Arabic letter dul

In Burushaski, ڎ represents the /ts/ sound. More precisely, it writes a voiceless dental affricate: a /t/ released into an /s/ sound. Burushaski uses an extended Perso-Arabic spelling to write consonants that the Urdu-based letter set does not cover.

This spelling has a modern documented history. Nasir's system used ڎ in the 1960s; the modified alphabet first appeared in the printed book Basic Burushaski in 1984. Later Burushaski systems also use Roman spellings, where this sound may be written c or ċ.

Why does ڎ look different in Sindhi?

ڎ is an older DUL shape in Sindhi. Sindhi teaching material uses ڏ for the newer downward-dot form, as of 2026. The two belong to the same DUL tradition, but they are distinct spellings.

ڎ is a right-joining letter: in right-to-left text, it joins the letter before it but not the one after it. It has isolated and final shapes, rather than all four shapes used by letters that join on both sides. If a font lacks ڎ, it may appear as a missing-glyph box.