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Urdu Alphabet
Nastaliq (Arabic-based)
Urdu is written in the Nastaliq style of the Perso-Arabic script, read right-to-left. It has 38 letters including special sounds unique to Urdu like aspirated consonants (kh, gh, bh, ph) and retroflex sounds.
Written right to leftUrdu Vowels (حروف علت)
| Character | Name | Romanization | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | Alif | a/ā | like 'a' in 'father' |
| و | Wao | u/w/o | like 'oo' in 'moon' |
| ی | Ye | i/y/e | like 'ee' in 'see' |
| ے | Bari Ye | ai/e | like 'ay' in 'day' |
| آ | Alif Madda | ā | long 'a' sound |
| ہ | He | h/a | like 'h' in 'hat' |
Urdu Consonants (حروف صحیح)
| Character | Name | Romanization | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ب | Be | b | like 'b' in 'ball' |
| پ | Pe | p | like 'p' in 'park' |
| ت | Te | t | like 't' in 'top' |
| ٹ | Te (retroflex) | ṭ | retroflex t |
| ث | Se | s | like 's' in 'sun' |
| ج | Jim | j | like 'j' in 'jam' |
| چ | Che | ch | like 'ch' in 'church' |
| ح | Bari He | h | pharyngeal h |
| خ | Khe | kh | like 'ch' in Scottish 'loch' |
| د | Dal | d | like 'd' in 'day' |
| ڈ | Dal (retroflex) | ḍ | retroflex d |
| ذ | Zal | z | like 'z' in 'zone' |
| ر | Re | r | rolled r |
| ڑ | Re (retroflex) | ṛ | retroflex r |
| ز | Ze | z | like 'z' in 'zone' |
| ژ | Zhe | zh | like 's' in 'measure' |
| س | Sin | s | like 's' in 'sun' |
| ش | Shin | sh | like 'sh' in 'shoe' |
| ص | Suad | s | emphatic s |
| ض | Zuad | z | emphatic z |
| ط | Toe | t | emphatic t |
| ظ | Zoe | z | emphatic z |
| ع | Ain | ʿ | voiced pharyngeal |
| غ | Ghain | gh | like French 'r' |
| ف | Fe | f | like 'f' in 'fun' |
| ق | Qaf | q | uvular stop |
| ک | Kaf | k | like 'k' in 'king' |
| گ | Gaf | g | like 'g' in 'go' |
| ل | Lam | l | like 'l' in 'love' |
| م | Mim | m | like 'm' in 'moon' |
| ن | Nun | n | like 'n' in 'no' |
| ں | Noon Ghunna | ñ/n̈ | nasal n (no puff) |
| و | Wao | w/v | like 'w' in 'wet' |