Urdu letter Ddal

On an Urdu phonetic keyboard, use Shift+D.

On that layout, D gives د and Shift+D gives ڈ. On the Windows-style standard Urdu layout, the letter is also on a shifted layer, but a different physical key (as of 2026).

In Nastaliq, a flowing style used to write Urdu, ڈ can lean toward the preceding letter; it does not join the next letter. Its shape changes with its position, not its identity.

What sound does ڈ make?

ڈ marks a voiced, retroflex d.

Curl the tongue tip back and vibrate your voice; plain د is made with the tongue against the teeth. ڑ is a retroflex flap, a quick tongue tap; ڈ is a stop, made by briefly blocking the airflow.

Adding ھ after ڈ forms ڈھ, a single retroflex d pronounced with a puff of air.

Why does Urdu have this extra d?

It lets Urdu write a voiced retroflex sound that plain د does not represent. The literary traditions that led to Urdu took shape in northern India during the Delhi Sultanate. The spelling of retroflex letters developed over time through writers, presses, and teaching manuals.

In 1919, Abdullah Yusuf Ali proposed replacing older four-dot retroflex marks with a small version of ط above the base letter.

Urdu, Pashto, and Sindhi each adapted the Arabic-derived script to write retroflex consonants, but their added letters differ. The mark gives Urdu a way to distinguish this tongue-curled sound from plain د.