UrduA language 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.
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.
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
|
|
| 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 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 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 word. In the middle it.
could stand for w/oo/o/au |
| chhoTi-he |
h |
Used in native words |
| chhoTi-ye |
y |
Stand for ee/e/ai at the end of a 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 |
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Urdu -
English Dictionary
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