The Shina Alphabet

Q: What script does Shina use?

Shina uses the Urdu Nastaliq script — a 38-letter abjad written right to left. It includes 28 Arabic letters, 4 Persian additions (پ, چ, ژ, گ), and 6 South Asian letters: ٹ (retroflex t), ڈ (retroflex d), ڑ (retroflex flap), ں (nasal), ھ (aspiration marker), and ے (final e). Short vowels are not written in standard Shina text but can be added with diacritics in educational materials.

Q: Where is Shina spoken?

Shina is spoken in Gilgit-Baltistan and parts of Kohistan and Chitral in northern Pakistan, with approximately 700,000–900,000 speakers . The language spans a rugged area across the Hindu Kush and Karakoram ranges, with small communities also in Kashmir and Ladakh.

Q: What language family does Shina belong to?

Shina belongs to the Dardic sub-branch of Indo-Aryan (Indo-European), classified under Glottolog shin1264. Within Dardic, Shina is most closely related to Khowar and shares features with Kashmiri, Torwali, and other Hindu Kush mountain languages.

Q: Is Shina an endangered language?

Shina is classified as endangered despite its 700,000–900,000 speakers. Formal education in Gilgit-Baltistan is in Urdu and English, giving Shina limited institutional support. Younger urban speakers increasingly shift to Urdu, though the language remains strong in rural mountain valleys.

Q: What makes Shina a Dardic language?

Shina is Dardic due to its phonemic aspiration contrast (aspirated vs. unaspirated consonants), retroflex consonants (ٹ, ڈ, ڑ), complex verb morphology, and a rich case system. These features are shared with Khowar, Torwali, Kalasha, and other Dardic languages of the Hindu Kush and Karakoram.

Q: What makes the Nastaliq script unique for Shina?

Nastaliq has a distinctive diagonal baseline flowing right to left, unlike the horizontal baseline of Arabic Naskh. For Shina, the key South Asian additions are: ٹ, ڈ, ڑ for the retroflex consonants central to Dardic phonology, ھ (do chashmi he) for the aspiration contrast phonemic in Shina, and ں (noon ghunna) for nasalised vowels.

Shina Alphabet at a Glance

38 letters written right to left using the Urdu Nastaliq script: the 28 Arabic letters plus 4 Persian additions (پ, چ, ژ, گ) and 6 South Asian Dardic letters (ٹ, ڈ, ڑ, ں, ھ, ے)
Shina is a Dardic language of the Indo-Aryan branch, spoken primarily in Gilgit-Baltistan, Kohistan, Indus Kohistan, and Chitral in northern Pakistan; Glottolog classifies it as shin1264 ^[1]
Shina has approximately 700,000–900,000 speakers, making it one of the larger Dardic languages; it is related to Khowar, Kalasha, and other languages of the Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountain zones ^[2]
The Endangered Languages Project records Shina as an endangered language facing pressure from Urdu and Pashto as the dominant languages of education and government across its speaker regions ^[3]
The Urdu Nastaliq script used for Shina includes six South Asian letters not found in standard Arabic or Persian: retroflex stops ٹ and ڈ, retroflex flap ڑ, nasal vowel marker ں, aspiration marker ھ, and the final vowel letter ے ^[4]
As an abjad, short vowels are not written in standard Shina text but can be indicated by optional harakat diacritics (zabar, zer, pesh) in educational and religious contexts ^[5]
Shina preserves archaic Indo-Aryan features including a phonemic aspiration contrast (do chashmi he ھ marks aspirated consonants) and retroflex consonants typical of Dardic languages in the Hindu Kush and Karakoram

Shina Consonant Letters (Nastaliq)

The Shina alphabet contains 38 letters based on the Urdu Nastaliq script — the extended Perso-Arabic abjad of Pakistan. Beyond the 32 letters of standard Persian, Nastaliq adds six South Asian letters: ٹ (tte), ڈ (ddal), and ڑ (rre) for retroflex consonants characteristic of South Asian and Dardic phonology, plus ں (noon ghunna) for nasalised vowels, ھ (do chashmi he) marking aspiration, and ے (bari ye) for the word-final long e vowel.

Shina Consonant Letters (Nastaliq)

[AH-lef]

[BEH]

[PEH]

[TEH]

[TTEH]

[SEH]

[JEEM]

[CHEH]

[HEH]

[KHEH]

[DAHL]

[DDAHL]

[ZAHL]

[REH]

[RREH]

[ZEH]

[ZHEH]

[SEEN]

[SHEEN]

[SAWD]

[DAWD]

[TAW]

[ZAW]

[AYN]

[GHAYN]

[FEH]

[QAHF]

[KAHF]

[GAHF]

[LAHM]

[MEEM]

[NOON]

[NOON-gun-na]

[WAHW]

[HEH-gol]

[DO-chas-mi-HEH]

[BAH-ri-YEH]

[YEH]

[AH-lef]

Alef — the first letter of the Perso-Arabic alphabet; serves as a vowel carrier in Shina and represents a long vowel or glottal stop in initial position. A non-connecting letter written in the characteristic Nastaliq diagonal style.

[BEH]

Voiced bilabial stop, like "b" in "bed". Common throughout Shina native vocabulary and loanwords from Urdu and Persian.

[PEH]

Voiceless bilabial stop, like "p" in "pen". One of four letters added to the Arabic script for Persian; used across Shina for both native and borrowed vocabulary.

[TEH]

Voiceless alveolar stop, like "t" in "top". Common in Shina native vocabulary; the standard alveolar dental stop letter in the Nastaliq system.

[TTEH]

Voiceless retroflex stop — a "t" pronounced with the tongue curled back. A South Asian letter unique to the Nastaliq script; retroflex consonants like this one are a hallmark of Dardic and South Asian languages including Shina.

[SEH]

Pronounced as the plain alveolar fricative in Shina and Urdu, merging with س. The Classical Arabic pronunciation is not maintained in South Asian Nastaliq tradition.

[JEEM]

Voiced postalveolar affricate, like "j" in "jam". Well integrated into Shina phonology and common in both native vocabulary and Urdu/Persian loanwords.

[CHEH]

Voiceless postalveolar affricate, like "ch" in "chair". One of four letters unique to the Persian extension of Arabic; used frequently in Shina vocabulary.

[HEH]

In Shina and Urdu, this letter is pronounced as plain h, merging with ہ. The Classical Arabic pharyngeal quality is not maintained in Dardic or South Asian speech.

[KHEH]

Voiceless velar fricative, like "ch" in Scottish "loch". Fully preserved in Shina phonology; appears in native Dardic vocabulary as well as Arabic and Persian loanwords.

[DAHL]

Voiced alveolar stop, like "d" in "dog". A non-connecting letter in Nastaliq; one of the most common consonants in Shina native vocabulary.

[DDAHL]

Voiced retroflex stop — a "d" pronounced with the tongue curled back. Unique to South Asian Nastaliq scripts; this retroflex consonant is a defining feature of Shina as a Dardic language.

[ZAHL]

Pronounced as the voiced alveolar fricative in Shina and Urdu, merging with ز. A non-connecting letter; retained in the orthography of Arabic loanwords.

[REH]

Alveolar trill or tap, like a rolled "r". A non-connecting letter; common throughout Shina Dardic vocabulary and grammatical morphology.

[RREH]

Voiced retroflex flap — a South Asian retroflex rhotic sound unique to languages of the subcontinent. Found only in Urdu Nastaliq and related South Asian scripts; used in Shina for Dardic retroflex rhotic sounds.

[ZEH]

Voiced alveolar fricative, like "z" in "zoo". A non-connecting letter; in Shina the letters ز، ذ، ض، and ظ all converge on this sound in standard Nastaliq pronunciation.

[ZHEH]

Voiced postalveolar fricative, like "s" in "measure". One of four letters unique to Persian; used in Shina for loanwords and in some native Dardic phonological contexts.

[SEEN]

Voiceless alveolar fricative, like "s" in "sun". One of the most frequent consonants in Shina; in Nastaliq tradition the letters ث، س، and ص all represent this sound.

[SHEEN]

Voiceless postalveolar fricative, like "sh" in "ship". Fully preserved in Shina phonology; appears in native Dardic vocabulary and in loanwords from Persian and Urdu.

[SAWD]

An emphatic letter in Classical Arabic; in Shina and Urdu pronounced as the plain alveolar fricative, merging with س. Used in writing Arabic loanwords.

[DAWD]

In Shina and Urdu pronounced as the voiced alveolar fricative, merging with ز. An Arabic emphatic letter retained in the orthography of loanwords.

[TAW]

An emphatic letter in Classical Arabic; in Shina and Urdu pronounced as the plain alveolar stop, merging with ت. Used in writing Arabic loanwords.

[ZAW]

In Shina and Urdu pronounced as the voiced alveolar fricative, merging with ز. An Arabic emphatic letter retained in the spelling of formal loanwords.

[AYN]

Voiced pharyngeal fricative in Classical Arabic; in Shina and Urdu realised as a glottal stop or simple vowel onset. The pharyngeal quality is not maintained in Dardic or South Asian pronunciation.

[GHAYN]

Voiced uvular fricative — a deep throaty sound produced at the back of the throat. Fully preserved in Shina phonology; appears in native Dardic vocabulary and in Arabic and Persian loanwords.

[FEH]

Voiceless labiodental fricative, like "f" in "fun". Common in Shina in loanwords from Urdu, Persian, and Arabic; also present in some Dardic native vocabulary.

[QAHF]

Uvular stop in formal speech; may be realised as the plain velar stop in Shina colloquial speech. Common in Arabic and Persian loanwords.

[KAHF]

Voiceless velar stop, like "k" in "key". Phonemically distinct from ق; one of the most frequent consonants in Shina Dardic vocabulary.

[GAHF]

Voiced velar stop, like "g" in "go". One of four letters unique to Persian script not in Classical Arabic; common in Shina native Dardic vocabulary.

[LAHM]

Lateral approximant, like "l" in "land". Common throughout Shina native vocabulary and in grammatical affixes.

[MEEM]

Bilabial nasal, like "m" in "man". One of the most frequent consonants in Shina; appears in native vocabulary and grammatical morphology.

[NOON]

Alveolar nasal, like "n" in "no". Very common in Shina native Dardic vocabulary and in grammatical affixes.

[NOON-gun-na]

Noon ghunna — a nasal vowel marker unique to the Urdu Nastaliq script. Represents a nasalised vowel or syllable-final nasal; not present in standard Arabic or Persian. Used in Shina for marking nasalisation, a common feature of Dardic phonology.

[WAHW]

A non-connecting letter representing the consonant "w" or "v" and the long vowel "oo". One of the most versatile letters in the Nastaliq abjad; common in Shina native vocabulary.

[HEH-gol]

Gol he (round he) — the standard Urdu/Nastaliq form of "h". Represents the glottal fricative when used as a consonant; also serves as a silent vowel marker in word-final position. Distinct in shape from ح but both represent "h" in Shina.

[DO-chas-mi-HEH]

Do chashmi he (two-eyed he) — a Urdu-specific aspiration marker that combines with preceding consonants to form aspirated sounds. This letter is unique to South Asian Nastaliq and is particularly important in Shina, which has a phonemic aspiration contrast typical of Dardic languages.

[BAH-ri-YEH]

Bari ye (big ye) — used in word-final position to represent a long "e" or "ae" sound. This letter appears only at the end of words and is unique to the Urdu/Nastaliq script.

[YEH]

The last letter of the Perso-Arabic alphabet; functions as the palatal glide "y" or as the long vowel "ee". In Nastaliq tradition, ی (choti ye) appears in initial and medial positions, while ے (bari ye) is used word-finally.

Shina Vowel Diacritics (Harakat)

Shina, like all Nastaliq Perso-Arabic script languages, is an abjad — short vowels are not written in standard text. In educational materials, diacritical marks (harakat) indicate short vowels: zabar (fatha) for the short a vowel, zer (kasra) for the short e or i vowel, pesh (damma) for the short o or u vowel, tashdid for consonant doubling, jazm for a bare consonant, and tanwin for Arabic nominal suffixes in loanwords.

Shina Vowel Diacritics (Harakat)

[FAT-ha]

[KAS-ra]

[PESH]

[TASH-deed]

[JAZM]

[TAN-ween]

[FAT-ha]

Fatha — a short diagonal stroke above a letter indicating the short "a" vowel. Used in Shina educational texts to mark the short vowel that is otherwise not written in normal text.

[KAS-ra]

Kasra — a short diagonal stroke below a letter indicating the short "e" or "i" vowel. Used in Shina educational texts to mark the short front vowel.

[PESH]

Pesh — a small hook above a letter indicating the short "o" or "u" vowel. Called pesh in Urdu/Nastaliq tradition; used in Shina to mark the short back rounded vowel.

[TASH-deed]

Tashdid — a diacritical mark above a letter indicating consonant gemination (doubling). Marks a doubled consonant in Shina texts where emphasis or gemination is phonologically relevant.

[JAZM]

Jazm — a small circle above a letter indicating the absence of a following vowel (bare consonant). Used in Shina and Urdu educational materials to show consonant clusters explicitly.

[TAN-ween]

Tanwin (nunation) — a double fatha indicating the Arabic nominal suffix "-an". Appears in Shina in formal Arabic loanwords where Arabic nunation is preserved in writing.

Digits (0–9)

Zero — Western Arabic numeral used in Pakistani Shina writing.

One — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Shina texts.

Two — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Shina texts.

Three — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Shina texts.

Four — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Shina texts.

Five — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Shina texts.

Six — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Shina texts.

Seven — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Shina texts.

Eight — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Shina texts.

Nine — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Shina texts.

Expand All Collapse All

What script does Shina use?

Where is Shina spoken?

What language family does Shina belong to?

Is Shina an endangered language?

What makes Shina a Dardic language?

What makes the Nastaliq script unique for Shina?

References:

[1] Hammarström, Harald et al. "Shina [shin1264]". Glottolog 5.3. Retrieved from Glottolog: Shina
[2] SIL International. "Shina — ISO 639-3 Language Code: scl". Retrieved from SIL ISO 639-3: scl
[3] Endangered Languages Project. "Shina". Retrieved from Endangered Languages Project: Shina
[4] Unicode Consortium. "Arabic Unicode Block (U+0600–U+06FF) — Urdu Nastaliq Extended Characters". Retrieved from Unicode Arabic Block
[5] Unicode Consortium. "Arabic Unicode Block (U+0600-U+06FF)". Retrieved from Unicode Arabic Block