The Punjab The Punjab The Punjab (pronounced or ; Punjabi: ਪੰਜਾਬ, The Punjab (pronounced or ; [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]: [[Gurmukhī script|ਪੰਜਾਬ]], The Punjab (pronounced or ; [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]: [[Gurmukhī script|ਪੰਜਾਬ]], [[Shahmukhi script|, ), also spelled Panjab ' onMouseout='HidePop("13689")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ardhanagari">Ardhanagari
Ardhanagari , an abugida, was a mixture of Nagari, used in Malwa, particularly Ujjain, and Siddha Matrika or the Siddham script, a variant of the Sharada script used in Kashmir....
script was also called Bhatachhari. According to Al-Biruni,
ArdhanagariArdhanagari , an abugida, was a mixture of Nagari, used in Malwa, particularly Ujjain, and Siddha Matrika or the Siddham script, a variant of the Sharada script used in Kashmir....
was a mixture of Nagari, used in
UjjainUjjain , is an ancient city of Malwa region in central India, on the eastern bank of the Kshipra River It is the administrative centre of Ujjain District and Ujjain Division.In ancient times the city was called Ujjayini...
and Malwa, and
Siddha Matrika or the Siddham script, a variant of the Sharada script used in
KashmirKashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent...
.
Pritam Singh (1992) has also traced the origins of Gurmukhi to the
Siddha Matrika.
Tarlochan Singh Bedi (1999) writes that the Gurmukhi script developed in the 10-14th centuries from the
Devasesha stage of the Sharada script. His argument is that from the 10th century, regional differences started to appear between the Sharada script used in Punjab, the Hill States (partly Himachal Pradesh) and Kashmir. The regional Sharada script evolves from this stage till the 14th century, when it starts to appear in the form of Gurmukhi. Indian epigraphists call this stage Devasesha, while Bedi prefers the name
Pritham Gurmukhi or Proto-Gurmukhi.
Gurus adopted the
Proto-Gurmukhi script to write the
Guru Granth SahibThe Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib, is the holy scripture and the final Guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs , compiled and composed during the period of Sikh Gurus, from 1469 to 1708...
, the religious scriptures of the Sikhs. Other contemporary scripts used in the Punjab were
TakriThe Takri script is an abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts. It is closely related to, and derived from, the Sharada script employed by Kashmiri. It is also related to the Gurmukhī script used to write Punjabi. Until the late 1940s, Takri was the official script for writing the...
and the alphabets. Also
Takri was a script that developed through the
Devasesha stage of the Sharada script, and is found mainly in the Hill States, such as
ChambaChamba may refer to*Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, city in Himachal Pradesh, India*Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh, India*Chamba, Uttarakhand, small town in Tehri-Garhwal district, Uttarakhand, India*Chamba people, ethnic group in Nigeria and Cameroon...
, where it is called
Chambyali and in
JammuJammu is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
, where it is known as
Dogri. The local
Takri variants got the status of official scripts in some of the
Punjab Hill StatesThe Punjab Hill States Agency was an administrative unit of British India. The agency was created in 1936, and was composed of a number of princely states in the present-day Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand...
, and were used for both administrative and literary purposes until the 19th century. After 1948, when Himachal Pradesh was established as an administrative unit, the local
Takri variants were replaced by
DevanagariDevanagari , also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together. Devanāgarī is the main script used to...
.
Meanwhile, the mercantile scripts of Punjab known as the were normally not used for literary purposes.
Landa means alphabet "without tail", applying that the script did not have vowel symbols. In Punjab, there were at least ten different scripts classified as ,
MahajaniMahajani is an ancient Laṇḍā script that was used to record the Punjabi and Marwari languages....
being the most popular. The alphabets were used for household and trade purposes. Compared to the , Sikh Gurus favoured the use of
Proto-Gurmukhi, because of the difficulties involved in pronouncing words without vowel signs.
The usage of Gurmukhi letters in
Guru Granth SahibThe Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib, is the holy scripture and the final Guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs , compiled and composed during the period of Sikh Gurus, from 1469 to 1708...
meant that the script developed its own orthographical rules. In the following epochs, Gurmukhi became the prime script applied for literary writings of the Sikhs. Later in the 20th century, the script was given the authority as the official script of the Eastern Punjabi language. Meanwhile, in Western Punjab a form of the
Urdu script, known as Shahmukhi is still in use.
Gurmukhi etymology
The word
Gurmukhi is commonly translated as "from the Mouth of the Guru". However, the term used for the
Punjabi script has somewhat different connotations. The opinion given by traditional scholars is that as the Sikh holy writings, before they were scribed, were uttered by the Gurus, they came to be known as Gurmukhi or the "
Utterance of the Guru". And consequently, the script that was used for scribing the
utterance was also given the same name. However, the prevalent view among Punjabi linguists is that as in the early stages the Gurmukhi letters were primarily used by
Gurmukhs, or the Sikhs devoted to the Guru, the script came to be associated with them. Another view is that as the
Gurmukhs, in accordance with the Sikh belief, used to meditate on the letters ਵ, ਹ, ਗ, ਰ which jointly form ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ or God in Sikhism, these letters were called
Gurmukhi or the "
speech of the Gurmukhs". Subsequently, the whole script came to be known as Gurmukhi.
Alphabet
The Gurmukhi abugida contains thirty-five distinct characters. The first three characters are unique because they form the basis for vowels and are not consonants. Except for Aira, the first three characters are never used on their own. See the section on vowels for further details.
| Name | Pron. |
|---|
| Name | Pron. |
|---|
| Name | Pron. |
|---|
| Name | Pron. |
|---|
| Name | Pron. |
|---|
| ੳ |
Ura |
|
ਅ |
Aira |
|
ੲ |
Iri |
|
ਸ |
Sussa |
Sa |
ਹ |
Haha |
Ha |
| ਕ |
Kakka |
Ka |
ਖ |
Khukha |
Kha |
ਗ |
Gugga |
Ga |
ਘ |
Ghugga |
Gha |
ਙ |
Ungga |
Nga |
| ਚ |
Chuchaa |
Cha |
ਛ |
Shusha |
Sha |
ਜ |
Jujja |
Ja |
ਝ |
Jhujja |
Jha |
ਞ |
Neya |
Nya |
| ਟ |
Tainka |
Tta |
ਠ |
Thutha |
Ttha |
ਡ |
Dudda |
Dda |
ਢ |
Dhudda |
Ddha |
ਣ |
Nahnha |
Nna |
| ਤ |
Tutta |
Ta |
ਥ |
Thutha |
Tha |
ਦ |
Duda |
Da |
ਧ |
Dhuda |
Dha |
ਨ |
Nunna |
Na |
| ਪ |
Puppa |
Pa |
ਫ |
Fuffa |
Fa |
ਬ |
Bubba |
Ba |
ਭ |
Bhubba |
Bha |
ਮ |
Mumma |
Ma |
| ਯ |
Yaiyya |
Ya |
ਰ |
Rara |
Ra |
ਲ |
Lalla |
La |
ਵ |
Vava |
Va |
ੜ |
Rharha |
Rha |
In addition to these, there are six consonants created by placing a dot (bindi) at the foot (pair) of the consonant (these are not present in Sri Guru Granth Sahib). These are used most often for loanwords, though not exclusively for them:
| Name | Pron. |
|---|
| ਸ਼ |
Sussay pair bindi |
Sha |
| ਖ਼ |
Khukhay pair bindi |
Khha |
| ਗ਼ |
Guggay pair bindi |
Ghha |
| ਜ਼ |
Jujjay pair bindi |
Za |
| ਫ਼ |
Fuffay pair bindi |
Pha |
| ਲ਼ |
Lallay pair bindi |
Lla |
Lallay pair bindi was only recently added to the Gurmukhi alphabet. Some sources may not consider it a separate letter.
Vowels
Gurmukhi follows similar concepts to other Brahmi scripts and as such, all consonants are followed by an inherent ‘a’ sound (unless at the end of a word when the ‘a’ is usually dropped). This inherent vowel sound can be changed by using dependent vowel signs which attach to a bearing consonant. In some cases, dependent vowel signs cannot be used – at the beginning of a word or syllable for instance – and so an independent vowel character is used instead.
Independent vowels are constructed using three bearer characters: Ura (ੳ), Aira (ਅ) and Iri (ੲ). With the exception of Aira (which represents the vowel 'a') they are never used without additional vowel signs.
| Vowel | | Name | | IPA |
|---|
| Ind. |
Dep. |
with /k/ |
Letter |
Unicode |
| ਅ |
(none) |
ਕ |
Mukta |
A |
|
| ਆ |
ਾ |
ਕਾ |
Kanna |
AA |
|
| ਇ |
ਿ |
ਕਿ |
Sihari |
I |
|
| ਈ |
ੀ |
ਕੀ |
Bihari |
II |
|
| ਉ |
ੁ |
ਕੁ |
Onkar |
U |
|
| ਊ |
ੂ |
ਕੂ |
Dulankar |
UU |
|
| ਏ |
ੇ |
ਕੇ |
Lavan |
EE |
|
| ਐ |
ੈ |
ਕੈ |
Dulavan |
AI |
|
| ਓ |
ੋ |
ਕੋ |
Hora |
OO |
|
| ਔ |
ੌ |
ਕੌ |
Kanora |
AU |
|
Dotted circles represent the bearer consonant. Vowels are always pronounced after the consonant they are attached to. Thus, Sihari is always written to the left, but pronounced after the character on the right.
Vowel Examples
| Word | Transcription | Meaning |
|---|
| ਆਲੂ |
ālū |
potato |
| ਦਿਲ |
dil |
heart |
| ਗਾਂ |
gã |
cow |
Halant
The Halant (੍) character is not used when writing Punjabi in Gurmukhi. However, it may occasionally be used in Sanskritised text or in dictionaries for extra phonetic information. When it is used, it represents the suppression of the inherent vowel.
The effect of this is shown below:
- ਕ – Ka
- ਕ੍ – K
Numerals
Gurmukhi has its own set of numerals that behave exactly as Hindu-Arabic numerals do. These are used extensively in older texts. In modern contexts, they are being replaced by standard Latin numerals although they are still in widespread use.
- 0 - ੦
- 1 - ੧
- 2 - ੨
- 3 - ੩
- 4 - ੪
- 5 - ੫
- 6 - ੬
- 7 - ੭
- 8 - ੮
- 9 - ੯
Other Signs
Bindi ( ਂ ) and Tippi ( ੰ ) are used for nasalisation (similar to the ‘n’ sound in words ending in ‘ing’). In general, Onkar ( ੁ ) and Dulankar ( ੂ ) take Bindi in their initial forms and Tippi when used after a consonant. All other short vowels take Tippi and all other long vowels take Bindi. Older texts may not follow these conventions.
The use of Addak ( ੱ ) indicates that the following consonant is geminate. This means that the subsequent consonant is doubled or reinforced.
Visarg
The Visarg symbol (ਃ U+0A03) is used very occasionally in Gurmukhi. It can either represent an abbreviation (like period is used in English) or it can act like a
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
VisargaVisarga is a Sanskrit word meaning "sending forth, discharge". In Sanskrit phonology , is the name of a phone, , written as IAST <>, Harvard-Kyoto , Devanagari <>. Visarga is an allophone of and in pausa...
where a voiceless ‘h’ sound is pronounced after the vowel.
Ek Onkar
Ek OnkarIk Onkar means one God and is a central tenet of Sikh religious philosophy...
(ੴ) is a Gurmukhi symbol that is often used in
SikhSikh is the title and name given to an adherent of Sikhism. The term has its origin in the Sanskrit term , meaning "disciple, learner" or , meaning "instruction"....
literature. It literally means ‘One God’.
Gurmukhi in Unicode
The
UnicodeUnicode is a computing industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
range for Gurmukhi is U+0A00–U+0A7F. Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points. Using Unicode for Gurmukhi has only recently started to become widespread. Many sites still use proprietary fonts that convert Latin ASCII codes to Gurmukhi
glyphA glyph is an element of writing. It is a slightly vague term, but a more precise definition might be an individual mark on paper or another written medium which contributes to the meaning of what is written there...
s.
Digitization of Gurmukhi manuscripts
Panjab Digital Library has taken up digitization of all available manuscripts of Gurmukhi Script. As the script is just 500 year old hence a lot of literature written in all these years is still traceable. Panjab Digital Library has digitized over 3 million pages from different manuscripts and most of them are available online.
External links