Nasal marks, doubled letters, letters underneath

Bindi and tippi: a vowel through the nose

Two marks make a vowel nasal: bindi (◌ਂ), a dot on top, and tippi (◌ੰ), a small curve on top. They do the same job; which one a word uses depends on its vowel mark.

On a consonant, tippi goes with the bare letter, sihari, aunkar and dulainkar: ਪੰਜ, ਸਿੰਘ, ਮੁੰਡਾ, ਮੈਨੂੰ. Bindi goes with the other marks: ਮੈਂ, ਹਾਂ, ਨਹੀਂ. One exception: the vowel letters ਉ and ਊ take bindi, as in ਆਉਂਦਾ and ਕਿਉਂ.

Before a consonant, the nasal often sounds as an n or m that belongs to the next letter: ਪੰਜ is panj. The romanization writes it as n or m, the way it is heard, and not at all after a final ee or oo sound: ਨਹੀਂ is nahi, ਮੈਨੂੰ is mainu.

• ਪੰਜ

  panj

  five

• ਸਿੰਘ

  Singh

  Singh

  Sihari with tippi.

• ਮੁੰਡਾ

  munda

  boy

  Aunkar with tippi.

• ਮੈਂ

  main

  I

  Dulavan with bindi.

• ਹਾਂ

  haan

  yes; am (as in main haan, I am)

  Kanna with bindi.

• ਨਹੀਂ

  nahi

  no, not

  Bihari with bindi.

• ਮੈਨੂੰ

  mainu

  to me

  Dulainkar with tippi.

Addak: holding a letter twice as long

Addak (◌ੱ), a small curve over a letter, doubles the consonant after it: you hold that consonant a moment longer. It can change the meaning.

The romanization writes the doubled letter twice (ਗੱਲ gall, ਦੱਸੋ dasso, ਅੱਜ ajj), except ch, chh, kh and th, which stay single so words stay readable: ਅੱਛਾ achha, ਵਿੱਚ vich, ਸਿੱਖ Sikh, ਮੱਥਾ matha.

• ਪਤਾ

  pata

  address; knowing

  As in mainu pata hai, I know.

• ਪੱਤਾ

  patta

  leaf

  The same letters as ਪਤਾ, with the t held twice as long.

• ਗੱਲ

  gall

  talk; a matter

• ਅੱਜ

  ajj

  today

• ਸਿੱਖ

  Sikh

  Sikh; a learner

Letters written underneath

Three letters have a half form that tucks under the letter before, with no vowel between them: ਹ, ਰ and ਵ.

A ਹ underneath (੍ਹ) usually becomes a tone rather than an h (lesson 8), after the flap ੜ most of all: ਪੜ੍ਹੋ, ਥੋੜ੍ਹਾ. A ਰ underneath (੍ਰ) is an r straight after the letter: ਪ੍ਰੇਮ, ਸ੍ਰੀ. A ਵ underneath (੍ਵ) is rare in everyday Punjabi; you will see it now and then in Gurbani.

• ਪੜ੍ਹੋ

  parho

  read (politely)

• ਥੋੜ੍ਹਾ

  thorha

  a little

• ਪ੍ਰੇਮ

  prem

  love

• ਸ੍ਰੀ

  Sri

  Sri, a title of honor

  As in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. ਸਿਰੀ is the same word, spelled out.