Urdu Alphabet

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Line 25: Line 25:
| Labial
| Labial
|-
|-
-
| پ
+
| <big>پ</big>
| Pay
| Pay
| peɪ
| peɪ
Line 32: Line 32:
| Labial
| Labial
|-
|-
-
| ت
+
| <big>ت</big>
| Tay; with soft ‘t’
| Tay; with soft ‘t’
| θeɪ
| θeɪ
Line 39: Line 39:
| Dental
| Dental
|-
|-
-
| ٹ
+
| <big>ٹ</big>
| Tay; with hard ‘T’
| Tay; with hard ‘T’
| teɪ
| teɪ
Line 46: Line 46:
| Retroflex
| Retroflex
|-
|-
-
| ث
+
| <big>ث</big>
| Thay; colloquially ‘say’
| Thay; colloquially ‘say’
| s·eɪ
| s·eɪ
Line 53: Line 53:
| Dental
| Dental
|-
|-
-
| ج
+
| <big>ج</big>
| Jeem
| Jeem
| dʒ·iːm
| dʒ·iːm
Line 60: Line 60:
| Palatal
| Palatal
|-
|-
-
| چ
+
| <big>چ</big>
| Chay
| Chay
| tʃ·eɪ  
| tʃ·eɪ  
Line 67: Line 67:
| Palatal
| Palatal
|-
|-
-
| ح
+
| <big>ح</big>
| Hay
| Hay
| heɪ
| heɪ
Line 74: Line 74:
| Aspirated
| Aspirated
|-
|-
-
| خ
+
| <big>خ</big>
| Khay
| Khay
| xeɪ
| xeɪ
Line 81: Line 81:
| Velar
| Velar
|-
|-
-
| د
+
| <big>د</big>
| Daal; with soft ‘d’
| Daal; with soft ‘d’
| ðɑːl
| ðɑːl
Line 88: Line 88:
| Dental
| Dental
|-
|-
-
| ڈ
+
| <big>ڈ</big>
| Daal; with hard ‘D’
| Daal; with hard ‘D’
| dɑːl
| dɑːl
Line 95: Line 95:
| Retroflex
| Retroflex
|-
|-
-
| ذ
+
| <big>ذ</big>
| Dhaal; colloquially ‘zaal’
| Dhaal; colloquially ‘zaal’
| zɑːl
| zɑːl
Line 102: Line 102:
| Aspirated
| Aspirated
|-
|-
-
| ر
+
| <big>ر</big>
| Ray
| Ray
| reɪ
| reɪ
Line 109: Line 109:
| Semi-vowel
| Semi-vowel
|-
|-
-
| ڑ
+
| <big>ڑ</big>
| aRay; with very guttural ‘r’
| aRay; with very guttural ‘r’
| areɪ
| areɪ
Line 116: Line 116:
| Hard retroflex
| Hard retroflex
|-
|-
-
| ز
+
| <big>ز</big>
| Zay
| Zay
| zeɪ
| zeɪ
Line 123: Line 123:
| Aspirated
| Aspirated
|-
|-
-
| ژ
+
| <big>ژ</big>
| Djay; much like ‘j’ in ‘bonjour’
| Djay; much like ‘j’ in ‘bonjour’
| ʒeɪ
| ʒeɪ
Line 130: Line 130:
| Aspirated
| Aspirated
|-
|-
-
| س
+
| <big>س</big>
| Seen
| Seen
| siːn
| siːn
Line 137: Line 137:
| Dental aspirated
| Dental aspirated
|-
|-
-
| ‎‎ش
+
| <big>‎‎ش</big>
| Sheen
| Sheen
| sh·iːn
| sh·iːn
Line 144: Line 144:
| Dental aspirated
| Dental aspirated
|-
|-
-
| ص
+
| <big>ص</big>
| Suaad
| Suaad
| sʊ̈·ɑːð
| sʊ̈·ɑːð
Line 151: Line 151:
| Velar aspirated
| Velar aspirated
|-
|-
-
| ض
+
| <big>ض</big>
| Dhuaad; colloquially ‘zuaad’
| Dhuaad; colloquially ‘zuaad’
| zʊ̈·ɑːð
| zʊ̈·ɑːð
Line 158: Line 158:
| Velar aspirated
| Velar aspirated
|-
|-
-
| ط
+
| <big>ط</big>
| Toay'n  
| Toay'n  
| θɔɪŋ
| θɔɪŋ
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| Dental velar
| Dental velar
|-
|-
-
| ظ
+
| <big>ظ</big>
| Zoay'n
| Zoay'n
| zɔɪŋ
| zɔɪŋ
Line 172: Line 172:
| Velar aspirated
| Velar aspirated
|-
|-
-
| ع
+
| <big>ع</big>
| Ain; guttural ‘a’
| Ain; guttural ‘a’
| æn
| æn
Line 179: Line 179:
| Velar vowel
| Velar vowel
|-
|-
-
| غ
+
| <big>غ</big>
| <u>Gh</u>ain; hoarse guttural ‘g’ followed by a hollow ‘h’
| <u>Gh</u>ain; hoarse guttural ‘g’ followed by a hollow ‘h’
| <u>gh</u>æn
| <u>gh</u>æn
Line 186: Line 186:
| Strong velar aspirated
| Strong velar aspirated
|-
|-
-
| ف
+
| <big>ف</big>
| Fay
| Fay
| feɪ
| feɪ
Line 193: Line 193:
| Aspirated
| Aspirated
|-
|-
-
| ق
+
| <big>ق</big>
| <u>Qu</u>aaf; ‘Qu’ is pronounced only as ‘k’
| <u>Qu</u>aaf; ‘Qu’ is pronounced only as ‘k’
| gɑːf
| gɑːf
Line 200: Line 200:
| Velar
| Velar
|-
|-
-
| ک
+
| <big>ک</big>
| Kaaf
| Kaaf
| kɑːf
| kɑːf
Line 207: Line 207:
| Velar
| Velar
|-
|-
-
| گ
+
| <big>گ</big>
| Gaaf
| Gaaf
| gɑːf
| gɑːf
Line 214: Line 214:
| Velar
| Velar
|-
|-
-
| ل
+
| <big>ل</big>
| Laam
| Laam
| lɑːm
| lɑːm
Line 221: Line 221:
| Dental
| Dental
|-
|-
-
| م
+
| <big>م</big>
| Meem
| Meem
| miːm
| miːm
Line 228: Line 228:
| Labial
| Labial
|-
|-
-
| ن
+
| <big>ن</big>
| Noon
| Noon
| nuːn
| nuːn
Line 235: Line 235:
| Palatal
| Palatal
|-
|-
-
| ں
+
| <big>ں</big>
| Noon <u>gh</u>una; nasal equivalent of ‘noon’
| Noon <u>gh</u>una; nasal equivalent of ‘noon’
| nuːn ghʊ̈nɑː
| nuːn ghʊ̈nɑː
Line 242: Line 242:
| Palatal nasal
| Palatal nasal
|-
|-
-
| و
+
| <big>و</big>
| Vao; as you'd say “wow”
| Vao; as you'd say “wow”
| vaʊ
| vaʊ
Line 249: Line 249:
| Vowel/semi-vowel
| Vowel/semi-vowel
|-
|-
-
| ہ
+
| <big>ہ</big>
| Hay
| Hay
| heɪ
| heɪ
Line 256: Line 256:
| Aspirated
| Aspirated
|-
|-
-
| ‍‌ء
+
| ‍‌<big>ء</big>
| Hamza
| Hamza
| hʌmzɑː
| hʌmzɑː
Line 263: Line 263:
| Palatal nasal
| Palatal nasal
|-
|-
-
| ی
+
| <big>ی</big>
| Chhoti yeh; literally meaning ‘small yeh’
| Chhoti yeh; literally meaning ‘small yeh’
| yeɪ
| yeɪ
Line 270: Line 270:
| Vowel
| Vowel
|-
|-
-
| ے
+
| <big>ے</big>
| Bari yeh; literally meaning ‘big yeh’
| Bari yeh; literally meaning ‘big yeh’
| yeɪ
| yeɪ

Revision as of 07:01, 5 February 2016

The Urdu alphabet is derived from the Persian (Farsi) and the Arabic alphabet, where majority of the letters are borrowed from Arabic while only four alphabets are primarily borrowed from Persian. Very seldom, letters may be borrowed from Sanskrit. Even though the letters actually are inherited from these languages, the names used for these letters differ in some cases, for instance, letters ‘bay’ and ‘tay’ in Urdu are called only ‘baa’ and ‘taa’ in Arabic.

Below is a table of all the Urdu alphabets along with their names and the phonetic pronunciation of their names. It is also specified as to which language the letter is borrowed from and the respective keys to press on a keyboard. For the purposes of following the text in this book, Latin alternatives are provided with the alphabet.

Alphabet Name Phonetic pronunciation Borrowed from Keyboard Voice
ا Aliph əlɪf Arabic J Vowel
ب Bay beɪ Arabic I Labial
پ Pay peɪ Persian Y Labial
ت Tay; with soft ‘t’ θeɪ Arabic U Dental
ٹ Tay; with hard ‘T’ teɪ Sanskrit Shift + U Retroflex
ث Thay; colloquially ‘say’ s·eɪ Arabic Shift + T Dental
ج Jeem dʒ·iːm Arabic O Palatal
چ Chay tʃ·eɪ Persian Shift + O Palatal
ح Hay heɪ Arabic P Aspirated
خ Khay xeɪ Arabic Shift + P Velar
د Daal; with soft ‘d’ ðɑːl Arabic R Dental
ڈ Daal; with hard ‘D’ dɑːl Sanskrit Shift + R Retroflex
ذ Dhaal; colloquially ‘zaal’ zɑːl Arabic Shift + E Aspirated
ر Ray reɪ Arabic D Semi-vowel
ڑ aRay; with very guttural ‘r’ areɪ Sanskrit Shift + D Hard retroflex
ز Zay zeɪ Arabic Shift + S Aspirated
ژ Djay; much like ‘j’ in ‘bonjour’ ʒeɪ Persian Shift + A Aspirated
س Seen siːn Arabic V Dental aspirated
‎‎ش Sheen sh·iːn Arabic B Dental aspirated
ص Suaad sʊ̈·ɑːð Arabic W Velar aspirated
ض Dhuaad; colloquially ‘zuaad’ zʊ̈·ɑːð Arabic Shift + W Velar aspirated
ط Toay'n θɔɪŋ Arabic Q Dental velar
ظ Zoay'n zɔɪŋ Arabic Shift + Q Velar aspirated
ع Ain; guttural ‘a’ æn Arabic M Velar vowel
غ Ghain; hoarse guttural ‘g’ followed by a hollow ‘h’ ghæn Arabic N Strong velar aspirated
ف Fay feɪ Arabic X Aspirated
ق Quaaf; ‘Qu’ is pronounced only as ‘k’ gɑːf Arabic Z Velar
ک Kaaf kɑːf Arabic K Velar
گ Gaaf gɑːf Persian Shift + K Velar
ل Laam lɑːm Arabic G Dental
م Meem miːm Arabic A Labial
ن Noon nuːn Arabic F Palatal
ں Noon ghuna; nasal equivalent of ‘noon’ nuːn ghʊ̈nɑː Arabic Shift + F Palatal nasal
و Vao; as you'd say “wow” vaʊ Arabic S Vowel/semi-vowel
ہ Hay heɪ Arabic H Aspirated
‍‌ء Hamza hʌmzɑː Arabic Shift + H Palatal nasal
ی Chhoti yeh; literally meaning ‘small yeh’ yeɪ Arabic L Vowel
ے Bari yeh; literally meaning ‘big yeh’ yeɪ Arabic C Vowel

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