At the Khusrau Circle, we follow a consistent transliteration style to render Urdu (and other languages) in the Latin alphabet. Our style is intended to maximize readability and comprehension. It strikes a balance between the informal “Romani” styles of writing popular in South Asia and complicated academic systems. As the tables below show, our style has a unique way of representing each Urdu phoneme, though we do not preserve differences between Urdu letters that have the same pronunciation.
Consonants
| ب | چ | د | ڈ | ف | گ | غ | ھ | ح، ہ | ج |
| b | ch | d | D | f | g | gh | H | h | j |
| ک | خ | ل | م | ن | ں | پ | ق | ر | ڑ |
| k | kh | l | m | n | N | p | q | r | R |
| ث، س، ص | ش | ت، ط | ٹ | و | ی | ذ، ز، ض، ظ | ژ | ع، ء | |
| s | sh | t | T | v, w | y | z | Z | ‘ |
Vowels
| ـَ | a e (around h) |
| ـِ | i e (in izaafat construction, and around h) |
| ـُ | u |
| ا | a, i, u (beginning of a word) aa (middle of a word) a (end of a word) |
| آ | aa |
| و | o, au, oo, u (depending on context) |
| ی | ee (beginning or middle of a word) i (end of a word) |
| ے | e, ai (depending on context) |
Notes
- Shadda will result in the repetition of a consonant’s transliteration
- Apostrophes may be added to separate syllables and to remove ambiguities. For example, mus’haf.
- Hyphens will be added to compound words and for attached prepositions.
- “H” designates aspiration while “N” designates nasalization.
- Silent “ہ” at the end of a word will not be transliterated.
- “و” will be transliterated as “v” or “w” depending on context.