Saraiki Alphabet

Saraiki (سرائیکی) is written right to left in the Perso-Arabic script, in the same form as Urdu, which Saraiki readers learn at school. It is usually printed in the slanting Nastaliq style. Its own letters ٻ, ڄ, ݙ, ڳ and ݨ write sounds of Saraiki speech; the other letters are shared with Urdu, so the two look alike at a glance until you spot these five.

In order the letters are ا آ ب ٻ پ ت ٹ ث ج ڄ چ ح خ د ڈ ݙ ذ ر ڑ ز ژ س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ک گ ڳ ل م ن ݨ ں و ہ ھ ء ی ے, with the hamza forms ؤ ئ, ۃ (te marbūṭa, kept in a few Arabic words such as صلوٰۃ, prayer) and ڊ. Each new letter sits right after the ordinary letter it is built on: ٻ after ب, ڄ after ج, ݙ after ڈ, ڳ after گ, ݨ after ن. There are no capital letters. Letters join and change shape inside a word; Unicode stores one code per letter and the font draws the joined forms, so the plain letters on this page are the ones to copy.

The list follows CLDR, the Unicode project's language database, whose Saraiki main-letter set contains 49 characters. Besides the standard implosive ݙ it also lists ڊ, dāl with one dot below; it is included here because CLDR counts it in the Saraiki set, but everyday Saraiki spelling of the implosive d uses ݙ. Short vowels are normally left unwritten; when a word must be read exactly, add zabar َ (a), zer ِ (i), pesh ُ (u), jazm ْ for no vowel and shadda ّ for a doubled consonant.

ٻ ڄ ݙ ڳ: the implosive letters of Saraiki

Saraiki is one of the few languages of South Asia with implosive consonants: b, j, d and g said while the voice box moves down, so air is briefly drawn in instead of pushed out. Each has its own letter, made by adding dots or a small sign to the plain one: ٻ (ɓ, U+067B) from ب, ڄ (ʄ, U+0684) from ج, ݙ (ɗ, U+0759; some sources describe it as a retroflex implosive) from د, and ڳ (ɠ, U+06B3) from گ. They tell words apart, so writing plain ب or گ instead changes the sound a Saraiki reader hears.

You meet them in everyday words: ڳالھ (ɠālh, a talk, a matter), ݙیکھو (ɗekho, look!), ساݙا (sāɗā, our), ڄاݨ (ʄāṇ, knowing) and ٻولی (ɓolī, language). Sindhi has implosives too and shares ٻ, ڄ and ڳ, but writes the implosive d as ڏ; ݙ, with two dots one above the other below the letter and a small ط on top, is the Saraiki letter. Check which one you copy, since the two look alike in small print.

ݨ, ٹ ڈ ڑ, ھ and ں: retroflex letters and word endings

ݨ, nūn with a small ṭoe on top (U+0768), writes the retroflex ṇ, an n said with the tongue curled back: پاݨی (pāṇī, water). Punjabi Shahmukhi and Hindko use the same letter; Sindhi writes this sound ڻ. As in Urdu, ٹ ڈ ڑ are the retroflex ṭ, ḍ and the flapped ṛ, each marked with a small ط above the plain letter.

ھ, do-chashmī he ("two-eyed h"), only follows a consonant to make an aspirated sound or a cluster: کھ kh, پھ ph, تھ th, and the lh of ڳالھ. Plain ہ (gol he) is the ordinary h. Two letters close words: ں, n without a dot, for a nasal vowel at the end of a word, and ے (baṛī ye) for a final ē. ء, ؤ and ئ carry hamza, which in the middle of a word shows a vowel that stands on its own, as in سئیں (sāīṃ, the respectful "sir" of Saraiki speech).

How to type Saraiki: keyboard, phone and Unicode codes

Many people type Saraiki on an Urdu keyboard, which lacks the five Saraiki letters and ڊ listed on this page. On Windows, add Urdu under Settings, Time & language, Language & region and switch with Windows + Space; on a Mac, add Urdu in System Settings, Keyboard, Text Input, Edit; on Android and iPhone, add Urdu in Gboard or the iPhone keyboard settings and switch with the globe key. Saraiki keyboard apps and downloadable layouts that put ٻ ڄ ݙ ڳ ݨ on keys also exist; if you write Saraiki every day, one of them saves copying.

For a single letter, use its code. In Microsoft Word type the code and press Alt + X: 067B for ٻ, 0684 for ڄ, 0759 for ݙ, 06B3 for ڳ, 0768 for ݨ. On a Mac, switch to the Unicode Hex Input source, hold Option and type the same four characters. In HTML write ٻ, ڄ, ݙ, ڳ or ݨ. On a phone, copy the five letters from this page once and save them as text replacements or pin them in the clipboard.

Saraiki uses Urdu punctuation: the full stop is the dash-like ۔, and the comma ،, semicolon ؛ and question mark ؟ are turned for right-to-left text. Numbers are written with 0–9 or the Urdu digits ۰ ۱ ۲ ۳ ۴ ۵ ۶ ۷ ۸ ۹, which run left to right inside the line. Prices are in Pakistani rupees, written Rs, روپے or ₨ (U+20A8).

Where Saraiki is spoken, and its neighbours

Saraiki is the language of southern Punjab in Pakistan 🇵🇰, around Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan, and it reaches into Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the borders of Sindh and Balochistan. Speakers call their homeland the wasaib (وسیب). CLDR estimates about 30 million speakers in Pakistan; it is a rough figure. Families who moved to India after Partition in 1947 still speak it there, often under the old name Multani. The single name Saraiki came into wide use from the 1960s, gathering local names such as Multani, Riasti and Derawali.

Its literature is rich in Sufi poetry: the kafis of Khwaja Ghulam Farid (1845–1901) are sung at shrines and on stage, and modern poets such as Shakir Shujabadi are quoted across social media. Linguists group Saraiki with the Lahnda or Western Punjabi varieties, and whether it is a language or a form of Punjabi is argued over; its implosives are one thing that sets it apart. For the neighbouring scripts and languages see the Shahmukhi Alphabet (Punjabi), Western Panjabi, Southern Hindko, Urdu, Sindhi and Baluchi collections, and the Pakistan collection for the country's flag and emoji.