Wiktionary:Urdu transliteration

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These are the rules concerning transliteration in Urdu entries.

The tables below show the conversion of text in the Urdu language alphabet for alphabet.

  • Needs to be updated.

Consonants edit

No. Letter Name of letter Transcription IPA
1 ا, آ (ā) ʾalif ā, ', – /aː, ʔ/, ∅
2 ب (b) be b /b/
3 پ (p) pe p /p/
4 ت (t) te t /t̪/
5 ٹ () ṭe /ʈ/
6 ث (s) se s /s/
7 ج (j) jīm j /d͡ʒ/
8 چ (c) ce c /t͡ʃ/
9 ح (h) baṛī he h /ɦ/ [h~ɦ]
10 خ (x) xe x /x/
11 د (d) dāl d /d̪/
12 ڈ () ḍāl /ɖ/
13 ذ (z) zāl z /z/
14 ر (r) re r /r/
15 ڑ () ṛe /ɽ/
16 ز (z) zz z /z/
17 ژ (ź) źe ź /ʒ/
18 س (s) sīn s /s/
19 ش (ś) śīn ś /ʃ/
20 ص (s) su'ād s /s/
21 ض (z) zu'ād z /z/
22 ط (t) to'e t /t/
23 ظ (z) zo'e z /z/
24 ع ʿain ā, o, e, ', /aː, oː, eː, ʔ/, Ø
25 غ (ġ) ġain ġ /ɣ/
26 ف (f) fe f /f/
27 ق (q) qāf q /q/
28 ک (k) kāf k /k/
29 گ (g) gāf g /ɡ/
30 ل (l) lām l /l/
31 م (m) mīm m /m/
32 ن (n) nūn n /n/ [n, ɳ, ɲ, ŋ]
33 ں (̃) nūn ġunna ◌̃ /◌̃/
34 و (o) va'o v, u, o, au, ū /ʋ, ʊ, oː, ɔː, uː/
35 ـہ (-h), ه chōṭī hē h /ɦ/ [h~ɦ]
36 ھ (h) do caśmī he /ʰ/ or /ʱ/
37 ء hamzā ', – /ʔ/, Ø
38 ی (ī) choṭī ye y, ī /j, iː/
39 ے (e) baṛī ye ai, e /ɛː, eː/

Vowels edit

Romanization Pronunciation Final Medial Initial
a /ə/      
ā /aː/      
i /ɪ/      
ī /iː/      
u /ʊ/      
ū /uː/      
e /eː/      
ai /ɛː/      
o /oː/      
au /ɔː/      

Short vowels and other diacritics edit

Diacritic Example Name Transcription IPA
ـَ (-a) بَ (ba) zabar a /ə/
ـِ (--i) بِ (bi) zer i /ɪ/
ـُ (-u) بُ (bu) peś u /ʊ/
ـّ ضَمَّہ (zamma) taśdīd - marks the doubling (gemination) of the consonant
ـ۟ ہَمْزَہ (hamza) jazm - marks the absence of a vowel
ـ٘ بَن٘گْلَہ دیش (baṅgla deś) nūn ġunnā - marks the nasalisation of the vowel (over n)

Nasalisation edit

غُنَائِیَّت (ġunāiyyat)

Nasalisation in Urdu typically occurs in four ways:

  1. غُنَّہ (ġunna) (or نُونِ غُنَّہ (nūn-i ġunna))
    nasalization that occurs after the previous letter (ie. رَن٘گ (raṅg) / ڈَھن٘گ (ḍhaṅg) / سَن٘گ (saṅg)) – represented with the Noon Ghunna diacritic.
  2. مَغْنُونَہ (maġnūna)
    nasalization that occurs blending with the preceding letter (ie. آن٘چَل (ā̃cal) / سَن٘وَرْنا (sãvarnā) / کُن٘وارا (kũvārā)) – represented with the Noon Ghunna diacritic.
  3. نُون بَطور مِیم (nūn bator mīm)
    the nasalization which is pronounced as an 'm' (ie. اَن٘بار (ambār) / سُن٘بَل (sumbal)) – represented with the Noon Ghunna diacritic.
  4. نُونِ مَخْلُوط (nūn-i maxlūt)
    the nasal (alveolar) consonant (ie. دَھنْدَہ (dhanda) / بَنْدَر (bandar))