A comparative study of Dari Persian and English language pure vowel sounds

Abstract

In this research article, the pure vowel sounds (Monophtongs) of Dari Persian language have been compared with the pure vowel sounds of English language. The purpose of this research is to find the differences and similarities between the monophtongs of Dari Persian and English language which is useful for teachers as well as the students of both languages in listening and speaking skills. For conducting this research, qualitative method has been used by giving the three term description for each and every vowel sound of both languages and then compared to find out the differences and similarities. As a result, in this research article, it was found out that English language has twelve pure vowels, whereas Dari Persian language has eight pure vowels. This indicates that out of 12, there are nine pure vowel sounds in English language which are not present in Dari Persian language at all. Nonetheless, the rest three vowels of English are into some extent similar to the three vowels in Dari Persian language; such as: /i:/, /u:/, and /a:/. Similarly, out of the eight pure vowels in Dari Persian language, there are 5 pure vowels which are not present in English language at all. Moreover, there are three central vowels in English, but Dari Persian language does not have any central vowel sound. It is believed that grown-up people cannot pick up the characteristic sound of a foreign language as much as children do. This is because the habits of one’s own language are so strong that they are very difficult to break. In other words, the sounds in one’s mother tongue, just like the structure of language influence the foreign language which in most cases causes miscommunication or misunderstanding. Therefore, this research permits the teachers to help students of English language as a foreign language and vice versa to be good listeners and make effective communication especially with the native speakers. Also, this research article will tempt the teachers to design some class activities or exercises for better pronunciation of students with more focus on the vowels which are not present in the first language.