Page:Persian manual pocket companion 1877.djvu/26

 its sound is never that of u in use, perfume. In the Roman character it is represented by u unaccented.

In Persian these three short vowels are called respectively—

zabar, " above."

zer, "beneath."

pesh, in front.

7. When a consonant is accompanied by one of the three vowels, fatḥa, kasra, or ẓamma, it is said to be mutaḥarrik, or moveable. In Persian and Arabic, the first letter of a word is always accompanied, or moveable, by a vowel.When, in the middle or at the end of a word, a consonant is not accompanied by a vowel, it is said to be sākin, quiescent, or inert. Thus in the word mardum, the  is moveable by fatḥa; the is inert, having no vowel ;  is moveable by ẓamma, and, finally, the  is inert. The symbol called jazm, is placed over a consonant to show that it is inert, as in the example  mardum, "a man."

In Persian the last letter of a word is generally inert ; hence jazm is omitted.