Retroflex DĀL

د ڈ ذ

Urdu Letter	Letter Name	Hindi Equivalent	Teacher
ڈ	Retroflex DĀL	ड	Teacher Icon

Sounds

Retroflex DĀL is somewhat different from the English “D” sound. Pronounce “D” with your tongue pulled back in your mouth, touching the ridge on your hard palate. Look in the the mirror when you pronounce Retroflex DĀL. You should NOT be able to see your tongue.

Retroflex DĀL is used to transliterate the English “D” sound into Urdu, although it is actually quite different. Use Retroflex DĀL whenever you write an English word in Urdu that contains a “D”.

Forms

	Final	Medial	Initial	Detached
Basic Forms	اِنڈیا	Use Final	Use Detached	ڈ
In Context	اِنڈیا	Use Final	Use Detached	ڈر
Write in Context	fill-in			fill-in

Note that final Retroflex DĀL looks a lot like detached Retroflex RAY, but you won’t confuse the two because final Retro DĀL is always connected to the preceding letter and detached Retro RAY is never connected to the preceding letter.

Connections

Retroflex DĀL is a breaker: no letter can be connected after it. Thus Retroflex DĀL has only two forms: a detached and a final form:

When Retroflex DĀL appears at the beginning of a word, it will be in its detached form.	ڈاکٹر	doctor
When Retroflex DĀL appears after another breaker, it will be in its detached form.	روڈ	road
When Retroflex DĀL appears after a non-breaker, it will be in its final form.	بڈ	bud

Aspirations

Retroflex DĀL can be aspirated by the addition of the letter DO CHASHMI HAY (ھ).
In this combination, the Retroflex DĀL sound includes a distinct puff of air. Put your palm in front of your mouth when you pronounce Aspirated CHAY: you should feel a puff of air:

ڈھ

ढ

Examples

ڈھائی		Dhāee	ढाई
ڈھابا		Dhābā	ढाबा
ڈھونڈھنا		DhūnDhnā	ढूँढना

Additional Examples of ڈ

Final	Medial	Initial	Detached
ٹھنڈ			ڈالنا
انڈہ			ڈرنا
ہانڈی			ڈھول
گھمنڈ			ڈِبّہ