ڈ — ddal
«ddal» is a consonant of the Urdu script, read as “d (retroflex)”. The retroflex d — the same curled-back tongue as ٹ, but voiced. Do not confuse it with plain د: there an angle, here an angle with a crest. For example, in the word “ڈھول” — drum. The Urdu alphabet has 38 letters in total. The د angle with a comb on top. Joins only from the right — no initial form exists. It appears, for example, in the word “انڈا” — egg.
In short
| Character | ڈ |
| Name | ddal |
| Sound | d (retroflex) |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 8th of 40: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ٹ and ڑ, appears in 210 words of this site.
How to type ڈ
- On a phone: add the Urdu keyboard in the keyboard settings (Gboard on Android; Keyboards in the iPhone settings).
- In Word on Windows: type U+0688 and press Alt+X right after it — the code turns into the character.
- On a Mac: switch to the Unicode Hex Input source, hold Option and type 0688.
- Unicode code point: U+0688. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
The retroflex d — the same curled-back tongue as ٹ, but voiced. Do not confuse it with plain د: there an angle, here an angle with a crest
Other written forms
The same character is written differently on a shop sign and in a book. Here are all the forms you may meet.
| Form | Character | Note |
|---|---|---|
| final | ـڈ | joins only from the right |
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- ڈھولdholdrum
The character in the “ٹ ڈ ڑ ں ھ — letters the neighbors do not have” group
Urdu took a borrowed skeleton and built its own sounds on it. Three retroflexes — the tongue curls back and taps the roof of the mouth. The nasal sign sends the vowel up into the nose. And do-chashmi he ھ reads nothing by itself: it turns the letter before it into a puff of air. This family is the first thing that gives an Urdu text away on sight.
Words with this character
- انڈاandaegg
- بینک کارڈbank kardbank card
- ڈاکٹرdoktordoctor
- ڈاکٹر کا ٹائمdoktor ka taimdoctor’s appointment
- مجھے ڈاکٹر چاہیےmujhe doktor chahiyeI need a doctor
- ٹھنڈکthandakcoolness
- ڈرائیورdraiwerdriver
- ڈاکdakpost (mail)
- پاس ورڈpas wardpassword
- شیڈولshedyultimetable
- ڈبہdabbacarriage
- ونڈو والی سیٹwindo wali sitwindow seat
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «ddal» it is “d (retroflex)”, as in the word “ڈھول”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 38 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Urdu character ڈ read?
As “d (retroflex)” — it is a consonant of the Urdu script. The retroflex d — the same curled-back tongue as ٹ, but voiced. Do not confuse it with plain د: there an angle, here an angle with a crest. For example, in the word “ڈھول” — drum.
What is the letter ڈ called?
Ddal. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Urdu script: it is called “ddal” and reads as “d (retroflex)”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.