The Pronunciation of some Words in Shahname

The accurate pronunciation of words in ancient Persian texts has always been problematic, due to the changes that have occurred in the Persian language. In this paper, the pronunciations of some words in Shahnameh are studied. The study includes the words which the literati do not have an agreement on their pronunciation, or the common idea about them is incorrect. Some of these words have wrong diacritics in all Shahnameh editions, and others do not have correct diacritical marks in some editions. In this paper, more emphasis is placed on the Khaleghi-Motlagh, and Jeyhouni editions of Shahnameh, because their editors have used diacritical marks more than others, although they did not pronounce all the words correctly. Through proper consideration of how Ferdowsi rhymes, as well as some other literal harmonies in his poetry, the accurate reading is achievable, provided that the entire text of Shahnameh be examined. This paper is based on such an approach.