Learn to Read Punjabi



Lesson 1


Punjabi is a language of the Indian Subcontinent spoken by Muslims in Pakistan who write it in the Arabic script , Hindus in Punjab who write in Devanagri (Hindi) script and the Sikhs of Punjab who write it in the Gurumukhi (language of the Gurus) script . When we say Punjabi here we take it to mean the Gurumukhi script.

It has very many common letters with Hindi and shares similar vowel marks. You might find it easier to do the Learn Hindi lessons first. Please write to ukindia@innotts.co.uk if you find these lessons useful and with suggestions.

Letters S , N , R and G.

These are written as in the first line below . Note as in Hindi most words are joined at the top with a line. So what is your first word of Punjabi at the end of the first line ?
Letters S ; N ; R; G.

Yes it is sun ( as in our nearest star) .

The second line above has the common vowel marks . The first one is just to give the letter it is over a slightly longer sound . Here the first word is Sir as in 'This is yours sir'. Next one is Saan . Note the Aa vowel has a shorter line than in Hindi. Whats the next word?

Yes it is Sin (short i) . Next is Seen (long i) . This completes the second line.


In the next figure the first word is Sun ( as in Soot -short u) , next is Soon (long U ) . Then is Sane (short ae as mAy) , next is Sag ( as in sAnd long ae) . This completes the third line. Guess what the words on the fourth line sound like ?

The first is o as in sOnar -here the word is Sona ( gold) , next is au as in AUtumn -here it is sawn . What is the next word on this line-hint it has three letters and two vowel marks.

The word is Sansar ( Punjabi for world) . There is a short nasal n marked by a dot over the letter s another letter s and then a long aa followd by a r Snsar . The final word has a long nasal n and is the English word Sung (a song). We will come back to more vowel marks later.



Lets look at the first line in the Punjabi Alphabet. Like Hindi it has the letters K ; Kh as in Khan ; G as in goat ; A chesty Gh as in Ghandi and the last letter is N . As in Hindi N has many forms. These letters are in the first line of the figure below.

Using the four words learnt at the beginning S , N . R and G ; the vowel marks and the additional letters K , Kh , Gh can you read the words below the first line in this figure ? There is one more letter introduced somewhere to make the word Ghandi - try and spot it.

The words are Cake , Khakhi , Roar . Wrong , Ghandi and Song.


The figure below has the next two lines in the Punjabi alphabet and a further two lines made of words. See if you can read the words. On the first line are the letters ch as in china ; chh as in chatri (umbrella) -the tongue is rolled back a little more than in ch ; j as in jane ; jh as in jhanda -flag and n .

The second line below is t as in turkey ; tt -tongue rolled back a bit more as in thanda (cold) ; d as in dog ; dd as dholak ( drum) and n again.

Were you able to read the words ?
Answers are Choke ; Chhika -a six in cricket and Jag as in Jaguar on the third line above.

The fourth line has Date ; Jhandha -flag and Thandha -cold.


In the figure below the first line has the letters soft T (tota-parrot) ; then th as in thanks ; d as in the ; dh -a d sounded from the chest as in dhan (mone) and N.
The second like has the remaining consonants - P , F , B , Bh -B sounded from the chest as in Bhai (brother) , M .
The third line has Y as in yes ; R ; L ; Sh as is shucks , S and finally H as in hand.

Try and read the words below . The first two lines are English words.

. The words are Thank ; Your; Tahat , Lough , had ; Move ; Ship Been and Crook. Dont worry if you cant get them the first time.
The final line has the Punjabi words Bungh - a g from the chest (marijuana) ; Tota (parrot), Gadha (donkey) and last of all Smundhar (Ocean).

Go over the lesson again and again to get these letters imprinted in the mind. Note the Punjabi S and M are different only in S having a line on top. Similarly for P and THHE with P missing the line. TE , D and Bh look simialr . R and G differ only in G having an extra line..

Lesson 2