Urdu Alphabet Chart
In the development of Urdu, the Persian language and its scripts have played an important role. Nastaliq was
originally an Iranian script developed in the 8th and 9th century A.D., that was and still is used by the people
of Iran for calligraphy and for writing poetry. Due to the strong Persian cultural influence, the Nastaliq
script was adopted for Urdu as well. Urdu also has many words and grammar rules that come directly from
the Persian language. Nastaliq is also used for writing other languages in South Asia like Sanskrit, Persian,
Pashto, and so on. The script is written right to left in horizontal lines. Unlike English, it is also not case-
sensitive. But Urdu has borrowed punctuation from [Link] of the very interesting features of the Urdu
written system is that the Nastaliq script is a phonetics-based script. Simply said, in Urdu, words are written
in largely the same as they are pronounced. This makes foreign words very easy to write in Urdu with little
or no difference in pronunciation. There are 38 Urdu alphabet characters. All of the characters are
consonants, but some of the characters represent a consonant-vowel [Link] is a table showing the Urdu
alphabet:
Consonant Romanization As in the Urdu word As in the English word
ا alif A s in کیاaik (“one”) As "-a" in "alone"
As in ر45555567 bahar
ب be As “-b” in “ball”
(“spring”)
A s in ڑ4555556: pahar
پ pe As "-p" in "pen"
(“mountain”)
As in<ار5555555=> talwar
ت te As “-t” in “tomato”
(“sword”)
As inڑر45555@A tamatar
ٹ the As "-t" in "theater"
(“tomato”)
ث se As inC5555@D samar (“fruits”) As "-s" in "summer"
As inز46H jahaz
ج jim As "-j" in "jam"
(“aeroplane”)
چ chayh As inJK45555L chaiy (“tea”) Coupled sound of “c” and “h” as (ch) in “chart”
ح hey As in<ظP hooz (“pound”) As “h” in “hey”
As in<شSC5555T khargosh Coupled sound of “k”, “h” and “y” as (khy) in
خ khay
(“rabbit”) “Khyber”
Coupled sound of “d”, “a”, “l” as in (dal) in
د dal As in واریدdewar (“wall”)
“dalda”
Hard sound of "d”, “h”, “a” and “l” Not found in
ڈ dhal As in ڈورdor (“thread”)
English
As in رهیذخzakhira Coupled sound of “z”, “a” and “l” Not found in
ذ zal
(“storage”) English.
As in ]^5555555_ راrastah
ر re As “r” in “Ray”
(“path”)
As in <ڑا555a> thora
ڑ arre Hard sound of “are” Not found in English.
(“small”)
ز ze As in زورzor (“strength”) As “z” in “Zebra”
As inر455557 ]5555d یژاzalabari
ژ see Soft sound of “s” As “s” in “socket”
(“hailstorm”)
س seen As in بیسsaib (“apple”) As “s” in “school”
As in یش4555f sheesha Coupled sound of “s”, “h”, “e”, “n” Not found in
ش sheen
(“mirror”) English
ص swad As in <م555i Soum (“third”) As "-s" in "soap"
As in k555l فیZaeef
ض zwad As "-z" in "zoo"
(“old”)
Coupled hard sound of “t” and “a”. Not found in
ط toʾe As in 4 ط<طtoota (“parrot”)
English.
ظ zoʾe As in p ظzil (“shade”) As "-z" in "zero"
As in وجCs urooj Not available in English. Coupled sound of "-a"
ع ʿain
(“height”) and "-i" and “n” = [ain]
As in را45555xy ghubarah Not found in English. Coupled sound of “g”, “h”
غ ghain
(“balloon”) "-a" and "-i" and “n” = [ghain]
As in ]=555555555i4z fasilah
ف fe As "-f" in "feast"
(“distance”)
As in }یق555~ یqainchi
ق qaaf As "-q" in "queen"
(“scissors”)
As in ب455555555^• kitab
ک kaf As "-k" in "kite"
(“book”)
As in <ڑا555aS ghora
گ ghaf As "-g" in "goat" Hard sound of “g”.
(“horse”)
ل lam As in ‚لlal (“red”) As “l” in “lamp”
As in 4555555ƒd4„ malta
م mim As "-m" in "moon"
(“orange”)
ن nun As in †@~ namak (“salt”) As “n” in “nest”
و waʾo As in وارwar (“attach”) As "-v" in "violin"
As in ]=55555i<P hoslah
ه choti he Hard sound of “h” as in “qabalah”.
(“courage”)
As in <ک555a7 bhook
ھ do-chasmi he As “h” in “heat”.
(“hunger”)
ء hamzah As in ںیهhain (“are”) Sound of “n” as “honey”
ی choti ye As in C55556S یgehri (“deep”) Coupled sound of “y”, “i” as “yi” in “yield”
As in J><5555555_ sootay
ے bari ye Coupled sound of “y”, “a”, “y” as (yay) in Yay!
(“sleep”)
The vowels in Urdu are known as airaab in the Urdu language. The representation of a vowel can change
depending on its position in the [Link] is a table showing the vowels in Urdu and how their are
written:
Vowel on Vowel in the Vowel on the
Romanization As in
Last Consonant Middle Consonant First Consonant
a As “-a” in “alive”
aa As “-a” in “grand”
i As “e” in “ear”
ii As “e” in “mercedes”
u As “o” in “ornament”
eu As “o” in “cool”
Coupled sound of “a”and
ay
“y” As “ay” in “tray”
ei As “e” in “eighty”
o As “o” in “okay”
Coupled sound of “a”,
au
“u” as “au” in “aura”
