The Laki Alphabet

Q: How many letters does the Laki alphabet have?

The Laki alphabet has 32 letters , all derived from the Perso-Arabic script . The 32 letters include the 28 Arabic letters plus 4 letters unique to Persian and Dari: پ (pe, /p/), چ (che, /tʃ/), ژ (zhe, /ʒ/), and گ (gaf, /g/). Short vowels are generally not written but can be indicated with optional diacritical marks called harakat.

Q: Where is Laki spoken?

Laki is spoken primarily in Lorestan Province , Ilam Province , and Kermanshah Province in western Iran. The language is spoken by the Lak people , who inhabit the central Zagros mountain range. With an estimated 700,000–1,000,000 speakers , Laki is a vulnerable but living Western Iranian language. The Lak people have historically practised a semi-nomadic pastoral lifestyle in the Zagros highlands, though many communities are now sedentary. Laki speakers are also found in diaspora communities in major Iranian cities.

Q: How is Laki classified among Iranian languages?

Laki's classification within the Iranian language family remains debated among linguists . Some scholars classify it as a Northwest Iranian language, closely related to Southern Kurdish (the Sorani and Kurmanji dialects spoken to the north and west). Others group it with Luri and treat it as transitional between Southwest and Northwest Iranian. A third view sees Laki as a distinct branch warranting separate status. What is clear is that Laki preserves a number of archaic Iranian features — including complex verb morphology and phonological patterns — that have been simplified or lost in standard Persian.

Q: Is Laki related to Luri?

Laki and Luri share significant similarities and are geographically adjacent — both are spoken in western Iran's Zagros mountain region. However, they are considered distinct languages rather than dialects of the same tongue. The key differences lie in their phonology, verb systems, and vocabulary. Laki shows stronger affinities with Southern Kurdish (particularly Faili Kurdish) than Luri does, suggesting a different genealogical trajectory despite geographic proximity. Both languages have been influenced by Persian and share a substantial portion of Persian-origin loanwords. Laki speakers and Luri speakers can communicate with some difficulty but do not regard their languages as mutually intelligible.

Q: Is the Laki script read from right to left?

Yes. Like all Perso-Arabic scripts , Laki is written and read from right to left . Each letter in the alphabet connects to adjacent letters within a word (cursive), and most letters change shape depending on their position — initial, medial, final, or isolated form. The only exception to the right-to-left direction is numerals , which are written left to right even within otherwise RTL text. The script belongs to the Arabic Unicode Block (U+0600–U+06FF).

Laki Alphabet at a Glance

32 letters written right to left using the Perso-Arabic script
Laki is a Western Iranian language spoken by approximately 700,000–1,000,000 people in Lorestan, Ilam, and Kermanshah provinces, western Iran ^[1]
Uses the Perso-Arabic script, written in Naskh and Nastaliq calligraphic styles ^[2]
A vulnerable Western Iranian language spoken by the Lak people of the central Zagros mountain region ^[3]
Laki's classification is debated — some linguists treat it as Northwest Iranian (related to Southern Kurdish), while others group it closer to Luri; it preserves archaic Iranian features distinct from standard Persian ^[4]
Includes 4 letters unique to Persian/Dari script, not found in Arabic: پ (pe), چ (che), ژ (zhe), and گ (gaf)
6 vowel diacritics (harakat): fatha, kasra, damma, shadda, sukun, and tanwin fath

Laki Consonant Letters

The Laki alphabet contains 32 consonant letters based on the Perso-Arabic script. This includes the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet plus 4 letters unique to Persian/Dari: پ (pe /p/), چ (che /tʃ/), ژ (zhe /ʒ/), and گ (gaf /g/). Laki is a Western Iranian language of the central Zagros mountains, preserving archaic features shared with both Luri and Kurdish. Each letter changes shape depending on its position within a word — initial, medial, final, or isolated.

Laki Consonants

[BEH]

[PEH]

[TEH]

[SEH]

[JIM]

[CHEH]

[HEH]

[KHEH]

[DAL]

[ZAL]

[REH]

[ZEH]

[ZHEH]

[SIN]

[SHIN]

[SAD]

[ZAD]

[TAH]

[ZAH]

[AIN]

[GHAIN]

[FEH]

[QAHF]

[KAF]

[GAF]

[LAM]

[MIM]

[NUN]

[VAV]

[HEH]

[YEH]

[HAMZA]

[BEH]

Voiced bilabial stop /b/, like "b" in "bed". One of the base letters of the Perso-Arabic abjad. In Laki, /b/ appears in native Western Iranian vocabulary inherited from Old Iranian and in loanwords from Persian and Arabic absorbed through centuries of contact.

[PEH]

Voiceless bilabial stop /p/, like "p" in "pen". One of the four letters unique to the Persian/Dari script not found in classical Arabic. In Laki, /p/ is common in native vocabulary, reflecting the language's Iranian heritage distinct from Arabic.

[TEH]

Voiceless alveolar stop /t/, like "t" in "top". In Laki, both ت and ط are pronounced as plain /t/. Very common in Laki verb conjugation and nominal morphology, preserving Western Iranian features shared with Luri and Kurdish.

[SEH]

Pronounced as /s/ in Laki, identical to س. In Classical Arabic ث represents /θ/, but Laki — like all Iranian languages — pronounces this as the alveolar fricative /s/. Retained in the spelling of Arabic loanwords used in formal or religious registers.

[JIM]

Voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/, like "j" in "jump". Appears in both native Laki vocabulary and Arabic/Persian loanwords. Laki preserves this affricate robustly across its Zagros dialect area.

[CHEH]

Voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/, like "ch" in "church". One of the four letters unique to Iranian-based scripts. Common in native Laki vocabulary, reflecting the language's position within the Iranian language family.

[HEH]

Historically a pharyngeal fricative /ħ/ in Arabic; in Laki (as in Persian) it is realised as the glottal fricative /h/. Found primarily in Arabic loanwords integrated into the Laki lexicon.

[KHEH]

Voiceless velar fricative /x/, like "ch" in Scottish "loch". Very common in Laki, occurring in native words and loanwords. A distinctive sound of the Zagros mountain dialects and Iranian languages generally.

[DAL]

Voiced dental/alveolar stop /d/, like "d" in "door". Ubiquitous in Laki vocabulary. Connects native Laki roots to their shared Western Iranian etymology, with cognates across the related Luri and Kurdish languages.

[ZAL]

Historically the Arabic interdental /ð/; in Laki merges with /z/, identical to ز. Appears in Arabic loanwords integrated into Laki and is found in formal religious and written registers.

[REH]

Voiced alveolar trill or tap /r/. Fundamental to Laki phonology. The Laki /r/ can be strongly trilled in emphatic or traditional speech, a feature preserved in the rural Zagros communities.

[ZEH]

Voiced alveolar fricative /z/, like "z" in "zebra". The primary /z/ letter in Laki. Appears in native Laki words and loanwords. In speech, merges with ذ, ض, and ظ.

[ZHEH]

Voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/, like "s" in "measure". One of the four letters unique to Iranian-based scripts. Appears in native Laki vocabulary and related Zagros-area languages.

[SIN]

Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/, like "s" in "sun". The primary /s/ letter in Laki. Merges with ث and ص in spoken Laki pronunciation, as in Persian and other Iranian languages.

[SHIN]

Voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, like "sh" in "ship". Common in both native Laki vocabulary and Persian/Arabic loanwords. A phonologically stable consonant across the Laki dialect continuum.

[SAD]

Arabic emphatic /sˤ/; in Laki merges with plain /s/. Used in Arabic loanwords. The emphatic quality distinguishing ص from س in Arabic is not preserved in Laki speech.

[ZAD]

Arabic emphatic /dˤ/ or /zˤ/; in Laki realised as /z/. Appears in Arabic loanwords absorbed into Laki via Persian. Phonemically identical to ز in spoken Laki.

[TAH]

Arabic emphatic /tˤ/; in Laki merges with plain /t/. Found in Arabic loanwords. Not phonemically distinct from ت in Laki, though retained in spelling for etymological clarity.

[ZAH]

Arabic emphatic /ðˤ/; in Laki merges with /z/. Appears in formal Arabic loanwords. Phonemically identical to ز in Laki, as in Persian and other Iranian languages.

[AIN]

The Arabic pharyngeal fricative /ʕ/; in Laki (as in Persian) realised as a glottal stop /ʔ/ or a vowel onset. Occurs in Arabic loanwords and distinguishes Laki's Arabic-derived layer from its native Iranian vocabulary.

[GHAIN]

Voiced velar or uvular fricative /ɣ/. Occurs in both native Laki vocabulary and Arabic/Persian loanwords. Phonemically active in Laki, distinguishing it from its Arabic homograph ع in both sound and script.

[FEH]

Voiceless labiodental fricative /f/, like "f" in "fan". Appears primarily in Persian and Arabic loanwords in Laki. Some native Laki words also contain /f/, reflecting the language's Western Iranian heritage.

[QAHF]

Voiceless uvular stop /q/ in classical Arabic; in Laki varies by dialect — some speakers maintain /q/, others merge it with /ɣ/ (the velar fricative). Found in Arabic and Persian loanwords across the Laki dialect area.

[KAF]

Voiceless velar stop /k/, like "k" in "key". One of the most common consonants in Laki. Present in native roots and loanwords across all word positions, connecting Laki to its Western Iranian family.

[GAF]

Voiced velar stop /ɡ/, like "g" in "go". One of the four letters unique to Iranian-based scripts. Very common in native Laki words, reflecting the language's Iranian character and distinguishing it from Arabic.

[LAM]

Voiced alveolar lateral approximant /l/. The name "Laki" and "Lak" both begin with this consonant. Fundamental to the language's sound system and morphology.

[MIM]

Voiced bilabial nasal /m/, like "m" in "mother". Very frequent in Laki vocabulary. Found in native words, Persian loanwords, and Arabic loanwords absorbed into the Laki lexicon.

[NUN]

Voiced alveolar nasal /n/, like "n" in "no". Essential to Laki morphology, appearing in verb endings and grammatical suffixes characteristic of the Zagros Iranian languages, including Luri and Kurdish.

[VAV]

Functions as consonant /v/ or /w/ and as long vowel /uː/ or /o/ in Laki. The bilabial /w/ is more prominent in traditional Laki speech than in Persian. Also used as a conjunction meaning "and" in written Laki.

[HEH]

Voiceless glottal fricative /h/, like "h" in "hat". Appears word-initially and word-medially in Laki. Also serves as a word-final vowel marker (silent ه) in written form, indicating a preceding /a/ or /e/ vowel.

[YEH]

Functions as consonant /j/ (like "y" in "yes") and as long vowel /iː/ or /e/ in Laki. Essential to Laki morphology, appearing in demonstratives and verb paradigms across the Western Iranian language family.

[HAMZA]

Glottal stop marker /ʔ/. Used in Arabic loanwords in Laki. Laki-origin words generally do not feature the standalone hamza, which appears mainly in the formal written layer of Arabic-derived vocabulary.

Laki Vowel Diacritics

[FAT-ha]

[KAS-ra]

[DAM-ma]

[SHAD-da]

[tan-WIN]

[SOO-kun]

[FAT-ha]

Short open vowel /a/ or /æ/. In Laki, this often corresponds to the front vowel /æ/ as in many Western Iranian languages. Used in formal and religious texts to indicate the short /a/ sound above a consonant.

[KAS-ra]

Short front vowel /e/ or /i/. In Laki typically realised as /e/ or short /i/, placed beneath a consonant. Written Laki religious and literary texts employ kasra for disambiguation in learner or classical contexts.

[DAM-ma]

Short back rounded vowel /o/ or /u/. In Laki typically /o/ or short /u/, written above a consonant. Used in vowelised Laki texts and Quranic recitation contexts among Laki-speaking Muslim communities.

[SHAD-da]

Consonant gemination marker. Written above a consonant to indicate it is doubled (prolonged). Appears in Arabic loanwords used in Laki where consonant length is phonemically significant in the source Arabic word.

[tan-WIN]

Arabic nunation ending /-an/. Preserved in some Arabic adverbs and formal phrases used in Laki religious and literary contexts. Represents a word-final /-an/ nasal vowel typical of Arabic formal grammar.

[SOO-kun]

Marks the absence of a vowel after a consonant. Appears in fully vowelised Laki texts and Quranic passages recited by Laki-speaking communities. Signals that a consonant is not followed by any short vowel.

The first letter of the Laki alphabet. Functions as a long vowel carrier and consonant. In initial position, carries the vowel /æ/ or /ɑ/.

Second letter. Voiced bilabial stop /b/. Fundamental to Laki native vocabulary and loanwords.

Third letter — an Iranian addition absent from Arabic. Voiceless bilabial stop /p/. Common in native Laki roots.

Fourth letter. Voiceless alveolar stop /t/. Occurs in native Laki words and loanwords from Persian and Arabic.

Fifth letter. Historically Arabic /θ/, realised as /s/ in Laki. Used in Arabic loanwords.

Sixth letter. Voiced affricate /dʒ/. Common in Laki native vocabulary, especially in the Lorestan dialects.

Seventh letter — Iranian addition. Voiceless affricate /tʃ/. Prevalent in native Laki words from the Zagros region.

Eighth letter. Arabic pharyngeal realised as /h/ in Laki. Used in Arabic loanwords.

Ninth letter. Voiceless velar fricative /x/, very common in Laki speech and characteristic of Zagros languages.

Tenth letter. Voiced alveolar stop /d/. One of the most frequent consonants in Laki vocabulary.

Eleventh letter. Arabic /ð/ merged with /z/ in Laki. Appears in Arabic loanwords.

Twelfth letter. Alveolar trill or tap /r/. Essential to Laki phonology and morphology.

Thirteenth letter. The primary /z/ letter in Laki. Merges with ذ, ض, ظ in speech.

Fourteenth letter. Iranian addition. Voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/ found in Laki and other Zagros Iranian languages.

Fifteenth letter. Primary /s/ in Laki. Merges with ث and ص in speech.

Sixteenth letter. Voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, common in Laki vocabulary.

Seventeenth letter. Arabic emphatic /sˤ/ realised as /s/ in Laki. Used in Arabic loanwords.

Eighteenth letter. Arabic emphatic merged with /z/ in Laki. Appears in Arabic loanwords.

Nineteenth letter. Arabic emphatic /tˤ/ merged with /t/ in Laki. Used in Arabic loanwords.

Twentieth letter. Arabic emphatic merged with /z/ in Laki.

Twenty-first letter. Arabic pharyngeal realised as glottal stop or vowel onset in Laki. Found in Arabic loanwords.

Twenty-second letter. Voiced velar/uvular fricative /ɣ/. Active phoneme in Laki native and borrowed vocabulary.

Twenty-third letter. Labiodental fricative /f/. Appears in Persian and Arabic loanwords in Laki.

Twenty-fourth letter. Uvular stop; dialect variation between /q/ and /ɣ/ in Laki.

Twenty-fifth letter. Voiceless velar stop /k/, one of the most frequent consonants in Laki.

Twenty-sixth letter. Iranian addition. Voiced velar stop /ɡ/, very common in native Laki vocabulary.

Twenty-seventh letter. The name "Laki" itself begins with this consonant. Fundamental to the language.

Twenty-eighth letter. Bilabial nasal /m/. Very frequent in Laki across all word positions.

Twenty-ninth letter. Alveolar nasal /n/. Important in Laki verb endings and grammatical morphology.

Thirtieth letter. Consonant /v/ or /w/ and long vowel /uː/. The bilabial /w/ is characteristic of traditional Laki speech.

Thirty-first letter. Glottal fricative /h/. Used word-initially, word-medially, and as a silent vowel marker word-finally.

Thirty-second letter. Consonant /j/ and long vowel /iː/. Essential to Laki morphology and verbal paradigms.

Laki Digits

[SIF-r]

[YAK]

[DU]

[SE]

[CHA-har]

[PANJ]

[SHESH]

[HAFT]

[HASHT]

[NOH]

[SIF-r]

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for zero. The Laki word sifr is borrowed from Arabic. Used in Laki-language texts alongside standard Persian numerals across the Zagros region.

[YAK]

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for one. The Laki word for "one" is yak, shared with Persian and other Iranian languages, cognate with Avestan aeva and Old Persian aiva.

[DU]

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for two. Laki "two" is du, reflecting the common Western Iranian form, cognate with Persian dو and Avestan dva.

[SE]

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for three. Laki "three" is se, consistent with Persian se and the Luri form, all continuing the ancient Iranian root.

[CHA-har]

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for four. Laki "four" follows the Iranian tʃahar/čahar pattern common across the Zagros region, shared with Persian and Luri.

[PANJ]

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for five. Laki panj continues the ancient Iranian root, cognate with Persian panj and Sanskrit pañca.

[SHESH]

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for six. Laki šeš/shesh continues the Iranian form, related to Avestan xšvaš and cognate with English "six".

[HAFT]

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for seven. Laki haft is the classic Iranian form, cognate with Persian haft, Avestan hapta, and English "seven".

[HASHT]

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for eight. Laki hašt/hasht continues the ancient Iranian root, cognate with Persian هشت and Avestan ašta.

[NOH]

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for nine. Laki noh follows the Southwest-leaning Iranian form also seen in Persian, cognate with Avestan nava and English "nine".

…

The RTL comma used in Laki and Persian texts. Placed after clauses and list items in the same position as a Latin comma but mirrored for right-to-left script.

RTL semicolon used in Laki and Persian writing. Separates related independent clauses in formal written Laki, functioning identically to its Latin equivalent.

RTL question mark used in Laki texts. Mirrors the Latin question mark for right-to-left writing direction, placed at the end of interrogative sentences.

Opening quotation mark in Laki and Persian typography. Used as the opening (right side in RTL) of a quoted passage in formal written Laki.

Closing quotation mark in Laki and Persian typography. Paired with « for quotations in Laki written texts, placed at the end (left side in RTL) of a quote.

…

Ellipsis mark used in modern Laki prose to indicate an omission, a trailing thought, or a pause in narrative.

The Arabic-script percent sign used in Laki-language statistical, commercial, and journalistic texts.

Kashida or tatweel — a horizontal stroke used to extend a letter for typographic alignment or aesthetic purposes in Laki calligraphy and formal print.

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How many letters does the Laki alphabet have?

Where is Laki spoken?

How is Laki classified among Iranian languages?

Is Laki related to Luri?

Is the Laki script read from right to left?

References:

[1] Glottolog 5.1. "Laki [laki1246]". Retrieved from Glottolog: Laki
[2] Unicode Consortium. "Arabic Unicode Block (U+0600-U+06FF)". Retrieved from Unicode Arabic Block
[3] SIL International. "ISO 639-3 Language Code: lki — Laki". Retrieved from SIL ISO 639-3: lki
[4] Encyclopaedia Iranica (Columbia University). "LAKI LANGUAGE". Retrieved from Encyclopaedia Iranica: Laki Language