Learn Gurmukhi
Gurmukhi is written left to right. Each letter stands for one sound, and letters keep the same shape wherever they appear in a word. That makes it one of the easier scripts to learn.
On this page: letters · pronunciation · vowels · words · grammar
The 35 letters
Each tile shows the letter, its name, its sound, and (below the dashed line) the matching Shahmukhi letter. Letters with a gold border change the tone of a word; see the pronunciation notes below.
Letters with a dot
Six letters take a dot underneath (ਪੈਰ ਬਿੰਦੀ) to write sounds that came into Punjabi from Persian and Arabic.
Pronunciation
Rows of five
From ਕ to ਮ, the letters come in rows of five made in the same part of the mouth: plain, breathy, voiced, tonal, nasal. For example ਕ ਖ ਗ ਘ ਙ.
Breathy sounds
ਖ ਛ ਠ ਥ ਫ are said with a puff of air. Hold a hand in front of your mouth: you should feel the breath on ਖ but not on ਕ.
Two kinds of t and d
ਤ ਦ are soft, with the tongue touching the teeth. ਟ ਡ are hard, with the tongue curled back to the roof of the mouth.
Tones
Punjabi is a tonal language. ਘ ਝ ਢ ਧ ਭ and ਹ give a word a low or high tone. ਘਰ (home) is said kàr, with a low, rising voice, not “ghar”.
Vowels
A consonant on its own is read with a short “a”. To change the vowel, add a sign to the consonant. At the start of a word, the vowel is written as a full letter built on one of the three carriers ੳ ਅ ੲ.
| Letter | Sign | Name | Sound | With ਕ | Shahmukhi |
|---|
Three more signs
| Sign | Name | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ੰ | ṭippī | Nasal sound after short vowels | ਪੰਜਾਬ — Panjāb |
| ਂ | bindī | Nasal sound after long vowels | ਮਾਂ — māṅ, mother |
| ੱ | addhak | Doubles the next consonant | ਸੱਚ — sachch, truth |
First words
| Gurmukhi | Shahmukhi | Said as | Meaning |
|---|
Grammar basics
| Rule | Gurmukhi | Shahmukhi | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| The verb comes last | ਮੈਂ ਕਿਤਾਬ ਪੜ੍ਹਦਾ ਹਾਂ | میں کتاب پڑھدا ہاں | I read a book I + book + read |
| “In”, “on”, “to” come after the noun | ਘਰ ਵਿਚ | گھر وچ | in the house house + in |
| Nouns are masculine or feminine, and adjectives agree | ਚੰਗਾ ਮੁੰਡਾ, ਚੰਗੀ ਕੁੜੀ | چنگا منڈا، چنگی کڑی | good boy, good girl |
| “Of” agrees with the thing owned | ਰਾਮ ਦਾ ਭਰਾ, ਰਾਮ ਦੀ ਭੈਣ | رام دا بھرا، رام دی بھین | Ram’s brother, Ram’s sister |
| Plurals | ਮੁੰਡਾ → ਮੁੰਡੇ, ਕੁੜੀ → ਕੁੜੀਆਂ | منڈا ← منڈے، کڑی ← کڑیاں | boy → boys, girl → girls |
| Questions keep the same word order | ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਰਹਿੰਦੇ ਹੋ? | تسیں کتھے رہندے ہو؟ | Where do you live? |