In the previous blog, we settled the main question:
Persian has no letter for W, and modern Iranian Persian has no independent /w/ consonant.
Great.
But that immediately creates the next question — the one almost every learner asks:
“If Persian doesn’t have W, then why do نو، گوجه، فردوسی، شوهر sound like they DO have W?”
Let’s break this down in the simplest, clearest way possible.
First, let’s look at the words causing confusion
➕ نو /now/ Meaning New, brand new
➕ فردوسی /ferdowsi/ Well, there's only one Ferdowsi in the world:)
➕ مولانا /mowlānā/, well, we all know this timeless legend!
➕ گوجه /gowje/ Meaning Tomato
➕ شوهر /showhar/ Meaning Husband
In every one of these, learners “hear” a /w/ in the middle.
But what you hear is not the English consonant W.
It’s something else — something Persian does have:
a diphthong (a vowel glide).
The glide “ow / ou” in Persian is the real story
Here is the key idea:
Persian has a vowel movement — a glide — from /o/ to /u/.
Write that down somewhere.
This glide is what gives you a sound similar to English /w/, but it’s not the same category of sound.
If you say these slowly, you’ll feel it:
➕ نو → nou → now
➕ فردوسی /ferdowsi/ → ferdousi → ferdowsi
➕ مولانا /mowlānā/ → moulānā → mowlānā
➕ گوجه → gouje → gowje
➕ شوهر → shouhar → showhar
That slight movement from o → u is what creates the “w-like” effect.
So yes, your ear is correct — something “w-ish” is happening.
But your mind is wrong to assume it’s a consonant.
Then, what linguists say about this “ow” glide
Three important sources make this clear:
(1) Persian Online (UT Austin)
They describe ow as a diphthong, formed exactly by this glide between two vowel positions.
(2) Omniglot
They list ey and ow as the two consistent diphthongs in Persian.
(3) Persian Phonology (Wikipedia)
This one is especially useful:
“In modern Western Persian (Iran), the classical diphthong /aw/ becomes [ow], [ou], or even simply [oː] depending on dialect.”
This tells us two things:
➕Persian does have vowel glides
➕They are the survivors of older diphthongs, not independent consonants
Exactly what we needed.
Now, Let’s break down نو /now/ step by step
This is the clearest example, so let’s decode it.
Spelling:
نو → ن + ُ + و
Sounds:
➕ن = /n/
➕ُ = short vowel /o/
➕و = long vowel /u/ or part of the glide
Pronunciation path:
no → nou → now
(Sometimes simplified to [noː] in Tehrani speech)
There is no point in this process where Persian suddenly inserts an English /w/ consonant.
Your ear is interpreting the vowel glide as a consonant — but it’s just a smooth transition between vowels :)
What about گوجه /gowje/?
Same story. Let's tackle it:
گ → /g/
ُ → /o/
و → /u/ (glide happens here)
ج → /j/
ه → final -e
You get:
go → gou → gow (lips looks like you are ready to kiss)→ gowje
Again:
Vowel glide → “w-like” sound → NOT a consonant.
But I don't stop explaining before I makes sure we cover a few more:
Why شوهر (/showhar/) sounds so “W-heavy”
In this one, the glide is even more audible:
شُوْهَر
sho → shou → showhar
But again — it’s not a consonant being inserted.
It’s just the natural movement of the mouth from a rounded back vowel to another rounded vowel.
That small lip movement creates a sound English-speakers associate with W.
So what’s the scientific term for what we’re hearing?
The glide you’re hearing is usually transcribed as:
➕/ow
➕/ou/
➕or in IPA: [oʊ̯]
This symbol ʊ̯ marks a glide, not a consonant.
That matters.
Because the argument isn’t about what it sounds like — it’s about what it is in the structure of Persian.
And structurally?
It is a vowel movement.
Not a consonantal /w/.
Why does English trick your ear here?
Because English uses W as a semi-vowel, a sound produced with minimal obstruction, very close to how Persian moves between /o/ and /u/.
So your English-trained ear thinks:
“I hear W!”
But your Persian-trained brain should say:
“No — this is just an o→u glide, a diphthong.”
The take-home sentence
Every learner should remember this line:
If you hear something like W in Persian, you are hearing a diphthong — not a consonant, and not a hidden Persian letter.
What’s next?
Now that we understand what’s happening phonetically, let’s answer the next big confusion:
What exactly is a diphthong?
با مهر و سپاس
شیرین | Shirin
