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Gol he, also called choṭī he, is one of the two variants of the Arabic letter he/hāʾ (ه) that are in use in the Urdu alphabet, the other variant being the do-cas͟hmī he (ھ), also called hā-'e-mak͟hlūt. The letter is named for its shape in the isolated form, gol meaning "round" in Hindustani, to distinguish it from the do-cas͟hmī he, which is really a calligraphic variant of the "two-eyed" regular he in the medial position (ﻬ‎). Its various non-isolated forms originated in the Nastaʿlīq script or calligraphic hand, though various zigzag (medial) and hook (final) forms of hāʾ have existed before the script was developed.

Use in Urdu

The letter ہ‎ (encoded at U+06C1) replaces the regular he ه‎ (encoded at U+0647) in Urdu (as well as the Punjabi Shahmukhi alphabet) for the voiced glottal fricative [ɦ] but is usually pronounced [ɑː] in the word-final position (exception include certain two-letter words such as وہ /ʋoː/ or کہ /keː/) while the do-cas͟hmī he ھ‎ is used in digraphs for aspiration and breathy voice and hence never used word-initially.

For comparison, the do-cas͟hmī he (not used word-initially) and the regular Arabic letter:

See also

• Nastaʿlīq script

References

1. "Roman to urdu meaning of hay | Urdu English Dictionary | Urduinc". www.urduinc.com. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
2. "gol he". Glosbe. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
3. "Two-Eyed He in Urdu". www.win.tue.nl. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
4. Grob, Eva Mira (2010). Documentary Arabic Private and Business Letters on Papyrus: Form and Function, Content and Context. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-024704-6. Retrieved 27 February 2020.

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