Having learnt the basics with the long-vowel ‘o’ , let’s take upon the next sounds - ‘au’ (Devanagari: औ | IPA: /ɔː/ | Pronunciation: ) and ‘uu’ or ‘oo’ (Devanagari: ऊ | IPA: /uː/ | Pronunciation:  ) .

As a vowel, this creates the sound of ‘oo’ as in: oops, loot, too etc. or as in Hindi words such as - “ ऊन”, “दूर”, “ आरज़ू” etc. And 'au' as in "awe", "bought", "straw" etc. or as in Hindi words such as - "और", "चौक", "सौ" etc. As a consonant, this creates the sound of ‘v’ (व) as in “vote”, “save” etc. or as in Hindi words such as - “वर्दी”, “दवा”, “नीव” etc.

Here’s how they’re written:

Above: The long-vowels ‘au’ and ‘oo’. Notice the diacritics zabar and pesh here.

Here, the diacritics zabar and pesh take the combination of the ‘alif’ and ‘vaao’ further to create the long-vowel sounds ‘au’ and ‘oo’ .

All the rules we studied on the previous page apply here as well when creating words. Having said that, here’s a comparison between the words “or” (ओर) and “aur” (और):

Above: Comparative between how the words “or” and “aur” are written

Here’s a break-down explaining how the word “aur” is written:

Above: ‘alif’ + ‘zabar’ + ‘vaao’ + ‘re’ = “aur”

Similarly, here’s the word “uub” (ऊब):

Above: ‘alif’ + ‘pesh’ + ‘vaao’ + ‘be’ = “uub”

And now let’s look at these vowel sounds when ‘vaao’ appears in the medial position. Let’s look at the word “Duub” (डूब):

Above: ‘Daal’ + ‘pesh’ + ‘vaao’ + ‘be’ = “Duub”

Here the ‘alif’ is replaced by the consonant ‘Daal’ . We can see that the pesh is placed over ‘Daal’ and followed by ‘vaao’ , it creates the sound of ‘Doo’ (डू). Similarly, let’s look at another word - “dau.D” (दौड़):

Above: ‘Daal’ + ‘zabar’ + ‘vaao’ + ‘.De’ = “dua.D”

Here’s another example, this time, the word - “jaur” (जौर):

Above: ‘jeem’ + ‘zabar’ + ‘vaao’ + ‘re’ = “jaur”

Let’s take this one step further and see how the word “baaruud” (बारूद) is written:

Above: ‘be’ + ‘alif’ + ‘re’ + ‘pesh’ + ‘vaao’ + ‘daal’ = “baaruud”

And now let’s look at a few examples where ‘vaao’ appears in the final position to create the sounds ‘oo’ and ‘au’. Let’s start, very simply, by looking at the word “nau” (नौ):

Above: ‘nuun’ + ‘zabar’ + ‘vaao’ = “nau”

Similarly, the word - “buu” (बू):

Above: ‘be’ + ‘pesh’ + ‘vaao’ = “buu”

And another example - “aarzuu” (आरज़ू):

Above: ‘alif’ + ‘madd’ + ‘re’ + ‘ze’ + ‘pesh’ + ‘vaao’ = “aarzuu”

10.3.1: Some more words

And some more words with all the new sounds we’ve been learning.

And now, let’s move on to see how the letter ‘vaao’ acts as a consonant.