Urdu Alphabet

An easy guide to the sounds of Urdu letters.

LEARN URDU

7/20/20262 min read

We will use the English alphabet and try to learn Urdu letter sounds based on their equivalent sounds in English.

There are no exact matching sounds in English language for the letters ت خ ڑ ط ع غ ں. That is why, similar sounding English letters have been mentioned instead of exact sounds.

Here is a list of Urdu letters, their names and their sounds:

Alif-mad’da: aa (makes longer ‘a’ sound)

Alif: a as in art

Bay: b as in bat

Pay: p as in pen

Thay: In between ‘th’ as in three and ‘t’ as in time (a softer, lighter sound)

Tay: t as in time

Say: s as in sun

Jeem: j as in jug

Chay: ch as in chips

Hay: h as in happy

khay: between French ‘r’ sound and ‘x’ as in box (sound comes from throat)

The-al: th as in the (soft sound).

Dal: d as in drum

Zaal: z as in zoo

Ray: r as in ring

Rra’ay: Sharper, harder sound, pronounced with a jerk, similar to ‘r’ as in ring

Zay: z as in zoo

Zhay: y as in yolk or “su” as in measure

Seen: s as in sun

Sheen: sh as in sheep

Saad: s as in sun (the sound is thicker/heavier)

Zaa’ad: z as in zoo (the sound is thicker/heavier)

Toway: In between ‘th’ as in three and ‘t’ as in time (the sound is thicker/heavier)

Zouway: z as in zoo (the sound is thicker/heavier)

Ayeen: a as in art (pressure/tightening in the throat)

Ghyeen: between French ‘r’ sound and ‘g’ as in game (sound comes from throat)

Fay: f as in fan

‍ق

Qaaf: q as in queen (heavier sound and comes from throat)

Kaaf: k as in key

Gaaf: g as in game

Laam: l as in lamp

Meem: m as in moon

Noon: n as in net

(sometimes ن is written as ں and gives a nasal sound similar to an incomplete ‘n’ sound)

Wow: w as win

Hay: h as in happy

Dou-Chashmi Hay: h as in happy

(It doesn't come on its own, rather it combines with other letter to give a heavier, aspirated sound, with a touch of sound of letter H.)

Hamza: ‘ (similar to ‘a’ sound and glottal stop)

Choti Yay: y as in yolk / ee (long e) as in see

Barri Yay: ay (long a) as in say

the letters read read are made out of bookshelves

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