Gurmukhi Alphabet, Additional Sounds, from Billie Grosse the Font-maker

Introduction . . .
We've looked at the alphabet and the vowel sounds. Now, there are only a few markings left to learn (apart from the numbers). Although they are all covered by this part of the site, they effectively fall into three groups:

• Nasalisation;
• Emphasis; and,
• Combining consonants without the implicit 'a' sound.

Each marking is a link to an interactive page explaining the marks work!
ਨੂੰ ਨੌਂ ਨੱਕ ਨ੍ਹ ਪ੍ਰ ਸ੍ਵ Next ਟਿੱਪੀ (Tippee) - n (ਨੂੰ)
Nasalisation
In addition to the explicit 'n's (ਨ and ਣ) used in Punjabi, there is also a partial/implicit 'n'. Imagine the nasalised 'n' in the 'ah' sound as in the end of the French word for 'naturally'; 'naturellement'.
There are two markings used to represent this:

• ਟਿੱਪੀ (Tippee) - (the mark at the top of ਨੂੰ that looks like the bottom half of a ਨ); and,
• ਬਿੰਦੀ (Bindi) - n (the dot at the top-right of ਨੌਂ just to the right of the kanaurdaa).

Emphasis
In English, we put emphasis on certain syllables (interestingly, Japanese doesn't so a word like 'Sudoku' has the emphasis equal on all syllables). The emphasis on a particular word root can change, according to what it represents thus: 'Chromatograph' (the machine) and 'Chromatogram' (the paper chart that represents its output) are different to 'Chromatography' (the subject as a whole). Also, the emphasis can change according to where it is spoken so in English it is 'Laboratory' whereas in Americanised English it is 'Laboratory'.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/learn-punjabi/25835-gurmukhi-alphabet-additional-sounds-billie-grosse.html
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=25835

Gurmukhi has the ability to define emphasis and it does this with an Adhak. An adhak gives a slight pause between the syllable before it and after it, in a similar way to they stereotyped way that the Welsh say the word 'middle' - ie, 'mid-dle'.

Combining consonants without the implicit 'a' sound
Not every word needs to have an implicit 'a' after every letter and this is a way of doing it. In modern Punjabi there are three letters that you can add to the letter - ਹ ਰ and ਵ - the first of the three modifying the pitch of the letter and the last allowing for better support of foreign (non-Punjabi) words.

They are written like this:ਨ੍ਹ (ਹ); ਪ੍ਰ (ਰ); and, ਸ੍ਵ (ਵ) thus, we can have words like . . .

In Punjabi:

• ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ (these),
• ਪ੍ਰਵੀਣ (perfect); and,
• ਸ੍ਵੱਯੇ (a kind of poetry).

In English:

• ਵ੍ਹਾਇਟ (white),
• ਪ੍ਰੋਗ੍ਰੈਮ (program); and,
• ਸ੍ਵੀਟ (sweet).

Some fonts support virtually every letter but their use is very restricted.

You need to go to this page link to see the interactive chart of sound markings
Gurmukhi Additional markings - Introduction .:. Billie the cat

 
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