Gurmukhi (ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ; [ˈɡʊɾᵊmʊkʰiː]) is a type of Abugida script used to write the Punjabi language spoken mostly in the Indian state of Punjab[1]. In the 16th century, the Sikh Guru, Guru Angad Dev, standardised Gurmukhi script[2]. The Punjabi speakers in Pakistan use a version of Urdu alphabet known as Shahmukhi (شاہ مکھی) to write a punjabi language.
Gurmukhi is the official script for writing Punjabi language in India[3][4]. The Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, is written in Gurmukhi. Because of this, the Gurmukhi Script plays an important part in Sikh Culture.
The Gurmukhi script is also used to write other languages such as Sanskrit, Sindhi and Saraiki. This article doesn't cover variations of a script used to adapt these additional languages.
Gurmukhi Vowel Letters
Gurmukhi vowels, also called Sur (ਸੁਰ), can be classified into dependent and independent vowels.
There are 10 independent vowels and are constructed using three vowel bases. They are Ura (ੳ), Aira (ਅ) and Iri (ੲ).
Dependent vowels, on the other hand, are represented by accents and are added either in the front, or after, on the base or on the top of base characters to form different vowel sounds and diphthongs.
Independent Vowels:
Dependent Vowels:
Gurmukhi Consonant Letters
Consonant in Gurmukhi are also called Akhar (ਆਖ਼ਰ). Together with 3 vowel base (also called vowel holders), there are in total 35 consonants. Each consonant character represents a phonetic sound and are combined with either dependent or independent vowel to make a final sound.
Consonants:
Vowel bases:
Additional Consonants in Gurmukhi
In Gurmukhi, there are six consonants created by placing a dot (also bindi) at the foot of the consonant. These dot symbol at the bottom of the consonants represent borrowed sound.
Gurmukhi Numeral Letters
Gurmukhi script uses its own numerals system, which was used extensively in older texts to denote numerical values and doing mathematical calculation. Now-a-days these traditional characters have been replaced either by Latin or Hindi numerals.
Halant
Although not used when writing Punjabi in Gurmukhi, Halant character is used in Sanskritised text to represent the suppression of the inherent vowel. For e.g. when halant is added to ਕ (Ka) it will be transformed into ਕ੍ (K).
Ek Onkar
Ek Onkar is the most important symbol used in Sikh literature which means `one God`.
Visarg
Visarg is used either to represent an abbreviation in English or like a Visarg in Sanskrit where a voiceless `h` sound is pronounced after the vowel letter.
Gurmukhi Special Character Letters
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
References:
- [1] Unicode Consortium. "Gurmukhi". The Unicode Standard, Version 15.0. Retrieved from https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0A00.pdf
- [2] Singh, Gurpreet. "An Introduction to Gurmukhi Script". Retrieved from https://guca.sourceforge.net/resources/introductiontogurmukhi/an.introduction.to.gurmukhi.pdf
- [3] Government of Punjab. "Official Language Policy". Retrieved from https://punjab.gov.in/language-policy
- [4] Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs. "Languages". Retrieved from Census of India 2011
Sambhu Raj Singh ·