The Torwali Alphabet

Q: What script does Torwali use?

Torwali uses the Urdu Nastaliq script — a 38-letter right-to-left abjad . Beyond 28 Arabic and 4 Persian letters, it adds 6 South Asian letters: ٹ (/ʈ/), ڈ (/ɖ/), ڑ (/ɽ/) for retroflex sounds, ں for nasalisation, ھ for aspiration, and ے for a final /eː/ vowel.

Q: What is the difference between Torwali and Turvali?

Torwali and Turvali are two names for the same language — both share ISO 639-3 code trw and Glottolog torw1241. "Torwali" is more common in academic literature; "Turvali" is an alternate local form reflecting different naming conventions. Neither name is more correct than the other.

Q: Where is Torwali spoken?

Torwali is spoken in Bahrain town and the upper Swat Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan , surrounded by Pashto speakers in lower Swat and related Dardic languages at higher elevations. Diaspora speakers are also found in Mingora and Karachi.

Q: What language family does Torwali belong to?

Torwali belongs to the Dardic sub-branch of Indo-Aryan (Indo-European). Its closest relatives are Kalami (Gawri) in the upper Swat Valley and Khowar of Chitral. Dardic languages share phonemic aspiration, retroflex consonants, and archaic Indo-Aryan features preserved in mountain isolation.

Q: Is Torwali an endangered language?

Yes — Torwali is severely endangered despite ~70,000–80,000 speakers. Education is exclusively in Urdu and Pashto, causing declining intergenerational transmission. The NGO Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi (IBT) , founded by Zubair Torwali in Bahrain, has worked to document the language and develop literacy materials.

Q: What makes Torwali a Dardic language?

Torwali is Dardic due to its phonemic aspiration contrast (aspirated vs. unaspirated stops) and retroflex consonants (ٹ, ڈ, ڑ) — features characteristic of the Dardic branch. It also preserves archaic Indo-Iranian phonological features reflecting the mountain isolation of the Hindu Kush and Karakoram zone shared by all Dardic languages.

Torwali Alphabet at a Glance

Torwali (ISO 639-3: trw) is a severely endangered Dardic Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 70,000–80,000 people in Bahrain town and the surrounding Swat Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan ^[1]
Torwali is also known locally as Turvali — both names refer to exactly the same language with the same ISO 639-3 code trw; neither name is more correct than the other ^[2]
Torwali belongs to the Dardic sub-branch of Indo-Aryan, alongside languages such as Khowar, Kalami, Gawri (Kalami), and Shina — all spoken in the mountain valleys of northern Pakistan and neighboring regions ^[1]
The Endangered Languages Project classifies Torwali as a severely endangered language; despite having tens of thousands of speakers, intergenerational transmission is declining under pressure from Pashto and Urdu ^[3]
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 letters unique to Nastaliq (ٹ, ڈ, ڑ, ں, ھ, ے) ^[4]
As an abjad, short vowels are not written in standard Torwali text but may be indicated by optional harakat diacritics (zabar, zer, pesh) in educational materials ^[5]
Torwali has a strong aspiration contrast — a phonological feature characteristic of Dardic languages — distinguishing aspirated from non-aspirated consonants, represented in Nastaliq using do chashmi he (ھ)

Torwali (ISO 639-3: trw) is a severely endangered Dardic Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 70,000–80,000 people in Bahrain town and the Swat Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan ^[1]. Torwali is also known by the alternate name Turvali — both names refer to the same language with the same ISO 639-3 code trw ^[2].

Torwali belongs to the Dardic sub-branch of Indo-Aryan, alongside Khowar, Kalami (Gawri), Shina, and Kashmiri. It is written using the Urdu Nastaliq script — the South Asian Perso-Arabic abjad of 38 letters written right to left ^[4].

Torwali Consonant Letters (Nastaliq)

The Torwali alphabet contains 38 letters based on the Urdu Nastaliq script — an extended Perso-Arabic abjad developed in South Asia. Beyond the 32 letters of standard Persian, Nastaliq adds six South Asian letters: ٹ (tte /ʈ/), ڈ (ddal /ɖ/), and ڑ (rre /ɽ/) for retroflex consonants, plus ں (noon ghunna) for nasalised vowels, ھ (do chashmi he) for aspiration, and ے (bari ye) for the final /eː/ sound.

The do chashmi he (ھ) aspiration marker is especially significant in Torwali: Dardic languages like Torwali have a strong phonological contrast between aspirated and unaspirated consonants, a key feature distinguishing them from neighbouring Pashto and Urdu.

Torwali 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; functions as a vowel carrier and represents the long vowel /aː/ or a glottal stop /ʔ/ in initial position. Non-connecting letter, written with Nastaliq characteristic slant.

[BEH]

Voiced bilabial stop /b/, like "b" in "bed". One of the foundational letters of the Nastaliq script used in Torwali vocabulary.

[PEH]

Voiceless bilabial stop /p/, like "p" in "pen". One of four letters added to Arabic script for Persian, used across all Nastaliq-based writing including Torwali.

[TEH]

Voiceless alveolar stop /t/, like "t" in "top". Standard Nastaliq letter used in Torwali native vocabulary and loanwords.

[TTEH]

Voiceless retroflex stop /ʈ/, a sound produced with the tongue curled back. One of the South Asian letters unique to Nastaliq; particularly significant in Torwali as a Dardic language with distinctive retroflex consonants.

[SEH]

Pronounced as /s/ in Torwali/Urdu, merging with س. Classical Arabic ث represents /θ/ but South Asian Nastaliq converts this to /s/.

[JEEM]

Voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/, like "j" in "jam". Common in Torwali vocabulary from both native and Urdu/Arabic sources.

[CHEH]

Voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/, like "ch" in "chair". One of four letters unique to the Persian extension of Arabic script; widely used in Torwali and Pakistani languages generally.

[HEH]

In Torwali and Urdu, pronounced as plain /h/, merging with ہ. The Classical Arabic pharyngeal /ħ/ is not maintained in South Asian speech.

[KHEH]

Voiceless velar fricative /x/, like "ch" in Scottish "loch". Used in Torwali for loanwords from Urdu, Persian, and Arabic.

[DAHL]

Voiced alveolar stop /d/, like "d" in "dog". Non-connecting letter in Nastaliq; common in Torwali native vocabulary.

[DDAHL]

Voiced retroflex stop /ɖ/, like "d" pronounced with the tongue curled back. Unique to South Asian Nastaliq scripts; a significant consonant in Torwali Dardic phonology.

[ZAHL]

Pronounced /z/ in Torwali/Urdu, merging with ز. Non-connecting letter; preserved in orthography for Arabic loanwords.

[REH]

Alveolar trill or tap /r/, like a rolled "r". Non-connecting letter; common throughout Torwali vocabulary.

[RREH]

Voiced retroflex flap /ɽ/, a sound unique to South Asian languages. Found only in South Asian Nastaliq scripts; represents a retroflex rhotic sound characteristic of Dardic phonology.

[ZEH]

Voiced alveolar fricative /z/, like "z" in "zoo". Non-connecting letter; in Torwali the letters ز، ذ، ض، and ظ all converge on /z/ pronunciation.

[ZHEH]

Voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/, like "s" in "measure". One of four letters unique to Persian; used in Torwali for loanwords.

[SEEN]

Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/, like "s" in "sun". In Torwali the sibilants ث، س، and ص all converge on /s/.

[SHEEN]

Voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, like "sh" in "ship". Fully preserved in Torwali; appears in native vocabulary and loanwords.

[SAWD]

Emphatic /sˁ/ in Classical Arabic; in Torwali/Urdu pronounced as plain /s/, merging with س. Preserved in written form for Arabic loanwords.

[DAWD]

In Torwali/Urdu pronounced as /z/. Classical Arabic ض had a unique emphatic pronunciation; in South Asian Nastaliq tradition merges with /z/.

[TAW]

Emphatic /tˁ/ in Classical Arabic; in Torwali/Urdu pronounced as plain /t/, merging with ت. Used in Arabic loanwords.

[ZAW]

In Torwali/Urdu pronounced as /z/. An emphatic letter of Arabic origin; merges with /z/ in South Asian pronunciation.

[AYN]

Voiced pharyngeal fricative /ʕ/ in Arabic; in Torwali/Urdu often realised as a glottal stop /ʔ/ or simple vowel onset.

[GHAYN]

Voiced uvular fricative /ɣ/ produced at the back of the throat. Present in Torwali vocabulary from Arabic and Persian loanwords.

[FEH]

Voiceless labiodental fricative /f/, like "f" in "fun". Common across all Nastaliq languages; appears in Torwali loanwords from Urdu and Arabic.

[QAHF]

Uvular stop /q/ in formal speech; in colloquial Torwali/Urdu may be realised as /q/ or /k/. Common in Arabic and Persian loanwords.

[KAHF]

Voiceless velar stop /k/, like "k" in "key". One of the most frequent consonants in Torwali; phonemically distinct from ق.

[GAHF]

Voiced velar stop /g/, like "g" in "go". One of four letters unique to Persian/Dari script not in Classical Arabic; fully used in Torwali vocabulary.

[LAHM]

Lateral approximant /l/, like "l" in "land". Common throughout Torwali native vocabulary and loanwords.

[MEEM]

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

[NOON]

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

[NOON-gun-na]

Noon ghunna — a nasal vowel marker unique to the Urdu Nastaliq script. Represents a nasalised vowel at the end of a syllable; unique to South Asian Nastaliq and used in Torwali for nasalisation.

[WAHW]

Non-connecting letter; represents the consonant /v/ or /w/ and the long vowel /uː/ or diphthong /ow/. One of the most versatile letters in the Nastaliq abjad.

[HEH-gol]

Gol he (round he) — the standard Urdu/Nastaliq form of he. Represents the glottal fricative /h/ when used as a consonant; also used as a silent vowel marker in word-final position.

[DO-chas-mi-HEH]

Do chashmi he (two-eyed he) — a Urdu-specific letter that combines with preceding consonants to form aspirated sounds (e.g., بھ /bʰ/, کھ /kʰ/). Particularly important in Torwali as a Dardic language with a strong aspiration contrast, a key phonological feature of Dardic languages.

[BAH-ri-YEH]

Bari ye (big ye) — used in word-final position to represent the sound /eː/ or /ɛː/. Unique to the Urdu/Nastaliq script; appears only at the end of words.

[YEH]

The last letter of the Perso-Arabic alphabet; functions as the palatal approximant /j/ (like "y" in "yes") or as the long vowel /iː/. In Urdu/Nastaliq, ی (choti ye) appears in word-initial and word-medial positions.

Torwali 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 vowel /a/. Used in educational Torwali texts to mark the short vowel that is otherwise not written.

[KAS-ra]

Kasra — a short diagonal stroke below a letter indicating the short vowel /e/ or /i/. Used in Torwali educational texts.

[PESH]

Pesh (Urdu term for damma) — a small hook above a letter indicating the short vowel /o/ or /u/. Called "pesh" in Urdu/Nastaliq tradition rather than "damma".

[TASH-deed]

Tashdid (Urdu term for shadda) — a diacritical mark above a letter indicating consonant gemination (doubling). Marks a doubled or emphasised consonant.

[JAZM]

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

[TAN-ween]

Tanwin (nunation) — a double fatha indicating the Arabic nominal suffix /-an/. Appears in Torwali in formal Arabic loanwords.

Digits (0–9)

Zero — Western Arabic numeral used in Pakistani Torwali writing.

One — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Torwali texts.

Two — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Torwali texts.

Three — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Torwali texts.

Four — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Torwali texts.

Five — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Torwali texts.

Six — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Torwali texts.

Seven — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Torwali texts.

Eight — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Torwali texts.

Nine — standard Western Arabic numeral used in Torwali texts.

Expand All Collapse All

What script does Torwali use?

What is the difference between Torwali and Turvali?

Where is Torwali spoken?

What language family does Torwali belong to?

Is Torwali an endangered language?

What makes Torwali a Dardic language?

References:

[1] Hammarström, Harald et al. "Torwali [torw1241]". Glottolog 5.3. Retrieved from Glottolog: Torwali
[2] SIL International. "Torwali — ISO 639-3 Language Code: trw". Retrieved from SIL ISO 639-3: trw
[3] Endangered Languages Project. "Torwali". Retrieved from Endangered Languages Project: Torwali
[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