Rows three and four: ਚ to ਣ

Row three: ch and j

Row three is said with the middle of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. It follows the same pattern as row two: plain, with a puff of air, voiced, a tone letter, and a nasal.

• ਚchchachchach as in church, with no puff of air.
• ਛchhchhachhaThe same ch with a strong puff of air.
• ਜjjajjaj as in jam.
• ਝjhjhajjaWritten jh, but it makes a tone rather than a breathy j (lesson 8).
• ਞnynyanyaThe ny of canyon. Rare outside Gurbani.

• ਜਨਮ

  janam

  birth

  As in ਜਨਮ ਦਿਨ (janam din), birthday.

• ਚਮਚਾ

  chamcha

  spoon

  Also slang for a flatterer.

• ਛੇ

  chhe

  six

• ਝਰਨਾ

  jharna

  waterfall

  Starts with ਝ, the tone letter of this row.

Row four: the tongue curled back

This is the row English speakers have to learn with their tongue. For ਟ ਠ ਡ ਢ ਣ, curl the tip of your tongue back until it touches the roof of your mouth behind the ridge, then let go. The sound is heavier and hollower than an English t or d.

Punjabi has two sets where English has one: this curled-back set, and a set said with the tongue against the teeth (lesson 3). An American t and d are closer to this row. That is why Punjabi writes English words like “doctor” and “TV” with ਡ and ਟ: ਡਾਕਟਰ, ਟੀਵੀ.

The romanization writes both sets as t and d, the way families text. Only the Gurmukhi tells you which one a word uses, which is one of the best reasons to read it.

• ਟttainkat with the tongue curled back, no puff of air.
• ਠththatthaThe same, with a strong puff of air.
• ਡddaddad with the tongue curled back, as in ਡਾਕਟਰ (doctor).
• ਢdhdhaddaWritten dh, but it makes a tone rather than a breathy d (lesson 8).
• ਣnnanan with the tongue curled back. It never starts a word.

• ਡਰ

  dar

  fear

• ਮਟਰ

  matar

  peas

• ਡਾਕਟਰ

  doctor

  doctor

  An English word keeps its English spelling in the romanization.

• ਪਾਣੀ

  pani

  water

  ਣ in the middle of a word. It can end one too (ਭੈਣ, ਕੌਣ), but never starts one.

Tip: Can’t hear it yet? Say “doctor” the way your parents do. That first sound is ਡ.