INTRODUCTION

The Urdu language also has such words of Arabic origin where a special character known as the ‘gol te’ ( Devanagari: गोल ते | IPA:  /ɡo:l t̪eː/ | Pronunciation:  ) is used to denote the ‘t’ (त) sound.

The ‘gol te’ is represented by placing the two nuqte of the letter ‘te’ over the ‘chhoTii he’ as shown below:

Above: The ‘gol te’. Notice the two nuqte of the letter ‘te’ sitting atop the ‘chhoTii he’.

It can be seen in words like “musammaat” (मुसम्मात), meaning “woman/salutation used for women, similar to ‘miss’ etc.”:

Above: The word “musmaat”. Notice the use of the ‘gol te’ for the ‘t’ sound at the end.

Here’s a break-down of this:

Above: ‘miim’ + ‘siin’ + ‘miim’ + ‘alif’ + ‘gol te’ = “musmaat”

Here’s another word - “zakaat” (ज़कात), meaning “charity” or more particularly, “religious tax, as stated in the Qur’aan, paid to poor persons”:

Above: ‘ze’ + ‘kaam’ + ‘alif maqsuuraa’ + ‘gol te’ = “zakaat”

RECAP: ALIF-MAQSUURAA

Whoa! Did you see that ‘alif maqsuuraa’ appearing in the middle of a word? As mentioned in the previous unit, since it appears in the middle, it is represented by placing a small ‘alif’ over a ‘vaao’ and the ‘vaao’ itself becomes silent. This ‘alif maqsuuraa’ again lends the same long-vowel ‘aa’ (आ) sound like in the example above - “zakaat”.

Here’s another such word - “salaat” (सलात), meaning “prayers/blessings”:

Above: ‘seen’ + ‘laam’ + ‘alif maqsuuraa’ + ‘gol te’ = “salaaat”

And here’s one more - the word “mishkaat” (मिश्कात), meaning “chandelier/lamp-stand”:

Above: ‘meem’ + ‘sheen’ + ‘kaaf’ + ‘alif maqsuuraa’ + ‘gol te’ = “mishkaat”

Oh wow, you know what?

You’ve just completed this course. Congratulations! Having learnt all these new special letters and concepts, you should be well on your way to reading Urdu text with great fluency. Enjoy all the content you get your hands on.

But first, you have to clear the quiz up ahead. Don’t worry. This should be a breeze seeing how far you’ve come since you first started off with this course. So, good luck!