Punjabi Lessons

ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸਿਖਸ਼ਾ/ Punjabi Lessons

This page is the beginning of a set of articles that will teach you how to write and speak Gurmukhi/Punjabi.

*** Construction of these articles in progress now! ****

As you progress through the articles you will be able to recognise more and more of the features of this language. The Gurmukhi Alphabet consists of two types of characters – The Letters and the Modifiers. Gurmukhi is written from left to right as is English. The characters are normally aligned below the line of writing. Gurmukhi script like most of other Indian language scripts is written in a nonlinear fashion. The width of the characters is also not constant. The vowels getting attached to the consonant are not only in one (or horizontal) directions, they can be placed either on the top or the bottom of consonant. The Gurmukhi writing system is one of the simplest and most consistent writing systems in the world. Most letters and modifiers in the Punjabi script have a fixed pronunciation. Only a few have variable pronunciation depending on their position in the word. Gurmukhi script is syllabic in nature. The 35 Primary or Basic Gurmukhi character set is:

Gurmukhi Primary Letters

#	1	2	3	4	5
1	ੳ	ਅ	ੲ	ਸ	ਹ
2	ਕ	ਖ	ਗ	ਘ	ਙ
3	ਚ	ਛ	ਜ	ਝ	ਞ
4	ਟ	ਠ	ਡ	ਢ	ਣ
5	ਤ	ਥ	ਦ	ਧ	ਨ
6	ਪ	ਫ	ਬ	ਭ	ਮ
7	ਯ	ਰ	ਲ	ਵ	ੜ

The following 6 letters are secondary letters that form the complete character set of Gurmukhi. These are modified primary letters: ਲ਼ was added recently.

Gurmukhi Secondary Letters

#	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	ਸ਼	ਖ਼	ਗ਼	ਜ਼	ਫ਼	ਲ਼

The following are Letter Modifiers

Gurmukhi Letter Modifiers

#	1	2	3	4	5
1	ਾ	ਿ	ੀ	ੇ	ੈ
2	ੋ	ੌ	੝	ੂ	ੰ
3	੝	਼	ੱ	ਂ

Pronunciation of Gurmukhi Letters:

The list below explains the way the various Gurmukhi letters are pronounced.

ੳ ਅ ੲ ਸ ਹ ਕ ਖ ਗ ਘ ਙ ਚ ਛ ਜ ਝ ਞ ਟ ਠ ਡ ਢ ਣ ਤ ਥ ਦ ਧ ਨ ਪ ਫ ਬ ਭ ਮ ਯ ਰ ਲ ਵ ੜ

ੳ ਅ ੲ ਸ ਹ ਕ ਖ ਗ ਘ ਙ

ਸ is pronounced like the s in snake.

ਹ is pronounced like h as in hot.
ਕ is said like k as in kite.
ਖ does not have an English equivalent, but is pronounced like kh as in khaki.
ਗ is pronounced as g as in goat.
ਘ is the same as gh in ghost.
ਙ is pronounced like the middle of Penguin or the end in wing.

ਚ ਛ ਜ ਝ ਞ ਟ ਠ ਡ ਢ ਣ

ਚ is pronounced as ch as in the word cheat.
ਛ is pronounced like sh as in shower, robustly aspirated.
ਜ is pronounced like j as in Jungle, the tongue being positioned next to the lower teeth.
ਝ is pronounced as jh robustly aspirated.
ਝ is a sound not found in the western languages, and is uttered with a palatal sound.

ਟ is pronounced like t as in the middle of the word constrain, with less discharge of breath and the tongue placed further back.
ਠ sounds like the end of wheat, with the last letter robustly aspirated.
ਡ is pronounced as d as in dumb, the d rounded heavily, however less expiration of breath and the tongue much further back
ਢ is pronounced as dh is in drummer robustly aspirated.
ਣ is a retroflex nasal sound as in ' nah' if the 'a' was deleted.

ਤ ਥ ਦ ਧ ਨ ਪ ਫ ਬ ਭ ਮ

ਤ is softly unaspirated, being similar to a softly said 'Tim'.
ਥ is pronounced as th as in the word third, but robustly aspirated.
ਦ is pronounced as d as in then, with less expiration of breath.
ਧ is pronounced dh as is like 'then', powerfully aspirated.
ਨ is pronounced as n as in night, with the tongue firmly placed next to the teeth.

ਪ is pronounced as p as in aspirin with less expiration of air.
ਫ is pronounced as f as in fight, being the aspirated version of p .
ਬ is pronounced as b as in bin and bat.
ਭ is pronounced as bh as in bard, if the word was pronounced as a halfway between a p and bh.
ਮ is pronounced as m as in marriage or mother.

ਯ ਰ ਲ ਵ ੜ ਸ਼ ਖ਼ ਗ਼ ਜ਼ ਫ਼

ਯ is pronounced as y as in yard.
ਰ is pronounced as r as in matador or in razor , without dropping the r.
ਲ is pronounced as l as in like or lion .
ਵ pronounced as v and is a cross between a V in vexed and W in wart, without rounding the lips and without the upper teeth being grazed by the lower lip.
ੜ the closest example to this is the English name ' Barrat', but said as if a h is placed in between the two R's.