Khowar | |
Caption: | Khowar written in the Khowar alphabet in Nastaliq style. |
Type: | Abjad |
Languages: | Khowar, Balti, Burushaski, others |
Time: | Early 20th century - present |
Fam1: | Proto-Sinaitic |
Fam2: | Phoenician |
Fam3: | Aramaic |
Fam4: | Nabataean |
Fam5: | Arabic |
Fam6: | Persian |
Fam7: | Urdu |
Unicode: | U+0600 - U+06FF U+0750 - U+077F |
The Khowar alphabet is the right-to-left alphabet used for the Khowar language. It is a modification of the Urdu alphabet, which is itself a derivative of the Persian alphabet and Arabic alphabet and uses the calligraphic Nastaʿlīq script.
The Khowar language developed during the rule of Mehtar of Chitral State. Since the early twentieth century Khowar has been written in the Khowar alphabet, which is based on the Urdu alphabet and uses the Nasta'liq script. Prior to that, the language was carried on through oral tradition. Today Urdu and English are the official languages and the only major literary usage of Khowar is in both poetry and prose composition. Khowar has also been occasionally written in a version of the Roman script called Roman Khowar since the 1960s. Despite the invention of the Khowar typewriter in 1996, Khowar newsletters and newspapers continued to be published from handwritten scripts by the Khowar authors until the late 1990s. The Monthly Zhang is the first newsletter was the first Khowar newspaper to use Nasta’liq computer-based composition. There are efforts under way to develop more sophisticated and user-friendly Khowar support on computers and the internet. Nowadays, nearly all Khowar newspapers, magazines, journals, and periodicals are composed on computers via various Khowar software programs.
The Nasta'liq calligraphic writing style began as a Persian mixture of scripts Naskh and Ta'liq. Nasta'liq is more cursive and flowing than its Naskh counterpart.
A list of the letters of the Khowar alphabet and their pronunciation is given below. Khowar contains many historical spellings from Arabic and Persian, and therefore has many irregularities. The Arabic letters yaa and haa both have two variants in Khowar: one of the yaa variants is used at the ends of words for the sound pronounced as /[i]/, and one of the haa variants is used to indicate the aspirated and breathy voiced consonants. The retroflex consonants needed to be added as well; this was accomplished by placing a superscript (to'e) above the corresponding dental consonants. Several letters which represent distinct consonants in Arabic are conflated in Persian, and this has carried over to Khowar. Some of the original Arabic letters are not used in Khowar.This is the list of the Khowar letters, giving the consonant pronunciation. Many of these letters also represent vowel sounds.
Name[1] | Forms | IPA | Romanization[2] | Example[3] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Khowar Romanization | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial | Khowar Romanization | Meaning | |||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| الف alif | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ا]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـا | pronounced as / /ɑː/, /ʔ/, silent/ | ā, – | angár | Fire | |||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| بے be | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ب]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـب | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـبـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| بـ | pronounced as / /b/ / | b | braár | Brother | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| پے pe | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[پ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـپ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـپـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| پـ | pronounced as / /p/ / | p | palóγ | Apple | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| تے te | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ت]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـت | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـتـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| تـ | pronounced as / /t̪/ / | t | tat | Father | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ٹے ṭe | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ٹ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـٹ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـٹـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ٹـ | pronounced as / /ʈ/ / | ṭ | ṭip | Full | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ثے se | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ث]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـث | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـثـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ثـ | pronounced as / /s/ / | s | saʋabi | Reward | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| جيم jim | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ج]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـج | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـجـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| جـ | pronounced as / /d͡ʒ/ / | j | jam | Good | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݮيم j̣im | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ݮ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـݮ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـݮـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݮـ | pronounced as / /ɖ͡ʐ/ / | j̣ | j̣anj̣ér | Chain | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| چے če | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[چ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـچ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـچـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| چـ | pronounced as / /t͡ʃ/ / | č | čúmur | Iron | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݯے c̣e | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ݯ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـݯ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـݯـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݯـ | pronounced as / /ʈ͡ʂ/ / | c̣ | c̣at | Dry | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| حے he | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ح]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـح | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـحـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| حـ | pronounced as / /h/ / | h | haját | Need | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| خے xe | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[خ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـخ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـخـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| خـ | pronounced as / /x/ / | x | xaɫáu | Mouse | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| څے tse | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[څ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـڅ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـڅـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| څـ | pronounced as / /t͡s/ / | ts | tseq | Small | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ځے dze | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ځ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـځ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـځـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ځـ | pronounced as / /d͡z/ / | dz | dzah | Wet | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| دال dal | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[د]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـد | pronounced as / /d̪/ / | d | droc̣ | Grapes | |||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ڈال ḍal | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ڈ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـڈ | pronounced as / /ɖ/ / | ḍ | ḍaáng | Hearth | |||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ذال zal | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ذ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـذ | pronounced as / /z/ / | z | zaxira | Dry fruit | |||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| رے re | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ر]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـر | pronounced as / /r/ / | r | roi | People | |||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ڑے ɫe | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ڑ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـڑ | pronounced as / /lˠ/ / | ɫ | ɫow | Fox | |||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| زے ze | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ز]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـز | pronounced as / /z/ / | z | zom | Mountain | |||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ژے že | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ژ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـژ | pronounced as / /ʒ/ / | ž | žuúr | Daughter | |||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݱے ẓe | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ݱ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـݱ | pronounced as / /ʐ/ / | ẓ | ẓot | Early | |||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| سین sin | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[س]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـس | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـسـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| سـ | pronounced as / /s/ / | s | sot | Seven | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| شین šin | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ش]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـش | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـشـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| شـ | pronounced as / /ʃ/ / | š | šot | Oath | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݰین ṣin | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ݰ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـݰ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـݰـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݰـ | pronounced as / /ʂ/ / | ṣ | ṣaboók | Bride | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| صواد swad | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ص]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـص | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـصـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| صـ | pronounced as / /s/ / | s | safá | Clean | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ضواد zwad | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ض]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـض | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـضـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ضـ | pronounced as / /z/ / | z | zayá | Wasted | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| طوئے toē | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ط]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـط | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـطـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| طـ | pronounced as / /t̪/ / | t | toti | Parrot | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ظوئے zoē | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ظ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـظ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـظـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ظـ | pronounced as / /z/ / | z | zaálim | Cruel | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| عین ʻain | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ع]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـع | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـعـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| عـ | pronounced as / /ɑː/, /oː/, /eː/, /ʔ/, /ʕ/, silent / | ʻ | U+0639 | ašéq | Lover |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| غین γain | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[غ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـغ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـغـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| غـ | pronounced as / /ɣ/ / | γ | γéži | Alone | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| فے fe | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ف]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـف | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـفـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| فـ | pronounced as / /f/ / | f | frox | Mouth | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| قاف qaf | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ق]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـق | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـقـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| قـ | pronounced as / /q/ / | q | qáq | Dry | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| کاف kaf | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[Kāf|ک]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـک | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـکـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| کـ | pronounced as / /k/ / | k | kánu | Blind | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| گاف gaf | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[گ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـگ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـگـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| گـ | pronounced as / /ɡ/ / | g | gonj | Storage | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| لام lam | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ل]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـل | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـلـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| لـ | pronounced as / /l/ / | l | U+0644 | loṭ | Big |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| میم mim | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[م]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـم | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـمـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| مـ | pronounced as / /m/ / | m | mux | Face | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| نون nun | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ن]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـن | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـنـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| نـ | pronounced as / /n/, /ɲ/, /ɳ/, /ŋ/ / | n | namúti | Barefoot | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| واؤ wao | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[و]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـو | pronounced as / /ʋ /, /uː/, /ʊ /, /o ː /, /ɔː / / | v, w, u, o, au | wau vreẓ̌nú | Old lady Garlic | |||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ہے he | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ہ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـہ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـہـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ہـ | pronounced as / /h/, /ɑː/, /eː/ / | h, a, e | U+06C1 | host | Hand |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| چھوٹی ہے choṭi he | |||||||||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| دو چشمی ہے do-cashmī hē | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ھ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـھ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـھـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ھـ | pronounced as / /ʰ/ / | -h | phost | Skin | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| یے ye | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ی]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـی | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـیـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| یـ | pronounced as / /j/, /i/, /e/ / | y, i, e | yomún mewá ligíni | Winter Fruit Tongue | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| بڑی یے baṛi ye | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ے]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـے | pronounced as / /e/, /aj/ / | ai, e | U+06D2 | očé | And | ||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ہمزہ hamzah | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[:wiktionary: ئ|ئ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـئ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـئـ | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ئـ | pronounced as / /ʔ/ / or silent | , –, -i, -o, -u | U+0626 | naxói | Chickpea |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ؤ]] | Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ـؤ | U+0624 | buú | Owl | |||||
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| [[ء]] | U+0621 |
Footnotes:
Vowels in Khowar are represented by letters that are also considered consonants. Many vowel sounds can be represented by one letter. Confusion can arise, but context is usually enough to figure out the correct sound.
This is a list of Khowar vowels found in the initial, medial, and final positions.
Short vowels ("a", "i", "u") are represented by marks above and below a consonant.
Vowel | Name | Transcription | IPA | |
zabar | ba | pronounced as //ə// | ||
zer | bi | pronounced as //ɪ// | ||
pesh | bu | pronounced as //ʊ// |
Alif (ا) is the first letter of the Khowar alphabet, and it is used exclusively as a vowel. At the beginning of a word, alif can be used to represent any of the short vowels, e.g. ابدار abdar, اسم ism, اردو Urdu. Also at the beginning, an alif (ا) followed by either wā'o (و) or ye (ی) represents a long vowel sound. However, wā'o (و) or ye (ی) alone at the beginning represents a consonant.
Alif also has a variant, call alif madd (آ). It is used to represent a long "ā" at the beginning of a word, e.g. آپک āpak, آدیمزاد ādmzaad. At the middle or end of a word, long ā is represented simply by alif (ا), e.g. باغ bāgh, آرام ārām.
Wā'o is used to render the vowels "ū", "o", and "au". It also renders the consonants "w" and 'v', but many people get confused between these two sounds.
Ye is divided into two variants: choṭī ye and baṛī ye.
Choṭī ye (ی) is written in all forms exactly as in Persian. It is used for the long vowel "ī" and the consonant "y".
Baṛī ye (ے) is used to render the vowels "e" and "ai" (pronounced as //eː// and pronounced as //æː// respectively). Baṛī ye is distinguished in writing from choṭī ye only when it comes at the end of a word.
Retroflex consonants were not present in the Persian alphabet, and therefore had to be created specifically for Khowar. This was accomplished by placing a superscript ط (to'e) above the corresponding dental consonants.[4]
Letter | Name | IPA | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ٹ | ṭe | pronounced as /[ʈ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݯ | çe | pronounced as /[ʈ͡ʂ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݮ | ǰīm | pronounced as /[ɖ͡ʐ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ڈ | ḍāl | pronounced as /[ɖ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ڑ | ɫe | pronounced as /[lˠ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݱ | ẓe | pronounced as /[ʐ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݰ | ṣin | pronounced as /[ʂ]/ |
Affricate consonants were not present in the Persian alphabet either. Two letters from Pashto alphabet were adopted for Khowar orthography to represent affricate consonants.
Letter | Name | IPA | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| څ | tse | pronounced as /[t͡s]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ځ | dze | pronounced as /[d͡z]/ |
The letter do chashmī he (ھ) is used in native Hindustānī words, for aspiration and breathy voice. The consonants are sometimes classified as separate letters, although they are digraphs.
Letter | Transcription | IPA | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| پھ | ph | pronounced as /[pʰ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| تھ | th | pronounced as /[t̪ʰ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ٹھ | ṭh | pronounced as /[ʈʰ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| چھ | čh | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| ݯھ | c̣h | pronounced as /[ʈ͡ʂʰ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| څھ | tsh | pronounced as /[t͡sʰ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| قھ | qh | pronounced as /[qʰ]/ | |
Urdu: {{Uninastaliq| کھ | kh | pronounced as /[kʰ]/ |