The Takestani Alphabet

Q: How many letters does the Takestani alphabet have?

The Takestani 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, /ɡ/). Short vowels are generally not written but can be indicated with optional diacritical marks called harakat.

Q: Where is Takestani spoken?

Takestani is spoken in Takestan city and the surrounding villages of Qazvin Province , in northwestern Iran. The language takes its name from the city of Takestan, located on the agricultural plains south of the Alborz mountains. With an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 speakers , Takestani is one of the larger endangered Northwest Iranian language communities. Persian has long been the dominant language in education, government, and urban life in the region, contributing to pressure on Takestani.

Q: What branch of Iranian languages does Takestani belong to?

Takestani belongs to the Northwest Iranian branch of the Iranian language family, within the broader Tati-Takestani sub-group. Its closest relative is Tati ; more distantly it is related to Gilaki , Mazanderani , and other Caspian languages. Takestani is distinct from Persian (a Southwest Iranian language), preserving Northwest Iranian phonological features — particularly in consonant correspondences and verb morphology — that set it apart from the dominant Persian standard of Iran.

Q: Is Takestani an endangered language?

Yes. Takestani is classified as endangered , with an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 speakers concentrated in and around Takestan in Qazvin Province. Despite this relatively larger speaker base compared to some micro-minority languages, Takestani faces strong pressure from Persian, which dominates education, media, official communication, and urban life throughout Iran. Intergenerational transmission is declining, particularly in urban areas, and the language has no official status or standardised orthography. Linguistic documentation is ongoing but limited.

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

Yes. Like all Perso-Arabic scripts , Takestani is written and read from right to left . Each letter connects to adjacent letters within a word in cursive style, 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 falls within the Arabic Unicode Block (U+0600–U+06FF).

Q: How does Takestani differ from Persian (Farsi)?

While Takestani and Persian are both Iranian languages that share the same Perso-Arabic writing system, they differ in significant ways. Takestani belongs to the Northwest Iranian branch , while Persian (Farsi) belongs to the Southwest Iranian branch . These two branches diverged in ancient times, producing different phonological correspondences: a sound that is /d/ in Persian is often /d/ or another consonant in Northwest Iranian languages, and verb morphology can differ considerably. Takestani also preserves vowel contrasts and consonant clusters that have simplified in modern standard Persian. Despite centuries of contact and lexical borrowing, Takestani remains structurally distinct from Farsi.

Takestani Alphabet at a Glance

32 letters written right to left using the Perso-Arabic script
Takestani is an endangered Northwest Iranian language spoken in Takestan city and surrounding area, Qazvin Province, Iran ^[1]
Uses the Perso-Arabic script, written in Naskh and Nastaliq calligraphic styles ^[2]
Estimated 100,000–200,000 speakers in the Qazvin Province area ^[3]
Belongs to the Northwest Iranian branch — related to Tati, Gilaki, and Mazanderani — distinct from Southwest Iranian Persian (Farsi) ^[4]
Includes 4 letters unique to the 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 used in educational and learners' materials

Takestani Consonant Letters

The Takestani 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 /ɡ/). Each letter changes shape depending on its position within a word — initial, medial, final, or isolated. Takestani uses this same script to write one of the Northwest Iranian languages of the Qazvin Province area.

Takestani 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". Appears in native Northwest Iranian Takestani vocabulary and in loanwords absorbed through Persian contact over centuries.

[PEH]

Voiceless bilabial stop /p/, like "p" in "pen". One of the four letters unique to the Persian/Dari script. Frequent in native Takestani vocabulary inherited from Northwest Iranian roots.

[TEH]

Voiceless alveolar stop /t/, like "t" in "top". Very common in Takestani verb conjugation and nominal morphology, reflecting Northwest Iranian heritage related to Tati.

[SEH]

Pronounced as /s/ in Takestani, identical to س. Classical Arabic /θ/ is not preserved in Takestani or any other Iranian language. Retained in spelling of Arabic loanwords.

[JIM]

Voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/, like "j" in "jump". Common in Takestani native vocabulary and loanwords from Persian and Arabic.

[CHEH]

Voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/, like "ch" in "church". One of the four letters unique to Iranian-based scripts. Appears in native Northwest Iranian Takestani vocabulary.

[HEH]

Historically a pharyngeal fricative /ħ/ in Arabic; in Takestani (as in Persian) realised as the glottal fricative /h/. Found primarily in Arabic loanwords.

[KHEH]

Voiceless velar fricative /x/, like "ch" in Scottish "loch". Very common in Takestani, appearing in native Iranian words and loanwords. Characteristic of Northwest Iranian phonology.

[DAL]

Voiced dental/alveolar stop /d/, like "d" in "door". Ubiquitous in Takestani vocabulary. Northwest Iranian /d/ correspondences in Takestani often differ from Southwest Iranian Persian forms.

[ZAL]

Historically the Arabic interdental /ð/; in Takestani merges with /z/, identical to ز. Appears in Arabic loanwords integrated into Takestani via Persian.

[REH]

Voiced alveolar trill or tap /r/. Fundamental to Takestani phonology. Northwest Iranian /r/ consonant patterns in Takestani preserve features distinct from modern Persian.

[ZEH]

Voiced alveolar fricative /z/, like "z" in "zebra". The primary /z/ letter in Takestani. Merges with ذ, ض, and ظ as in Persian.

[ZHEH]

Voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/, like "s" in "measure". One of the four letters unique to Iranian-based scripts. Present in native Takestani vocabulary and is characteristic of Northwest Iranian phonology.

[SIN]

Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/, like "s" in "sun". The primary /s/ letter in Takestani. Merges with ث and ص in spoken Takestani, as throughout the Iranian language family.

[SHIN]

Voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, like "sh" in "ship". Common in native Takestani vocabulary. Phonologically stable across the Takestani-speaking area of Qazvin Province.

[SAD]

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

[ZAD]

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

[TAH]

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

[ZAH]

Arabic emphatic /ðˤ/; in Takestani merges with /z/. Appears in formal Arabic loanwords used in religious and literary contexts. Phonemically identical to ز in Takestani.

[AIN]

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

[GHAIN]

Voiced velar or uvular fricative /ɣ/. Occurs in both native Takestani vocabulary and Arabic/Persian loanwords. Phonemically active in Takestani, connecting it to both its Northwest Iranian roots and the Persian written tradition.

[FEH]

Voiceless labiodental fricative /f/, like "f" in "fan". Appears in Persian and Arabic loanwords in Takestani and in some native Northwest Iranian vocabulary.

[QAHF]

Voiceless uvular stop /q/ in classical Arabic; in Takestani varies by dialect. Found in Arabic and Persian loanwords integrated into Takestani speech across the Qazvin-Takestan area.

[KAF]

Voiceless velar stop /k/, like "k" in "key". One of the most common consonants in Takestani. Present in native Northwest Iranian roots and loanwords across all word positions.

[GAF]

Voiced velar stop /ɡ/, like "g" in "go". One of the four letters unique to Iranian-based scripts. Common in native Takestani words, reflecting the Northwest Iranian phonological character of the language.

[LAM]

Voiced alveolar lateral approximant /l/. Fundamental to Takestani phonology and morphology. Appears across native Northwest Iranian vocabulary.

[MIM]

Voiced bilabial nasal /m/, like "m" in "mother". Very frequent in Takestani vocabulary across all word positions. Found in native Iranian words, Persian loanwords, and Arabic-derived vocabulary.

[NUN]

Voiced alveolar nasal /n/, like "n" in "no". Essential to Takestani morphology, appearing in verb endings and grammatical suffixes characteristic of Northwest Iranian languages.

[VAV]

Functions as consonant /v/ or /w/ and as long vowel /uː/ or /o/ in Takestani. Northwest Iranian Takestani preserves certain archaic labiovelar features in some dialects of the Qazvin region.

[HEH]

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

[YEH]

Functions as consonant /j/ (like "y" in "yes") and as long vowel /iː/ or /e/ in Takestani. Essential to Takestani morphology, appearing in verb paradigms that preserve Northwest Iranian grammatical features.

[HAMZA]

Glottal stop marker /ʔ/. Used in Arabic loanwords in Takestani. Native Northwest Iranian Takestani vocabulary generally does not feature the standalone hamza.

Takestani Vowel Diacritics (Harakat)

Like all Perso-Arabic scripts, Takestani is an abjad — a consonantal alphabet where short vowels are not written by default but indicated by optional diacritical marks (harakat). The six harakat marks shown here appear in educational texts and learners' resources to aid correct pronunciation of Takestani, whose spoken vowel system reflects Northwest Iranian vowel contrasts distinct from modern Persian.

Takestani Vowel Diacritics

[FAT-ha]

[KAS-ra]

[DAM-ma]

[SHAD-da]

[tan-WIN]

[SOO-kun]

[FAT-ha]

Short open vowel /a/ or /æ/. In Takestani, the exact vowel quality varies by dialect across the Qazvin Province area. Used in educational texts to indicate the short /a/ sound above a consonant.

[KAS-ra]

Short front vowel /e/ or /i/. In Takestani typically realised as /e/ or short /i/, placed beneath a consonant. Employed in vowelised texts for disambiguation.

[DAM-ma]

Short back rounded vowel /o/ or /u/. Used in vowelised Takestani texts. Takestani preserves some vowel distinctions inherited from Northwest Iranian.

[SHAD-da]

Consonant gemination marker. Written above a consonant to indicate it is doubled. Appears in Arabic loanwords used in Takestani where consonant length is phonemically significant.

[tan-WIN]

Arabic nunation ending /-an/. Preserved in some Arabic adverbs and formal phrases used in Takestani religious and literary contexts.

[SOO-kun]

Marks the absence of a vowel after a consonant. Appears in fully vowelised Takestani texts and helps represent consonant clusters characteristic of Northwest Iranian phonology.

The first letter of the Takestani 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 native Northwest Iranian Takestani vocabulary.

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

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

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

Sixth letter. Voiced affricate /dʒ/. Common in Takestani native vocabulary.

Seventh letter — Iranian addition. Voiceless affricate /tʃ/. Prevalent in native Takestani words.

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

Ninth letter. Voiceless velar fricative /x/, very common in Takestani speech.

Tenth letter. Voiced alveolar stop /d/. One of the most frequent consonants in Takestani. Northwest Iranian /d/ correspondences preserved.

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

Twelfth letter. Alveolar trill or tap /r/. Essential to Takestani phonology and Northwest Iranian heritage.

Thirteenth letter. Primary /z/ in Takestani. Merges with ذ, ض, ظ in speech.

Fourteenth letter. Iranian addition. Voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/ characteristic of Northwest Iranian languages.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Twenty-seventh letter. Lateral approximant /l/. Fundamental to Takestani phonology.

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

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

Thirtieth letter. Consonant /v/ or /w/ and long vowel /uː/. Northwest Iranian Takestani preserves some archaic labiovelar features in Qazvin dialects.

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

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

Takestani Digits

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for zero. The Takestani word for zero is borrowed from Arabic via Persian. Used in Takestani-language writing across the Qazvin Province region.

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for one. The Takestani word for "one" reflects the common Iranian form yak, shared with Persian and other Iranian languages.

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for two. Takestani "two" reflects the Iranian form du, cognate with Persian دو and Old Iranian duva.

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for three. Takestani "three" continues the Iranian form se, cognate with Persian سه.

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for four. Takestani follows the Iranian čahar/chahar pattern, shared with Persian.

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

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for six. Takestani šeš/shesh continues the Iranian form, related to Avestan xšvaš.

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

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

Eastern Arabic-Indic numeral for nine. Takestani noh follows the Iranian form, cognate with Avestan nava and English "nine".

…

The RTL comma used in Takestani and Persian texts. Placed after clauses and list items, mirrored for right-to-left script.

RTL semicolon used in Takestani and Persian writing. Separates related independent clauses in formal written Takestani.

RTL question mark used in Takestani texts. Mirrors the Latin question mark for right-to-left writing direction.

Opening quotation mark in Takestani and Persian typography. Used as the opening quotation in formal written Takestani.

Closing quotation mark in Takestani and Persian typography. Paired with « for quotations in Takestani written texts.

…

Ellipsis mark used in modern Takestani prose and digital writing to indicate an omission or trailing thought.

The Arabic-script percent sign used in Takestani-language statistical and journalistic texts across Iran.

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

Expand All Collapse All

How many letters does the Takestani alphabet have?

Where is Takestani spoken?

What branch of Iranian languages does Takestani belong to?

Is Takestani an endangered language?

Is the Takestani script read from right to left?

How does Takestani differ from Persian (Farsi)?

References:

[1] Glottolog 5.1. "Takestani [take1257]". Retrieved from Glottolog: Takestani
[2] Unicode Consortium. "Arabic Unicode Block (U+0600-U+06FF)". Retrieved from Unicode Arabic Block
[3] SIL International. "ISO 639-3 Language Code: tku — Takestani". Retrieved from SIL ISO 639-3: tku
[4] Endangered Languages Project. "Takestani". Retrieved from Endangered Languages Project: Takestani