Urdu Braille

Pakistani Urdu Braille
Type
Languages Urdu
Parent systems
Print basis
 Urdu alphabet
Indian Urdu Braille
Type
Alphabet (?)
Languages Urdu
Parent systems
Print basis
 Devanagari

According to Unesco (2013),[1] there are different braille alphabets for Urdu in India and in Pakistan. The Indian alphabet is based on national Bharati Braille, while the Pakistani alphabet is based on Persian Braille.

Differences from Persian Braille and from 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 ژ ž, which is written as a digraph in Urdu braille rather than as Persian ⠬, which in Urdu is used for ڈ ḍ.

Indian Urdu Braille differs from other Bharati braille alphabets in having several letters borrowed from Persian, such as ⠟ for ق q (Bharati kṣ), ⠱ for ح ḥ (Bharati jñ), and ⠷ for ع ‘ (Bharati ḻ). Another such letter, ⠭ for خ x, is shared with Gurmukhi Braille ਖ਼ x but with no other Bharati alphabet, where ⠭ is otherwise the vowel o.

Alphabets

Note: It is not clear if these are written right-to-left or left-to-right. The directionality of some of the digraphs may have gotten confused.
Print Pakistan India
ا – ⠁ (braille pattern dots-1) (?)
آ ā ⠜ (braille pattern dots-345)
ب b ⠃ (braille pattern dots-12)
بھ bh ⠆ (braille pattern dots-23) ⠘ (braille pattern dots-45)
پ p ⠏ (braille pattern dots-1234)
پھ ph ⠖ (braille pattern dots-235)
ت t ⠞ (braille pattern dots-2345)
تھ th ⠳ (braille pattern dots-1256) ⠹ (braille pattern dots-1456)
ٹ ṭ ⠪ (braille pattern dots-246)[2] ⠾ (braille pattern dots-23456)
ٹھ ṭh ⠕ (braille pattern dots-135)[2] ⠺ (braille pattern dots-2456)
ث ṯ /s/ ⠹ (braille pattern dots-1456) ⠐ (braille pattern dots-5)⠹ (braille pattern dots-1456)
ج j ⠚ (braille pattern dots-245)
جھ jh ⠴ (braille pattern dots-356)
چ c ⠉ (braille pattern dots-14)
چھ ch ⠡ (braille pattern dots-16)
ح ḥ ⠱ (braille pattern dots-156)
خ x ⠭ (braille pattern dots-1346)
د d ⠙ (braille pattern dots-145)
دھ dh ⠦ (braille pattern dots-236)⠙ (braille pattern dots-145)[3] ⠮ (braille pattern dots-2346)
ڈ ḍ ⠬ (braille pattern dots-346) ⠫ (braille pattern dots-1246)
ڈھ ḍh ⠦ (braille pattern dots-236)⠬ (braille pattern dots-346)[3] ⠿ (braille pattern dots-123456)
ذ ḏ /z/ ⠮ (braille pattern dots-2346) ⠐ (braille pattern dots-5)⠮ (braille pattern dots-2346)
ر r ⠗ (braille pattern dots-1235)
ڑ ṛ ⠻ (braille pattern dots-12456)
ڑھ ṛh ⠦ (braille pattern dots-236)⠻ (braille pattern dots-12456)[3] ⠐ (braille pattern dots-5)⠻ (braille pattern dots-12456)
ز z ⠵ (braille pattern dots-1356)
ژ ž ⠐ (braille pattern dots-5)⠵ (braille pattern dots-1356)[4] ⠐ (braille pattern dots-5)⠴ (braille pattern dots-356)
س s ⠎ (braille pattern dots-234)
ش š ⠩ (braille pattern dots-146)
ص ṡ /s/ ⠯ (braille pattern dots-12346)
ض ḋ /z/ ⠫ (braille pattern dots-1246) ⠐ (braille pattern dots-5)⠫ (braille pattern dots-1246)
ط ṫ /t/ ⠾ (braille pattern dots-23456) ⠐ (braille pattern dots-5)⠾ (braille pattern dots-23456)
ظ ż /z/ ⠿ (braille pattern dots-123456) ⠐ (braille pattern dots-5)⠿ (braille pattern dots-123456)
ع ‘ ⠷ (braille pattern dots-12356)
غ ğ ⠣ (braille pattern dots-126) ⠐ (braille pattern dots-5)⠛ (braille pattern dots-1245)
ف f ⠋ (braille pattern dots-124)
ق q ⠟ (braille pattern dots-12345)
ک k ⠅ (braille pattern dots-13)
کھ kh ⠦ (braille pattern dots-236)⠅ (braille pattern dots-13)[3] ⠨ (braille pattern dots-46)
گ g ⠛ (braille pattern dots-1245)
گھ gh ⠦ (braille pattern dots-236)⠛ (braille pattern dots-1245)[3] ⠣ (braille pattern dots-126)
ل l ⠇ (braille pattern dots-123)
م m ⠍ (braille pattern dots-134)
ن n ⠝ (braille pattern dots-1345)
ں (nasal) ⠰ (braille pattern dots-56)
و v/w ⠺ (braille pattern dots-2456) v ⠧ (braille pattern dots-1236)
ū ⠳ (braille pattern dots-1256)
ō ⠕ (braille pattern dots-135)
au ⠪ (braille pattern dots-246)
ه h ⠓ (braille pattern dots-125)
ء ’ ⠄ (braille pattern dots-3) (?)
ی y ⠊ (braille pattern dots-24) y ⠽ (braille pattern dots-13456)
ī ⠔ (braille pattern dots-35)
ے ē ⠌ (braille pattern dots-34) ē ⠑ (braille pattern dots-15)
ai ⠌ (braille pattern dots-34)
َ◌ a ⠂ (braille pattern dots-2) (?)
ِ◌ i ⠑ (braille pattern dots-15) (same?)
ُ◌ u ⠥ (braille pattern dots-136) (same?)
ّ◌ (dbl) ⠠ (braille pattern dots-6) (?)

It is not clear if vowels in Indian Urdu Braille follow pronunciation and their Devanagari Braille equivalents, or print orthography.

Contractions

Pakistani Urdu Braille has several contractions beyond the aspirated consonants:

كو ⠻, سا ⠑, نا ⠔,[5] و ن گ ⠶, نا ⠢,[5] نے ⠼, يا ⠽, لا ⠧, بے ⠤, اء ⠈.[6]

Punctuation

Basic punctuation in Pakistan is the same as in India. See Bharati Braille#Punctuation.

See also

References

  1. ↑ World Braille Usage, UNESCO, 2013
  2. 1 2 Or perhaps the reverse, ⠕ ṭ and ⠪ ṭh. (Combinatorial Image Analysis: 12th International Workshop, IWCIA 2008, p 345ff.)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Not specifically attested. Assumed from the assignment of ⠦ to the print digraph element ھ.
  4. ↑ Or perhaps a single glyph, ⠽ ž (Combinatorial Image Analysis: 12th International Workshop, IWCIA 2008, p 345ff), though according to Unesco, that's the braille glyph for يا yā.
  5. 1 2 A duplication in the Unesco reference, presumably an error. ⠔ may be ان instead, in which case ⠑ is probably also a mistake for اس. It appears that Unesco got the letters backwards for several of the contractions.
  6. ↑ Written hamza–alif, but labeled alif–hamza.
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