Persian (also called Farsi) is mainly spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and in other countries such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates and has many local and social varieties. Persian, as an intonational language is characterized by having 23 consonants and six vowels. Consonant clusters only occur in syllable final. Persian is written from right to left using the Arabic script. The few studies of children’s speech acquisition in Persian indicate that Persian speech sounds emerge before 3;0, and children are still mastering the sounds until 6;0. Although there are several speech assessments designed specifically for Persian-speaking children, there are currently no interventions, so Persian speech-language pathologists use those widely used in other languages. Researchers have focused on children with speech sound disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, dysarthria, and cleft lip and palate.

Key words:
Persian, Farsi, multilingual, communication, speech, language, children’s development, interdisciplinary, international communities, assessment, intervention

Book chapter:
Zarifian, T., Shooshtaryzadeh, F., Blake, H. L., Fotuhi, M., Kazemi, Y., & Modarresi, Y. (2025). Persian speech development. In S. McLeod (Ed.). The Oxford handbook of speech development in languages of the world. Oxford University Press.

Language overview presentation:

• Zarifian, T., Shooshtaryzadeh, F., Blake, H. L., Fotuhi, M., Kazemi, Y., & Modarresi, Y. (2024). Persian: Multilingual children’s speech development. Charles Sturt University, Australia. https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/languages
• Video: Persian [Persian version] – Children’s Speech Development
• Video: Persian [English version] – Children’s Speech Development
• PowerPoint: Persian [Persian version] – Children’s Speech Development (pdf)
• PowerPoint: Persian [English version] – Children’s Speech Development (pdf)

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goals