The Ormuri Alphabet

Q: How many letters does the Ormuri alphabet have?

The Ormuri alphabet has 32 letters , all derived from the Perso-Arabic script shared with Dari, Afghanistan's official language. The 32 letters include the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet plus 4 letters unique to Persian and Dari: پ (pe, /p/), چ (che, /tʃ/), ژ (zhe, /ʒ/), and گ (gaf, /g/). Short vowels are generally not written in everyday Ormuri text but can be indicated with optional diacritical marks called harakat. As a highly endangered language with a limited written tradition, fully-vocalised Ormuri texts using harakat are particularly important for language documentation and preservation efforts, accurately recording the distinctive vowel system of this archaic Northwest Iranian language.

Q: What language is Ormuri?

Ormuri (also written Ormur, Urmuri, or locally known as "Bargista" in Pakistan) is a highly endangered Northwest Iranian language spoken by an estimated 2,000–3,000 people . The main community is in Baraki Barak , Logar Province, Afghanistan, with a separate community in Wana and Kaniguram , South Waziristan, Pakistan. Ormuri belongs to the Parachi-Ormuri subgroup of the Northwest Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian language family. This places it in a distinct branch from Dari and Persian (which are Southwest Iranian) and from Pashto (which is East Iranian). Its closest relative is Parachi , spoken in the Panjshir Valley of northeastern Afghanistan. Despite centuries of contact with Dari and Pashto, Ormuri retains distinctive Northwest Iranian features that set it apart from both languages.

Q: What are the distinctive features of the Ormuri language?

Ormuri preserves several archaic Northwest Iranian phonological features not found in Dari or Pashto. Most notably, Ormuri retains the consonant clusters /ts/ and /dz/ — voiceless and voiced alveolar affricates inherited directly from Proto-Iranian that have been lost in all neighbouring languages. These sounds arise from Old Iranian consonant sequences and represent a linguistic archaism preserved in Ormuri's relative geographic isolation. Another distinctive feature is the pronunciation of و (vav) as /w/ (bilabial approximant) rather than the /v/ of standard Dari — a conservative Northwest Iranian feature shared with neighbouring Pashto but absent from Kabuli Dari. Ormuri also preserves archaic vocabulary and grammatical patterns from Northwest Iranian, alongside a significant layer of Dari and Pashto loanwords accumulated through centuries of contact in the Logar Province and South Waziristan environments.

Q: Where is Ormuri spoken?

Ormuri is spoken in two geographically separate areas. The Afghan community is centred in Baraki Barak (also written Baraki-Rajan), the district centre of Logar Province, south of Kabul in central Afghanistan. This Afghan variety is the better-documented of the two communities and is the primary reference community for linguistic description of Ormuri. The Pakistani community, where the language is locally known as "Bargista" , is found primarily in Wana (the main town of South Waziristan) and in the town of Kaniguram , also in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border. The two Ormuri communities — separated by significant distance — share the same basic linguistic structure with some dialectal differences. Both communities use the Perso-Arabic script for any written Ormuri, following the literacy conventions of their respective dominant languages (Dari in Afghanistan, Pashto in Pakistan).

Q: Is Ormuri related to Dari or Pashto?

Ormuri is not closely related to either Dari or Pashto, despite being spoken alongside both languages. Ormuri belongs to the Northwest Iranian branch of the Iranian language family, while Dari (and Persian) are Southwest Iranian and Pashto is East Iranian . Ormuri's closest relative is Parachi , spoken in northeastern Afghanistan, and together they form the Parachi-Ormuri subgroup — a distinct Northwest Iranian lineage separate from the dominant languages of the region. However, after centuries of close contact, Ormuri has absorbed substantial vocabulary from both Dari and Pashto , to the point that the majority of everyday Ormuri words may be of Dari or Pashto origin. This heavy borrowing from contact languages, combined with the small number of speakers, is one of the factors making Ormuri highly endangered. The underlying grammatical structure and a core layer of inherited vocabulary, however, retain the distinctive Northwest Iranian character that identifies Ormuri as a language separate from its neighbours.

Q: Is the Ormuri script read from right to left?

Yes. Like all Perso-Arabic scripts , Ormuri is written and read from right to left . Each letter connects to adjacent letters within a word (cursive), and most letters change shape depending on their position — initial, medial, final, or isolated form. The script belongs to the Arabic Unicode Block (U+0600–U+06FF) and follows the Dari/Persian script convention used across Afghanistan. The only exception to the right-to-left direction is numerals , which are written left to right even within otherwise RTL text. Ormuri uses the same Eastern Arabic-Indic digits (۰–۹) as Dari Persian, which are standard across Afghan publications. As a language with a predominantly oral tradition and limited written output, Ormuri written texts are relatively rare — making the Perso-Arabic script conventions followed by Dari particularly important as the template for any Ormuri written materials.

Ormuri Alphabet at a Glance

32 letters written right to left using the Perso-Arabic script
Ormuri (also called Ormur or Urmuri) is a highly endangered Northwest Iranian language spoken by approximately 2,000–3,000 people in Baraki Barak, Logar Province, Afghanistan, and in Wana and Kaniguram, South Waziristan, Pakistan ^[1]
Uses the Perso-Arabic script, sharing the same 32-letter alphabet as Dari, Afghanistan's official language ^[2]
Classified as a Northwest Iranian language, forming the Parachi-Ormuri subgroup alongside its closest relative Parachi ^[3]
Preserves archaic Northwest Iranian features including "ts" and "dz" affricate sounds, inherited from Proto-Iranian and not found in Dari or Pashto ^[4]
Includes 4 letters unique to Persian/Dari script, not found in Arabic: پ (pe), چ (che), ژ (zhe), and گ (gaf)
6 vowel diacritics (harakat): fatha, kasra, damma, shadda, sukun, and tanwin fath
Uses a "w" sound for و (vav) rather than "v" as in Dari — a conservative Northwest Iranian feature also found in neighbouring Pashto

Ormuri (also written Ormur or Urmuri) is a highly endangered Northwest Iranian language spoken by approximately 2,000–3,000 people across two separate communities: Baraki Barak in Logar Province, Afghanistan, and Wana and Kaniguram in South Waziristan, Pakistan — where it is known locally as "Bargista" ^[1]. It uses the 32-letter Perso-Arabic script shared with Dari ^[2].

Ormuri belongs to the Parachi-Ormuri subgroup of Northwest Iranian — a distinct branch from both Dari (Southwest Iranian) and Pashto, with Parachi as its closest relative ^[3]. Despite this, centuries of contact with Dari and Pashto have heavily shaped its vocabulary.

Ormuri preserves archaic Proto-Iranian features including the affricates /ts/ and /dz/ — sounds lost in all neighbouring languages — and a conservative /w/ for و (vav) contrasting with Dari's /v/ ^[4].

Ormuri Consonant Letters

The Ormuri alphabet contains 32 consonant letters based on the Perso-Arabic script. This includes the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet plus 4 letters unique to Persian/Dari: پ (pe /p/), چ (che /tʃ/), ژ (zhe /ʒ/), and گ (gaf /g/). Ormuri is an endangered Northwest Iranian language of Logar Province, Afghanistan and South Waziristan, Pakistan. Despite using the same script as Dari, Ormuri preserves archaic Northwest Iranian phonological features including the affricates /ts/ and /dz/ not found in Dari. Each letter changes shape depending on its position within a word — initial, medial, final, or isolated.

Ormuri Consonants

[AH-lef]

[BEH]

[PEH]

[TEH]

[SEH]

[JEEM]

[CHEH]

[HEH-JEE-mee]

[KHEH]

[DAHL]

[ZAHL]

[REH]

[ZEH]

[ZHEH]

[SEEN]

[SHEEN]

[SAWD]

[DAWD]

[TAW]

[ZAW]

[AYN]

[GHAYN]

[FEH]

[QAHF]

[KAHF]

[GAHF]

[LAHM]

[MEEM]

[NOON]

[VAWV]

[HEH]

[YEH]

[AH-lef]

The first letter of the Perso-Arabic alphabet; represents a glottal stop /ʔ/ in initial position or a long vowel /aː/. In Ormuri, alef functions as a vowel carrier following the Dari/Persian convention. Ormuri preserves some archaic Northwest Iranian vowel patterns that differ from standard Dari, reflecting its distinct position within the Iranian language family.

[BEH]

Voiced bilabial stop /b/, like "b" in "bed". A core letter of the Perso-Arabic abjad. In Ormuri, /b/ appears in native vocabulary and in loanwords from Dari and Pashto — the two contact languages that have heavily influenced Ormuri over centuries of geographical proximity in the Logar and South Waziristan regions.

[PEH]

Voiceless bilabial stop /p/, like "p" in "pen". One of the four letters unique to the Persian/Dari script not found in classical Arabic. In Ormuri, /p/ is a fully productive phoneme appearing in both inherited Northwest Iranian vocabulary and in Persian/Dari loanwords integrated into the Ormuri lexicon.

[TEH]

Voiceless alveolar stop /t/, like "t" in "top". In Ormuri, both ت and ط are pronounced as /t/. Ormuri phonology includes a distinctive voiceless affricate /ts/ (absent in Dari) which is a Northwest Iranian archaism, but the standard dental stop /t/ written with ت is common across Ormuri vocabulary.

[SEH]

Pronounced as /s/ in Ormuri, identical to س. In Classical Arabic ث represents /θ/, but Ormuri — like all modern Iranian languages — pronounces this as the alveolar fricative /s/. Retained in writing to preserve the traditional spelling of Arabic loanwords in Ormuri religious and formal registers.

[JEEM]

Voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/, like "j" in "jam". Well-preserved in Ormuri. The /dʒ/ sound appears in Ormuri vocabulary of both inherited Northwest Iranian origin and in Dari/Pashto loanwords. Ormuri also shows an archaic Iranian /dz/ affricate in some contexts, which contrasts with /dʒ/ from ج.

[CHEH]

Voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/, like "ch" in "chair". One of the four letters unique to the Persian/Dari script. In Ormuri, چ appears in inherited vocabulary and in Dari/Persian loanwords. Ormuri phonology also features the archaic Northwest Iranian affricate /ts/, which contrasts with the Dari-origin /tʃ/ written with چ.

[HEH-JEE-mee]

Voiceless pharyngeal fricative /ħ/ in Classical Arabic; in Ormuri this letter is typically pronounced as the plain glottal fricative /h/, merging with ه, following the general Iranian pattern. Ormuri, like Dari and Pashto, does not systematically preserve the pharyngeal quality of Arabic /ħ/ in borrowed vocabulary.

[KHEH]

Voiceless velar fricative /x/, like "ch" in Scottish "loch". Well-preserved in Ormuri; خ appears in both inherited Northwest Iranian vocabulary and in Dari/Pashto loanwords. The /x/ phoneme is a characteristic feature of Iranian languages across the region, and Ormuri maintains it as a distinct phoneme from /h/.

[DAHL]

Voiced alveolar stop /d/, like "d" in "dog". A non-connecting letter in the Perso-Arabic script. Common in Ormuri vocabulary. Ormuri's Northwest Iranian heritage includes a distinctive voiced affricate /dz/ (from Proto-Iranian *z clusters) alongside the plain /d/ of ـد — a phonological feature that sets it apart from Dari and Pashto.

[ZAHL]

Pronounced as /z/ in Ormuri, merging with ز. In Classical Arabic ذ represents /ð/ (like "th" in "that"), but Ormuri — like all modern Iranian languages — pronounces this as the alveolar fricative /z/. Retained in writing to reflect the traditional spelling of Arabic loanwords used in Ormuri.

[REH]

Alveolar tap or trill /r/, like a rolled "r". A non-connecting letter. One of the most frequent consonants in Ormuri vocabulary. Ormuri preserves the alveolar rhotic common to Northwest Iranian languages. Some analyses note distinctions in the Ormuri rhotic between the Afghan (Baraki Barak) and Pakistani (Wana/Kaniguram) varieties of the language.

[ZEH]

Voiced alveolar fricative /z/, like "z" in "zoo". A non-connecting letter. In Ormuri, the letters ز، ذ، ض، and ظ all converge on the /z/ pronunciation, following standard Iranian conventions. Ormuri also has an archaic voiced affricate /dz/ (inherited from Proto-Iranian) which is phonemically distinct from the fricative /z/ of ز.

[ZHEH]

Voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/, like "s" in "measure". One of the four letters unique to the Persian/Dari script. This sound appears in Ormuri vocabulary, particularly in Persian/Dari loanwords. ژ is a non-connecting letter and is one of the distinctive markers of the Persian script family, shared with Dari and used in Ormuri writing.

[SEEN]

Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/, like "s" in "sun". In Ormuri, the three Arabic sibilant letters ث، س، and ص all merge into /s/ pronunciation. Ormuri also has an archaic voiceless affricate /ts/ (inherited from Old Iranian *ts clusters) which is phonemically distinct from the fricative /s/ of ‍ـس — a notable Northwestern Iranian feature.

[SHEEN]

Voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, like "sh" in "ship". Fully preserved in Ormuri; ش appears in both inherited Northwest Iranian vocabulary and in Dari/Pashto loanwords. The /ʃ/ phoneme is stable across Ormuri dialects and is one of the most frequent consonants in borrowed vocabulary from Dari.

[SAWD]

Emphatic /sˁ/ in Classical Arabic; in Ormuri, this letter is pronounced as plain /s/, merging with س. The pharyngeal emphasis of Arabic ص is not maintained in Ormuri pronunciation. ص is retained in writing to preserve the traditional spelling of Arabic loanwords, particularly in Islamic religious vocabulary used in Ormuri communities.

[DAWD]

In Ormuri, ض is pronounced as /z/, merging with ز. The historically emphatic Arabic /dˁ/ has merged with /z/ in Ormuri as in all modern Iranian languages. Retained in the traditional spelling of Arabic loanwords used in Ormuri formal and religious contexts.

[TAW]

Emphatic /tˁ/ in Classical Arabic; in Ormuri, this letter is pronounced as plain /t/, merging with ت. Retained in writing to preserve the spelling of Arabic loanwords. Ormuri speakers do not distinguish ط from ت in everyday speech, following the general pattern of Iranian languages in the region.

[ZAW]

Emphatic consonant in Classical Arabic; in Ormuri, ظ is pronounced as /z/ like ذ، ز، and ض. The letter is preserved in the traditional spelling of Arabic-origin vocabulary used in Ormuri formal and religious registers; the emphatic quality is not maintained in Ormuri spoken phonology.

[AYN]

Voiced pharyngeal fricative /ʕ/ in Arabic; in Ormuri, ع is typically realised as a glottal stop /ʔ/ or a simple vowel onset, following standard Dari/Persian phonological conventions. The pharyngeal quality of Arabic ع is not systematically preserved in Ormuri speech, as in other modern Iranian languages of the region.

[GHAYN]

Voiced uvular fricative /ɣ/, produced at the back of the throat. Present in Ormuri in Persian/Dari loanwords. The uvular fricative /ɣ/ contrasts with the velar stop /g/ (گ) in Ormuri vocabulary, following the standard Dari/Persian phonological distinction between these two phonemes.

[FEH]

Voiceless labiodental fricative /f/, like "f" in "fun". Present in Ormuri, primarily in loanwords from Dari/Persian and Arabic. The /f/ phoneme in inherited Northwest Iranian Ormuri vocabulary is less frequent than in Dari, as some Proto-Iranian /p/ items have undergone distinct Ormuri-specific changes.

[QAHF]

Voiceless uvular stop /q/ in Classical Arabic; in Ormuri, ق may be realised as the uvular /q/ in formal or careful speech following Dari convention, or as a glottal stop /ʔ/ in casual speech. Ormuri has borrowed significant vocabulary from both Dari and Pashto, and the realisation of ق reflects both contact influences.

[KAHF]

Voiceless velar stop /k/, like "k" in "key". Distinct from ق (uvular); consistently represents /k/ in Ormuri. The Persian/Dari form ک is used. A productive phoneme in Ormuri vocabulary across both its inherited Northwest Iranian lexical layer and in loanwords from the Dari and Pashto contact languages of the Logar and Waziristan regions.

[GAHF]

Voiced velar stop /g/, like "g" in "go". One of the four letters unique to the Persian/Dari script. In Ormuri, /g/ appears in inherited Northwest Iranian vocabulary and in Dari/Persian loanwords. The /g/ phoneme is phonemically distinct from the uvular fricative /ɣ/ (غ) in Ormuri phonology.

[LAHM]

Lateral alveolar approximant /l/, like "l" in "lamp". Fully preserved in Ormuri. ل participates in the obligatory lam-alef ligature لا in the Perso-Arabic script. One of the most frequent consonants in Ormuri vocabulary, common across both the inherited Northwest Iranian core lexicon and in Dari/Pashto loanwords.

[MEEM]

Bilabial nasal /m/, like "m" in "man". A very common consonant in Ormuri vocabulary. م appears across all lexical layers of Ormuri — inherited Northwest Iranian words, Dari/Persian loanwords, and Pashto-origin borrowings. The bilabial nasal is phonologically stable in both the Baraki Barak (Afghanistan) and Wana/Kaniguram (Pakistan) varieties of Ormuri.

[NOON]

Alveolar nasal /n/, like "n" in "noon". One of the most frequent consonants in Ormuri vocabulary; ن is productive in the inherited Northwest Iranian core lexicon and in loanwords from Dari and Pashto. Ormuri shows some distinctive nasal patterns in its verbal morphology that reflect archaic Northwest Iranian grammatical features.

[VAWV]

In Ormuri, و typically represents /w/ (bilabial approximant), unlike standard Dari where it is /v/. This /w/ pronunciation is a characteristic Northwest Iranian feature preserved in Ormuri and shared with neighbouring Pashto, contrasting with the /v/ realisation found in Kabuli Dari. Also serves as the long vowel /uː/ and diphthong /ow/.

[HEH]

Voiceless glottal fricative /h/, like "h" in "hat". In Ormuri, final ه can represent /h/, /a/, or /e/ following Dari/Persian orthographic conventions. The Ormuri dialect shows some distinctive vowel features in word-final positions that are part of its archaic Northwest Iranian character, distinguishing it from standard Dari.

[YEH]

Palatal approximant /j/ in consonantal position (like "y" in "yes"), or long vowel /iː/ in vocalic position. In Ormuri, ی participates in the vowel system of this archaic Northwest Iranian language. Ormuri preserves vowel distinctions from Old Iranian that have been lost or reduced in standard Dari, reflecting its status as a conservative Iranian language.

Ormuri Vowel Diacritics (Harakat)

Like all Perso-Arabic scripts, Ormuri is an abjad — a consonantal alphabet where short vowels are not written by default but indicated by optional diacritical marks (harakat). The six harakat marks shown here are used in linguistic documentation and educational materials to aid correct pronunciation of Ormuri, an endangered Northwest Iranian language with a vowel system more archaic than standard Dari. As a highly endangered language, fully-vocalised Ormuri texts are especially valuable for language preservation.

Ormuri Vowel Diacritics (Harakat)

[FAH-tah]

[KAS-rah]

[DAM-mah]

[SHAD-dah]

[SOO-koon]

[TAN-ween]

[FAH-tah]

Fatha — a small diagonal stroke above a consonant marking the short vowel /a/. In Ormuri, fatha marks the open front vowel /a/. As an endangered Northwest Iranian language with limited standardised orthography, Ormuri written materials often rely on harakat to ensure accurate pronunciation, particularly in linguistic and documentation contexts.

[KAS-rah]

Kasra — a small diagonal stroke below a consonant marking the short vowel /e/ or /i/. In Ormuri, kasra marks a short front vowel. Given Ormuri's archaic vowel system — which preserves some contrasts lost in standard Dari — kasra and other harakat are essential for accurately representing Ormuri vowels in written documentation and language preservation materials.

[DAM-mah]

Damma — a small hook-shaped mark above a consonant marking the short vowel /o/ or /u/. In Ormuri, damma marks a short back-rounded vowel. Ormuri's vowel system includes features inherited from Proto-Northwest-Iranian, and damma is used in fully-vocalised texts to represent the back vowel qualities distinctive to this endangered language.

[SHAD-dah]

Shadda — a small diacritical mark indicating gemination (consonant doubling). Geminated consonants occur in Ormuri vocabulary, particularly in Arabic loanwords used in religious registers. Shadda is important in fully-vocalised Ormuri texts to distinguish geminated from simple consonants in borrowed vocabulary from Arabic, Dari, and Pashto.

[SOO-koon]

Sukun — a small circular mark indicating the absence of a following vowel (a bare consonant). Used in fully-vocalised Ormuri texts to show consonant clusters and word-final consonants without a following vowel. Ormuri has some complex consonant clusters reflecting its Northwest Iranian heritage, making sukun particularly useful in linguistic documentation of the language.

[TAN-ween]

Tanwin fath — double fatha marking the -an ending in indefinite accusative Arabic nouns. In Ormuri, tanwin appears in Arabic loanwords used in formal and religious speech registers, following the standard Perso-Arabic script convention shared with Dari. One of three tanwin markers inherited from the Arabic grammatical tradition.

First letter — alef; represents glottal stop /ʔ/ or long vowel /aː/. Non-connecting letter; foundational letter of the Perso-Arabic alphabet used for Ormuri writing in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Second letter — be; voiced bilabial stop /b/. Connecting letter; base form of a family of letters distinguished by dots. Present in inherited Northwest Iranian and loanword vocabulary of Ormuri.

Third letter — pe; voiceless bilabial stop /p/. One of the four letters unique to the Persian/Dari script; present in both inherited Ormuri vocabulary and Dari/Persian loanwords.

Fourth letter — te; voiceless alveolar stop /t/. Shares the same base shape as ب and پ, distinguished by two dots above. Common in Ormuri vocabulary; distinct from the archaic Northwest Iranian affricate /ts/.

Fifth letter — se; pronounced /s/ in Ormuri, merging with س. The Arabic value /θ/ is not maintained in Ormuri pronunciation.

Sixth letter — jim; voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/. Present in Ormuri vocabulary, contrasting with the archaic Northwest Iranian /dz/ affricate.

Seventh letter — che; voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/. One of the four letters unique to the Persian/Dari script; contrasts with the archaic Ormuri /ts/ affricate.

Eighth letter — he-jimi; pronounced /h/ in Ormuri. The pharyngeal quality of Arabic /ħ/ is not preserved in Ormuri spoken phonology.

Ninth letter — khe; voiceless velar fricative /x/. Well-preserved in Ormuri; common in Northwest Iranian vocabulary and Dari/Pashto loanwords.

Tenth letter — dal; voiced alveolar stop /d/. Non-connecting letter; common in Ormuri vocabulary. Phonemically distinct from the archaic Northwest Iranian voiced affricate /dz/.

Eleventh letter — zal; pronounced /z/ in Ormuri. Non-connecting letter; the Arabic voiced dental fricative /ð/ has merged with /z/ in Ormuri.

Twelfth letter — re; alveolar tap or trill /r/. Non-connecting letter; one of the most frequent consonants in Ormuri vocabulary.

Thirteenth letter — ze; voiced alveolar fricative /z/. Non-connecting letter; in Ormuri, ز، ذ، ض، ظ all represent /z/, distinct from the archaic Northwest Iranian /dz/.

Fourteenth letter — zhe; voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/. One of the four letters unique to the Persian/Dari script; non-connecting letter; present primarily in Dari loanwords in Ormuri.

Fifteenth letter — sin; voiceless alveolar fricative /s/. Frequent in Ormuri; ث، س، and ص all represent /s/. Phonemically distinct from the archaic Northwest Iranian voiceless affricate /ts/.

Sixteenth letter — shin; voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/. Fully preserved in Ormuri; common in Dari/Pashto loanwords integrated into Ormuri vocabulary.

Seventeenth letter — sad; pronounced /s/ in Ormuri. The emphatic /sˁ/ of Classical Arabic is not maintained; retained for spelling Arabic loanwords.

Eighteenth letter — dad; pronounced /z/ in Ormuri. The historically emphatic Arabic /dˁ/ has merged with /z/ in Ormuri/Iranian pronunciation.

Nineteenth letter — ta; pronounced /t/ in Ormuri. The emphatic /tˁ/ of Classical Arabic merges with plain /t/ in Ormuri; retained in writing Arabic-origin vocabulary.

Twentieth letter — za; pronounced /z/ in Ormuri. Like ذ، ز، and ض, this letter represents /z/ in Ormuri pronunciation.

Twenty-first letter — ayn; voiced pharyngeal fricative /ʕ/ in Arabic; in Ormuri realised as glottal stop /ʔ/ or vowel onset following Dari conventions.

Twenty-second letter — ghayn; voiced uvular fricative /ɣ/. Present in Dari/Persian loanwords in Ormuri; phonemically distinct from the velar stop /g/ (گ).

Twenty-third letter — fe; voiceless labiodental fricative /f/. Present primarily in Dari/Arabic loanwords in Ormuri; less productive in inherited Northwest Iranian Ormuri vocabulary.

Twenty-fourth letter — qaf; uvular stop /q/ in formal speech or glottal stop /ʔ/ in casual Ormuri following Dari conventions.

Twenty-fifth letter — kaf; voiceless velar stop /k/. Distinct from ق; very frequent in Ormuri vocabulary across both Northwest Iranian and loanword lexical layers.

Twenty-sixth letter — gaf; voiced velar stop /g/. One of the four letters unique to the Persian/Dari script; present in Dari/Persian loanwords and some inherited Ormuri vocabulary.

Twenty-seventh letter — lam; lateral alveolar approximant /l/. One of the most frequent consonants in Ormuri; participates in the obligatory lam-alef ligature لا.

Twenty-eighth letter — mim; bilabial nasal /m/. Common in Ormuri vocabulary; stable across both the Afghan (Baraki Barak) and Pakistani (Wana/Kaniguram) varieties of Ormuri.

Twenty-ninth letter — nun; alveolar nasal /n/. One of the most frequent consonants in Ormuri; productive in inherited Northwest Iranian vocabulary and Dari/Pashto loanwords.

Thirtieth letter — vav; represents /w/ (bilabial approximant) in Ormuri — a Northwest Iranian feature contrasting with the /v/ of standard Dari. Also serves as long vowel /uː/. Non-connecting letter.

Thirty-first letter — he; voiceless glottal fricative /h/. Multi-functional in Ormuri orthography; can represent /h/, /a/, or /e/ in word-final position following Dari/Persian writing conventions.

Thirty-second letter — ye; palatal approximant /j/ in consonantal use or long vowel /iː/ in vocalic use. Ormuri shows archaic Northwest Iranian vowel features around ی, reflecting the conservative phonological character of this endangered language.

Eastern Arabic Digits (۰–۹)

[SI-fer]

[YEK]

[DOH]

[SEH]

[CHAR]

[PANJ]

[SHESH]

[HAFT]

[HASHT]

[NOH]

[SI-fer]

Eastern Arabic-Indic digit zero (۰), corresponding to Western 0. Used in Ormuri texts following Dari/Afghan numeral conventions. The word صفر (sifr) is the Arabic origin of the English words "cipher" and "zero", transmitted through medieval Islamic mathematics. Written left to right within otherwise RTL Ormuri text.

[YEK]

Eastern Arabic-Indic digit one (۱), corresponding to Western 1. The Ormuri/Dari word for one is یک (yek). Ormuri numerals largely follow Dari/Persian convention in written form, reflecting the strong influence of Dari as the dominant written language of Logar Province, Afghanistan.

[DOH]

Eastern Arabic-Indic digit two (۲), corresponding to Western 2. The name is دو (do), shared with Dari Persian, cognate with Sanskrit dvi and Latin duo. The numeral vocabulary of Ormuri in written contexts largely follows Dari conventions, though Ormuri spoken numerals preserve some archaic Northwest Iranian forms.

[SEH]

Eastern Arabic-Indic digit three (۳), corresponding to Western 3. The name is سه (se), shared with Dari, cognate with Sanskrit tri and Latin tres. Eastern Arabic-Indic digits are used in written Ormuri materials following the standard Dari/Afghan script conventions of the Logar Province context.

[CHAR]

Eastern Arabic-Indic digit four (۴), corresponding to Western 4. The name is چهار (char/chahar), shared with Dari, cognate with Sanskrit catur. Ormuri uses the same standard Dari numerals in formal writing and educational contexts, following the prevailing Afghan literacy conventions.

[PANJ]

Eastern Arabic-Indic digit five (۵), corresponding to Western 5. The name is پنج (panj), shared with Dari Persian, cognate with Sanskrit panca and Greek pente. The Eastern Arabic-Indic five (۵) has a characteristic shape different from the Western Arabic 5. Standard across Ormuri written materials.

[SHESH]

Eastern Arabic-Indic digit six (۶), corresponding to Western 6. The name is شش (shesh), shared with Dari Persian. The Eastern Arabic-Indic ۶ resembles a rounded form, distinct from the Western 6. Ormuri numeral vocabulary in formal writing follows Dari/Persian convention.

[HAFT]

Eastern Arabic-Indic digit seven (۷), corresponding to Western 7. The name is هفت (haft), shared with Dari, cognate with Sanskrit sapta and Latin septem. The Eastern Arabic-Indic ۷ is visually similar to the Western 7, with slight stylistic differences in calligraphic traditions.

[HASHT]

Eastern Arabic-Indic digit eight (۸), corresponding to Western 8. The name is هشت (hasht), shared with Dari, cognate with Sanskrit ashta and Latin octo. Used in Ormuri written texts following Dari/Afghan numeral conventions standard across Logar Province.

[NOH]

Eastern Arabic-Indic digit nine (۹), corresponding to Western 9. The name is نه/نو (noh/naw), shared with Dari Persian, cognate with Sanskrit nava and Latin novem. The Eastern Arabic-Indic ۹ is visually distinct from the Western 9. Standard in Ormuri written materials following Dari conventions.

Special Characters & Punctuation

Ormuri written texts use Arabic punctuation marks that are mirrored versions of their Western Latin equivalents. The Arabic comma (،) and Arabic question mark (؟) are reflected horizontally to suit right-to-left reading direction, while guillemets (« ») serve as standard quotation marks following Afghan Persian and Dari typographic conventions used in Logar Province publications.

‌

Arabic comma — the standard comma in Ormuri/Dari texts, mirrored horizontally from the Western comma to suit right-to-left reading. Used to separate clauses, list items, and coordinate phrases in Ormuri written texts following Dari typographic conventions standard across Afghanistan.

Arabic question mark — the standard interrogative marker in Ormuri texts, reflected horizontally from the Western question mark. Placed at the end of a question sentence (which, in RTL text, appears on the right side of the line). Standard across Dari and Ormuri writing traditions in Afghanistan.

Arabic semicolon — used in Ormuri/Dari texts to separate independent clauses more strongly than a comma. The Arabic semicolon ؛ is the mirrored form of the Western semicolon and is used in formal Ormuri writing following Dari typographic conventions.

Left guillemet — used as a quotation mark in Ormuri/Dari texts following Afghan Persian publishing conventions. In RTL text, « appears at the end of the quoted text (visually on the right). Guillemets are the standard quotation marks in Dari and Ormuri publications.

Right guillemet — used as a quotation mark in Ormuri/Dari texts. In Dari/Ormuri typographic convention, » opens the quotation and « closes it — the reverse of Western usage. Standard across Ormuri and Dari publications in Afghanistan.

Arabic percent sign — used in Ormuri texts for percentages, following the Arabic-script convention used in Afghanistan. Often interchangeable with the Western % sign in modern Ormuri digital and print texts.

Arabic full stop — used to terminate sentences in Ormuri/Dari texts. Follows the traditional Perso-Arabic typographic standard for sentence termination in formal Ormuri writing and publications.

‌

Zero-width non-joiner (ZWNJ) — an invisible Unicode character (U+200C) used in Perso-Arabic texts to prevent two letters from joining where they would normally connect. Essential in Ormuri digital typography for certain compound words and grammatical constructions in the Ormuri writing system.

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How many letters does the Ormuri alphabet have?

What language is Ormuri?

What are the distinctive features of the Ormuri language?

Where is Ormuri spoken?

Is Ormuri related to Dari or Pashto?

Is the Ormuri script read from right to left?

References:

[1] Glottolog 5.1. "Ormuri [ormu1247]". Retrieved from Glottolog: Ormuri
[2] Unicode Consortium. "Arabic Unicode Block (U+0600-U+06FF)". Retrieved from Unicode Arabic Block
[3] SIL International. "ISO 639-3 Language Code: oru — Ormuri". Retrieved from SIL ISO 639-3: oru
[4] Encyclopaedia Iranica (Columbia University). "ORMURI". Retrieved from Encyclopaedia Iranica: Ormuri