View source for Urdu alphabet

{{Short description|Writing system used for Urdu}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox writing system
| native_name = <!-- this displays in a [[Nastaliq]] Urdu style font if one is installed on the reader's device, the extra line breaks are needed because the slope of the Nastaliq words means they overlap the [[Roman]] Urdu above or below for some readers, please leave the extra line breaks even if your device shows this in a compact Arabic style font (e.g. most phones), unless you know of a versatile row-height setting that works for most devices and fonts -->{{uninastaliq|{{lang|ur|اُردُو حُرُوفِ تَہَجِّی‌}}}}<br />{{small|{{lang|ur-Latn|Urdū ḥurūf-i tahajjī}}}}
| type        = [[Abjad]]
| languages   = *[[Urdu]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Balti alphabet and pronunciation |url=https://omniglot.com/writing/balti.htm |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=omniglot.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06149-bashir-prop.pdf | title=N3117: Proposal to add characters needed for Khowar, Torwali, and Burushaski | first1=Elena | last1=Bashir |author1-link=Elena Bashir| first2=Sarmad | last2=Hussain | first3=Deborah | last3=Anderson | publisher=ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 | date=5 May 2006 }}</ref><!-- i took this from the page for that lang, but as far as i can gather, this is a spoken language -->
| official script = * {{PAK}} 
* {{IND}}
* {{SAF}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 – Chapter 1: Founding Provisions|url=http://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-1-founding-provisions|website=gov.za|access-date=6 December 2014}}</ref>
| sample      = Urdu example.svg<!-- Alternate image that was added for a while between versions: [[File:Urdu alphabets.jpg|220x124px]] -->
| imagesize   = 120px
| caption     = The word {{Lang|ur-Latn|[[wikt:اردو#Urdu|Urdū]]}} written in the Urdu alphabet
| time        = 
| fam1        = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
| fam2        = [[Proto-Sinaitic alphabet|Proto-Sinaitic]]
| fam3        = [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]
| fam4        = [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]
| fam5        = [[Nabataean alphabet|Nabataean]]
| fam6        = [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]]
| fam7        = [[Persian alphabet|Perso-Arabic]]
| unicode     = [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0600.pdf U+0600 to U+06FF]<br />
[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0750.pdf U+0750 to U+077F]<br />
[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/UFB50.pdf U+FB50 to U+FDFF]<br />
[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/UFE70.pdf U+FE70 to U+FEFF]
}}
{{Contains special characters|Urdu}}
{{Arabic script sidebar|Urdu}}
{{Writing systems worldwide}}The '''Urdu alphabet''' ({{Langx|ur|{{uninastaliq|اُردُو حُرُوفِ تَہَجِّی‌}}|translit=urdū ḥurūf-i tahajjī|label=}}) is the [[right-to-left script|right-to-left]] [[alphabet]] used for writing [[Urdu]]. It is a modification of the [[Persian alphabet]], which itself is derived from the [[Arabic script]]. It has co-official status in the republics of [[Pakistan]], [[official scripts of the Indian Republic|India]] and [[South Africa]]. The Urdu alphabet has up to 39<ref name="book: project fluency" >{{cite book |last1=Project Fluency |title=Urdu: The Complete Urdu Learning Course for Beginners: Start Speaking Basic Urdu Immediately |page=Kindle Locations 66–67 |edition=Kindle |isbn=978-1539047803 |date=7 October 2016 |publisher=Createspace Independent Publishing Platform }}</ref> or 40<ref name="omniglot.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/urdu.htm |title=Urdu |website=Omniglot}}</ref> distinct letters with no distinct letter cases and is typically written in the [[calligraphic]] [[Nastaʿlīq|Nastaʿlīq script]], whereas [[Arabic]] is more commonly [[written]] in the [[Naskh (script)|Naskh]] style.

Usually, bare transliterations of Urdu into the [[Latin script|Latin alphabet]] (called [[Roman Urdu]]) omit many [[phoneme|phonemic]] elements that have no equivalent in [[English language|English]] or other languages commonly written in the [[Latin]] script.

== History ==

The standard Urdu script is a modified version of the [[Perso-Arabic script]] and has its origins in the 13th century [[Iran]]. It is also related to [[Shahmukhi]], used for the [[Punjabi dialects and languages|Punjabi language varieties]] in [[Punjab, Pakistan]]. It is closely related to the development of the [[Nasta{{Okina}}liq]] style of Perso-Arabic script.

Despite the invention of the [[Urdu keyboard|Urdu typewriter]] in 1911, Urdu newspapers continued to publish prints of handwritten scripts by calligraphers known as ''[[katib]]s'' or ''[[khush-navees]]'' until the late 1980s. The [[Pakistan]]i [[national newspaper]] ''[[Daily Jang]]'' was the first Urdu [[newspaper]] to use ''Nastaʿlīq'' computer-based composition. There are efforts under way to develop more sophisticated and user-friendly Urdu support on computers and the [[internet]]. Nowadays, nearly all Urdu newspapers, magazines, journals, and periodicals are composed on computers with Urdu software programs.

Other than the [[Indian subcontinent]], the Urdu script is also used by [[Overseas Pakistani|Pakistan's large diaspora]], including in the [[United Kingdom]], the [[United Arab Emirates]], the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Saudi Arabia]] and other places.<ref name="omniglot.com"/>

== Nastaliq ==
[[File:Nastaliq-proportions.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Example showing Nastaliq's (Persian) proportion rules.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}]]
{{Main|Nastaliq}}

Urdu is written in the [[Nastaliq]] style ({{langx|fa|{{uninastaliq|نستعلیق}}}} Nastaʿlīq). The Nastaliq calligraphic writing style began as a [[Persian alphabet|Persian]] mixture of the [[Naskh (script)|Naskh]] and [[Ta'liq script|Ta'liq]] scripts. After the [[Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent]], Nasta{{Okina}}liq became the preferred writing style for Urdu. It is the dominant style in Pakistan and many Urdu writers elsewhere in the world use it. Nastaʿlīq is more cursive and flowing than its Naskh counterpart.

In the [[Arabic alphabet]], and many others derived from it, letters are regarded as having two or three general forms each, based on their position in the word (though [[Arabic calligraphy]] can add a great deal of complexity). But the Nastaliq style in which Urdu is written uses more than three general forms for many letters, even in simple non-decorative documents.<ref>{{cite book |title=Urdu: some thoughts about the script and grammar, and other general notes for students |url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/urduscript/index.html |chapter-url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/urduscript/graphics/naimchart.gif |chapter=*positional chart* |via=www.columbia.edu |access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref>

== Alphabet ==
The Urdu script is an [[abjad]] script derived from the modern [[Persian alphabet|Persian script]], which is itself a derivative of the [[Arabic script]]. As an abjad, the Urdu script only shows consonants and long vowels; short vowels can only be inferred by the consonants' relation to each other. While this type of script is convenient in [[Semitic languages]] like Arabic and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], whose consonant roots are the key of the sentence, Urdu is an [[Indo-European language]], which requires more precision in vowel sound pronunciation, hence necessitating more memorisation. The number of letters in the Urdu alphabet is somewhat ambiguous and debated.<ref name="Dawn Newspaper">{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/919270|title=Controversy over number of letters in Urdu alphabet|date=15 June 2009|website=DAWN.COM}}</ref>

=== Letter names and phonemes ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Name{{sfn|Delacy|2003|pp=XV–XVI}}
! colspan="4" | Forms
! rowspan=2 | [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] 
! colspan=2 | [[Roman Urdu|Romanization]] 
! rowspan=2 | [[Arabic script in Unicode|Unicode]] 
! colspan=3 | Order 
|-
! Urdu<br>[[Roman Urdu]]
! Isolated
! Final
! Medial
! Initial
! style="white-space:nowrap;" | ALA-LC<ref name="LoC">{{cite web | title=Urdu romanization | url=https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/urdu.pdf | publisher=The Library of Congress }}</ref> 
! [[Hunterian transliteration|Hunterian]]<ref name="Hunterian">Geographical Names Romanization in Pakistan. UNGEGN, 18th Session. Geneva, 12–23 August 1996. Working Papers [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/18th-gegn-docs/18th_gegn_WP85.pdf No. 85] and [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/18th-gegn-docs/18th_gegn_WP85-ad1.pdf No. 85 Add. 1.]</ref> 
! style="font-size:110%;" | {{efn-ua| dictionary order<ref name="Colloquial Urdu - order">{{cite book |last1=Bhatia |first1=Tej K. |last2=Khoul |first2=Ashok |last3=Koul |first3=Ashok |title=Colloquial Urdu: The Complete Course for Beginners |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-30471-5 |pages=41–42 |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=VsVzCgAAQBAJ&pg=GBS.PT40 |access-date=30 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref> }}
! style="font-size:110%;" | <ref name="user.uni-hannover"/>
! style="font-size:110%;" | {{efn-ua| {{citation needed |reason= The far right column was the numbering in the old version of this wiki article. But the Urdu alphabet is very rarely shown with numbering, and the only time I've seen it numbered the order was different to this. |date=June 2020}} }} 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| الف }}}}</span><br>''alif''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ا]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـا }}}}
|
|
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ɑː/, /ʔ/, ''silent''}}{{efn-ua| At the beginning of a word it can represent another vowel, holding a vowel diacritic that would normally be held by the consonant preceding the vowel, for examble {{lang|ur| اُردو }} ''"Urdu"''. But the diacritic indicating which vowel is often omitted {{lang|ur| اردو }} like other short vowel diacritcs. }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''ā'', – 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''ā'', – 
| [[:wiktionary: ا|U+0627]] 
| 1
| 1 
| 1 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| بے }}}}</span><br>''bē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ب]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـب }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـبـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| بـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /b/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''b'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''b'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ب|U+0628]] 
| 2
| 2 
| 2 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| پے }}}}</span><br>''pē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[پ]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـپ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـپـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| پـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /p/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''p'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''p'' 
| [[:wiktionary: پ|U+067E]] 
| 3
| 3 
| 3 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| تے }}}}</span><br>''tē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ت]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـت }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـتـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| تـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /t/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''t'' 
| style="border-left:none;border-bottom:none;" | ''t'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ت|U+062A]] 
| 4
| 4 
| 4 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ٹے }}}}</span><br>''ṭē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ٹ]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـٹ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـٹـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ٹـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ʈ/ }}
| ''ṭ'' 
| style="border-top:none;" | ''t'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ٹ|U+0679]] 
| 5
| 5 
| 5 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ثے }}}}</span><br>''s̱ē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ث]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـث }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـثـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ثـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /s/ }}
| ''s̱'' 
| ''s'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ث|U+062B]] 
| 6
| 6 
| 6 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| جيم }}}}</span><br>''jīm''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ج]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـج }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـجـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| جـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /d͡ʒ/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''j'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''j'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ج|U+062C]] 
| 7
| 7 
| 7 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| چے }}}}</span><br>''cē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[چ]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـچ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـچـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| چـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /t͡ʃ/ }}
| ''c'' 
| ''ch'' 
| [[:wiktionary: چ|U+0686]] 
| 8
| 8 
| 8 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| بڑی حے }}}}</span><br>''baṛī ḥē''
| rowspan="3" style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ح]] }}}}
| rowspan="3" style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـح }}}}
| rowspan="3" style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـحـ }}}}
| rowspan="3" style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| حـ }}}}
| rowspan=3 style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ɦ/ }}
| rowspan=3 | ''ḥ'' 
| rowspan=3 | ''h'' 
| rowspan=3 | [[:wiktionary: ح|U+062D]] 
| rowspan=3 | 9
| rowspan=3 | 9 
| rowspan=3 | 9 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq|حائے حطی}}}}</span><br>''ḥā'e huttī'' 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq|حائے مہملہ}}}}</span><br>''ḥā'e muhmala'' 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| خے }}}}</span><br>''k͟hē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[خ]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـخ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـخـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| خـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /x/ }}
| ''k͟h'' 
| ''kh'' 
| [[:wiktionary: خ|U+062E]] 
| 10
| 10 
| 10 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| دال }}}}</span><br>''dāl''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[د]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـد }}}}
|
|
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /d/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''d'' 
| style="border-left:none;border-bottom:none;" | ''d'' 
| [[:wiktionary: د|U+062F]] 
| 11
| 11 
| 11 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ڈال }}}}</span><br>''ḍāl''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ڈ]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـڈ }}}}
|
|
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ɖ/ }}
| ''ḍ'' 
| style="border-top:none;" | ''d'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ڈ|U+0688]] 
| 12
| 12 
| 12 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ذال }}}}</span><br>''ẕāl''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ذ]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـذ }}}}
|
|
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /z/ }}
| ''ẕ'' 
| ''z'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ذ|U+0630]] 
| 13
| 13 
| 13 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">{{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| رے }}}}</span><br>''rē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ر]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـر }}}}
|
|
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /r/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''r'' 
| style="border-left:none;border-bottom:none;" | ''r'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ر|U+0631]] 
| 14
| 14 
| 14 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">{{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ڑے }}}}</span><br>''ṛē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ڑ]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـڑ }}}}
|
|
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ɽ/ }} <br> {{efn-ua|name=never_begins}} 
| ''ṛ'' 
| style="border-top:none;" | ''r'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ڑ|U+0691]] 
| 15
| 15 
| 15 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| زے }}}}</span><br>''zē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ز]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـز }}}}
|
|
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /z/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''z'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''z'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ز|U+0632]] 
| 16
| 16 
| 16 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ژے }}}}</span><br>''zhē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ژ]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـژ }}}}
|
|
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ʒ/ }} <br> {{efn-ua| Used mainly for [[Persian language|Persian]] loanwords. }} 
| style="border-right:none;" | ''zh'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''zh'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ژ|U+0698]] 
| 17
| 17 
| 17 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| سین }}}}</span><br>''sīn''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[س]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـس }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـسـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| سـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /s/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''s'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''s'' 
| [[:wiktionary: س|U+0633]] 
| 18
| 18 
| 18 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| شین }}}}</span><br>''shīn''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ش]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـش }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـشـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| شـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ʃ/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''sh'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''sh'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ش|U+0634]] 
| 19
| 19 
| 19 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| صاد }}}}</span><br>''ṣwād''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ص]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـص }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـصـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| صـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /s/ }}
| ''ṣ'' 
| ''s'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ص|U+0635]] 
| 20
| 20 
| 20 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ضاد }}}}</span><br>''ẓwād''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ض]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـض }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـضـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ضـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /z/ }}
| ''ẓ'' 
| ''z'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ض|U+0636]] 
| 21
| 21 
| 21 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| طوے }}}}</span><br>''t̤o{{hamza}}ē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ط]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـط }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـطـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| طـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /t/ }}
| ''t̤'' 
| ''t'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ط|U+0637]] 
| 22
| 22 
| 22 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ظوے }}}}</span><br>''z̤o{{hamza}}ē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ظ]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـظ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـظـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ظـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /z/ }}
| ''z̤'' 
| ''z'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ظ|U+0638]] 
| 23
| 23 
| 23 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| عین }}}}</span><br>''{{okina}}ain''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ع]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـع }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـعـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| عـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ɑː/, /oː/, /eː/,<br> /ʔ/, /ʕ/, ''silent'' }} 
| style="border-right:none;" | {{okina}} 
| style="border-left:none;" | {{okina}} <br> {{citation needed|date=June 2020}} 
| [[:wiktionary: ع|U+0639]] 
| 24
| 24 
| 24 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| غین }}}}</span><br>''g͟hain''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[غ]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـغ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـغـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| غـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ɣ/ }}
| ''g͟h'' 
| ''gh'' 
| [[:wiktionary: غ|U+063A]] 
| 25
| 25 
| 25 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| فے }}}}</span><br>''fē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ف]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـف }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـفـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| فـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /f/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''f'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''f'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ف|U+0641]] 
| 26
| 26 
| 26 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| قاف }}}}</span><br>''qāf''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ق]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـق }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـقـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| قـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /q/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''q'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''q'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ق|U+0642]] 
| 27
| 27 
| 27 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| کاف }}}}</span><br>''kāf''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[Kāf|ک]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـک }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـکـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| کـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /k/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''k'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''k'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ک|U+06A9]] 
| 28
| 28 
| 28 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| گاف }}}}</span><br>''gāf''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[گ]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـگ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـگـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| گـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ɡ/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''g'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''g'' 
| [[:wiktionary: گ|U+06AF]] 
| 29
| 29 
| 29 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| لام }}}}</span><br>''lām''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ل]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـل }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـلـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| لـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /l/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''l''
| style="border-left:none;" | ''l''
| [[:wiktionary: ل|U+0644]] 
| 30
| 30 
| 30 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| میم }}}}</span><br>''mīm''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[م]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـم }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـمـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| مـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /m/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''m'' 
| style="border-left:none;" | ''m'' 
| [[:wiktionary: م|U+0645]] 
| 31
| 31 
| 31 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| نون }}}}</span><br>''nūn''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ن]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـن }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـنـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| نـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /n/, /ɲ/, <br> /ɳ/, /ŋ/ }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''n'' 
| style="border-left:none;border-bottom:none;" | ''n'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ن|U+0646]] 
| 32 
| 32 
| 32 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| نون غنّہ }}}}</span><br>''nūn g͟hunnā''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ں]] <br> [[:wiktionary: ٘|٘]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـں }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـںـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ںـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| / [[Nasal vowel|◌̃]] / }} <!-- Leave some space either side or the diacritic gets suck attached to a bracket. --> <br> {{efn-ua|name=never_begins}} 
| ''ṉ'' 
| style="border-top:none;" | ''n'' 
| [[:wiktionary: ں|U+06BA]] <br> [[:wiktionary: ٘|U+0658]] <br> {{efn-ua| The version shown on the left is [[:wiktionary: ں|U+06BA]], which is used only at the end of words. When it is used in the middle of a word it is a diacritic [[:wiktionary: ٘|U+0658]], which is usually omitted (see [[#Diacritics|below]] for further information on [[#Diacritics|diacritic omission]] in Urdu).}} 
| {{efn-ua| Not present in dictionary order because it is not used at the beginning of words. }} 
| 32a 
| 33 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| واؤ }}}}</span><br>''wā{{hamza}}o''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[و]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـو }}}}
|
|
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /[[ʋ ]]/, /u[[ː]]/, /[[ʊ ]]/, <br> /o [[ː ]]/, /[[ɔː ]]/ }}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | ''v'', <br> ''ū'', ''u'', ''o'', ''au''
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | ''w'', <br> ''ū'', ''u'', ''o'', ''au''
| [[:wiktionary: و|U+0648]] 
| 33
| 33 
| 34 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ہے }}}}</span><br>''hē''
| rowspan="2" style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ہ]] }}}} 
| rowspan="2" style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـہ }}}}
| rowspan="2" style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـہـ }}}}
| rowspan="2" style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ہـ }}}}
| rowspan=2 style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ɦ/, /ɑː/, /eː/ }} 
| rowspan=2 style="border-right:none;" | ''h'', ''ā'', ''e''
| rowspan=2 style="border-left:none;" | ''h'', ''ā'', ''e''
| rowspan=2 | [[:wiktionary: ہ|U+06C1]] <br> {{efn-ua| Sometimes ''choṭī hē'' is used to refer to ''hey'' but ''choṭī hē'' can also refer to the Arabic / Persian variant, a stylistic variation representing an equivalent letter, but Persian and Arabic usually use [[:wiktionary: ه|U+0647]] whereas Urdu uses [[:wiktionary: ہ|U+06C1]] for ''gōl hey''.<ref name="user.uni-hannover"/> See also: [[#Unicode|Urdu in Unicode]]. }} 
| rowspan=2 | 34
| 34 
| rowspan=2 | 35 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| چھوٹی ہے }}}} </span><br>''choṭī hē'' 
| 34a 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| دو چشمی ہے }}}}</span><br>''do-cashmī hē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ھ]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـھ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـھـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ھـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ʰ/ }} or {{IPA| /ʱ/ }} <br> {{efn-ua|name=never_begins}} 
| style="border-right:none;" | ''h''
| style="border-left:none;" | ''h''
| [[:wiktionary: ھ|U+06BE]] 
| 35 
| 34b 
| 36 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| یے }}}}</span><br>''yē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ی]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـی }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـیـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| یـ }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /j/, /iː/, /ɑː/ }} 
| style="border-right:none;" | ''y'', ''ī'', ''á''
| style="border-left:none;" | ''y'', ''ī'', ''á''
| [[:wiktionary: ی|U+06CC]] 
| 36
| 35 
| 38 
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| بڑی یے }}}}</span><br>''baṛī yē''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ے]] }}}} 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـے }}}}
|
|
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ɛː/, /eː/ }} <br> {{efn-ua|name=never_begins| }}
| style="border-right:none;" | ''ai'', ''e''
| style="border-left:none;" | ''ai'', ''e''
| [[:wiktionary: ے|U+06D2]] 
| 37
| 35b 
| 39 
|-
| rowspan=2 style="white-space:nowrap" | <span style="font-size:120%;">  {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ہمزہ }}}} </span><br>''hamzah''
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ئ|ئ]] }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـئ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ـئـ }}}}
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| ئـ }}}}
| rowspan=2 style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{IPA| /ʔ/ }} or ''silent'' <br> {{efn-ua|name=hamzah }}
| rowspan=2 style="border-right:none;" | {{hamza}}, –, ''yi''
| rowspan=2 style="border-left:none;" | {{hamza}}, –, ''yi''
| [[:wiktionary: ئ|U+0626]]
| rowspan=2 | 
| 35a 
| rowspan=2 | 37  <br> {{efn-ua| {{citation needed |reason= Hamzah is more often listed first or last, i can find no source for it being number 37. |date=June 2020}} }} 
|- 
| style="font-size:160%;" | {{lang|ur|{{Uninastaliq| [[ء]] }}}}
|
|
|
| [[:wiktionary: ء|U+0621]]
| 0
|} 
:'''Footnotes:''' 
{{notelist-ua|refs=
{{efn-ua|name=hamzah| '''Hamzah:''' In [[Urdu]], ''[[hamzah ]]'' is silent in all its forms except for when it is used as ''hamzah-e-izafat''. The main use of ''hamzah'' in [[Urdu]] is to indicate a vowel cluster.}} 
{{efn-ua|name=never_begins| No Urdu word begins with {{lang|ur| ں }}, {{lang|ur| ھ }}, {{lang|ur| ڑ }}, or {{lang|ur| ے }}.{{citation needed| date=May 2020 }} }} 
}}

=== Additional characters and variations ===

==== Arabic Tāʼ marbūṭah ====
{{anchor|ۃ|ة}}
Tāʼ marbūṭah is also sometimes considered the 40th letter of the Urdu alphabet, though it is rarely used except for in certain loan words from Arabic. Tāʼ marbūṭah is regarded as a form of tā, the Arabic version of Urdu tē, but it is not pronounced as such, and when replaced with an Urdu letter in naturalised loan words it is usually replaced with Gol hē.

==== Table ====
{| class='wikitable sortable' style="text-align:center;" 
|+ Table of additional characters and variations 
|- 
! rowspan=2 | Group 
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Letter {{efn-ua|name=U_A_forms}} 
! colspan=3 | Name (see: [[#Glossary of key words from letter names|Glossary of key words]]) 
! rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;" | Unicode <ref name="Unicode Extended Arabic">{{cite web |title=Extended Arabic Letter | url=https://unicode.org/ <!-- original url, now broken = https://unicode.org/cldr/utility/list-unicodeset.jsp?a=\p{subhead=Extended%20Arabic%20letter} --> | website=unicode.org | access-date= 6 April 2020 }}</ref><ref name="unicode ISO 8859-6">{{cite web | title=Based on ISO 8859-6 | url=https://unicode.org <!-- original url, now broken = https://unicode.org/cldr/utility/list-unicodeset.jsp?a=\p{subhead=Based%20on%20ISO%208859-6} --> | website=unicode.org |access-date= 6 April 2020 }}</ref>
|- 
! [[Nastaliq]] <br> {{efn-ua|name=fonts_add_char}} 
! <small>[[Naskh (script)|Naskh]] with <br> diacritics</small> 
! <small>Roman Urdu or English</small> <ref name="book: project fluency"/><ref name="user.uni-hannover" />
|- 
| [[Arabic alphabet#Alif|Alif]] 
| style=font-size:140%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: آ|آ]]}}}} 
| style="font-size:130%;white-space:nowrap;" | {{lang|ar|{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: آ|آ]]}}}}
| style=white-space:nowrap; style=font-size:120%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| الف مدہ }}}}
| {{lang|ur|{{uninaskh| الِف مَدّه }}}} <br> <ref name="user.uni-hannover" />
| ''alif maddah'' <br> <ref name=user.uni-hannover/>{{efn-ua|name=mad_hamza| Most vowel diacritics are omitted in most Urdu writing, but Urdu writing usually does distinguish alif mad, and include hamza over bari ye, gol he, and wow. For example, alif mad and bare alif in {{lang|ur| [[:wiktionary: آزادی|آزادی]]}} - [[:wiktionary: آزادی|"āzādī"]], {{ipa|ɑ:zɑ:d̪i}}, freedom <br> <ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries /> - are distinguished in most contexts. }} 
| style="text-align:left;white-space:nowrap;" | U+0622 <br> ''alef with madda above'' <ref name="unicode ISO 8859-6"/> 
|- <!-- U+0621 hamzah {{lang|ur| ہَمْزه }}  number #0 --> 
| rowspan=8 | ''[[Hamza]]'' {{efn-ua| See: [[#Hamzah in Nastaliq|Hamzah in Nastaliq.]] }} 
| rowspan=2 style=font-size:140%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ء|ء]]}}}}
| rowspan=2 style="font-size:130%;white-space:nowrap;" | {{lang|ar|{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: ء|ء]]}}}}
| style=font-size:120%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| ہمزہ }}}}
| {{lang|ur|{{uninaskh|  ہَمْزه  }}}} <br> <ref name=user.uni-hannover /> 
| ''[[hamzah]]'' 
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;white-space:nowrap;" | U+0621 <br> ''[[hamza]]'' <ref name="unicode ISO 8859-6"/> 
|-
| style=font-size:120%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| ___ }}}} 
| {{lang|ur|___}} 
| hamza on the line 
|- <!-- ◌ٔ U+0654 (&# 1620 ;) ARABIC HAMZA ABOVE--> 
| style=font-size:140%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ٔ|ٔ]]}}}} <!-- leave some space around this, or the bracksts eat the diacritics and they don't show up. --> 
| style="font-size:130%;white-space:nowrap;" | {{lang|ar|{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: ــٔـ|ــٔـ]]}}}}
| style=font-size:120%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| ___ }}}} 
| {{lang|ur|___}} 
| ''hamza diacritic'' <br> {{efn-ua|name=mad_hamza}}{{efn-ua|name=Naskh_2| See: [[#Hamzah in Nastaliq|Hamzah in Nastaliq.]] }}     
| style="text-align:left;white-space:nowrap;" | U+0654 <br> ''Hamza Above'' 
|- <!-- U+0626 number #35a {{lang|ur|{{uninaskh| ہَمْزه }}}}  hamzah <ref name=user.uni-hannover/> -->
| rowspan=2 style=font-size:140%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ئ|ئ]]}}}}
| rowspan=2 style="font-size:130%;white-space:nowrap;" | {{lang|ar|{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: ئ|ئ]]}}}}
| style=font-size:120%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| ہمزہ }}}}
| {{lang|ur|{{uninaskh|  ہَمْزه  }}}} <br> <ref name=user.uni-hannover />
| ''[[hamzah]]'' 
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;white-space:nowrap;" | U+0626 <br> ''yeh with hamza above'' <ref name="unicode ISO 8859-6"/>
|- 
| style=font-size:120%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| ___ }}}}
| {{lang|ur|___}}
| style=white-space:nowrap; | ''yē hamza'' / ''alif hamza'' 
|- 
| style=font-size:140%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ۓ|ۓ]]}}}}
| style="font-size:130%;white-space:nowrap;" | {{lang|ar|{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: ۓ|ۓ]]}}}}
| style=font-size:120%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| ___ }}}} 
| {{lang|ur|___}} 
| style=white-space:nowrap; | ''baṛī yē hamza'' 
| style="text-align:left;white-space:nowrap;" | U+06D3 <br> ''yeh barree with hamza above'' <ref name="Unicode Extended Arabic"/> 
|- 
| style=font-size:140%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ؤ|ؤ]]}}}}
| style="font-size:130%;white-space:nowrap;" | {{lang|ar|{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: ؤ|ؤ]]}}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;font-size:120%;" | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| واوِ مَہْمُوز }}}}
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | {{lang|ur|{{uninaskh| واوِ مَہْمُوز }}}} <br> <ref name=user.uni-hannover /> 
| ''vāv-e mahmūz'' <br> <ref name="user.uni-hannover" >{{cite web | title=Urdu Alphabet | url=http://www.user.uni-hannover.de/nhtcapri/urdu-alphabet.html | website=www.user.uni-hannover.de | access-date=29 February 2020 | archive-date=11 September 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911052959/http://www.user.uni-hannover.de/nhtcapri/urdu-alphabet.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> 
| style="text-align:left;white-space:nowrap;" | U+0624 <br> ''waw with hamza above'' <ref name="unicode ISO 8859-6"/> 
|- 
| style="white-space:nowrap;font-size:140%;" | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ۂ|ۂ]]}}}}&nbsp;{{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ۂ|‍ۂ]]}}}} 
| style="font-size:130%;white-space:nowrap;" | {{lang|ar|{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: ۂ|ۂ ـۂ]]}}}} 
| style=font-size:120%; | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| ___ }}}} 
| {{lang|ur|___}} 
|   
| style="text-align:left;" | U+06C2 <br> ''heh goal with hamza above'' <ref name="Unicode Extended Arabic"/> <br> or [[:wiktionary: ہ|U+06C1]] + [[:wiktionary: &#1620;|U+0654]] 
|-

|-
| rowspan=3 | Arabic {{efn-ua|name=arabic_ta_marbuta}} 
| style="white-space:nowrap;font-size:140%;" | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ۃ|ۃ]]}}}}&nbsp;{{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ۃ|‍ۃ]]}}}}
| style="font-size:130%;white-space:nowrap;" | {{lang|ar|{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: ۃ|ۃ ـۃ]]}}}} 
| rowspan=2 style="'white-space:nowrap;" | {{langx|ar|<br>{{uninastaliq| [[:ar: ة|تاء مربوطة]]}}}} 
| rowspan=2 | {{langx|ar|<br>{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: تاء مربوطة|تَاء مَرْبُوطَة]]}}}} 
| rowspan=2 style="white-space:nowrap;" | [[Taw#Tāʼ marbūṭah|''tāʼ marbūṭah'']] <br/> "bound ta" 
| style="text-align:left;white-space:nowrap;" | U+06C3 <br> ''teh marbuta goal'' <ref name="Unicode Extended Arabic"/> 
|-

|- 
| style="white-space:nowrap;font-size:140%;" | {{lang|ar|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ة|ة]]}}}}&nbsp;{{lang|ar|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ة|‍ة]]}}}}
| style="font-size:130%;white-space:nowrap;" | {{lang|ar|{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: ة|ة ـة]]}}}} 
| style="text-align:left;white-space:nowrap;" | U+0629 <br> ''teh marbuta'' <ref name="unicode ISO 8859-6"/> 
|-

|- <!-- open ta for comparison --> 
| style="white-space:nowrap;font-size:140%;" | {{lang|ur|{{uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ت|ت]]}}}} 
| style="font-size:130%;white-space:nowrap;" | {{lang|ar|{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: ت|ت]]}}}} 
| style=white-space:nowrap; | {{langx|ar|<br>{{uninastaliq| [[:ar: ت|تاء مفتوحة]]}}}} 
| {{langx|ar|<br>{{uninaskh| [[:wiktionary: تاء مربوطة|تَاء مَفْتُوحَة]]}}}} <!-- that's a deliberate link to Tāʼ_marbūṭah, Tāʼ maftūḥah is mentioned on the tah mahbuta wikionary entry, but doesn't have its own entry --> 
| style=white-space:nowrap; | [[Taw#Tāʼ marbūṭah|''tāʼ maftūḥah '']] <br/> "open ta" <!-- that's a deliberate link to Tāʼ_marbūṭah, Tāʼ maftūḥah is mentioned on the tah mahbuta wikionary entry, but doesn't have its own entry --> 
| style="text-align:left;white-space:nowrap;" | [[:wiktionary: ت|U+062A]] <br> ''Teh'' 
|-

|-
|}

::Footnotes: 
<small>{{notelist-ua|refs= 
{{efn-ua|name=U_A_forms|Left: Urdu [[Nastaliq]]. Right: Arabic [[Naskh (script)|Naskh]] or modern style. }} 
{{efn-ua|name=fonts_add_char|The [[Nastaliq]] text will display in a different style if there is not an appropriate font installed on the machine.}} 
{{efn-ua|name=arabic_ta_marbuta|see: [[# ة|Arabic Tāʼ marbūṭah]] above.}}
}}</small>

==== Hamza in Nastaliq ====
{{anchor| ء in Nastaliq | Hamzah in Nastaliq | Hamza in Nastaliq }}
Hamza can be difficult to recognise in Urdu handwriting and fonts designed to replicate it, closely resembling two dots above as featured in {{lang|ur|{{font|size=100%|[[ت]]}}}} Té and {{lang|ur|{{font|size=100%|[[ق]]}}}} Qaf, whereas in Arabic and Geometric fonts it is more distinct and closely resembles the western form of the numeral [[2]] (two).

=== Digraphs ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ The [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] of [[aspirated consonant]]s are as follows. 
|-
| '''Digraph'''<ref name="LoC"/>
| '''Transcription'''<ref name="LoC"/>
| '''IPA'''
| '''Examples'''
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|بھ}}
| ''bh''
| {{IPA|[bʱ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|بھاری}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|پھ}}
| ''ph''
| {{IPA|[pʰ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|پھول}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|تھ}}
| ''th''
| {{IPA|[tʰ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|تھیلا}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ٹھ}}
| ''ṭh''
| {{IPA|[ʈʰ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|ٹھنڈا}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|جھ}}
| ''jh''
| {{IPA|[d͡ʒʱ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|جھاڑی}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|چھ}}
| ''chh''
| {{IPA|[t͡ʃʰ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|چھتری}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|دھ}}
| ''dh''
| {{IPA|[dʱ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|دھوبی}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ڈھ}}
| ''ḍh''
| {{IPA|[ɖʱ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|ڈھول}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|رھ}}
| ''rh''
| {{IPA|[rʱ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|تیرھواں}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ڑھ}}
| ''ṛh''
| {{IPA|[ɽʱ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|اڑھائی}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|کھ}}
| ''kh''
| {{IPA|[kʰ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|کھانسی}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|گھ}}
| ''gh''
| {{IPA|[ɡʱ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|گھوڑا}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|لھ}}
| ''lh''
| {{IPA|[lʱ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|دولھا}} (alternative of  {{Nastaliq|دُلہا}})
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|مھ}}
| ''mh''
| {{IPA|[mʱ]}} 	
| {{Nastaliq|تمھیں}}
|-
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|نھ}}
| ''nh''
| {{IPA|[nʱ]}}
| {{Nastaliq|ننھا}}
|}

A separate do-chashmi-[[He (letter)|he]] letter, {{lang|ur|{{Nastaliq|ھ}}}}, exists to denote a [[aspirated consonant|/ʰ/]] or a [[murmured voice|/ʱ/]]. This letter is mainly used as part of the multitude of digraphs, detailed in above.

=== Differences from [[Persian alphabet]] ===

Urdu has more letters added to the Perso-Arabic base to represent sounds not present in Persian, which already has additional letters added to the Arabic base itself to represent sounds not present in Arabic. The letters added are shown in the table below:

{{Static row numbers}}
{| class="wikitable"
! Letter !! IPA
|-
| {{lang|ur|{{Nastaliq|[[ٹ]]}}}} || [[voiceless retroflex stop|/ʈ/]]
|-
| {{lang|ur|{{Nastaliq|[[ڈ]]}}}} || [[voiced retroflex stop|/ɖ/]]
|-
| {{lang|ur|{{Nastaliq|[[ڑ]]}}}} || [[retroflex flap|/ɽ/]]
|-
| {{lang|ur|{{Nastaliq|[[ں]]}}}} || [[nasal vowel|/◌̃/]]
|-
| {{lang|ur|{{Nastaliq|[[ے]]}}}} || [[open-mid front unrounded vowel|/ɛ:/]] or [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel|/e:/]].
|}

=== Retroflex letters ===
[[File:Hindustani Urdu retroflex letter T.svg|right|200px]]
[[Old Hindi|Old]] [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] used four dots {{lang|ur|  ٿ ڐ ڙ  }} over three Arabic letters {{lang|ar|  ت د ر  }} to represent retroflex consonants.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ballantyne|first=James Robert|title=A Grammar of the Hindustani Language, with Brief Notices of the Braj and Dakhani Dialects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zalHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA11|year=1842|publisher=Madden & Company|page=11}}</ref> In handwriting those dots were often written as a small vertical line attached to a small triangle. Subsequently, this shape became identical to a small letter {{Nastaliq|{{lang|ur|[[ط]]}}}} ''t̤oʼē''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Berggren|first=Olaf|title=Scripts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bBDnAAAAMAAJ&q=hindustani+four+dots|year=2002|publisher=Bibliotheca Alexandrina|page=108}}</ref> It is commonly and erroneously assumed that ''ṭāʾ'' itself was used to indicate retroflex consonants because of it being an emphatic alveolar consonant that Arabic scribes thought approximated the Hindustani retroflexes.{{citation needed| reason = assumed by who, give examples. |date=November 2020}} In modern Urdu, called ''to'e'' is always pronounced as a [[dental consonant|dental]], not a [[retroflex consonant|retroflex]]. {{citation needed| reason = but the scribes coming up with this were not speaking modern Urdu, so this is irrelevant. Look at the etymology of "tomato", in Urdu, Arabic, Portuguese, and Brazilian Portuguese. Firstly Arabic uses while Urdu uses ٹ and secondly, in a very short time the pronunciation in Brazilian Portuguese has shifted to a "ch". |date=November 2020}}

== Vowels ==
The Urdu language has ten vowels and ten nasalized vowels. Each vowel has four forms depending on its position: initial, middle, final and isolated. Like in its parent Arabic alphabet, Urdu vowels are represented using a combination of digraphs and diacritics. [[Aleph|Alif]], [[Waw (letter)|Waw]], [[Yodh|Ye]], [[He (letter)|He]] and their variants are used to represent vowels.

=== Vowel chart ===

Urdu does not have standalone vowel letters. Short vowels (''a'', ''i'', ''u'') are represented by optional diacritics (''zabar'', ''zer'', ''pesh'') upon the preceding consonant or a placeholder consonant (''alif'', ''ain'', or ''hamzah'') if the syllable begins with the vowel, and long vowels by consonants ''alif'', ''ain'', ''ye'', and ''wa'o'' as matres lectionis, with disambiguating diacritics, some of which are optional (''zabar'', ''zer'', ''pesh''), whereas some are not (''madd'', ''hamzah''). Urdu does not have short vowels at the end of words. This is a table of Urdu vowels:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
![[Romanization]]
![[International Phonetic Alphabet|Pronunciation]]
!Final
!Middle
!Initial
|- 
|a
| {{IPA|/ə/}}
|N/A
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـَ}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|اَ}}
|- 
|ā
| {{IPA|/aː/}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـَا، ـَی، ـَہ}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـَا}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|آ}}
|- 
|i
| {{IPA|/ɪ/}}
|N/A
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـِ}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|اِ}}
|- 
|ī
| {{IPA|/iː/}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـِى}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـِیـ}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|اِیـ}}
|- 
|e
| {{IPA|/eː/}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـے‬}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـیـ}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ایـ}}
|- 
|ai
| {{IPA|/ɛː/}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـَے‬}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـَیـ}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|اَیـ}}
|- 
|u
| {{IPA|/ʊ/}}
|N/A
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـُ}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|اُ}}
|- 
|ū
| {{IPA|/uː/}}
| colspan=2 style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـُو}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|اُو}} 
|- 
|- 
|o
| {{IPA|/oː/}}
| colspan=2 style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـو}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|او}} 
|- 
|au
| {{IPA|/ɔː/}}
| colspan=2 style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـَو}}
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|اَو}}
|}

=== ''Alif'' ===

''Alif'' is the first letter of the Urdu alphabet, and it is used exclusively as a vowel. At the beginning of a word, ''alif'' can be used to represent any of the short vowels: {{Nastaliq|اب}} ''ab'', {{Nastaliq|اسم}} ''ism'', {{Nastaliq|اردو}} ''Urdū''. For long ''ā'' at the beginning of words alif-mad is used: {{Nastaliq|آپ}} ''āp'', but a plain alif in the middle and at the end: {{Nastaliq|بھاگنا}} ''bhāgnā''.

=== ''Wāʾo'' ===

''Wāʾo'' is used to render the vowels "ū", "o", "u" and "au" ([uː], [oː], [ʊ] and [ɔː] respectively), and it is also used to render the [[labiodental approximant]], [ʋ]. Only when preceded by the consonant ''k͟hē ({{Nastaliq|خ}}''), can ''wāʾo'' render the "u" ([ʊ]) sound (such as in {{Nastaliq|خود}}, "''k͟hud''" - ''myself''), or not pronounced at all (such as in ''{{Nastaliq|خواب}}'', "''k͟haab''" - ''dream''). This is known as the [[Silent vav|silent ''wāʾo'']], and is only present in words loaned from Persian.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grierson |first=George Abraham |author-link=George Abraham Grierson |title=Urdu Language Management |url=http://lisindia.ciil.org/Urdu/Urdu.html |access-date=2022-07-23 |website=Language Information Services (LIS)-India}}</ref>

=== ''Ye'' ===

''Ye'' is divided into two variants: ''choṭī ye'' ("little ye") and ''[[baṛī ye]]'' ("big ye").

''Choṭī ye'' ({{Nastaliq|ی}}) is written in all forms exactly as in Persian. It is used for the long vowel "ī" and the consonant "y".

''Baṛī ye'' ({{Nastaliq|ے}}) is used to render the vowels "e" and "ai" ({{IPA|/eː/}} and {{IPA|/ɛː/}} respectively). ''Baṛī ye'' is distinguishable in writing from ''choṭī ye'' only when it comes at the end of a word/ligature. Additionally, ''Baṛī ye'' is never used to begin a word/ligature, unlike ''choṭī ye''.

{| class="wikitable"
!Letter's name
!Final Form
!Middle Form
!Initial Form
!Isolated Form
|- 
|{{Nastaliq|چھوٹی يے}}<br />Choṭī ye
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ـی}}
| rowspan=2 style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ـیـ}}
| rowspan=2 style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|یـ}}
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ی}}
|- 
|{{Nastaliq|بڑی يے}}<br />Baṛī ye
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ـے}}
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ے}}
|}

=== ''The 2 he's'' ===
''He'' is divided into two variants: ''[[gol he]]'' ("round he") and ''do-cašmi he'' ("two-eyed he").

''Gol he'' ({{Nastaliq|ہ}}) is written round and zigzagged, and can impart the "h" ({{IPA|/ɦ/}}) sound anywhere in a word. Additionally, at the end of a word, it can be used to render the long "a" or the "e" vowels ({{IPA|/ɑː/}} or {{IPA|/eː/}}), which also alters its form slightly (on modern digital writing systems, this final form is achieved by writing two ''he's'' consecutively).

''Do-cašmi he'' ({{Nastaliq|ھ}}) is written as in Arabic Naskh style (as a loop), in order to create the aspirate consonants and write Arabic words.

{| class="wikitable"
!Letter's name
!Final Form
!Middle Form
!Initial Form
!Isolated Form
|- 
|{{Nastaliq|گول ہے}}<br />Gol he
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ـہ}} 
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ـہـ}}
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ہـ}}
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ہ}}
|- 
|{{Nastaliq|دو چشمی ہے}}<br />Do-cašmi he
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ـھ}}
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ـھـ}}
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ھـ}}
| style="font-size: 150%" align=center|{{Nastaliq|ھ}}
|}

=== ''Ayn'' ===
''Ayn'' in its initial and final position is silent in pronunciation and is replaced by the sound of its preceding or succeeding vowel.

=== ''Nun Ghunnah'' ===
[[Nasal vowel|Vowel nasalization]] is represented by ''nun ghunna'' written after their non-nasalized versions, for example: ''{{Nastaliq|ہَے}}'' when nasalized would become ''{{Nastaliq|ہَیں}}''. In middle form ''nun ghunna'' is written just like ''nun'' and is differentiated by a diacritic called {{Lang|ur-latn|maghnoona}} or ''ulta jazm'' which is a [[superscript]] V symbol above the {{Nastaliq|ن٘}}.

Examples:
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|'''Form''' 
|'''Urdu'''
| '''Transcription'''
|- 
|Orthography
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{lang|ur|{{Nq|ں}}}}
| {{transliteration|ur|ALA-LC|''ṉ''}}
|- 
|End form
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{lang|ur|{{Nq|میں}}}}
| {{transliteration|ur|ALA-LC|''maiṉ''}}
|- 
|Middle form
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{lang|ur|{{Nq|کن٘ول}}}}
| {{transliteration|ur|ALA-LC|''kaṉwal''}}
|}

== Diacritics ==
Urdu uses the same subset of diacritics used in [[Arabic diacritics|Arabic]] based on Persian conventions. Urdu also uses [[Perso-Arabic Script|Persian]] names of the diacritics instead of Arabic names. Commonly used diacritics are ''zabar'' (Arabic ''fatḥah''), ''zer'' (Arabic ''kasrah''), ''pesh'' (Arabic ''dammah'') which are used to clarify the pronunciation of vowels, as shown above. ''Jazam'' ({{Nastaliq|ـْـ}}, Arabic ''sukun'') is used to indicate a [[consonant cluster]] and ''tashdid'' ({{Nastaliq|ـّـ}}, Arabic ''shaddah'') is used to indicate a [[gemination]], although it is never used for verbs, which require double consonants to be spelled out separately. Other diacritics include ''khari zabar'' (Arabic ''dagger alif''), ''do zabar'' (Arabic ''fathatan'') which are found in some common [[Arabic]] loan words. Other Arabic diacritics are also sometimes used though very rarely in loan words from Arabic. ''Zer-e-izafat'' and ''hamzah-e-izafat'' are described in the next section.

Other than common diacritics, Urdu also has special diacritics, which are often found only in dictionaries for the clarification of irregular pronunciation. These diacritics include ''kasrah-e-majhool'', ''fathah-e-majhool'', ''dammah-e-majhool'', {{Lang|ur-latn|maghnoona}}, ''ulta jazam'', ''alif-e-wavi'' and some other very rare diacritics. Among these, only {{Lang|ur-latn|maghnoona}} is used commonly in dictionaries and has a Unicode representation at U+0658. Other diacritics are only rarely written in printed form, mainly in some advanced dictionaries.<ref name="diacritics">{{cite web|url=http://www.cle.org.pk/clt09/download/Papers/Paper20.pdf|title=Proposal of Inclusion of Certain Characters in Unicode}}</ref>

== Iẓāfat ==
''[[Ezāfe|Iẓāfat]]'' is a syntactical construction of two nouns, where the first component is a determined noun, and the second is a determiner. [[Ezāfe|This construction]] was borrowed from Persian. A short vowel "i" is used to connect these two words, and when pronouncing the newly formed word the short vowel is connected to the first word. If the first word ends in a consonant or an ''ʿain'' ({{Nastaliq|ع}}), it may be written as ''zer'' ({{Nastaliq|&nbsp; ِ&nbsp;}}) at the end of the first word, but usually is not written at all. If the first word ends in ''choṭī he'' ({{Nastaliq|ہ}}) or ''ye'' ({{Nastaliq|ی}} or {{Nastaliq|ے}}) then ''hamzā'' ({{Nastaliq|ء}}) is used above the last letter ({{Nastaliq|ۂ}} or {{Nastaliq|ئ}} or {{Nastaliq|ۓ}}). If the first word ends in a long vowel ({{Nastaliq|ا}} or {{Nastaliq|و}}), then a different variation of ''baṛī ye'' ({{Nastaliq|ے}}) with ''hamzā'' on top ({{Nastaliq|ئے}}, obtained by adding {{Nastaliq|ے}} to {{Nastaliq|ئ}}) is added at the end of the first word.{{sfn|Delacy|2003|pp=99–100}}
{| class="wikitable"
!Forms||Example||Transliteration||Meaning
|- 
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|[[Arabic_diacritics#Kasrah|ـ◌ِ]]}}|| style="font-size: 150%" |{{Nastaliq|شیرِ پنجاب}}||''sher-'''e'''-Panjāb''||the lion of Punjab
|-
|style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ۂ}}
|style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ملکۂ دنیا}}
|''malikā-'''e'''-dunyā''
|the queen of the world
|- 
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ئ}}|| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ولئ کامل}}||''walī-'''e'''-kāmil''||perfect saint
|-
|style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|ـئے}}
|style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|مئے عشق}}
|''mai-'''e'''-ishq''
|the wine of love
|- 
| rowspan=2 style="font-size: 150%" | {{Nastaliq|ئے}}|| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|روئے زمین}}||''rū-''''e'''-zamīn''|| the surface of the Earth
|- 
| style="font-size: 150%"|{{Nastaliq|صدائے بلند}}||''sadā-''''e'''-buland''||a high voice
|}

== Computers and the Urdu alphabet ==
In the early days of computers, Urdu was not properly represented on any [[code page]]. One of the earliest code pages to represent Urdu was IBM Code Page 868 which dates back to 1990.<ref name="ibm">[https://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/globalization/gcoc/attachments/CS01248.pdf "IBM 868 code page"]</ref> Other early code pages which represented Urdu alphabets were [[Windows-1256]] and [[MacArabic encoding]] both of which date back to the mid-1990s. In [[Unicode]], Urdu is represented inside the Arabic block. Another code page for Urdu, which is used in India, is [[Perso-Arabic Script Code for Information Interchange]]. In Pakistan, the 8-bit code page which is developed by [[National Language Authority]] is called Urdu Zabta Takhti ({{Nastaliq|اردو ضابطہ تختی}}) (UZT)<ref name="uzt">{{cite web|url=http://cle.org.pk/Publication/papers/2001/uzt1.01.pdf|title=Urdu Zabta Takhti}}</ref> which represents Urdu in its most complete form including some of its specialized diacritics, though UZT is not designed to coexist with the Latin alphabet.

=== Encoding Urdu in Unicode ===
{{anchor|Unicode}}
{| class="wikitable floatright" style="text-align:center"
|+ Confusable glyphs in Urdu and Arabic script
|- 
! Characters <br/> in Urdu
! Characters <br/> in Arabic
|- 
| <big>{{nq|{{lang|ur|ہ}}}}</big> [[:wiktionary: ہ|(U+06C1)]] <br/> <big>{{nq|{{lang|ur|ھ}}}}</big> [[:wiktionary: ھ|(U+06BE)]] 
| <big>{{lang|ar|ه}}</big> [[:wiktionary: ه|(U+0647)]]
|- 
| <big>{{nq|{{lang|ur|ی}}}}</big> [[:wiktionary: ی|(U+06CC)]] 
| <big>{{nq|{{lang|ur|ى}}}}</big> [[:wiktionary: ى|(U+0649)]] <br/> <big>{{lang|ar|ي}}</big> [[:wiktionary: ي|(U+064A)]]
|- 
| <big>{{nq|{{lang|ur|ک}}}}</big> [[:wiktionary: ک|(U+06A9)]] 
| <big>{{lang|ar|ك}}</big> [[:wiktionary: ك|(U+0643)]]
|- 
|}

Like other writing systems derived from the Arabic script, Urdu uses the 0600–06FF Unicode range.<ref name="unicode600table">{{cite web | url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0600.pdf | title=Arabic | publisher=unicode.org | access-date=7 April 2019 }}</ref> Certain glyphs in this range appear visually similar (or identical when presented using particular fonts) even though the underlying encoding is different. This presents problems for information storage and retrieval. For example, the [[University of Chicago]]'s electronic copy of John Shakespear's "A Dictionary, Hindustani, and English"<ref name="shakespearDictionary">{{cite web |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/shakespear/ |title=A dictionary, Hindustani and English |publisher=Dsal.uchicago.edu |date=29 September 2009 |access-date=18 December 2011}}</ref> includes the word '{{Nastaliq|{{lang|ur|بهارت}}}}' (''bhārat'' "India"). Searching for the string "{{Nastaliq|{{lang|ur|بھارت}}}}" returns no results, whereas querying with the (identical-looking in many fonts) string "{{Nastaliq|{{lang|ur|بهارت}}}}" returns the correct entry.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:4746.shakespear |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121215020523/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:4746.shakespear |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 December 2012 |title=A dictionary, Hindustani and English |publisher=Dsal.uchicago.edu |access-date=18 December 2011}}</ref> This is because the medial form of the Urdu letter ''do chashmi he'' (U+06BE)—used to form aspirate digraphs in Urdu—is visually identical in its medial form to the Arabic letter [[ه|hāʾ]] (U+0647; phonetic value {{IPA|/h/}}). In Urdu, the {{IPA|/h/}} phoneme is represented by the character U+06C1, called ''gol he'' (round ''he''), or ''chhoti he'' (small ''he'').

In 2003, the Center for Research in Urdu Language Processing (CRULP)<ref name="crulp">{{cite web|url=http://www.crulp.org/ |title=Center for Research in Urdu Language Processing |publisher=Crulp.org |access-date=18 December 2011}}</ref>—a research organisation affiliated with Pakistan's [[National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences]]—produced a proposal for mapping from the 1-byte [[Urdu keyboard#Fourth generation|UZT]] encoding of Urdu characters to the Unicode standard.<ref name="uztunicode">{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.tremu.gov.pk/tremu1/workingroups/pdfpresentations/UZT%20UNICODE%20MAPPING.pdf |date=* }}</ref> This proposal suggests a preferred Unicode glyph for each character in the Urdu alphabet.

{{Clear}}

=== Software ===
The ''Daily Jang'' was the first Urdu newspaper to be typeset digitally in ''Nasta{{okina}}liq'' by computer. There are efforts underway to develop more sophisticated and user-friendly Urdu support on computers and on the Internet. Nowadays, nearly all Urdu newspapers, magazines, journals and periodicals are composed on computers via various Urdu software programmes, the most widespread of which is [[InPage]] Desktop Publishing package. [[Microsoft]] has included Urdu language support in all new versions of Windows and both [[Windows Vista]] and [[Microsoft Office 2007]] are available in Urdu through [[Language Interface Pack]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Browse.aspx?displaylang=ur&productID=38DF6AB1-13D4-409C-966D-CBE61F040027 |title=مائِیکروسافٹ ڈاؤُن لوڈ مَرکَزWindows |publisher=Microsoft.com |access-date=18 December 2011}}</ref> support. Most Linux Desktop distributions allow the easy installation of Urdu support and translations as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aasims.wordpress.com/tag/ubuntu-in-urdu/ |title=Ubuntu in Urdu « Aasim's Web Corner |publisher=Aasims.wordpress.com |access-date=18 December 2011}}</ref> [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] implemented the Urdu language keyboard across [[Mobile device]]s in its [[iOS 8]] update in September 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/776214/e-urdu-how-one-mans-plea-for-nastaleeq-was-heard-by-apple/|title=E-Urdu: How one man's plea for Nastaleeq was heard by Apple|date=16 October 2014|work=The Express Tribune|access-date=29 March 2015}}</ref>

== Romanization standards and systems ==
{{main|Roman Urdu}}
There are several romanization standards for writing Urdu with the Latin alphabet, though they are not very popular because most fall short of representing the Urdu language properly. Instead of standard romanization schemes, people on Internet, mobile phones and media often use a non-standard form of romanization which tries to mimic [[English Orthography|English orthography]]. The problem with this kind of romanization is that it can only be read by native speakers, and even for them with great difficulty. Among standardized romanization schemes, the most accurate is [[ALA-LC romanization]], which is also supported by National Language Authority. Other romanization schemes are often rejected because either they are unable to represent sounds in Urdu properly, or they often do not take regard of Urdu orthography, and favor pronunciation over orthography.<ref name="roman">{{cite web|url=http://nlpd.gov.pk/uakhbareurdu/august2011/8.html|title=اردو میں نقل حرفی ۔ ایک ابتدائی تعارف : نبلٰی پیرزادہ|website=nlpd.gov.pk}}</ref>

The National Language Authority of Pakistan has developed a number of systems with specific notations to signify non-English sounds, but these can only be properly read by someone already familiar with the loan letters.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

Roman Urdu also holds significance among the Christians of Pakistan and [[North India]]. Urdu was the dominant native language among Christians of [[Karachi]] and [[Lahore]] in present-day Pakistan and [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Uttar Pradesh]] [[Rajasthan]] in India, during the early part of the 19th and 20th century, and is still used by Christians in these places. Pakistani and Indian Christians often used the Roman script for writing Urdu. Thus Roman Urdu was a common way of writing among Pakistani and Indian Christians in these areas up to the 1960s. The Bible Society of India publishes Roman [[Bible translations into Hindi and Urdu|Urdū Bibles]] that enjoyed sale late into the 1960s (though they are still published today). Church songbooks are also common in Roman Urdu. However, the usage of Roman Urdu is declining with the wider use of Hindi and English in these states.

== Glossary of key words from letter names ==
{{anchor|Glossary|Key words|Words from letter names}}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center"
|+ class=nowrap style=text-align:center| Translations and other uses of key words from Urdu letter names
|-
! colspan=3 | Letter name(s)
! colspan=4 | Urdu word
! colspan=3 | Examples of other uses
|-
! style=width:10% | Isolated <br/> form
! [[Urdu]] <br/> name
! [[Roman Urdu]]
! [[Urdu]]
! class="unsortable" | [[international phonetic alphabet|IPA]]
! [[Roman Urdu]] <br> name
! class="unsortable" | English Translation
! Urdu
! [[Roman Urdu]] or [[international phonetic alphabet|IPA]]
! class="unsortable" | Translation
|-
| style="font-size:150%" | {{lang|ur| [[:wiktionary: ح|ح]]}}
| {{lang|ur| بَڑی حے }}
| baṛī ħē
| rowspan=2 | {{lang|ur| بَڑی }}
| rowspan=2 | {{ipa| bəɽi }}<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
| rowspan=2 | baṛī / <br/> bari
| rowspan=2 style="font-size:90%" | big / elder<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
| {{lang|ur| [[:ur: بڑی آنت|بڑی آنت]]}}
| ''Baṛi ant''
| [[large intestine]]
|-
| style="font-size:150%" | {{lang|ur| [[:wiktionary: ے|ے]]}}
| {{lang|ur| بَڑی يـے }}
| baṛī yē
| rowspan=2 | {{lang|ur| [[:ur: آنت|آنت]]}}
| rowspan=2 |''Ant''
| rowspan=2 | [[intestine]]
|-
| style="font-size:150%" | {{lang|ur| [[:wiktionary: ی|ی]]}}
| style="white-space: nowrap" | {{lang|ur| چھوٹی یے }}
| čhōṭī yē
| rowspan=2 | {{lang|ur| چھوٹی }}
| rowspan=2 | {{ipa|tʃʰoːʈi }}<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
| rowspan=2 | choti
| rowspan=2 style="font-size:90%;" | small / minor / junior<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
|-
| rowspan=2 style="font-size:150%" | {{lang|ur| [[:wiktionary: ہ|ہ]]}}
| {{lang|ur| چھوٹی ہے }}
| čhōṭī hē
| style="white-space:nowrap;"| {{lang|ur| [[:ur: چھوٹی آنت|چھوٹی آنت]]}}
| <!-- choti ant -->
| [[small intestine]]
|-
| style="white-space: nowrap" | {{lang|ur| گول ہـے }}
| gōl hē
| {{lang|ur| گول }}
| {{ipa| goːl }}<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
| gōl
| style="font-size:90%" | round / spherical / vague / silly / obese<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries_Translation>{{cite web | title= Urdu: Oxford Living Dictionaries (Urdu to English Translation) | url=https://ur.oxforddictionaries.com/translate/urdu-english/ | website= Urdu: Oxford Living Dictionaries | access-date=15 March 2020}}{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
| style="white-space: nowrap" | {{lang|ur| [[:ur: گول گپے|گول گپے]]}}
| ''gol gappay''
| [[panipuri]]
|-
| rowspan=4 style="font-size:150%" | {{lang|ur| [[:wiktionary: ھ|ھ]]}}
| rowspan=4 <!-- style="white-space: nowrap" --> | {{lang|ur| دوچَشْمی ہے }}
| rowspan=4 <!-- style="white-space: nowrap" --> | dō-čašmī hē
| rowspan=2 | {{lang|ur| دوچَشْمی }}
| rowspan=2 | {{ipa| }}
| rowspan=2 | do-cashmī
| rowspan=2 style="font-size:90%" | two-eyed <br> {{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
| {{lang|ur| [[:ur: دو چشمی دوربین|دو چشمی دوربین]]}}
| ''do-cashmi''
''dorabīn''
| [[binoculars]]
|-
| {{lang|ur| [[:ur: دوربین|دوربین]]}}
| ''dorabīn''
| [[telescope]]
|-
| {{lang|ur| دو }}
| 
| do
| style="font-size:90%" | 2 / two
| {{lang|ur| [[:ur: دو ایوانیت|دو ایوانیت]]}}
| ''do ayvanīt''
| [[bicameralism]]
|-
| {{lang|ur| چشم }}
| {{ipa| /tʃəʃm/ }}<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries/>
| chashm
| style="font-size:90%" | the eye / hope / expectation<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries_Translation />
| {{lang|ur| [[:ur: آنکھ|چشم]]}}
| ''cashm''
| [[eye]]
|-
| style="font-size:150%" | {{lang|ur| [[:wiktionary: ں|ں]]}}
| {{lang|ur| نُونِ غُنّہ }}
| nūn-e ğunnah
| {{lang|ur| غُنّہ }}
| {{ipa| ɣʊnnɑ }}<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
| ğunnah{{nbsp}}/ g͟hunnah
| style="font-size:90%" | nasal sound or twang<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
| {{lang|ur|[[:ur: | ]]}} {{example needed|date=June 2020}}
| 
| 
|-
| style="font-size:150%" | {{lang|ur| [[:wiktionary: آ|آ]]}}
| {{lang|ur| الِف مَدّه }}
| alif maddah
| {{lang|ur| مَدّه }}
| 
| maddah
| style="font-size:90%" | [[Arabic]]:
| {{lang|ur|[[:ur: | ]]}} {{example needed|date=June 2020}}
| 
| 
|-
| style="font-size:150%" | {{lang|ur| [[:wiktionary: ؤ|ؤ]]}}
| style="white-space: nowrap" | {{lang|ur| واوِ مَہْمُوز }}
| vāv-e mahmūz
| {{lang|ur| مَہْمُوز }}
| {{ipa|mæhmuːz}}<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
| mahmūz
| style="white-space:nowrap;font-size:90%" | defective / improper<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
| {{lang|ur|[[:ur: | ]]}} {{example needed|date=June 2020}}
| 
| 
|- <!--
حروفِ تہجی کی ترتیب
(ترتیبِ تہجی)
alphabetical order

ترتیبِ تہجی
کا ترجمہ ترتیبِ تہجی انگریزی میں
alphabetical order
-->
|-
| rowspan=3 style="font-size:75%" | {{uninastaliq|{{lang|ur| ء ا آ ب پ ت ٹ ث ب ج چ خ ح د ڈ ذ ر ڑ ز ژ س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ک گ ل م ن ں و ہ ھ ی ے }} }}
| rowspan=3 | {{lang|ur| [[:ur: حروف تہجی|حروف تہجی]]}} <br/><ref>{{cite web | title=خلا سے زمین پر انگریزی کےحروف تہجی |url=https://www.bbc.com/urdu/multimedia/2016/01/160105_nasa_abc_space_pics_zz.amp |website=BBC News اردو |access-date=7 May 2020 |language=ur |date=5 January 2016}}</ref>
| rowspan=3 | harūf tahajī <!-- harūf tahajī --> ([[alphabet]])
| {{lang|ur| تہجی }}
| {{ipa| }}
| tahajī
| style="font-size:90%" | sequence <br> {{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
| {{lang|ur|[[:ur: | ]]}} {{example needed|date=June 2020}}
| 
| 
|-
| {{lang|ur| حُرُوف }}
| {{ipa| /hʊruːf/ }}<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
| harūf
| style="font-size:85%" | letters (plural)<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries>{{cite web | title= Urdu: Oxford Living Dictionaries | url=https://ur.oxforddictionaries.com | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018132435/https://ur.oxforddictionaries.com/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=18 October 2016 | website= Urdu: Oxford Living Dictionaries | access-date=15 March 2020}}</ref> <br/> <small>(often referred to as "alphabets" in informal Pakistani English)</small> <!--there's a text book in my Google books library that had that in print, but i can't find it now. -->
| {{lang|ur|[[:ur: | ]]}} {{example needed|date=June 2020}}
| 
| 
|-
| {{lang|ur| حَرْف }}
| {{ipa| /hərf/ }}<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
| harf
| style="font-size:85%" | "letter of the alphabet" / handwriting / statement / blame / stigma<ref name=Oxford_Dictionaries />
| {{lang|ur|[[:ur: | ]]}} {{example needed|date=June 2020}}
| 
| 
|-
|}

== See also ==

* [[Nastaʿlīq|Nastaʻliq script]]
* [[Romanization of Urdu]]
* [[Urdu Braille]]
* [[Urdu Informatics]]
* [[Urdu keyboard]]
* [[Urdu Wikipedia]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==

* {{cite book|last1=Delacy|first1=Richard|title=Beginner's Urdu Script|date=2003|publisher=McGraw-Hill|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=007141987X}}
* {{cite book|last1=Delacy|first1=Richard|title=Read and write Urdu script|date=2010|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=9780071747462|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kFrFSAAACAAJ}}
* {{cite web|title=Urdu romanization|url=https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/urdu.pdf|publisher=The Library of Congress}}
* {{cite web|last1=Ishida|first1=Richard|title=Urdu script notes|url=https://r12a.github.io/scripts/arab/ur.html}}

== External links ==

{{Wikibooks|Urdu}}
* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/urdu.htm Urdu alphabet] 
* [http://www.user.uni-hannover.de/nhtcapri/urdu-alphabet.html Urdu alphabet with Devanagari equivalents]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911052959/http://www.user.uni-hannover.de/nhtcapri/urdu-alphabet.html |date=11 September 2019 }}.
* [http://users.skynet.be/hugocoolens/newurdu/newurdu.html Hugo's Urdu Alphabet Page]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716035347/http://users.skynet.be/hugocoolens/newurdu/newurdu.html |date=16 July 2020 }}.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120608004825/http://www.calligraphyislamic.com/ calligraphyislamic.com], a resource for Urdu calligraphy and script
* [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/urduscript/ Urdu Script Introduction from Columbia University]
* [http://urducouncil.nic.in/welcome.html National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306181655/http://urducouncil.nic.in/welcome.html |date=6 March 2018 }}.

{{Urdu topics}}
{{Arabic alphabets}}
{{Languages of Pakistan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urdu Alphabet}}
[[Category:Urdu script|*]]
[[Category:Hindustani orthography]]
[[Category:Arabic alphabets]]
[[Category:Arabic alphabets for South Asian languages]]