Letter h

Writing Animation:
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The detached letter h: [glottal voiceless approximant] [SOUND] A word-initial h: wind, air [SOUND] havaa A word-medial h: face [SOUND] munhun [see note #1 below] A word-final h: path [SOUND] raaha   etcetera [SOUND]   vaGerah [see note #2 below]

Note #1

In the Sindhi alphabet the letter "h" has two functions. It represents a full consonant "h", and it is also used as a mark of aspiration for the consonants "jh" and "gh" .

In the Unicode Sindhi fonts used for computer and web applications, including the fonts used here, these two distinct uses of "h" are represented with the same character, which in medial, connecting position resembles a figure-eight. But in handwritten Sindhi, and in fonts used in commercial printing presses, these two functions of "h" are kept distinct and are represented by different characters. The "h" that marks aspiration appears as the figure-eight character, just as in the computer generated fonts: and . The "h" that represents a separate consonant is written with the character . Compare the written form of the word munhinjo ('my, masc.') in the computer generated form and in the handwritten form: vs. .

The handwritten form is correct, but there is no way to create this kind of medial "h" using the computer generated fonts. The character that should be used for medial "h" in muhinjo does exist in the Unicode font set, but it can only appear at the beginning of a word, or following a non-connecting letter, as in haalu 'condition, health', aahe 'is'. In medial, connecting position, the only "h" available is the figure-eight character. This is an unfortunate fact about the Unicode font encoding for Sindhi, that represents an error in the encoding scheme.

The distinction between the two kinds of medial "h" letters is not critical for knowing how to correctly pronounce most words that have a medial "h". For example, in the word munhinjo 'my, masc.' the medial "h" can only represent the full consonant "h", and not the mark of aspiration, because the preceding letter is not a "j" or "g" . But consider a word like jihaRo 'as such'. In this word the "h" letter is supposed to represent the full consonant "h" (jihaRo), but how do we know that the "h" does not combine with the preceding letter "j" to represent the aspirated consonant "jh" ? How do we know the word is jihaRo and not jharo? In fact, the word can be read unambiguously in its correct form (with a full consonant "h") because of the presence of the short vowel diacritic marks. The first letter in the word is "j" written with a zer diacritic underneath, which tells us that the "j" is followed by a short vowel "i" (). The next letter is "h" and bears its own short vowel diacritic, in this case a zabar marking the vowel "a" () that follows "h". So the initial sequence must be read as:

j + i + h + a + R + o

Compare this word with jhirkii 'sparrow', where the medial "h" character combines with the preceding letter "j" as a mark of aspiration, representing the consonant "jh" . In this word, "h" is not a separate consonant. Once again, the short vowel diacritics indicate the correct pronunciation for the medial "h" letter. The "j" letter that is first in the word does not bear its own short vowel diacritic, while the medial "h" letter does. The letter sequence is thus:

j + h + i + r + k + y + i

These two example words, jihaRo and jhirkii , demonstrate that the same sequence of "j" + "h" letters can have different pronunciations, but the pronunciations are clearly distinguished by the presence of the short vowel diacritics. Thus, there is no confusion in how to pronounce a medial "h" in a written form that uses short vowel diacritics.

However, the learner should be warned that short vowel diacritics are commonly omitted in Sindhi writing, which means that you may have to consult a dictionary or a Sindhi speaker to know the correct way to pronounce letter sequences involving medial "j + h" or "g + h". For example, without short vowel diacritics, the words jihaRo and jhirkii look identical in their initial two letters:

j(i)h(a)Ro 'as such'

jh(i)rkii 'sparrow'

Of course, in handwritten form, there is no such confusion because two distinct letters are used for the two functions of medial "h".

jihaRo 'as such'

jhirkii 'sparrow'

always uses short vowel diacritics, so you should not encounter confusion in the pronunciation of medial, connecting "h" in any of the words you encounter in this course.

Note #2

There are two ways of writing a final, detached "h" in Sindhi. The form shown here with vaGerah   is the letter form used in Persian and Arabic, and tends to be used in those Sindhi words that are borrowings from Persian or Arabic. The final "h" when written this way is typically pronounced as the final sound of the word, with no following vowel, as in vaGerah. The other way of writing a final "h" is shown in the word raaha  , where there is a diacritic over the "h" indicating that the "h" is not the final sound, but is followed by a short vowel. There is variation in printed materials such as dictionaries, where final, detached "h" may appear always with the Persian/Arabic form of the letter, or it may appear always with the more common Sindhi form, or you may find differences between words, as in our examples of vaGerah and raaha shown here. Some Persian/Arabic borrowings appear also in Urdu, where the Persian/Arabic form of final, detached "h" is always preserved. The preservation of the Persian/Arabic "h" form in Urdu probably influences a similar written form in Sindhi, especially for Sindhis who are literate in both languages. In     materials, we retain the Persian/Arabic form of final, detached "h" in borrowings that we know to commonly preserve that form.

Pronunciation Notes

Exercises

1. Visual Discrimination Exercise

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2. Writing Exercise

Print out the PDF file and follow the instructions to practice writing h: h.pdf