Alphabet

Vowel Pronunciation Key
-----------------------
a : "u" in "but"
aa : "a" in "far"
e : "e" in "bed"
i : "i" in "fit"
ee : "ee" in "feet"
o : "o" in "code"
u : "u" in "put"
oo : "oo" in "booed"
au : "ow" in "how"
ai : "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.


Letter 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 ye : y Occurs only at the end of a word and stands for
e or ai