Editing Roman Urdu

{{Short description|Urdu language written with the Latin script}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=February 2021}}
{{distinguish|Urdish}}
{{Contains special characters|Urdu}}

'''Roman Urdu''' is the name used for the [[Urdu]] language written with the [[Latin script]], also known as Roman script.

According to the Urdu scholar Habib R. Sulemani: "Roman Urdu is strongly opposed by the traditional [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic script]] lovers. Despite this opposition it is still used by most on the internet and computers due to limitations of most technologies as they do not have the Urdu script. Although, this script is under development and thus the net users are using the Roman script in their own ways. Popular websites like [[Jang Group]] have devised their own schemes for Roman Urdu. This is of great advantage for those who are not able to read the Arabic script. MSN, Yahoo and some desi-chat-rooms are working as laboratories for the evolving new script and language (Roman Urdu)."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-03-01 |title=1 - Number One News Resource of Pakistan - The News - Jang Group |url=http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2003-daily/08-09-2003/oped/o5.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040301145532/http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2003-daily/08-09-2003/oped/o5.htm |archive-date=2004-03-01  |access-date=2022-09-27 }}</ref>

Romanized Urdu is mutually intelligible with [[Romanized Hindi]] in informal contexts, unlike Urdu written in the [[Urdu alphabet]] and Hindi in [[Devanagari]]. Multinational corporations often use it as a cost effective method for printing and advertising in order to market their products in both Pakistan and India.

Although the idea of romanising Urdu had been suggested several times, it was General [[Ayub Khan (Field Marshal)|Ayub Khan]] who most seriously suggested adopting the Latin alphabet for Urdu and all Pakistani languages during his rule of the country.<ref>[http://www.dawn.com/2008/11/27/fea.htm#2 Paving new paths to romanise Urdu script], Mushir Anwar, [[Dawn (newspaper)]], Nov 27, 2008</ref><ref>[https://www.scribd.com/doc/28397723/Urdu-Language-Controversy The Urdu-English Controversy in Pakistan], Tariq Rahman, [[Modern Asian Studies]], Vol. 31, No. 1 (Feb., 1997), pp. 177-207</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20121119232520/http://www.21stfebruary.org/eassy21_5.htm The Language Movement: An Outline]}}, Rafiqul Islam</ref> The suggestion was inspired to an extent by [[Atatürk's Reforms#Modenization|Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's adoption of the Latin alphabet for Turkish]] in [[Turkey]].

In India, where the Devanagari script is used, Roman Urdu was widely used in the [[Indian Army]], as well as in Christian mission schools, especially for translations of the Bible.<ref name="Fārūqī2001">{{cite book|last=Fārūqī|first=Shamsurraḥmān|title=Early Urdu Literary Culture and History|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|isbn=9780195652017}}</ref>

The [[Hunterian transliteration]] system mostly avoids diacritics and non-standard characters.

==Sample texts==

===Zabu'r 23 ''Dáúd ká Mazmúr''=== 
{{Contains special characters|Indic|section=section}}

====Roman Urdu====
Urdu Bible
<blockquote>
<sup>1</sup>'''Khudáwand''' merá chaupán hai; mujhe kamí na hogí. <br>
<sup>2</sup>Wuh mujhe harí harí charágáhoṉ meṉ bithátá hai: Wuh mujhe ráhat ke chashmoṉ ke pás le játá hai.<br> <sup>3</sup>Wuh merí ján bahál kartá hai: Wuh mujhe apne nám kí khátir sadáqat kí ráhon par le chaltá hai. <br>
<sup>4</sup>Balki khwáh maut ke sáye kí wádí meṉ se merá guzar ho, Maiṉ kisí balá se nahíṉ darúṉgá; kyúnkṉki tú mere sáth hai: Tere 'asá aur terí láthí se mujhe tasallí hai. <br>
<sup>5</sup>Tú mere dushmanoṉ ke rúbarú mere áge dastarkhwán bichhátá hai: Tú ne mere sir par tel malá hai, merá piyála labrez hotá hai. <br>
<sup>6</sup>Yaqínan bhalái aur rahmat 'umr bhar mere sáth sáth raheṉgí: Aur maiṉ hamesha '''Khudáwand''' ke ghar meṉ sukúnat karúṉgá.<ref>[http://www.wbtc.com/downloads/bible_downloads/Urdu19Ps.pdf World Bible Translation Center (pdf file)]</ref>

'''([[Holy Bible|Kita'b I Muqaddas]]''': '''[[Psalm 23|Zabu'r 23]]''' az '''[[David|Dáúd]])'''
</blockquote>

====Nastaʿlīq (Perso-Arabic) Script====
<blockquote style="text-align:right">{{Nastaliq|<sup>۱</sup>'''خداوند''' میرا چوپان ہے؛ مجھے کمی نہ ہوگی۔<br>
<sup>۲</sup>وہ مجھے ہری ہری چراگاہوں میں بٹھاتا ہے: وہ مجھے راحت کے چشموں کے پاس لے جاتا ہے۔<br>
<sup>۳</sup>وہ میری جان بحال کرتا ہے: وہ مجھے اپنے نام کی خاطر صداقت کی راہوں پر لے چلتا ہے۔<br>
<sup>۴</sup>بلکہ خواہ موت کے سایے کی وادی میں سے میرا گزر ہو، میں کسی بلا سے نہیں ڈروں گا؛ کیونکہ تو میرے ساتھ ہے: تیرے عصا اور تیری لاٹھی سے مجھے تسلی ہے۔<br>
<sup>۵</sup>تو میرے دشمنوں کے روبرو میرے آگے دسترخوان بچھاتا ہے: تو نے میرے سر پر تیل ملا ہے، میرا پیالہ لبریز ہوتا ہے۔<br>
<sup>۶</sup>یقیناً بھلائی اور رحمت عمر بھر میرے ساتھ ساتھ رہیں گی: اور میں ہمیشہ '''خداوند''' کے گھر میں سکونت کروں گا۔

'''(کتاب مقدس کے زبور''' <big>۲۳</big> '''از داؤد)''' 
}}</blockquote>

====Devanāgarī script====
<blockquote>
<sup>१</sup> {{lang|hi|'''ख़ुदावन्द''' मेरा चौपान है; मुझे कमी ना होगी।}} <br>
<sup>२</sup> {{lang|hi|वो मुझे हरी हरी चरागाहों में बिठाता है। वो मुझे राहत के चश्मों के पास ले जाता है।}} <br>
<sup>३</sup> {{lang|hi|वो मेरी जान बहाल करता है। वो मुझे अपने नाम की ख़ातिर सदाक़त की राहों पर ले चलता है।}} <br>
<sup>४</sup> {{lang|hi|बलके ख़्वाह मौत के साये की वादी में से मेरा गुज़र हो, मैं किसी बला से नहीं डरूँगा; क्योंके तू मेरे साथ है। तेरे असा और तेरी लाठी से मुझे तसल्ली है।}} <br>
<sup>५</sup> {{lang|hi|तू मेरे दुश्मनों के रूबरू मेरे आगे दस्तर-ख़्वान बिछाता है। तू ने मेरे सर पर तेल मला है, मेरा पियाला लबरेज़ होता है।}} <br>
<sup>६</sup> {{lang|hi|यक़ीनन भलाई और रहेमत उम्र-भर मेरे साथ साथ रहेंगी और मैं हमेशा ख़ुदावन्द के घर में सुकूनत करूँगा।}}

'''({{lang|hi|किताब-ए मुक़द्दस के ज़बूर}}''' <big>२३</big> '''{{lang|hi|अज़ दाऊद}})'''
</blockquote>

== Usage ==
=== Christian community in the Indian subcontinent ===
{{further|Bible translations into Hindi and Urdu}}
[[File:Roman Urdu Bible.JPG|thumb|150px|left|Roman Urdu Bibles are used by many Christians from the South Asian subcontinent]]
[[Urdu]] was the dominant native language among Christians of [[Karachi]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], and [[Rajasthan]] in the 20th century and is still used today by some people in these states. Pakistani and Indian Christians often used the Roman script for writing Urdu. The Bible Society of India publishes Roman Urdu [[Bible]]s, which enjoyed sale late into the 1960s (though they are still published today). Church songbooks are also common in Roman Urdu. However, its usage in Christian contexts is declining in India with the wider use of [[Hindi]] and [[English language|English]] in the states.

=== Film industry ===
[[Bollywood]], India's major film industry, uses a version of Roman script as the main script for its film titles. This is because Bollywood films have an appeal for viewers across [[South Asia]] and even in the [[Middle East]].<ref name="Krishnamurthy2013">{{cite web|url=http://www.gatewayhouse.in/kabul-diary-discovering-the-indian-connection/|title=Kabul Diary: Discovering the Indian connection|last=Krishnamurthy|first=Rajeshwari|date=28 June 2013|publisher=Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations|language=en|access-date=13 March 2018|quote=Most Afghans in Kabul understand and/or speak Hindi, thanks to the popularity of Indian cinema in the country.}}</ref> The [[Devanāgarī]] script is used mostly by Hindi speakers while the [[Perso-Arabic script]] is used primarily by Urdu speakers. The language used in Bollywood films is often called Hindi, but most dialogues are actually written in [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]—they can be understood by Urdu and Hindi speakers alike. Because the film industry wants to reach the largest possible audience, just using the [[Devanāgarī]] or [[Perso-Arabic script]] would be unfavorable for the Bollywood industry as few individuals are literate in both scripts. For this reason, the neutral [[Roman alphabet|Roman]] script is used for [[Bollywood]] film titles, though some films include the Hindi and Urdu scripts as well.<ref name="Dwyer2006">{{cite book|last=Dwyer|first=Rachel|title=Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema|date=27 September 2006|publisher=Routledge|language=en|isbn=9781134380701|page=103}}</ref> 

The similar circumstances are also applied with Pakistan's [[Lollywood]] filming industry, where, along with the Urdu name or title of the movie, a Roman Urdu title is always provided for viewers. It has also become very prevalent in Pakistani Commercial Advertisement Industry, as Slangs and statements in the Commercials use [[Roman Urdu]] to make there Advertisement more Highlighted.

=== Internet ===
Roman Urdu used on the [[Internet]] is non-standard and has irregular spelling. Users who use Roman Urdu on the Internet try to imitate [[English orthography]]. In most cases they are unaware of the fact that [[English language|English]] spelling is not always phonetic.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

=== Education ===
Roman Urdu is increasingly used in educational resources aimed at diaspora communities and non-native speakers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=As South Asian languages grow in Canada, parents want more learning options for kids - National {{!}} Globalnews.ca |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9079202/south-asian-languages-learning-options-schools/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=Global News |language=en-US}}</ref> Kids Bolo has pioneered the use of Roman Urdu in both print and digital formats to teach Urdu.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kamani |first=Zehra |last2= |date=2023-07-17 |title=How These Urdu Language Books for Kids Enhance Connection, Cognition and Mental Health |url=https://www.besthealthmag.ca/article/urdu-language-books-kids-health-benefits/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=Best Health |language=en-US}}</ref> Their approach includes illustrated books written in Roman Urdu<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roman Urdu books for kids |url=https://kidsbolo.com/collections/individual-books |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=Kids Bolo |language=en}}</ref> and interactive online conversation classes, which simplify language learning for students familiar with the Latin alphabet but not the traditional Urdu script.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kids Bolo Urdu Academy - Online Urdu Classes For Kids in the West |url=https://kidsbolo.com/collections/kids-bolo-academy |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=Kids Bolo |language=en}}</ref> This methodology helps learners achieve conversational fluency and encourages cultural connection through language.<ref name=":0" />

== Romanization schemes ==
There are several Romanization standards for writing [[Urdu]] among them the most prominent are [[Uddin and Begum Urdu-Hindustani Romanization]], [[ALA-LC romanization]] and [[ArabTeX]].

There are two main problems with existing Roman Urdu schemes. Either they are not reversible to [[Urdu script]] or they do not allow pronouncing the Urdu words properly. Another shortcoming is that a lot of Roman Urdu schemes confuse the Urdu letter 'Choti He' which has the sound of [[voiceless glottal fricative]] with 'Do Chasham He' which is used as a [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] for [[aspirated consonant]]s in Urdu script. The digraphs "Sh" for letter Shin and "Zh" for letter Zhe also cause problems as they could be interpreted as the letter Sin and 'Choti He' or letter Ze and 'Choti He' respectively. Most Roman Urdu schemes also do not take much consideration of Urdu orthography and the spelling system.

== Informal Roman Urdu ==
{{IPA notice}}
The system of Romanisation used most often by native speakers differs from the formal systems presented in most English language sources. It contains no diacritics or special characters, usually just the 26 letters of the core English alphabet. Informal Romanised Urdu is mutually intelligible with [[Devanagari transliteration|Romanised Hindi]] and the distinction between the languages can be [[Hindi Urdu controversy|controversial]].

While the [[Urdu alphabet]] is derived from the [[Arabic alphabet]] informal Romanised Urdu is less eccentric than [[Arabic chat alphabet|informal Romanised Arabic]]. Informal Romanised Urdu does not use numerals, and rarely uses mixed case, because the Arabic letters that lack a clear equivalent in the English Latin alphabet (e.g. {{lang|ar| ء ع ذ ص ض ط ظ }}) are often silent in Urdu or pronounced identically to [[urdu alphabet|other letters]] (e.g. {{lang|ur| ت س ز }}). So, this system of Urdu Romanisation is used in some slightly more formal contexts than [[Arabic chat alphabet|informal Romanised Arabic]].

One example is the word {{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|عورت}}|{{lhr}}aurat|label=none}}. Formal transliterations often include a punctuation mark (') or special character ({{okina}}) for the ayn {{lang|ur|{{Nastaliq|ع}}}} but this is omitted in informal romanization. Adding the special characters makes it harder to type and would cause things such as Twitter hashtags to break. The discussion on social media about these events is often in informal Romanised Urdu, with frequent [[code-switching]] between Urdu and English, but the handwritten or expertly typeset signs at the events are mostly in either English, Urdu in the traditional script, or local languages.
[[File:Urdu Alphabet Sheet.png|thumb]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Letter !!Nasta‘liq!! Name of letter !! Informal transcription !! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
|-
| {{lang|ur|ا}} || {{Nastaliq| ا }} ||  ''alif'' || a || {{IPA|/aː/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ب}} || {{Nastaliq| ب }} ||  ''be'' || b || {{IPA|/b/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|پ}} || {{Nastaliq| پ }} ||  ''pe'' || p || {{IPA|/p/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ت}} || {{Nastaliq| ت }} ||  ''te'' || t || {{IPA|/t̪/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ٹ}} || {{Nastaliq| ٹ }} ||  ''ṭe'' || t || {{IPA|/ʈ/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ث}} || {{Nastaliq| ث }} ||  ''se'' || s || {{IPA|/s/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ج}} || {{Nastaliq| ج }} ||  ''jīm'' || j || {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|چ}} || {{Nastaliq| چ }} ||  ''ce'' || ch || {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ح}} || {{Nastaliq| ح }} ||  ''baṛī he'' || h || {{IPA|/h/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|خ}} || {{Nastaliq| خ }} || ''k͟he'' || kh || {{IPA|/x/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|د}} || {{Nastaliq| د }} ||  ''dāl'' || d || {{IPA|/d̪/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ڈ}} || {{Nastaliq| ڈ }} ||  ''ḍāl'' || d || {{IPA|/ɖ/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ذ}} || {{Nastaliq| ذ }} ||  ''zāl'' || z || {{IPA|/z/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ر}} || {{Nastaliq| ر }} ||  ''re'' || r || {{IPA|/r/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ڑ}} || {{Nastaliq| ڑ }} ||  ''ṛe'' || ṛ || {{IPA|/ɽ/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ز}} || {{Nastaliq| ز }} ||  ''ze'' || z || {{IPA|/z/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ژ}} || {{Nastaliq| ژ }} ||  ''zhe'' || zh || {{IPA|/ʒ/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|س}} || {{Nastaliq| س }} ||  ''sīn'' || s || {{IPA|/s/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ش}} || {{Nastaliq| ش }} ||  ''śīn'' || sh || {{IPA|/ʃ/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ص}} || {{Nastaliq| ص }} ||  ''ṣu’ād'' || s || {{IPA|/s/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ض}} || {{Nastaliq| ض }} ||  ''z̤ād'' || z || {{IPA|/z/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ط}} || {{Nastaliq| ط }} ||  ''to'e'' || t || {{IPA|/t/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ظ}} || {{Nastaliq| ظ }} ||  ''ẓo'e'' || z || {{IPA|/z/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ع}} || {{Nastaliq| ع }} ||  ''{{lhr}}ain'' || ' or ‘ || {{IPA|/ʔ/}} <ref>{{cite web |title=Urdu Phonetic Inventory |url=http://www.cle.org.pk/Downloads/ling_resources/phoneticinventory/UrduPhoneticInventory.pdf |website=www.cle.org.pk |publisher=Center for Language Engineering |access-date=19 May 2020}}</ref>
|-
| {{lang|ur|غ}} || {{Nastaliq| غ }} ||  ''ġain'' || gh || {{IPA|/ɣ/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ف}} || {{Nastaliq| ف }} ||  ''fe'' || f || {{IPA|/f/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ق}} || {{Nastaliq| ق }} ||  ''qāf'' || q || {{IPA|/q/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ک}} || {{Nastaliq| ک }} ||  ''kāf'' || k || {{IPA|/k/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|گ}} || {{Nastaliq| گ }} ||  ''gāf'' || g || {{IPA|/ɡ/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ل}} || {{Nastaliq| ل }} ||  ''lām'' || l || {{IPA|/l/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|م}} || {{Nastaliq| م }} ||  ''mīm'' || m || {{IPA|/m/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ن}} || {{Nastaliq| ن }} ||  ''nūn'' || n || {{IPA|/n/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|و}} || {{Nastaliq| و }} ||  ''vā'o'' || v/w, o, au or ū || {{IPA|/ʋ/}}, {{IPA|/oː/}}, {{IPA|/ɔ/}} or {{IPA|/uː/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ہ, ﮩ, ﮨ}} || {{Nastaliq| ہ }} ||  ''choṭī he'' || h || {{IPA|/h/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ھ}} || {{Nastaliq| ھ }} ||  ''do chashmī he'' || h || {{IPA|/ʰ/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ء}} || {{Nastaliq| ء }} ||  ''hamza'' || ' || {{IPA|/ʔ/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ی}} || {{Nastaliq| ی }} ||  ''ye'' || y, i || {{IPA|/j/}} or {{IPA|/iː/}}
|-
| {{lang|ur|ے}} || {{Nastaliq| ے }} ||  ''bari ye'' || e or ai || {{IPA|/eː/}} or {{IPA|/ɛː/}}
|}

==See also==
*[[Hindustani orthography]]
*[[Hindustani language]]
*[[Urdu]]
*[[Uddin and Begum Hindustani Romanisation]]
*[[Hindi]]
*[[Hindustan]]
*[[Pakistan]]
*[[India]]
*[[Christianity in Pakistan]]

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Dua, Hans R. (1994b). ''Urdu''. In Asher (Ed.) (pp.&nbsp;4863–4864).
* Insha, Ibn e. (2002) ''Urdu Ki Aakhri Kitab''. New Delhi: Kitab Wala. {{ISBN|81-85738-57-2}}.
* B.S.I. ''Kita'b I Muqaddas''. Bangalore: The Bible Society of India, 1994. {{ISBN|81-221-3230-8}}.
* Gupta, Sunil (2022). ''The Dictionary of Urdu Poetry''. Gurgaon: Zorba Books. {{ISBN|97-893-9302-9-13-3}}.

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage inline|Urdu phrasebook}}
{{Wikivoyage inline|Hindi phrasebook}}
* [https://omniglot.com/conscripts/urdulatin.htm The Urdu Latin alphabet] by Adnaan Mahmood

{{Urdu topics}}
{{Romanization}}

[[Category:Urdu script]]
[[Category:Hindustani orthography]]
[[Category:Romanization of Arabic]]
[[Category:Christianity in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Christianity in India]]