Khowar
Khowar written in the Khowar alphabet in Nastaliq style.
Script type
Abjad
Time period
Early 20th century - present
LanguagesKhowar, Balti, Burushaski, others
Related scripts
Parent systems
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.

History

Khowar-Alphabets

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.

Nasta'liq

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.

Alphabet

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 [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 ط (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[2] Romanization[3] Unicode Example[2]
Khowar
Romanization		 Isolated Final Medial Initial Khowar
Romanization		 Meaning
الف
alif		 ا ـا /ɑː/, /ʔ/, silent[upper-alpha 1] ā, – U+0627 انگار‎
angár		 Fire
بے
be		 ب ـب ـبـ بـ /b/ b U+0628 برار‎
braár		 Brother
پے
pe		 پ ـپ ـپـ پـ /p/ p U+067E پلوغ‎
palóγ		 Apple
تے
te		 ت ـت ـتـ تـ /t̪/ t U+062A تت‎
tat		 Father
ٹے
ṭe		 ٹ ـٹ ـٹـ ٹـ /ʈ/ ṭ U+0679 ٹپ‎
ṭip		 Full
ثے
se		 ث ـث ـثـ ثـ /s/ s U+062B توابی‎
saʋabi		 Reward
جيم
jim		 ج ـج ـجـ جـ /d͡ʒ/ j U+062C جم‎
jam		 Good
ݮيم
j̣im		 ݮ ـݮ ـݮـ ݮـ /ɖ͡ʐ/ j̣ U+076E ݮنݮیر‎
j̣anj̣ér		 Chain
چے
če		 چ ـچ ـچـ چـ /t͡ʃ/ č U+0686 چومر‎
čúmur		 Iron
ݯے
c̣e		 ݯ ـݯ ـݯـ ݯـ /ʈ͡ʂ/ c̣ U+076F ݯار‎
c̣at		 Dry
حے
he		 ح ـح ـحـ حـ /h/ h U+062D حاجت‎
haját		 Need
خے
xe		 خ ـخ ـخـ خـ /x/ x U+062E خڑاؤ‎
xaɫáu		 Mouse
څے
tse		 څ ـڅ ـڅـ څـ /t͡s/ ts U+0685 څیق‎
tseq		 Small
ځے
dze		 ځ ـځ ـځـ ځـ /d͡z/ dz U+0681 ځاہ‎
dzah		 Wet
دال
dal		 د ـد /d̪/ d U+062F دروݯ‎
droc̣		 Grapes
ڈال
ḍal		 ڈ ـڈ /ɖ/ ḍ U+0688 ڈانگ‎
ḍaáng		 Hearth
ذال
zal		 ذ ـذ /z/ z U+0630 ذخیره‎
zaxira		 Dry fruit
رے
re		 ر ـر /r/ r U+0631 روئے‎
roi		 People
ڑے
ɫe		 ڑ ـڑ /lˠ/ ɫ U+0691 ڑوو‎
ɫow		 Fox
زے
ze		 ز ـز /z/ z U+0632 زوم‎
zom		 Mountain
ژے
že		 ژ ـژ /ʒ/ ž U+0698 ژور‎
žor		 Daughter
ݱے
ẓe		 ݱ ـݱ /ʐ/ ẓ U+0771 ݱوت‎
ẓot		 Early
سین
sin		 س ـس ـسـ سـ /s/ s U+0633 سوت‎
sot		 Seven
شین
šin		 ش ـش ـشـ شـ /ʃ/ š U+0634 شوت‎
šot		 Oath
ݰین
ṣin		 ݰ ـݰ ـݰـ ݰـ /ʂ/ ṣ U+0770 ݰابوک‎
ṣaboók		 Bride
صواد
swad		 ص ـص ـصـ صـ /s/ s U+0635 صفا‎
safá		 Clean
ضواد
zwad		 ض ـض ـضـ ضـ /z/ z U+0636 ضائع‎
zayá		 Wasted
طوئے
toʼē		 ط ـط ـطـ طـ /t̪/ t U+0637 طوطی‎
toti		 Parrot
ظوئے
zoʼē		 ظ ـظ ـظـ ظـ /z/ z U+0638 ظالم‎
zaálim		 Cruel
عین
ʻain		 ع ـع ـعـ عـ /ɑː/, /oː/, /eː/,
/ʔ/, /ʕ/, silent
[upper-alpha 2]		 ʻ U+0639 عاشق‎
ašéq		 Lover
غین
γain		 غ ـغ ـغـ غـ /ɣ/ γ U+063A غیژی‎
γéži		 Alone
فے
fe		 ف ـف ـفـ فـ /f/ f U+0641 فروخ‎
frox		 Mouth
قاف
qaf		 ق ـق ـقـ قـ /q/ q U+0642 قاق‎
qáq		 Dry
کاف
kaf		 ک ـک ـکـ کـ /k/ k U+06A9 کانو‎
kánu		 Blind
گاف
gaf		 گ ـگ ـگـ گـ /ɡ/ g U+06AF گونج‎
gonj		 Storage
لام
lam		 ل ـل ـلـ لـ /l/ l U+0644 َلوٹ‎
loṭ		 Big
میم
mim		 م ـم ـمـ مـ /m/ m U+0645 َمخ‎
mux		 Face
نون
nun		 ن ـن ـنـ نـ /n/, /ɲ/,
/ɳ/, /ŋ/		 n U+0646 نموتی‎
namúti		 Barefoot
واؤ
waʼo		 و ـو /ʋ /, /uː/, /ʊ /,
/o ː /, /ɔː /		 v, w,
u, o, au		 U+0648 واؤ‎
wau
وریݱنو‎
vreẓ̌nú		 Old Lady
Garlic
ہے
he		 ہ ـہ ـہـ ہـ /h/, /ɑː/, /eː/ h, a, e U+06C1
[upper-alpha 3]		 ہوست‎
host		 Hand
چھوٹی ہے
choṭi he
دو چشمی ہے
do-cashmī hē		 ھ ـھ ـھـ ھـ /ʰ/
[upper-alpha 4]		 -h U+06BE پھوست‎
phost		 Skin
یے
ye		 ی ـی ـیـ یـ /j/, /i/, /e/
[upper-alpha 5]		 y, i, e U+06CC یومون‎
yomún
میوه‎
mewá
لگینی‎
ligíni		 Winter
Fruit
Tongue
بڑی یے
baṛi ye		 ے ـے /e/
[upper-alpha 6]		 ai, e U+06D2 اوچے‎
očé		 And
ہمزہ
hamzah		 ئ ـئ ـئـ ئـ /ʔ/ or silent
[upper-alpha 7]		 ʼ, –, -i, -o, -u U+0626 نخوئے‎
naxói		 Chickpea
ؤ ـؤ U+0624 بوؤ‎
buú		 Owl
ء U+0621
Footnotes:
  1. ↑ At the beginning of a word it can represent another vowel, holding a vowel diacritic that would normally be held by the consonant preceding the vowel, for examble اُردو "Urdu". But the diacritic indicating which vowel is often omitted اردو like other short vowel diacritcs.
  2. ↑ Used mainly for Arabic loanwords.
  3. ↑ Similar to Urdu, sometimes choṭī hē is used to refer to hey but choṭī hē can also refer to the Arabic / Persian variant, a stylistic variation representing an equivalent letter, but Persian and Arabic usually use U+0647 whereas Khowar uses U+06C1 for gōl hey. See also: Urdu in Unicode.
  4. ↑ No word begins with this letter. This letter forms part of digraph with other consonants to represent aspirated varieties of those consonants
  5. ↑ The letter ye can either represent consonant ([j]) or vowel ([i] or [e]). The letter ye can represent [j] in initial, medial, or final position, or it can represent [i] and [e] occur in medial positions, or [i] in final position. To represent [e] in final position, the letter baṛi ye (ے) is used.
  6. ↑ The letter baṛi ye only occurs in final position. The letter baṛi ye represents the vowel [e]. To represent [e] in media position, the letter ye (ـیـ) is used.
  7. ↑ In Khowar, hamzah is silent in all its forms except for when it is used as hamzah-e-izafat. The main use of hamzah in Khowar is to indicate a vowel cluster.

Vowels

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.

Vowel chart

This is a list of Khowar vowels found in the initial, medial, and final positions.

Romanization Pronunciation Final Medial Initial
a /ə/
ā /ɑː/
i /ɪ/
ī /iː/
u /ʊ/
ū /uː/
e /eː/
ai /ɛ/
o /oː/
au /ɔ/

Short vowels

Short vowels ("a", "i", "u") are represented by marks above and below a consonant.

Vowel Name Transcription IPA
بَ zabar ba /ə/
بِ zer bi /ɪ/
بُ pesh bu /ʊ/

Alif

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

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

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" (/eː/ and /æː/ respectively). Baṛī ye is distinguished in writing from choṭī ye only when it comes at the end of a word.

Use of specific letters

Retroflex letters

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
ٹ ṭe [ʈ]
ݯ çe [ʈ͡ʂ]
ݮ ǰīm [ɖ͡ʐ]
ڈ ḍāl [ɖ]
ڑ ɫe [lˠ]
ݱ ẓe [ʐ]
ݰ ṣin [ʂ]

Affricate Letters

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
څ tse [t͡s]
ځ dze [d͡z]

Do chashmī he

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.

Transcription IPA
پھ ph [pʰ]
تھ th [t̪ʰ]
ٹھ ṭh [ʈʰ]
چھ čh [t͡ʃʰ]
ݯھ c̣h [ʈ͡ʂʰ]
څھ tsh [t͡sʰ]
قھ qh [qʰ]
کھ kh [kʰ]

References

  1. ↑ Ahmadriza, Fareed. Hussain, Mumtaz. کھوار حروف تہجی کی تاریخ History of the Khowar Alphabet http://www.mahraka.com/khowar_alphabets.html
  2. 1 2 Farid Ahmad Raza, Preliminary Grapheme to Phoneme Khowar Alphabet Chart, Booni Chitral. http://www.mahraka.com/pdf/grapheme_to_phoneme.pdf
  3. ↑ Elena Bashir, A digital Khowar-English dictionary with audio - Organization of the dictionary. University of Chicago. https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/khowar-2nd/frontmatter/frontmatter.pdf
  4. ↑ Bashir, Elena; Hussain, Sarmad; Anderson, Deborah (2006-05-05). "N3117: Proposal to add characters needed for Khowar, Torwali, and Burushaski" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2.
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