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Farsi

Wikis > WikiAccent > Non-Native Pronunciations of English > Farsi

Below are listed some of the common issues facing native Farsi speakers.  We have divided these issues into Sound (Phonemes), Prosody (Rhythm, Tempo, Stress, and Intonation), and Other Stuff (Other Stuff). 

Sound:

  • Substituting /s/, /t/, or /d/ for /θ/ and /ð/ (also, /ð/ for /θ/)
  • Confusing /v/ and /w/
  • Tend to over pronounce /l/
  • Over-pronouncing /ŋ/
  • Tend to trill the /r/
  • Confuse /i/ and /ɪ/
  • Confuse / ʌ/ for / ɒ/
  • Confuse / ʊ/ full for / u/

        Prosody:

  • Tend to stress the first syllable of English words to overcompensate for the final syllable stress that is common in Farsi
  • Farsi is a syllable-timed language and has no reduced vowel equivalent to the /ə/.  This causes Farsi-speakers’ English to have a somewhat monotonous rhythm.

Other Stuff:

  • Tendency to put an extra /ə/ sound before English words that begin with /s/
  • Tend to insert a vowel between consonants in order to break up a consonant cluster – especially in the beginning of a word.