| Pakistani Urdu Braille | |
| Type: | Abjad |
| Languages: | Urdu (in Pakistan) |
| Fam1: | Braille |
| Fam2: | English Braille |
| Fam3: | Persian Braille |
| Note: | none |
| Indian Urdu Braille | |
| Type: | Alphabet |
| Typedesc: | (?) |
| Languages: | Urdu (In India) |
| Fam1: | Braille |
| Fam2: | English Braille |
| Fam3: | Bharati Braille |
| Print: | Devanagari |
| Note: | none |
Urdu Braille is the braille alphabet used for Urdu. There are two standard braille alphabets for Urdu, one in Pakistan and the other in India. The Pakistani alphabet is based on Persian Braille and is in use throughout the country, while the Indian alphabet is based on national Bharati Braille.
Besides the addition of Urdu-specific consonants analogous to the additional letters in the print Urdu alphabet compared to the Persian alphabet, Pakistani Urdu Braille differs from Persian Braille in the transcription of the print letter Urdu: ژ ž, which is written as a digraph in Urdu braille rather than as Persian, which in Urdu is used for Urdu: ڈ ḍ. (The use of ژ is negligible in Urdu by comparison; the only common use for it is to represent the “s” sound in the English word “division.”)
Indian Urdu Braille differs from other Bharati braille alphabets in having several letters borrowed from Persian, such as for Urdu: ق q (Bharati kṣ), for Urdu: ح ḥ (Bharati jñ), and for Urdu: ع ‘ (Bharati ḻ). Another such letter, for Urdu: خ x, is shared with Gurmukhi Braille ਖ਼ x but with no other Bharati alphabet, where is otherwise the vowel o.
Note: Unlike the Perso-Arabic script, Urdu Braille is read left-to-right.[1]
| Pakistan | India | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urdu: ا | – | (?) | ||
| Urdu: آ | ā | |||
| Urdu: ب | b | |||
| Urdu: بھ | bh | |||
| Urdu: پ | p | |||
| Urdu: پھ | ph | |||
| Urdu: ت | t | |||
| Urdu: تھ | th | |||
| Urdu: ٹ | ṭ | |||
| Urdu: ٹھ | ṭh | |||
| Urdu: ث | ṯ pronounced as //s// | |||
| Urdu: ج | j | |||
| Urdu: جھ | jh | |||
| Urdu: چ | c | |||
| Urdu: چھ | ch | |||
| Urdu: ح | ḥ | |||
| Urdu: خ | x | |||
| Urdu: د | d | |||
| Urdu: دھ | dh | |||
| Urdu: ڈ | ḍ | |||
| Urdu: ڈھ | ḍh | |||
| Urdu: ذ | ḏ pronounced as //z// | |||
| Urdu: ر | r | |||
| Urdu: ڑ | ṛ | |||
| Urdu: ڑھ | ṛh | |||
| Urdu: ز | z | |||
| Urdu: ژ | ž | |||
| Urdu: س | s | |||
| Urdu: ش | š | |||
| Urdu: ص | ṡ pronounced as //s// | |||
| Urdu: ض | ḋ pronounced as //z// | |||
| Urdu: ط | ṫ pronounced as //t// | |||
| Urdu: ظ | ż pronounced as //z// | |||
| Urdu: ع | ‘ | |||
| Urdu: غ | ğ | |||
| Urdu: ف | f | |||
| Urdu: ق | q | |||
| Urdu: ک | k | |||
| Urdu: کھ | kh | |||
| Urdu: گ | g | |||
| Urdu: گھ | gh | |||
| Urdu: ل | l | |||
| Urdu: م | m | |||
| Urdu: ن | n | |||
| Urdu: ں | (nasal) | |||
| Urdu: و | v/w | v ū ō au | ||
| Urdu: ه | h | |||
| Urdu: ء | ’ | (?) | ||
| Urdu: ی | y | y ī | ||
| Urdu: ے | ē | ē ai | ||
| Urdu: َ◌ | a | (?) | ||
| Urdu: ِ◌ | i | (same?) | ||
| Urdu: ُ◌ | u | (same?) | ||
| Urdu: اً | an | (?) | ||
It is not clear if vowels in Indian Urdu Braille follow pronunciation and their Devanagari Braille equivalents, or print orthography.
Pakistani Urdu Braille has several contractions beyond the aspirated consonants:
Urdu: كو, Urdu: اس, Urdu: ان, Urdu: و ن گ,[2] Urdu: نا, Urdu: نے, Urdu: يا, Urdu: لا, Urdu: بے, Urdu: أ .[3]
Basic punctuation in Pakistan is the same as in India. See Bharati Braille#Punctuation.