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{{Short description|Element of Persian and Urdu orthography}}
The '''Silent ''vāv'''''<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Elwell-Sutton |first=L. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2FyVOFkKuCMC&pg=PA21 |title=Elementary Persian Grammar |date=1972 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-09206-7 |language=en}}</ref> ({{Langx|fa|واو معدوله|translit=Vāv-e Ma'dule}}; {{Langx|ur|{{unq|واؤ معدولہ}}|translit=Vā'o-i Ma'dūla}}) is an element of [[Persian grammar|Persian]] and [[Hindustani grammar|Urdu]] orthography resulting when a ''[[Waw (letter)#Arabic wāw|vāv]]'' is preceded by [[Ḫāʾ|''khe'']] and often followed by an [[Aleph#Arabic|alef]] or [[Yodh#Arabic yāʼ|ye]], forming the combination of {{Lang|fa|خوا}} or {{Lang|fa|خوی}}, in which the ''vāv'' is silenced.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mowlavi |first=Abbasali |title=راهنمای ادبیات فارسی |year=1987 |edition=6th |pages=43 |language=fa-IR |trans-title=Persian Literature Guide}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tabrizi |first=Mohammad Ali Modarres |url=https://lib.eshia.ir/10544/1/52 |title=Qāmūs al-maʻārif : ḥāvī-i tabyīn va tashrīḥ-i chihil va panj hazār madkhal va iṣṭilāḥ-i dīnī, falsafī kalāmī, riyāz̤ī, nujūmī, adabī, tārīkhī va tarjamah |publisher=Muʼassasah-ʼi Imām Ṣādiq |year=1879 |isbn=9789643575007 |volume=1 |location=Qom |pages=52–53 |language=fa-IR |trans-title= |author-link=Mohammad Ali Modarres Khiabani}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Grierson |first=George Abraham |author-link=George Abraham Grierson |title=Urdu Language Management |url=http://lisindia.ciil.org/Urdu/Urdu.html |access-date=2022-07-23 |website=Language Information Services (LIS)-India}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> It is always [[Written language|written]] but not typically spoken, except for in certain [[Dari language|eastern Persian dialects]] wherein it is pronounced.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Razzaqi |first=Seyed Tayyeb |date=2018-02-20 |title=Study of four dialects of Kashan (AbuZaydAbadi, Barzoki, Totmachi, Qohrudi) |url=https://sh-kashan.kashanu.ac.ir/article_110970.html |journal=Kashan Shenasi |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=138–157 |issn=2676-7686}}</ref> If not followed by a long vowel, the ''vāv'' following a ''khe'' sometimes adopts the {{IPA|fa|o|}} sound of the short vowel [[Arabic diacritics#Ḍammah|zamme/pish]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2007 |title=Persian Online – Grammar & Resources » The Silent Letter vāv |url=https://sites.la.utexas.edu/persian_online_resources/phonology/silent-letters-vav/ |access-date=2022-07-23 |website=University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts}}</ref> It was also formerly made use of when dealing with Persian loanwords in the Arabic scripts of [[Turkic languages]], particularly in [[Ottoman Turkish]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hagopian |first=V. Hovhannes |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ottomanturkishco00hago/page/16/mode/2up |title=Ottoman-Turkish conversation-grammar: a practical method of learning the Ottoman-Turkish language |date=1907 |page=16 |chapter=Pronunciation of Letters |publisher=Heidelberg, J. Groos; New York, Brentano's [etc., etc.] |quote=''Silent vav'', which is found only in some Persian words, between the letters {{lang|ota-Arab|خ}} ''khî'' and {{lang|ota-Arab|ا}} ''élif'', and is not pronounced; as: {{langx|ota-Arab|خواجه|label=none}} ''khajé'' teacher, {{langx|ota-Arab|خواننده|label=none}} ''khanéndé'' singer. |author-link=V. H. Hagopian}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Historical development ===
The silent ''vāv'' occurs only in words of [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] origin, and is not present in any [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] or [[Arabic]] loanwords that entered the language. Words in [[Middle Persian]] containing the [[Labialization|labialised]] [[voiceless velar fricative]] {{IPA|fa|xʷ|}} preceding a long vowel developed such that the sound underwent delabialization and simply became the voiceless velar fricative {{IPA|fa|x|}}. In cases where it preceded the short [[near-open front unrounded vowel]] {{IPA|fa|æ|}} it delabialised and took on the sound of the [[close-mid back rounded vowel]] {{IPA|fa|o|}}, evolving from {{IPA|fa|xʷæ|}} to {{IPA|fa|xo|}}. Despite this, the written language continues to reflect the old standards of pronunciation, hence the silent ''vāv'' remains written. These linguistic evolutions did not take place in certain areas of [[Greater Iran]], and thus certain dialects do not have the silent ''vāv'' as a feature.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |year=2020 |title=The Diachronic Change of /xw/ Consonant Cluster in Persian, Sorani Kurdish, Hawrami, and Kalhori Kurdish: An Optimaity Theoretic Analysis |url=https://www.sid.ir/paper/368865/en |journal=Journal of Language Research |volume=12 |issue=36 |pages=213–236 |doi=10.22051/jlr.2019.27827.1772 |via=[[Scientific Information Database]] |last1=فتاحی |first1=مهدی |last2=حیدری |first2=بهمن }}</ref>
=== In poetry ===

Historically, sometimes poetic usages of the silent ''vāv'' did not follow the traditional literary rules and guidelines.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=ar-Razi |first=Shams ad-Din Muhammad bin Qays |url=https://archive.org/details/Al-MojamFiMaaaeeriAshaarIl-Ajam-ShamsuddinMuhammadBinQaisAr-RaziFarsi_201612 |title=Al-Mo'jam fi Ma'aaeeri Ash'aar il-'Ajam |publisher=[[University of Tehran Press]] |language=fa-IR |trans-title=}}</ref> This can be seen in the following poem by [[Saadi Shirazi|Sa'adi]] in his [[Bustan (book)|Bustan]] book:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shirazi |first=Saadi |title=Bustan |publisher=Ganjoor |year=1257 |language=fa-IR |chapter=Chapter 1 Part 28 |author-link=Saadi Shirazi |access-date=2022-07-27 |chapter-url=https://ganjoor.net/saadi/boostan/bab1/sh28}}</ref><poem dir="rtl">{{unq|مخنّث که بیداد بر خود کند
از آن به که با دیگری بد کند}}</poem>Phonetic transcription:<blockquote><poem>{{IPA|fa|moxænˈnæs kʰe biːˈdɒːd bæɾ xæd ˈkʰonæd]
[æz ɒːn beh kʰe bɒː diːˈɡæɾiː bæd ˈkʰonæd|}}</poem></blockquote>According to the Persian literary rules, {{Lang|fa|خود|rtl=yes}} should be pronounced as {{IPA|fa|xod|}}; however, as is visible in this poem, it atypically takes on the sound of {{IPA|fa|xæd|}} and rhymes with {{Lang|fa|بد|rtl=yes}}/{{IPA|fa|bæd|}} in the verse following it. This silent ''vāv'' taking on the sound of [[Arabic diacritics#Fatḥah|fathe/zebar]], {{IPA|fa|æ|}}, rather than the {{IPA|fa|o|}} of zamme/pish, is a very common feature in classical Persian poetry, also seen, for example, in the works of [[Ferdowsi]] and [[Nizami Ganjavi|Nezami]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ə.B. |first=Məmmədova |date=2008 |title=Qədim tarixdən qaynaqlanan və fars dilinin fonetik quruluşunda omofon yaradan diqraflardan biri haqqında |trans-title=About one of the digraphs originating from ancient history and creating homophones in the phonetic structure of the Persian language |url=http://static.bsu.az/w8/Xeberler%20Jurnali/Humanitar%202008-1/183-190_curves.pdf |journal=Bakı universitetinin xəbərləri: Humanitar elmlər seriyası |language=az |publisher=Baku University publishing house |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=183–190}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=12 January 2022 |title=میازار موری که روزی‌کش است! |url=http://www.asrislam.com/fa/news/28930/%C3%99%C2%85%C3%9B%C2%8C%C3%98%C2%A7%C3%98%C2%B2%C3%98%C2%A7%C3%98%C2%B1-%C3%99%C2%85%C3%99%C2%88%C3%98%C2%B1%C3%9B%C2%8C-%C3%9A%C2%A9%C3%99%C2%87-%C3%98%C2%B1%C3%99%C2%88%C3%98%C2%B2%C3%9B%C2%8C%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%8C%C3%9A%C2%A9%C3%98%C2%B4-%C3%98%C2%A7%C3%98%C2%B3%C3%98%C2%AA |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=www.asrislam.com}}{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

== Geographical distribution ==
The standard Iranian form of [[Persian language|Persian]], does not pronounce the silent ''vāv'' in any situation. [[Tajik language|Tajiki Persian]], which has undergone delabialization in the same way as Iranian Persian, is written in the [[Cyrillic script]], and thus does not have the silent ''vāv'' as an orthographic feature. However, the Afghan dialects of Persian, commonly known as Dari, as well as the Persian dialects of [[Kashan]] and some other regions of [[Iran]], continue to pronounce the ''vāv'', meaning that the silent ''vāv'' is not a feature of the orthography of their dialects.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> In [[Urdu]], labialization is retained in some words and not others. In some words, the {{IPA|fa|x|}} and {{IPA|fa|xʷ|}} pronunciation variants are interchangeable.

== Examples ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Persian
!Persian [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] transcription{{Efn|name=silent|The forms of the words in dialects without the "Silent ''vāv''" as a feature are shown enclosed in brackets}}
![[Romanization of Persian|Persian romanization]]{{Efn|name=silent}}
!Urdu [[Help:IPA/Urdu|IPA]] transcription
!English Translation
|-
|{{Unq|خویش}}
|{{IPA|fa|xiːʃ|}} ({{IPA|fa|xʷeːʃ|}})
|Xish (Xwēsh)
|{{IPA|ur|xeːʃ|}}
|Oneself
|-
|{{Unq|خواب}}
|{{IPA|fa|xɒːb|}} ({{IPA|fa|xʷɒːb|}})
|Xāb (Xwāb)
|{{IPA|ur|xɑːb|}}
|Sleep / Dream
|-
|{{Unq|خوش}}
|{{IPA|fa|xoʃ|}} ({{IPA|fa|xʷæʃ|}})
|Xoš (Xwaš)
|{{IPA|ur|xʊʃ|}}
|Good / Happy
|}

== Notes ==
{{noteslist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* [https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/20th-gegn-docs/20th_gegn_WP41.pdf Toponymic Guidelines for map and other editors – Revised edition 1998]. UNGEGN, 20th session. New York, 17–28 January 2000.

[[Category:Persian language]]
[[Category:Persian orthography]]
[[Category:Persian grammar]]
[[Category:Silent letters]]
[[Category:Urdu]]

Silent vāv - Revision history

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