari is spoken in several countries: • Afghanistan — official language, spoken by Tajiks, Hazaras, Aimaqs, and many others [2] • Iran — understood by all Persian speakers • Pakistan — by Afghan refugee communities • Tajikistan — closely related to Tajik Persian • Global diaspora — Afghan communities in Europe, North America, and Australia About 50 million people speak Dari as their primary language [2] .

Barbari (Dari) Alphabet at a Glance

32 letters written right to left using Perso-Arabic script ^[1]
One of two official languages of Afghanistan alongside Pashto ^[2]
Spoken by approximately 50 million people in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Tajikistan ^[2]
Dari is the Afghan variant of Persian (Farsi), closely related to Tajik Persian ^[3]
Includes 4 letters unique to Persian script not found in Arabic: پ (pe), چ (che), ژ (zhe), گ (gaf) ^[1]
Vowels are represented by diacritical marks (harakat) rather than separate letters ^[1]
Uses Eastern Arabic-Indic numerals (۰ ۱ ۲ ۳ ۴ ۵ ۶ ۷ ۸ ۹) in traditional writing ^[1]

The Barbari alphabet, used for writing Dari Persian (دری), consists of 32 letters written right to left in Perso-Arabic script ^[1]. Dari is the Afghan variety of Persian and serves as one of two official languages of Afghanistan, alongside Pashto ^[2]. It is spoken by an estimated 50 million people across Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and the diaspora. The Barbari/Dari script is based on the Arabic alphabet with four additional letters unique to Persian: پ (pe), چ (che), ژ (zhe), and گ (gaf).

Unlike Latin or Cyrillic scripts, Dari writing is an abjad — a consonant-based script where short vowels are typically omitted in everyday writing and indicated only by diacritical marks called harakat in religious texts, poetry, and educational materials ^[1]. Dari belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family ^[3], and shares strong mutual intelligibility with Iranian Persian (Farsi) and Tajik Persian.

Barbari Consonant Letters

The Barbari (Dari) Perso-Arabic alphabet consists of 32 letters, all of which are primarily consonants. Four of these letters — پ (pe), چ (che), ژ (zhe), and گ (gaf) — are unique to Persian script and not found in classical Arabic.

Each letter has up to four forms depending on its position in a word: isolated, initial (beginning), medial (middle), and final (end). Letters connect to the following letter in a word, creating the flowing cursive appearance of Persian script.

Barbari Consonants

[alef]

[be]

[pe]

[te]

[se]

[jim]

[che]

[he]

[khe]

[dal]

[zal]

[re]

[ze]

[zhe]

[sin]

[shin]

[sad]

[zad]

[ta]

[za]

[ain]

[ghain]

[fe]

[qaf]

[kaf]

[gaf]

[lam]

[mim]

[nun]

[waw]

[he]

[ye]

[alef]

Alef — represents the glottal stop /ʔ/ or long vowel /ɑː/; the first letter of the Perso-Arabic alphabet

[be]

Be — represents the voiced bilabial plosive /b/, like "b" in "bat"

[pe]

Pe — represents the voiceless bilabial plosive /p/, like "p" in "pen"; unique to Persian script, not in Arabic

[te]

Te — represents the voiceless dental plosive /t/, like "t" in "top"

[se]

Se — represents /s/ in Dari (originally /θ/ in Arabic), like "s" in "sun"

[jim]

Jim — represents the voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/, like "j" in "judge"

[che]

Che — represents the voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/, like "ch" in "church"; unique to Persian script

[he]

He — represents the voiceless pharyngeal fricative /ħ/ in Dari (often pronounced as /h/)

[khe]

Khe — represents the voiceless velar fricative /x/, like "ch" in Scottish "loch"

[dal]

Dal — represents the voiced dental plosive /d/, like "d" in "dog"

[zal]

Zal — represents /z/ in Dari (originally /ð/ in Arabic), like "z" in "zebra"

[re]

Re — represents the alveolar trill or flap /r/, a rolled "r" sound

[ze]

Ze — represents the voiced alveolar fricative /z/, like "z" in "zebra"

[zhe]

Zhe — represents the voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/, like "s" in "measure"; unique to Persian script

[sin]

Sin — represents the voiceless alveolar fricative /s/, like "s" in "sun"

[shin]

Shin — represents the voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, like "sh" in "shop"

[sad]

Sad — represents /s/ in Dari (emphatic /sˤ/ in Arabic), like "s" in "sun"

[zad]

Zad — represents /z/ in Dari (emphatic /dˤ/ in Arabic), like "z" in "zebra"

[ta]

Ta — represents /t/ in Dari (emphatic /tˤ/ in Arabic), like "t" in "top"

[za]

Za — represents /z/ in Dari (emphatic /ðˤ/ in Arabic), like "z" in "zebra"

[ain]

Ain — represents the voiced pharyngeal fricative /ʕ/ (in Dari often realized as a glottal stop /ʔ/)

[ghain]

Ghain — represents the voiced velar fricative /ɣ/, like a gargling "g" sound

[fe]

Fe — represents the voiceless labiodental fricative /f/, like "f" in "fan"

[qaf]

Qaf — represents the voiceless uvular plosive /q/, a deep "k" sound from the throat

[kaf]

Kaf — represents the voiceless velar plosive /k/, like "k" in "kite"

[gaf]

Gaf — represents the voiced velar plosive /g/, like "g" in "go"; unique to Persian script

[lam]

Lam — represents the alveolar lateral approximant /l/, like "l" in "lamp"

[mim]

Mim — represents the bilabial nasal /m/, like "m" in "moon"

[nun]

Nun — represents the alveolar nasal /n/, like "n" in "now"

[waw]

Waw/Vav — represents /w/ or /v/ as a consonant, and long vowel /uː/ or /oː/ as a vowel

[he]

He — represents the voiceless glottal fricative /h/, like "h" in "house"

[ye]

Ye — represents the palatal approximant /j/ as a consonant, and long vowel /iː/ or /eː/ as a vowel

Barbari Vowel Diacritics (Harakat)

Dari does not have separate vowel letters like Latin or Cyrillic scripts. Instead, short vowels are written using small diacritical marks called harakat (حرکات), which are placed above or below consonant letters.

In everyday reading and writing, these marks are typically omitted. Readers familiar with the language determine the correct vowels from context. Harakat are mainly used in the Quran, children's books, dictionaries, and language learning materials.

Barbari Vowel Diacritics (Harakat)

[a]

[e/i]

[o/u]

[double]

[silent]

[an]

Barbari/Dari Numerals (Eastern Arabic)

[sifr]

[yek]

[do]

[se]

[chahar]

[panj]

[shesh]

[haft]

[hasht]

[noh]

[sifr]

Zero (صفر / sifr)

[yek]

One (یک / yek)

[do]

Two (دو / do)

[se]

Three (سه / se)

[chahar]

Four (چهار / chahar)

[panj]

Five (پنج / panj)

[shesh]

Six (شش / shesh)

[haft]

Seven (هفت / haft)

[hasht]

Eight (هشت / hasht)

[noh]

Nine (نه / noh)

–

…

Arabic comma — written right-to-left, used as a sentence separator

Arabic question mark — mirrored version of the Latin question mark

Exclamation mark

Arabic semicolon

Colon

Period (full stop)

Left guillemet (used as opening quotation mark in Dari)

Right guillemet (used as closing quotation mark in Dari)

–

En dash

…

Ellipsis

Complete Barbari Alphabet

[alef]

[be]

[pe]

[te]

[se]

[jim]

[che]

[he]

[khe]

[dal]

[zal]

[re]

[ze]

[zhe]

[sin]

[shin]

[sad]

[zad]

[ta]

[za]

[ain]

[ghain]

[fe]

[qaf]

[kaf]

[gaf]

[lam]

[mim]

[nun]

[waw]

[he]

[ye]

Expand All Collapse All

How many letters are in the Barbari (Dari) alphabet?

What is the difference between Barbari, Dari, and Persian (Farsi)?

Is Barbari written right to left?

Why doesn't Dari write vowels?

Where is Dari spoken today?

References:

[1] Unicode Consortium. "Arabic Unicode Block (U+0600-U+06FF)". Retrieved from Unicode Arabic Block
[2] Eberhard, D.M., Simons, G.F., & Fennig, C.D. (Eds.). "Dari: A Language of Afghanistan". In Ethnologue: Languages of the World. SIL International. Retrieved from https://www.ethnologue.com/language/prs/
[3] Glottolog 5.2. "Dari [prs]". Retrieved from Glottolog: Dari