Afghan Folktales from Herat: Persian Texts in Transcription and T ...

8. The vowel “â” changes into “o”/“u” not only before the nasal consonants (as in colloquial Persian) but also following them: xunε, cf. LK xâna-“house, home”; bâdum, cf. LK, LP bâdâm-“almond”; mor, cf. LK, LP mâr-“snake.”

9. The reduction of all vowels is a common phenomenon. It most regularly occurs under the influence of “r”, which may lead to a complete vowel drop: arkat/arkät, cf. LK harakat-“movement”; čer, cf. LK, LP čérâ-“why”; terkestun (< târikestân)-“a very dark place.”

10. In an unstressed syllable, “â” tends to merge with “a” and may change into any allophone of the latter (less frequently in folklore): ġalinbâf, cf. LK qâli(n)bâf-“carpet weaver” (versus ġalinbafi, cf. LK qâli(n)bâfi-“carpet weaving”); xali, cf. LK, LP xâli-“empty”; kəri, cf. LK kâri-“energetic, hardworking”; bəu, cf. LK LP bâzu-“arm.”

11. A very common phenomenon is a complete or partial assimilation of vowels:
a) the unrounded vowel of the preceding syllable changes into the same rounded vowel as in the following syllable: âdâ, cf. LK adâ—“payment; performance”; âsâ, cf. LK asâ—“stick, cane”;
b) the unrounded final vowel of a preceding word changes into the rounded vowel of the first syllable of the following word: loko ko (< lokε ko)-imperative of the compound verb “to collect”;
c) an unrounded vowel changes into a rounded vowel under the influence of the rounded vowel of the following syllable (though not into the same vowel): binowâ, cf. LK bênawâ-“helpless, unfortunate”; tonur, cf. LK tanur-“oven, furnace.”

12. A diphthong [öu/öuw] with all its allophones, in addition to corresponding to LK [aw] and LP [ou], regularly appears in place of combinations “âb”, “âw”, “ab”, and less regularly “af” (this phenomenon most likely occurs through the intermediate stage of these combinations changing into “aw”): xöu, cf. LK, LP xâb-“sleep”; göu, cf. LK gâw-“cow”; šöu, cf. LK, LP šab-“evening, night”; köuš, cf. LK kafš-“shoe.”