Letter

Name of letter Transcription IPA b /b/ p /p/ t /t/ // s /s/ j /d/ ch /t/ h /h/ kh /x/ d /d/ // dh /z/ r /r/ // z /z/ zh // s /s/ sh // /s/ z /z/ t /t/ /z/ ' - or // gh // f /f/ q /q/ k /k/ g // l /l/ m /m/ n /n/, // or // v, o, u or / /, / /, /o/, // or /u/ cho he h /h/ or // do chashm he h / / or / / hamza ' // ye y, i /j/ or /i/ bari ye ai or e //, or /e/ alif be pe te e se jm che ba he khe dl l zl re e ze zhe sn shn su'd zu'd to'e zo'e ain ghain fe qf kf gf lm mm nn v'o

Vowels Vowels in Urdu are represented by letters that are also considered consonants. M any vowel sounds can be represented by one letter. Confusion can arise, but cont ext is usually enough to figure out the correct sound. Vowel chart This is a list of Urdu vowels found in the initial, medial, and final positions. Romanization Pronunciation Final Medial Initial a // Zabar-malplena.svg Zabar-malplena.svg AlifZabar-komenc a-malplena.svg /a/ Alif-fina-malplena.svg Alif-meza-malplena.svg AlifMadd-komenca -malplena.svg i // Hamzah-Urdua-fina-malplena.svg Zer-malplena.svg AlifZerkomenca-malplena.svg /i/ CHoTTiiYe-fina-malplena.svg CHoTTiiYe-meza-malplena.svg

CHoTTiiYe-komenca-malplena.svg u / / Pesh-malplena.svg Pesh-malplena.svg AlifPesh-komenca -malplena.svg /u/ VaaoUlTTaapesh-fina-malplena.svg VaaoPesh-meza-malplena.s vg AlifVaao-komenca-malplena.svg e /e/ BaRRiiYe-fina-malplena.svg CHoTTiiYe-meza-malplena.svg AlifCHoTTiiYe-komenca-malplena.svg ai // BaRRiiYeZabar-fina-malplena.svg CHoTTiiYe-meza-malplena. svg CHoTTiiYe-komenca-malplena.svg o /o/ Vaao-fina-malplena.svg Vaao-meza-malplena.svg AlifVaao-komenca -malplena.svg au // VaaoZabar-fina-malplena.svg VaaoZabar-meza-malplena.svg AlifZabarVaao-komenca-malplena.svg Short vowels Short vowels ("a", "i", "u") are represented by marks above and below a consonan t. Vowel Name Transcription IPA zabar ba // zer bi // pesh bu / / Alif

Alif ( ) is the first letter of the Urdu alphabet, and it is used exclusively as a vowel. At the beginning of a word, alif can be used to represent any of the sho rt vowels, e.g. ab, ism, urd. Also at the beginning, an alif ( ) followed by eit or ye ( ) represents a long vowel sound. However, w'o ( ) or ye ( ) alone at the beginn ing represents a consonant.

Alif also has a variant, call alif madd ( ). It is used to represent a long "" at t he beginning of a word, e.g. p, dmi. At the middle or end of a word, long is repr ed simply by alif ( ), e.g. bt, rm. W'

W' is used to render the vowels "", "", "u" and "au" ([u], [o], [ ] and [] respective and it is also used to render the labiodental approximant, [ ]. Ye Ye is divided into two variants: cho ye and bai ye. Cho ye ( ) is written in all forms exactly as in Persian. It is used for the long vo wel "" and the consonant "y".

Ba ye ( ) is used to render the vowels "e" and "ai" (/e/ and // respectively). Ba ye i istinguished in writing from cho ye only when it comes at the end of a word. Use of specific letters Retroflex letters Retroflex consonants were not present in the Persian alphabet, and therefore had to be created specifically for Urdu. This was accomplished by placing a supersc ript (to'e) above the corresponding dental consonants. Letter Name IPA e [] l [] a [] Do chashm he The letter do chashm he ( ) is used in native Hindustn words, for aspiration of certa in consonants. The aspirated consonants are sometimes classified as separate let ters, although it takes two characters to represent them.

Transcription bh ph th h jh ch dh h h kh gh

IPA [b ] [p ] [t ] [ ] [d ] [t ] [d ] [ ] [ ] [k ] [ ]