Massage: URDU ALPHABET

Monday, 24 November 2014

URDU ALPHABET

Hugo's

Urdu

Alphabet

Pages

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Instructions

In the names sections I have written the name of each character in different ways. The name mentioned under "Roman transliteration" is the name in Roman script with diacritic dots as used e.g. in Ferozsons Urdu-English dictionary. I have also given an approximation of the pronunciation for an English speaker, when you see however capital letters in this approximation the corresponding sound has no near equivalent in English.
There are up to four shapes for each character: detached, initial, medial and final. This may seem a bit overwhelming at first sight, but it just makes writing faster and the logic of the different shapes will soon be obvious to you.
The shapes shown in the boxes "medial" and "final" should only be used when the characters are connected to the previous character, otherwise you should use the initial or detached shape respectively.
If you move your mouse cursor over the examples in Perso-Arabic script, you will see the example word written in Devanagari, Itrans and English.
Itrans code is normally used to produce correctly spelled Asian scripts like Devanagari. I have used it here also to help you pronounce correctly the example words, the only addition I made are the brackets which are used to indicate that certain syllables are not pronounced. I have used here Itrans code for Hindi. For more info concerning the Itrans code have a look at the Itrans homepage.
ArabTeX is a system developped by Klaus Lagally to produce texts with Arabic based scripts. A great advantage of it is that it can produce the diacritic accents zabar, zer and pesh, which for beginners is a very important help, unfortunately support for "pure" Nastaleeq is not available at this moment. If you think you can make the gif-files on these pages with a Nastaleeq font and the diacritic accents, you're very welcome to do so, it may take an hour or two .

The complete Urdu alphabet

click on
character

You can use this table to navigate directly to a character by clicking on it. Read from top to bottom and from right to left.

The 1st letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: alif
- In Itrans: alif
- In ArabTeX: alif
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
  see also previous example (alif between n and r), notice the difference in pronunciation between the two alifs, the one in the middle of the word is a "long a", the initial one is a "short a". For more information have a look at the vowels section.
- Final position:
Notes
- Alif is a breaker or non connector, i.e. the letter following alif is never connected to it.
- When a word starts with a "long a" sound, alif madda (madd) should be used. Notice that words with alif madda precede those with mere alif in a dictionary. Look at the tilde like sign above the alif -to make alif madda- in the following example:
- More uses of alif are explained in the vowels section.

The 2nd letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: bay
- In Itrans: be
- In ArabTeX: bE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter should be pronounced without any breathiness.

The 3rd letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: pay
- In Itrans: pe
- In ArabTeX: pE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter should be pronounced without any breathiness.

The 4th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: tay
- In Itrans: te
- In ArabTeX: tE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
  See also previous example (2nd te).
- Final position:
Notes
- This t is a so called dental t, it should be pronounced with the tip of your tongue to your teeth.
- Some people call this a soft t.
- This t is "the most common letter" to represent a dental t in Urdu.

The 5th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: Tay
- In Itrans: Te
- In ArabTeX: ,tE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This t is a so called retroflex t, it should be pronounced with the tip of your tongue curled up.
- Some people call this a hard t.
- Notice the retroflex sign, which is a small version of the 22th letter of the alphabet.

The 6th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: say
- In Itrans: se
- In ArabTeX: _tE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
  See final s in the example for the initial position
Notes
- In Urdu there are remarkably few words with this s, all of which are of Arabic origin.

The 7th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: jeem
- In Itrans: jiim
- In ArabTeX: jIm
Shapes
- Nastaleeq style:
- Naskh style:
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 8th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: chay
- In Itrans: che
- In ArabTeX: ^cE
Shapes
- Nastaleeq style:
- Naskh style:
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 9th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: big hay
- In Itrans: ba.Dii he
- In ArabTeX: ba,rI .hE
Shapes
- Nastaleeq style:
- Naskh style:
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter occurs only in words of Arabic origin.

The 10th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: KHay
- In Itrans: Ke
- In ArabTeX: _hE
Shapes
- Nastaleeq style:
- Naskh style:
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter is pronounced back in the throat, a bit like the Scottish ch in the word "loch".

The 11th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: daal
- In Itrans: daal
- In ArabTeX: dAl
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter is a so called breaker or non connector, i.e. the letter following daal is never connected to it.
- This is the dental d.
- Some people call this a soft d.

The 12th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: Daal
- In Itrans: Daal
- In ArabTeX: ,dAl
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter is a so called breaker or non connector, i.e. the letter following Daal is never connected to it.
- This is the retroflex d, it should be pronounced with the tip of your tongue curled up.
- Some people call this a hard d.

The 13th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: zaal
- In Itrans: zaal
- In ArabTeX: _dAl
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter is a so called breaker or non connector, i.e. the letter following zaal is never connected to it.

The 14th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: ray
- In Itrans: re
- In ArabTeX: rE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter is a so called breaker or non connector, i.e. the letter following ray is never connected to it.
- This r is pronounced like the Spanish r.

The 15th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: Ray
- In Itrans: .De
- In ArabTeX: ,rE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
  This letter does not occur as the first letter of a word.
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter is a so called breaker or non connector, i.e. the letter following Ray is never connected to it.
- This pronunciation of this r resembles a bit the English r in the word "worry".

The 16th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: zay
- In Itrans: ze
- In ArabTeX: zE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter is a so called breaker or non connector, i.e. the letter following zay is never connected to it.
- This z is "the most common letter" to represent a z in Urdu.

The 17th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: ZHay
- In Itrans: not available
- In ArabTeX: ^zE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter is a so called breaker or non connector, i.e. the letter following ZHay is never connected to it.
- This letter is rarely used in Urdu, occuring mostly in Persian loan words.
- Pronounce this letter like the s in the English word "pleasure".
- The "double dotted" z in Devanagari is a representation of this letter I found in the book "Urdu through Hindi" by Afroz Taj.

The 18th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: seen
- In Itrans: siin
- In ArabTeX: sIn
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This is the "most common letter" to represent an s-sound in Urdu.

The 19th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: sheen
- In Itrans: shiin
- In ArabTeX: ^sIn
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 20th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: suaad
- In Itrans: suaad
- In ArabTeX: .suAd
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 21th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: zuaad
- In Itrans: zuaad
- In ArabTeX: .duAd
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 22th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: toy
- In Itrans: toe
- In ArabTeX: .tOE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This is also a dental t.

The 23th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: zoy
- In Itrans: zoe
- In ArabTeX: .zOE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 24th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: ain
- In Itrans: ain
- In ArabTeX: `ain
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 25th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: GHain
- In Itrans: Gain
- In ArabTeX: .gain
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 26th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: fay
- In Itrans: fe
- In ArabTeX: fE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 27th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: Qaaf
- In Itrans: qaaf
- In ArabTeX: qAf
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- Pronounce this letter further back in the throat than an ordinary k.

The 28th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: kaaf
- In Itrans: kaaf
- In ArabTeX: kAf
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 29th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: gaaf
- In Itrans: gaaf
- In ArabTeX: gAf
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 30th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: laam
- In Itrans: laam
- In ArabTeX: lAm
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 31th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: meem
- In Itrans: miim
- In ArabTeX: mIm
Shapes
- Nastaleeq style:
- Naskh style:
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:

The 32th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: noon
- In Itrans: nuun
- In ArabTeX: nUn
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- When this letter is used for nasalization and in the final position, no dot should be written as you see in the following example:

The 33th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: waw / wao / vao
- In Itrans: vaao
- In ArabTeX: wAw
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter sometimes is a consonant (see examples for initial and medial position) and sometimes is a vowel or makes a so called diphtong, for more information concerning that see vowels section .
- Waw is a breaker or non connector, i.e. the letter following waw is never connected to it.

The 34th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: small hay
- In Itrans: chhoTii he
- In ArabTeX: ^chO,tI ,hE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position:
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- You'll sometimes see the initial shape of letter 35 used instead of the initial shape shown here.
- There is an alternative version for the final shape called "hanging hay" as shown in the following example:
  
  Hanging hay is coded as H in ArabTeX.
  Hanging hay is typically used in Naskh, not Nastaleeq.

The 35th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: two eyed hay
- In Itrans: do chashmii he
- In ArabTeX: dO ^ca^smI ,hE
Shapes
Examples
- Medial position:
- Final position:
Notes
- This letter is used to indicate aspiration.
- You'll sometimes see the initial shape of this letter used instead of the initial shape of the small hay (letter 34).
- To encode the "two eyed hay" in ArabTeX you have to use h without comma.
- The technical name used by linguists for this letter is:

The 36th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: hamza
- In Itrans: ham(a)zaa
- In ArabTeX: ,hamza,h
Shapes
Examples
- Example 1:
- Example 2:
- Example 3:
Notes
- In Urdu hamza is used as a vowel separator, you can look at it as something between a real letter and a diacritic sign. Because of this reason I don't have used the terms "initial", "medial" ... as I have for real letters.
- As you see in the examples, hamza sometimes needs a "chair", a silent consonantional letter which "carries" it, other times it's just put above a vowel. Hamza never needs a "chair" when the second vowel is expressed by waw.
- The correct use of hamza goes beyond the scope of an introductory text like this one. Look in a good dictionary if you are in doubt. Don't be surprised if you find inconsistent rules concerning the use of hamza.

The 37th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: small yai
- In Itrans: chhoTii ye
- In ArabTeX: ^chO,tI yE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position (consonantial):
- Medial position (consonantial):
- Final position (as vowel):
Notes
- This letter sometimes is a consonant (see examples for initial and medial position) and sometimes is a vowel, for more information concerning that see vowels section.

The 38th letter of the Urdu alphabet

Name
- In Perso-Arabic script:
- In Devanagari script:
- In Roman transliteration:
- English approximation: big yai
- In Itrans: ba.Dii ye
- In ArabTeX: ba,rI yE
Shapes
Examples
- Initial position (consonantial):
  see initial position example of letter 37
- Medial position (as vowel):
- Final position (as vowel):
Notes
- This letter sometimes is a consonant and sometimes is a vowel, for more information concerning that see vowels section. As for consonantional use there is no difference with small yai (letter 37).

Thanks To

Stefaan Willems, Mohammad Jahangeer Warsi, Anshuman Pandey, Mazhar and last but not least Christina Oesterheld.

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