Tones: what ਘ ਝ ਢ ਧ ਭ and ਹ really do

Punjabi has tones

Punjabi is unusual among the languages of its family: it has tones. The pitch of your voice on a vowel can tell two words apart. You already hear them in every family conversation; this lesson gives them names.

The tones come from letters the alphabet wrote as breathy sounds: ਘ ਝ ਢ ਧ ਭ, and ਹ in the middle or at the end of a word. Over the centuries the breath disappeared, and a change of pitch took its place.

At the start of a word: a low tone

When ਘ ਝ ਢ ਧ ਭ start a word, say the plain letter from the start of their row instead: ਘ like ਕ, ਝ like ਚ, ਢ like ਟ, ਧ like ਤ, ਭ like ਪ. The vowel after it starts low and climbs back up.

So ਘਰ sounds like “kàr”, with a low a, and ਭੈਣ like “pèn”. Nobody says a breathy gh or bh.

• ਘਰ

  ghar

  home, house

  Sounds like kàr.

• ਭੈਣ

  bhain

  sister

  Sounds like pèn.

• ਧੀ

  dhi

  daughter

  Sounds like a low tì, the t against the teeth.

• ਝੰਡਾ

  jhanda

  flag

  Sounds like chànda.

• ਢੋਲ

  dhol

  drum

  Sounds like a low tòl, the t curled back.

After a vowel: a high tone

After a vowel, the same letters and ਹ make the vowel before them high: your voice rises and then falls on it. The letter itself is said plainly, as ਗ ਜ ਡ ਦ ਬ, or not at all in the case of ਹ.

That is why ਚਾਹ is “chaa”: the ਹ is silent, and the aa is high.

After a short a, ਹਿ sounds like e and ਹੁ like o, both high: ਸ਼ਹਿਰ is shehar, ਪਹਿਲਾਂ is pehlan, and ਬਹੁਤ, spelled bahut, sounds close to “boht”.

• ਚਾਹ

  chaa

  tea

  The ਹ is silent; the aa is high.

• ਸ਼ਹਿਰ

  shehar

  city

  Sounds like a high shér.

• ਪਹਿਲਾਂ

  pehlan

  first; before

• ਲਾਭ

  laabh

  benefit, profit

  Sounds like a high lááb.

• ਮੀਂਹ

  meenh

  rain

Why the spelling keeps the h

The romanization keeps gh, jh, dh and bh, and the h of ਸ਼ਹਿਰ, because that h is how a spelling shows where the tone is. If you text ghar and dhol, keep doing it: just know that nobody says the h. The one everyday exception is ਚਾਹ, which families write chaa.

• ਕੋੜਾ

  korha

  whip

  A level k.

• ਘੋੜਾ

  ghorha

  horse

  The same k sound, with a low tone.

Sujhaa: Say ਕੋੜਾ and ਘੋੜਾ one after the other. The only difference is the pitch of the o.