Urdu Introduction
Urdu language
is full of beauty and grace, a language that
seems to have been custom-built for literature, a language that adds
meaning to prose and charm to poetry, a language of elegance and
polish, a language that marked the dignified from the unlearned, the
noble from the ordinary, a language that belonged in the courts of
the powerful, in the schools of the wise and the homes of the
erudite, a language that might have past the zenith of its splendor,
but is still spoken by a many.The word Urdu is believed to
be derived from the Turkish, word 'Ordu', which means army
encampment ("Lashkar" in Urdu) but most of
its vocabulary is derived from Persian and Arabic.
Urdu is spoken by large population across
the globe and has served as a communication bridge between
different cultures and people from different parts of the world.
Urdu literature is considered one of the
richest in literature history especially in poetry and prose. In
native terms, these forms are referred as 'ghazal', 'nazm'
and afsana and one can find Urdu Poetry and Urdu Prose writers
in profusion, mostly from South Asia.
In recent years, Urdu Sms has gained great
popularity among young generation but it cannot be regarded as a
true depiction of Urdu but rather for amusement purposes.
Urdu - English Dictionary is an effort to help understand
this language. This site has a huge Urdu vocabulary repository with
downloadable audio-enable library to help one pronounce Urdu words
correctly.
Things to Remember
Urdu Alphabet :: Vowel Pronunciation Key
aaa
e
i
ee
o
u
oo
au
ai |
"u" in "but"
"a" in "far"
"e" in "bed"
"i" in "fit"
"ee" in "feet"
"o" in "code"
"u" in "put"
'oo' in booed
"ow" in "how"
"ei" in "neighbor" |
|
Notes |
1. ( ' ) indicates a
glottal stop (pronounced like "uh") in very careful
speech. Normally, however, it is not pronounced at
the beginning of a word and in other positions
it represents 'aa'.
2. The combination
'ah' at the end of a word is pronounced like 'aa' or
'e'. For example: 'jagah' could be 'jagaa' or 'jage',
i.e., the h is silent.
3. The combination
'ah' or 'aH' in the middle of a word is pronounced
like 'e'.
4. n. (n period)
indicates nasalization.
5. a - is used to
distinguish between sh and s+h, kh and k+h, etc
|
|
|
Urdu Letters |
Transcription |
Remarks |
| 'alif |
A |
Could also
stand for an unspecified initial vowel |
| be |
B |
|
| pe |
P |
Does not
occur in Arabic |
| te |
t |
Used in native urdu words |
| Te |
T |
Does not occur in Arabic and Persian |
| Se |
s |
Used in loan words |
| jeem |
j |
|
| che |
ch |
Does not occur in Arabic |
| baRi-he |
H |
Used in loan words |
| khe |
kh |
|
| daal |
d |
|
| Daal |
D |
Does not occur in Arabic and Persian |
| zaal |
z |
Used in loan words |
| re |
r |
|
| Re |
R |
Does not occur in Arabic and Persian |
| ze |
z |
Used in native urdu words |
| zhe |
zh |
Does not occur in Arabic |
| seen |
s |
|
| sheen |
sh |
|
| saad |
s |
Used in loan words |
| zaad |
z |
Used in loan words |
| to-e |
t |
Used in loan words |
| zo-e |
z |
Used in loan words |
| ain |
' |
Could also stand for an unspecified initial vowel |
| ghain |
gh |
|
| fe |
f |
|
| qaaf |
q |
|
| kaaf |
k |
|
| gaaf |
g |
Does not occur in Arabic |
| laam |
l |
|
| meem |
m |
|
| noon |
n |
|
| vaa-o |
w |
Stands for oo/o/au at the end of a urdu
word. In the middle it.
could stand for w/oo/o/au |
| chhoTi-he |
h |
Used in native urdu words |
| chhoTi-ye |
y |
Stand for ee/e/ai at the end of a urdu word. In the middle it.
could stand for y/ee/e/ai |
| baRi yey |
|
Occurs only
at the end of a word and stands for e or ai |
|
