Urdu Vowels
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1/8/2015 Urdu Vowels http://users.skynet.be/hugocoolens/newurdu/vowels.html 1/7 Preliminary notes The opposition "long" and "short" vowels is very much disputed as far as modern IndoAryan languages are concerned because between both varities there is a difference in quality and in quantity. I have therefore put the terms between quotes to indicate that they are somewhat spurious. "Short" vowel a Notes "Short" a sounds like the "a" in the English word "majority". It is indicated by the diacritic superscript mark zabar. The shape of zabar looks a bit like the French "accent aigue". It is normally written above the consonant bearing the sound, however when appearing word initially, zabar should be carried by an alif. Examples Initial: Medial: "Short" vowel i Notes "Short" i sounds like the "i" in the English word "it". It is indicated by the diacritic subscript mark zer. The shape of zer is a bit like the French "accent aigue". It is normally written under the consonant bearing the sound, however when appearing word initially, zer should be written below alif. The same mark is also used to indicate izafat, have a look at the special signs page for more concerning this. Examples
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urdu vowels
Transcript of Urdu Vowels
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1/8/2015 UrduVowels
http://users.skynet.be/hugocoolens/newurdu/vowels.html 1/7
Preliminarynotes
Theopposition"long"and"short"vowelsisverymuchdisputedasfarasmodernIndoAryanlanguagesareconcernedbecausebetweenbothvaritiesthereisadifferenceinqualityandinquantity.Ihavethereforeputthetermsbetweenquotestoindicatethattheyaresomewhatspurious.
"Short"vowela
Notes
"Short"asoundslikethe"a"intheEnglishword"majority".Itisindicatedbythediacriticsuperscriptmarkzabar.TheshapeofzabarlooksabitliketheFrench"accentaigue".Itisnormallywrittenabovetheconsonantbearingthesound,howeverwhenappearingwordinitially,zabarshouldbecarriedbyanalif.
Examples
Initial:
Medial:
"Short"voweli
Notes
"Short"isoundslikethe"i"intheEnglishword"it".Itisindicatedbythediacriticsubscriptmarkzer.TheshapeofzerisabitliketheFrench"accentaigue".Itisnormallywrittenundertheconsonantbearingthesound,howeverwhenappearingwordinitially,zershouldbewrittenbelowalif.Thesamemarkisalsousedtoindicateizafat,havealookatthespecialsignspageformoreconcerningthis.
Examples
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1/8/2015 UrduVowels
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Initial:
Medial:
"Short"vowelu
Notes
"Short"usoundslikethe"oo"intheEnglishword"book".Itisindicatedbythediacriticsuperscriptmarkpesh.Itisnormallywrittenabovetheconsonantbearingthesound,howeverwhenappearingwordinitially,peshshouldbewrittenaboveanalif.
Examples
Initial:
Medial:
"Long"vowela
Notes
"Long"asoundslikethe"a"intheGermanword"bahn".Whenusedwordinitiallyitisrepresentedbyalifmadda,whichisanalifwithatildelikesignaboveit.Whennotusedwordinitiallyanalifwithoutextrasignsisusedtorepresentthissound.IfyouuseArabTeX,you'llseethatitwillputanextrazabarontheletterprecedingthealifwhenencodingalongmedialorfinala,thishoweverisunnecessary,youshouldn'tfollowthispractice.
Examples
Initial:
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Medial:
Final:
"Long"voweli
Notes
"Long"isoundslikethe"ee"intheEnglishword"see".Whenusedwordinitiallyitisrepresentedbyzerunderaliffollowedbysmallyai.Whenmedialitisrepresentedbythemedialshapeofsmallyaiandazerundertheprecedingconsonant.Whenfinalitisrepresentedbythefinalshapeofsmallyai.IfyouuseArabTeX,you'llseethatitwillputanextrazerundertheconsonantprecedingafinallongi,thishoweverisunnecessary,youshouldn'tfollowthispractice.
Examples
Initial:
Medial:
Final:
"Long"vowelu
Notes
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1/8/2015 UrduVowels
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"Long"usoundslikethe"oo"intheEnglishword"soon".Whenusedwordinitiallyitisrepresentedbypeshabovealiffollowedbywaw,anotherrepresentationisaliffollowedbyawawwhichcarriesaninvertedpeshcalled"ulTaapesh".Whenusedmedialorfinalitisrepresentedbywawandapeshabovetheprecedingconsonant,anotherrepresentationforthiscasealsoexists:awawcarryinganinvertedpesh.ArabTeXdoesnothavesupportforulTaapeshatthismoment.
Examples
Initial:
Medial:
Final:
"Long"vowele
Notes
"Long"esoundslikethe"ay"intheEnglishword"way",pronouncedhoweverwithoutanydiphtongaloffglide.Whenusedwordinitiallyitisrepresentedbyalifwithoutanyvowelsignfollowedbyabigyai.Whenmedialitisrepresentedbythemedialshapeofyaiwithoutanyvowelsign.Whenfinalitisrepresentedbythefinalshapeofbigyai.
Examples
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1/8/2015 UrduVowels
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Initial:
Medial:
Final:
"Long"vowelo
Notes
"Long"osoundslikethe"o"intheEnglishword"home",howeverpronouncedasapurevowelnotasadiphtong.Whenusedwordinitiallyitisrepresentedbyaliffollowedbywaw,bothwithoutanyvowelsign.Whenmedialorfinalitisrepresentedbytheshapeofwawalsowithoutanyvowelsign.
Examples
Initial:
Medial:
Final:
Vowelae
Notes
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1/8/2015 UrduVowels
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Vowelaesoundslikethe"e"intheEnglishword"hen".Whenusedwordinitiallyitisrepresentedbyalifwithazabar,followedbybigyai.Whenmedialorfinalitisrepresentedbythecorrespondingshapeofyaiandazabarontheprecedingconsonant.PeoplewithaHindibackgroundwouldrathertransliteratethisvowelas"ai"asisdoneintheItransforHindisystem.ArabTeX(forUrdu)usesofcourse"ae"."ae"isnotarticulatedasadiphtonginUrdu.
Examples
Initial:
Medial:
Final:
Vowelao
Notes
Vowelaosoundslikeaveryopen"o"similartothhevowelintheEnglishword"caught".Whenusedwordinitiallyitisrepresentedbyalifwithazabar,followedbywaw.Whenmedialorfinalitisrepresentedbythecorrespondingshapeofwawandazabarontheprecedingconsonant.PeoplewithaHindibackgroundwouldrathertransliteratethisvowelas"au"asisdoneintheItransforHindisystem,howeverArabTeXforUrduusesalso"ao"."ao"isnotarticulatedasadiphtonginUrdu.
Examples
Initial:
Medial:
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Final:
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