Urdu Vowels

Urdu vowels can be divided in to two groups.

1. Short Vowels: represented by special symbols that are place either on-top-of or under other letters. These symbols are called Harakaat and the short vowel Harakaat are Zabar, Zayr and Paish.

2. Long vowels: represented by Urdu letter Alif, Wow, Choti Yaa and Barri Yaa.

ا و ی ے

Short Vowels

1. Zabar

This comes on top of the letter and it is considered a short Alif ( ا ) sound

It sounds almost like English letter U as in bun.

Example: in the Urdu word below the first letter has Zabar on top of it and the word is read as “fun” - it means talent or art.

فَن

2. Paish

This is on top of letters too and it is considered a short Wow ( و ) sound.

Its sound is similar to English letter U when it comes in word pull.

Example: there is a word in Urdu that sounds like the English word pull, but it means bridge in Urdu. Below is the word “pull” in Urdu and there is Paish on the first letter.

پُل

3. Zayr

This is written below a letter. It is considered a short Yaa ( ی ) sound.

It sounds like English letter I as in mill.

Example: the word “jin” in Urdu (meaning a creature similar to a genie) is spelled with a Zayr under the first letter.

جِن

Long Vowels

Remember that all long vowels combine with the letter before them to produce the long vowel sound.

1. Alif

When Alif comes after a letter it is assumed that the letter has a Zabar on it (even though the Zabar is not written). The Alif combines with the letter before it to give a long vowel sound.

Its sound is similar to letter A as in car or far.

Remember: it is not the short or the long sound of letter A like cat or cake. Rather it is a broad A sound.

Example: the Urdu word “baba” (meaning father) combines Alif with letter Bay before it.

بابا

2. Wow

When Wow comes after a letter it can give one of two long vowel sounds:

a) It is assumed that there is Paish on the letter before it. Wow combines with the letter before it to give a sound similar to the sound of letters “oo” as in food or too.

b) It is assumed that there is Zabar on the letter before it. Wow combines with the letter before it to give a sound similar to the sound of letter “ow” as in blow or “oe” as in toe. It is the long letter O sound.

Here are two examples to show the two sounds of Wow:

In Urdu prefix “zoo”, it is considered that there is Paish on the first letter, so it gives the double O sound

زو

In Urdu word “row” (meaning cry) it is assumed that there is Zabar on the first letter, so it gives the ow sound.

رو

3. Choti Yaa

When Choti Yay comes after a letter it is assumed that the letter has a Zayr, even though the Zayr is not written. The Choti Yay combines with the letter before it to give a long vowel sound.

Choti Yaa gives a sound similar to letter E as in tree.

Example: the word in Urdu for “giving” sounds similar to “thee” and use Chotti Yaa.

دی

4. Barri Yaa

When Barri Yaa comes after a letter it the Barri Yaa combines with the letter before it to give a long vowel sound.

Barri Yay gives a sound similar to the sound of letters ‘ay’ as in say. It is the long ‘a’ sound.

Example: Another word for “giving” in Urdu is “they” and it has Barri Yaa at end.

دے

The four vowel letters and three vowel symbols are the bases of Urdu vowel sounds.