دو

See also: ذو and Appendix:Variations of "du"

Baluchi

Etymology

From Proto-Iranian *dwáH (compare Persian دو (do), Northern Kurdish du, Pashto دوه (dwa), Avestan 𐬛𐬎𐬎𐬀 (duua)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH (compare Sanskrit द्व (dvá), Hindi दो (do)/Urdu دو (do), Punjabi ਦੋ (do)), from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (compare Russian два (dva), Greek δύο (dýo), Spanish dos, English two).

Numeral

دو • (do)

1. two

Noun

دو • (do)

1. two (digit)

Brahui

Etymology

Perhaps borrowed from an Indo-Aryan descendant of Sanskrit दोस् (dos, “forearm”).

Noun

دُو (dū)

1. (anatomy) hand

Declension

Declension of دُو

	singular	plural
nominative	دُو (dū)	دُوک (dūk)
genitive	دُوئَنا (dūanā)	دُوتا (dūtā)
dative	دُوئَکِ (dūak-i)	دُوتیکِ (dūtek-i)
objective	دُوۓ (dū-ye)	دُوتے (dūte)
instrumental	دُوئَٹ (dūaṭ)	دُوتیئَٹ (dūteaṭ)
comitative	دُوئَتو (dūato)	دُوتیتو (dūteto)
ablative	دُوئان (dūān)	دُوتیئان (dūteān)
locative	دُوئَٹی (dūaṭī) دُوٹی (dūṭī)	دُوتیٹی (dūteṭī)
lative	دُوئای (dūāī)	دُوتیئای (dūteāī)
adessive	دُوئِس (dūis) دُوئِسْک (dūisk)	دُوتیک (dūtek)
terminative	دُوئِسْکا (dūiskā)	دُوتیکا (dūtekā)

Monosyllabic noun ending in a long vowel.
Example: با (bā)

References

• Bray, Denys (1934), “dū”, in The Brahui Language‎^[2], Calcutta, India: Superintendent Government Printing, Part II: The Brāhūī Problem; Part III: Etymological Vocabulary, page 101

Gilaki

Numeral

دو (do)

1. two

Pahari-Potwari

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit द्व (dva). Compare Hindi दो (do).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d̪oː/

Numeral

دو (do)

1. meaning two

Persian

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁

Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH

Persian دو

Inherited from Middle Persian 𐭲𐭥𐭩𐭭 (tʿyn /⁠dō⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *dwáH, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Indo European cognates include Northern Kurdish du, Pashto دوه (dwa), Avestan 𐬛𐬎𐬎𐬀 (duua), Sanskrit द्व (dvá), Hindi दो (do)/Urdu دو (do), Punjabi ਦੋ (do), Russian два (dva), Lithuanian du, Greek δύο (dýo), Spanish dos, English two, etc.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈdu/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪ʊ], [d̪uː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪ʊ], [d̪uː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d̪ʊ], [d̪uː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d̪u], [d̪u]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪o]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪u]

Readings
Classical reading?	du
Dari reading?	du, dū
Iranian reading?	do
Tajik reading?	du

• Despite the written form implying a long vowel, it was likely was inherited as a short vowel.

Numeral

Persian numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	۲ 2	3  →
Cardinal: دو (do)     Ordinal: دوم (dovom)

دو • (du / do) (Persian numeral ۲, Tajik spelling ду)

1. two

Noun

دو • (du / do) (Tajik spelling ду)

1. two

Etymology 2

Ultimately derived from Italian do.

Pronunciation

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪oː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪oː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d̪oː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d̪ʊː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪o]

Readings
Dari reading?	dō
Iranian reading?	do

Noun

دو • (dō / do)

1. (music) C, Do (the first note of the fixed-Do solfège scale)
2. (music) Do (the first note of the movable-Do solfège scale, i.e. the tonic)

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈdaw/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äw]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äw]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d̪äw]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d̪äw]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪ow]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äw]

Readings
Classical reading?	daw
Dari reading?	daw
Iranian reading?	dow
Tajik reading?	dav

Verb

دو • (daw / dow) (Tajik spelling дав)

1. present stem of دویدن (dawīdan / davidan, “to run”)

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Dashtestan, Khesht) IPA^(key): /duː/

Noun

دو • (du)

1. colloquial form of دوغ (dōġ / duġ)

Punjabi

Western Panjabi numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	۲ 2	3  → [a], [b]
Cardinal: دو (do)     Ordinal: دُوجا (dūjā)     Adverbial: دُہرا (duhrā)     Collective: دوویں (doveṉ)     Fractional: اَدّھا (addhā)

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit द्व (dva). Compare Hindi दो (do).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d̪oː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Numeral

دو • (do) (Gurmukhi spelling ਦੋ)

1. two

Tashelhit

Noun

دو (ddu)

1. Arabic spelling of ddu

Urdu

Urdu numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	۲ 2	3  →
Cardinal: دو (do)     Ordinal: دُوسْرا (dūsrā), دُوجا (dūjā), دُوَم (duvam)     Multiplier: دُگْنا (dugnā), دوگُنا (dogunā), دُہْرا (duhrā)     Distributive: دُونا (dūnā)     Collective: دونوں (donõ)     Fractional: آدھا (ādhā), نِصْف (nisf), نیم (nem)

Alternative forms

• ۲ (2) — native script symbol

Etymology

Inherited from Old Hindi दो (do), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀤𑁄 (do), from Sanskrit द्व (dvá), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /d̪oː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Numeral

دو • (do) (Hindi spelling दो) (cardinal)

1. two

References

• Jaroslav Strnad (2013), Morphology and Syntax of Old Hindī : Edition and Analysis of One Hundred Kabīr Vānī Poems From Rājasthān (Brill's Indological Library; 45), Leiden, →OCLC, page 241
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 380

Further reading

• Fallon, S. W. (1879), “دو”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co., page 642
• Platts, John T. (1884), “دو”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 530
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “دو”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co., page 316
• “دو”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• John Shakespear (1834), “دو”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC, page 883
• “دو”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.