Urdu Alphabet

URDU alphabet

Name of Letter letter

Phonemic representation (in IPA)

‫ا‬

alif

/ɪ/,/ʊ/,/ɘ/,/ɑ/ depending on diacritical marks

‫ب‬

be

/b/

‫پ‬

pe

/p/

‫ت‬

te

dental /t̪/

‫ٹ‬

ṭe

retroflex /ʈ/

‫ث‬

se

/s/

‫ج‬

jīm

/dʒ/

‫چ‬

ce

/tʃ/

‫ح‬

baṛī he

/h/

‫خ‬

khe

/x/

‫د‬

dāl

dental /d̪/

‫ڈ‬

ḍāl

retroflex /ɖ/

‫ذ‬

zāl

/z/

1

‫ر‬

re

dental /rʃ/

‫ڑ‬

ṛe

retroflex /ɽ/

‫ز‬

ze

/z/

‫ژ‬

zhe

/ʒ/

‫س‬

sīn

/s/

‫ش‬

shīn

/ʃ/

‫ص‬

su'ād

/s/

‫ض‬

zu'ād

/z/

‫ط‬

to'e

/t/ dental

‫ظ‬

zo'e

/z/

‫ع‬

‘ain

/ɑ/ after a consonant; otherwise /ʔ/, /ə/, or silent.

‫غ‬

ghain

/ɣ/ (voiced version of /x/)

‫ف‬

fe

/f/

2

‫ق‬

qāf

/q/

‫ک‬

kāf

/k/

‫گ‬

gāf

/g/

‫ل‬

lām

/l/

‫م‬

mīm

/m/

‫ن‬

nūn

/n/ or a nasal vowel

‫و‬

vā'o

/v/, /u/, /ʊ/, /o/, /ow/

‫ ﮨ‬,‫ ﮩ‬,‫ ہ‬choṭī he /ɑ/ at the end of a word, otherwise /h/ or silent ‫ھ‬

indicates that the preceding consonant is aspirated do cashmī (/pʰ/, /t̪ʰ/, /ʈʰ/, /tʃʰ/, /kʰ/) or murmured (/bʱ/, he /d̪ʱ/, /ɖʱ/, /dʒʱ/, /gʱ/).

‫ء‬

hamzah

‫ی‬

choṭī ye /j/, /i/, /e/, /ɛ/

‫ے‬

baṛī ye

3

/ʔ/ or silent

/eː/