# Khowar/Alphabet

The Khowar alphabet is derived from the Persian (Farsi) and the Arabic alphabet, where majority of the letters are borrowed from Arabic while only four alphabets are primarily borrowed from Persian. Very seldom, letters may be borrowed from Sanskrit. Even though the letters actually are inherited from these languages. However, Khowar has its own six alphabets, which are "Zhy", "Tsheen", "Tchay", "Tsay", "Tzhay" and "LRay".
Below is a table of all the Khowar alphabets along with their names and the phonetic pronunciation of their names. It is also specified as to which language the letter is borrowed from and the respective keys to press on a keyboard. For the purposes of following the text in this book, Latin alternatives are provided with the alphabet.
| Alphabet | Name | Phonetic pronunciation | Borrowed from | Keyboard | Voice |
| ا | Aliph | pronounced | Arabic | J | Vowel |
| ب | Bay | pronounced | Arabic | I | Labial |
| پ | Pay | pronounced | Persian | Y | Labial |
| ت | Tay; with soft ‘t’ | pronounced | Arabic | U | Dental |
| ٹ | Tay; with hard ‘T’ | pronounced | Sanskrit | Shift + U | Retroflex |
| ث | Thay; colloquially ‘say’ | pronounced | Arabic | Shift + T | Dental |
| ج | Jeem | pronounced | Arabic | O | Palatal |
| ج | Tjeem; Pronounced as "JhenJher" | pronounced | Khowar | O | Palatal |
| چ | Chay | pronounced | Persian | Shift + O | Palatal |
| چ | Tchay; pronounced as "Charvelu" | pronounced | Khowar | Shift + O | Palatal |
| څ | Tsay; Pronounced as "Tseq" | pronounced | Khowar | Shift + O | Palatal |
| ح | Hay | pronounced | Arabic | P | Aspirated |
| خ | Khay | pronounced | Arabic | Shift + P | Velar |
| د | Daal; with soft ‘d’ | pronounced | Arabic | R | Dental |
| ڈ | Daal; with hard ‘D’ | pronounced | Sanskrit | Shift + R | Retroflex |
| ذ | Dhaal; colloquially ‘zaal’ | pronounced | Arabic | Shift + E | Aspirated |
| ر | Ray | pronounced | Arabic | D | Semi-vowel |
| ڑ | aRay; with very guttural ‘r’ | pronounced | Sanskrit | Shift + D | Hard retroflex |
| ز | Zay | pronounced | Arabic | Shift + S | Aspirated |
| ژ | Zhay; much like ‘j’ in ‘bonjour’ | pronounced | Persian | Shift + A | Aspirated |
| ژ | Djay; much like ‘j’ in ‘bonjour’ | pronounced | Khowar | Shift + A | Aspirated |
| س | Seen | pronounced | Arabic | V | Dental aspirated |
| ‎‎ش | Sheen | pronounced | Arabic | B | Dental aspirated |
| ‎‎ش | Tsheen; Pronounced as "Shapik" | pronounced | Khowar | B | Dental aspirated |
| ص | Suaad | pronounced | Arabic | W | Velar aspirated |
| ض | Dhuaad; colloquially ‘zuaad’ | pronounced | Arabic | Shift + W | Velar aspirated |
| ط | Toay'n | pronounced | Arabic | Q | Dental velar |
| ظ | Zoay'n | pronounced | Arabic | Shift + Q | Velar aspirated |
| ع | Ain; guttural ‘a’ | pronounced | Arabic | M | Velar vowel |
| غ | Ghain; hoarse guttural ‘g’ followed by a hollow ‘h’ | pronounced [ghæn] | Arabic | N | Strong velar aspirated |
| ف | Fay | pronounced | Arabic | X | Aspirated |
| ق | Quaaf; ‘Qu’ is pronounced only as ‘k’ | pronounced | Arabic | Z | Velar |
| ک | Kaaf | pronounced | Arabic | K | Velar |
| گ | Gaaf | pronounced | Persian | Shift + K | Velar |
| ل | Laam | pronounced | Arabic | G | Dental |
| م | Meem | pronounced | Arabic | A | Labial |
| ن | Noon | pronounced | Arabic | F | Palatal |
| ں | Noon ghuna; nasal equivalent of ‘noon’ | pronounced | Arabic | Shift + F | Palatal nasal |
| و | Vao; as you'd say “wow” | pronounced | Arabic | S | Vowel/semi-vowel |
| ہ | Hay | pronounced | Arabic | H | Aspirated |
| ‍‌ء | Hamza | pronounced | Arabic | Shift + H | Palatal nasal |
| ی | Chhoti yeh; literally meaning ‘small yeh’ | pronounced | Arabic | L | Vowel |
| ے | Bari yeh; literally meaning ‘big yeh’ | pronounced | Arabic | C | Vowel |
* ↑ The keys as they appear on the keyboard layout for Windows operating systems
* ↑ The voice describes the characteristics of the sound produced by the letter of the alphabet. It may be Velar, Palatal, Retroflex, Dental, Labial or Aspirated consonants and vowels. Discuss this
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