Short Vowels

There are three short vowels in Urdu, but the Urdu alphabet has no special letters to represent them. Only consonants, long vowels, and diphthongs are written in the words. It is as if the English word "speaking" were written as "speakng" or the word "surrounding" as "sroundng", with long vowels and diphthongs written explicitly and the short vowels unwritten but understood to be present.

The letters ا and ہ can each represent short vowels, but the particular vowel in a particular word may be learned only by listening to a native speaker.

Independent	Final	Medial	Initial	Transliteration	Remarks on Pronunciation
ﺍ اچھا	-	-	-	a, i, u	Pronounced like the English u in but or cut, like the English i in it or pill, or like the English oo in book. Examples: ﺍ + ﭼ + ﮭ + ﺎ + =اچھا acchaa 'good' ﺍ + ﮐ + ﯿ + ﺲ + =اکیس ikkiis '21' ﺍ + ﭨ + ﮭ + ﻨ + ﺎ =اٹھنا uThnaa 'to rise' Note: This letter can represent short vowels only in the initial position.
Independent	Final	Medial	Initial	Transliteration	Remarks on Pronunciation
-	نہ کہ			a, i	Pronounced like the English u in but or cut, or like the English i in it. Examples: نہ na 'not' ﮐ + ﮧ =کہ ki 'that (a conjunction)' Note 1: This letter can represent the short a and i only in the final position. Note 2: The short vowel u is not used in the final position in Urdu.

Urdu also has special orthographic signs that are sometimes used to represent short vowels. In the middle position, these signs are put above or under the consonant preceding the short vowel. In the initial position, they are always written with ا (alif). At the end of the word, there is no need to mark short vowels. The only vowel sounds that can occur at the end of an Urdu word are a and i, and in that situation, the vowel is represented by ہ (ha-e-havaaz).

The signs are given in the table below.

Name	Sound	Medial	Initial
zabar	Transliterated as a, but pronounced like the English u in but or cut.	مَحَل mahal 'a palace'	اَپنا apnaa 'one's own'
pesh	Pronounced u like the English oo in book.	چُپ cup 'silent'	اُٹھنا uThnaa 'to rise'
zer	Pronounced i like the English i in it or bill.	نِب nib 'a nib' ثابِت saabit 'proved, confirmed'	اِکیس ikkiis '21'
sukuun	This sign indicates the absence of a vowel after the consonant. It is very rare and never used in the initial position.	سکول skuul 'a school'	-