INTRODUCTION

In this unit, we’ll learn about the 3 short-vowels in Urdu - ‘a’ (अ |  ), ‘i’ (इ |  ) and ‘u’ (उ |  ). For this, we’ll learn about 3 special symbols or Diacritics - zabar, zer and pesh and see how these are used with letters to create these vowel sounds.

Above: The diacritics zabar, zer and pesh used to create the three short-vowels in Urdu

Confused? Don’t be. We’ll come back to this aspect of these symbols later. For now, let’s get into some detail.

6.1.1: zabar

The short-vowel ‘a’ (अ | ) is created by placing a zabar above a letter. Doing so lends a short ‘a’ sound to the letter such as in the English words “above”, “up”, “other” or as in the Hindi/Urdu words “अब”, “अगर” etc.

Above: The diacritic zabar placed above the ‘alif’ to give it the sound of ‘a’

In the example shown above, the zabar is responsible for giving the ‘alif’ its sound of ‘a’. However, as we mentioned earlier, the zabar, like all other diacritics, is always self-implied.

Which essentially means:

Above: Comparative showing the letter ‘alif’ with the ‘a’ sound, with and without the zabar

In fact, all the examples we’ve seen so far in this course could be written complete with diacritics to highlight the letters carrying a self-implied zabar. Look at the words below- “ab” (अब):

Above: Comparative showing the word “ab” with and without a zabar above ‘alif’

Also a word - “baT” (बट). Here, the ‘be’ carries the zabar which give it its ‘b’ (ब) sound.

Above: Comparative showing the word “baT” with and without a zabar above ‘be’

Here’s another example - “ban” (बन). Here, the ‘be’ carries the zabar which give it its ‘b’ (ब) sound.

Above: Comparative showing the word “ban” with and without a zabar above ‘be’

6.1.2: zer

The short-vowel ‘i’ (इ |  ) is created by placing a zer below a letter. Doing so lends a short ‘i’ sound to the letter such as in the English words “in”, “with”, “bill” or as in the Hindi/Urdu words “इधर”, “इबादत” etc.

Above: The diacritic zer placed below the ‘alif’ to give it the sound of ‘i’

This is interesting because if we take the word “an” (अन) from above and place a zer below the ‘alif’, it immediately turns into the word “in” (इन), meaning “these”:

Above: ‘alif’ + ‘zer’ + ‘nuun’ = “in”

Here’s another example - “pit” (पित). Here, the ‘pe’ carries the zer  which give it its ‘pi’ (पि) sound.

Above: ‘pe’ + ‘zer’ + ‘te’ = “pit”

We can see the same thing with the word “bin” (बिन), meaning “without”:

Above: ‘be’ + ‘zer’ + ‘nuun’ = “bin”

6.1.3: pesh

The short-vowel ‘u’ (उ |  ) is created by placing a pesh above a letter. Doing so lends a short ‘u’ sound to the letter such as in the English words “put”, “bull” or as in the Hindi/Urdu words “उस्ताद”, “उधर” etc.

Above: The diacritic pesh placed above the ‘alif’ to give it the sound of ‘u’

Once again, if we take the word “an” (अन) and place a pesh above the ‘alif’, it immediately transforms it into the word “un” (उन), meaning “them”:

Above: ‘alif’ + ‘pesh’ + ‘nuun’ = “un”

Here’s another example - “but” (बुत), meaning “statue” Here, the ‘be’ carries the pesh  which give it its ‘bu’ (बु) sound.

Above: ‘be’ + ‘pesh’ + ‘te’ = “but”

Same is the case with the word “bun” (बुन), meaning “weave/knit”:

Above: ‘be’ + ‘pesh’ + ‘nuun’ = “bun”

6.1.4: Diacritics and their significance

We’ve seen this mentioned repeatedly that “Diacritics are always self-implied in Urdu”. However, if one is not familiar with the context in which a word has been written, it may lead to wrong interpretations of that word. For example, let’s look at the word “ban” (बन), meaning “become”, without any diacritics:

Above: The word “ban” without any diacritics

In the absence of diacritics, the word “ban” here, is open to be interpreted in any of the following ways:

Above: Without diacritics, the word “ban” may be represented as “ban”, “bin” or “bun”

And all of the three interpretations above would be correct, technically.

IMPORTANT

However, it all depends on context, i.e; depending upon the sentence in which a word appears.

Readers of the Urdu language are adept at figuring out what a word means even in the absence of diacritics, owing simply to the context of the sentence they’re reading at that moment.

The good news is, in time and with practice, you will be able to read the same way with great fluency!

6.1.5: Some more words

Here are a few words for you to practice with. Some old, some new - all with diacritics. Click on the icon to see both versions of a word - with and without diacritics. Have fun!