Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "سلام" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce سلام in Farsi?

سلام is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [sæ.ˈlɒːm]. It means “hi.” sah-LAHM, with the stress landing hard on the second syllable and a long, open 'ah' — not the shorter Arabic-influenced 'salaam' rhythm English speakers often default to.

sah-LAHM, with the stress landing hard on the second syllable and a long, open 'ah' — not the shorter Arabic-influenced 'salaam' rhythm English speakers often default to.

سلام [sæ.ˈlɒːm]

salām

Stress falls on the final syllable, lām, which also carries the long ā vowel — draw that vowel out rather than clipping it.

Listen: سلام

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Sound it out

س A crisp 's' as in 'sun' — identical to English.

لا 'l' plus the long 'ā' vowel (like the 'a' in 'father', held longer than an English short a) — this is the stressed syllable.

م A plain final 'm', lips closed, same as English 'm'.

Hear it in a sentence

سلام، حالتان چطور است؟

Salām, hāletān chetor ast?

Hello, how are you?

Listen: سلام، حالتان چطور است؟

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'حالتان چطور است؟' uses the formal/polite possessive ending -etān ('your') rather than the casual -et, so this greeting is pitched at a polite or unfamiliar-addressee register, similar to using 'vous' forms of address. There's no separate word for 'you' here — the politeness is built into the suffix on حال.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers tend to shorten or muffle the final 'ā', producing something closer to 'suh-LAM'; keep the last vowel long and open, and avoid aspirating the 'l' the way English sometimes does.