Rows five to seven: ਤ to ੜ

Row five: t and d against the teeth

Here is the other set. For ਤ ਥ ਦ ਧ ਨ, put the tip of your tongue against the back of your top teeth. The sound is lighter and sharper than an American t or d.

Pair each letter with its curled-back twin from row four: ਤ and ਟ, ਥ and ਠ, ਦ and ਡ, ਧ and ਢ, ਨ and ਣ. Same family of sound, a different place for the tongue.

In English letters their names look the same as row four’s: thattha, dadda, dhadda. Say these with the tongue on the teeth.

• ਤttattat with the tongue on the teeth, no puff of air.
• ਥththatthaThe same with a puff of air. Never the th of “the”.
• ਦddaddad with the tongue on the teeth.
• ਧdhdhaddaWritten dh, but it makes a tone rather than a breathy d (lesson 8).
• ਨnnannan as in no.

• ਦਰ

  dar

  door, doorway

  Romanized like ਡਰ (dar, fear), but a different word: ਦ is on the teeth, ਡ curled back.

• ਨਰਮ

  naram

  soft, gentle

• ਤਾਰਾ

  tara

  star

• ਦਾਲ

  daal

  lentils

Row six: the lips

The lip row follows the same pattern. ਫ is a p with a puff of air, and many speakers say it as an f; the romanization writes it ph.

• ਪppappap with no puff of air, as in spin.
• ਫphphaffap with a puff of air, as in pin, or an f.
• ਬbbabbab as in bat.
• ਭbhbhabbaWritten bh, but it makes a tone rather than a breathy b (lesson 8).
• ਮmmammam as in mother.

• ਫਲ

  phal

  fruit

• ਪਰ

  par

  but

• ਕਮਰਾ

  kamra

  room

• ਭਾਰ

  bhaar

  weight

Row seven: the rest

The last row doesn’t follow the pattern. It holds y, r, l, v, and ੜ, a sound English doesn’t have.

For ੜ, curl your tongue back as for ਡ, then flick it forward so it slaps the roof of your mouth on the way out. It never starts a word. The romanization writes it rh, so it can’t be mistaken for ਡ or ਰ; families often text it as d or r (kudi, kuri).

• ਯyyayyay as in yes.
• ਰrraraA tapped r, like the tt in an American “butter”.
• ਲllallal as in love.
• ਵvvavaBetween v and w, with the lips barely touching.
• ੜrhrharhaA flap: the tongue curled back, then flicked forward.

• ਯਾਰ

  yaar

  friend, buddy

• ਰਾਤ

  raat

  night

• ਲਾਲ

  laal

  red

• ਕੁੜੀ

  kurhi

  girl