Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "پاییز" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce پاییز in Farsi?

پاییز is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [pɒːjiːz]. It means “autumn.” Say 'pah-YEEZ' — a long open 'ah' followed by a stressed 'yeez', with a light 'y' glide connecting the two vowels.

Say 'pah-YEEZ' — a long open 'ah' followed by a stressed 'yeez', with a light 'y' glide connecting the two vowels.

پاییز [pɒːjiːz]

pāyiz

Stress falls on the second syllable -yiz; the double ی in the spelling represents a consonant 'y' plus the vowel 'i', not a doubled vowel sound.

Listen: پاییز

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Sound it out

پا Pronounced 'pā' — an unaspirated English 'p' plus the long open 'ah' of 'father'.

یی Pronounced 'yi' — an English 'y' glide sliding into a short 'i' as in 'sit', bridging the two vowels of the word.

ز Pronounced 'z' — a plain English 'z' closing the word.

Hear it in a sentence

برگ‌ها در پاییز می‌ریزند.

Barg-hā dar pāyiz mirizand.

Leaves fall in autumn.

Listen: برگ‌ها در پاییز می‌ریزند.

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Barg-hā dar pāyiz mirizand. — 'Leaves fall in autumn.' The suffix -hā on barg makes it plural ('leaves'), and mirizand ('they fall/spill') carries its own plural agreement at the end, so Persian marks 'the leaves fall' twice — once on the noun and once on the verb — where English marks it only on the noun.

Where English speakers slip

The double ی looks like it should be a long 'ee' sound all the way through, but it's actually a 'y' consonant glide into a short 'i' — say 'pah-yiz', not 'pah-eez'. Dropping the glide makes the word sound clipped and unclear to a Persian ear.