معروف و مجهول

Persian

Etymology

معروف (ma'rūf) + مجهول (majhūl)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [maʔ.ˈɾuːf ʔu ma.ˈd͡ʒhuːl]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäʔ.ɾúːf ʔʊ mä.ˈd͡ʒhuːl]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäʔ.ɾúːf ʔʊ mä.ˈd͡ʒhuːl]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mɑː.ɾúːf ʔʊ mä.ˈd͡ʒuːl]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mɔː.ɾúf ʔu mä.ˈd͡ʒul̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mæʔ.ɹúːf ʔo mæ.ˈd͡ʒhuːl̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mäʔ.ɾúf ʔu mä.ˈd͡ʒhul]

Readings
Classical reading?	ma'rūf u majhūl
Dari reading?	ma'rūf u majhūl
Iranian reading?	ma'ruf o majhul
Tajik reading?	maʾruf u majhul

Noun

معروف و مجهول • (ma'rūf u majhūl)

1. a vowel classification system in Classical Persian and Dari Persian in which certain vowel or semi-vowel characters represent two phonemes. The ma'ruf (معروف) phoneme and the majhul (مجهول) phoneme. The distinction between the two phonemes only being possible using diacritics.

Usage notes

• Though the terms معروف (ma'ruf) and مجهول (majhul) are sometimes used to describe vowel quality in Iranian Persian; Iranian Persian does not use the ma'ruf-majhul vowel system and the ma'ruf vowels common in other varieties are rare in Iranian Persian.

Derived terms

• زیر مجهول (zēr-i majhūl, “e”) (Classical Persian)
• زیر معروف (zēr-i ma'rūf, “i”) (Classical Persian)
• واو مجهول (wāw-i majhūl, “ō”) (Classical Persian)
• واو معروف (wāw-i ma'rūf, “w, ū”) (Classical Persian)
• پیش مجهول (pēš-i majhūl, “o”) (Classical Persian)
• پیش معروف (pēš-i ma'rūf, “u”) (Classical Persian)
• یای مجهول (yā-yi majhūl, “ē”) (Classical Persian)
• یای معروف (yā-yi ma'rūf, “ī, y”) (Classical Persian)