Language Blog

This is a companion post to a previous post that lists the consonants of the Punjabi alphabet. Or, in other words, now I can finally provide some closure to being able to read Punjabi. (Making sense of what I read, of course, is a totally different problem.)

The first three letters of the alphabet — ੳ, ਅ, and ੲ — are not used by themselves. Each serves as a foundation on which independent vowels are formed. Vowels take two forms: (1) independent vowels, which stand alone or can be used as the first letter in a word, are formed by adding a vowel sign to one of the three bases; and (2) dependent vowels, which are formed by adding a vowel sign to a consonant (in the second case, the vowel can not be the first letter of the word).

Dependent Vowels

Independent Vowels

Key

• Generally, h denotes aspiration.
• For ਤ, ਥ, ਦ, and ਧ, the underlined t and d denote dental consonants, i.e., the tongue is placed behind the front teeth. ਟ, ਠ, ਡ, and ਢ, with d and t not underlined denote retroflex consonants, i.e., the tongue is placed further back in the mouth with its tip against the palate.
• The first three letters, ੳ, ਅ, and ੲ, are not used on their own. They are used in combination with dependent vowels to form independent vowels, e.g., ਉ is u, ਆ is aa, and ਈ is ii, however by themselves they represent nothing.
• Alphabetical order is left to right, down to the next row then left to right, etc.

Punjabi Alphabet

ਇੱਕੀ (ik-kii) - twenty-one
ਬਾਈ (baa-ii) - twenty-two
ਤੇਈ (te-ii) - twenty-three
ਚੌਵੀ (chau-vii) - twenty-four
ਪੰਝੀ (pan-jhii) - twenty-five
ਛੱਬੀ (chhab-bii) - twenty-six
ਸਤਾਈ (sa-taa-ii) - twenty-seven
ਅਠਾਈ (ath-aa-ii) - twenty-eight
ਉਨੱਤਈ (un-at-tii) - twenty-nine
ਤੀਹ (tiih) - thirty
ਇੱਕਤੀ (ik-ka-tii) - thirty-one

How did I develop this? I used (1) Punjabi-English/English-Punjabi Dictionary and (2) Teach Yourself Panjabi

ਗਿਆਰਾਂ (gi-aa-raan) - eleven
ਬਾਰਾਂ (baa-raan) - twelve
ਤੇਰਾਂ (te-raan) - thirteen
ਚੌਦਾਂ (chau-daan) - fourteen
ਪੰਦਰਾਂ (pan-draan) - fifteen
ਸੋਲਾਂ (so-laan) - sixteen
ਸਤਾਰਾਂ (sa-taa-raan) - seventeen
ਅਠਾਰਾਂ (a-thaa-raan) - eighteen
ਉੱਨੀ (un-nii) - nineteen
ਵੀਹ (viih) - twenty

How did I develop this? I used (1) Punjabi-English/English-Punjabi Dictionary and (2) Teach Yourself Panjabi

ਮਹੀਨਾ (ma-hii-naa) - m. month
ਜਨਵਰੀ (jan-va-rii) - January
ਫਰਵਰੀ (far-va-rii) - February
ਮਾਰਚ (maarch) - March
ਅਪਰੈਲ (ap-rail) - April
ਮਈ (ma-ii) - May
ਜੂਨ (juun) - June
ਜੁਲਾਈ (ju-laa-ii) - July
ਅਗਸਤ (ag-ast) - August
ਸਤੰਬਰ (sa-tan-bar) - September
ਅਕਤੂਬਰ (ak-tuu-bar) - October
ਨਵੰਬਰ (na-van-bar) - November
ਦਸੰਬਰ (da-san-bar) - December

How did I develop this? I used Teach Yourself Panjabi.

ਦਿਨ (din) - day
ਸੋਮਵਾਰ (som-vaar) - Monday
ਮਂਗਲਵਾਰ (man-gal-vaar) - Tuesday
ਬੁਧਵਾਰ (budh-vaar) - Wednesday
ਵੀਰਵਾਰ (viir-vaar) - Thursday
ਸ਼ੁੱਕਰਵਾਰ (shuk-ra-vaar) - Friday
ਸਨਿੱਚਰਵਾਰ (sa-ni-char-vaar) - Saturday
ਐਤਵਾਰ (ait-vaar) - Sunday

How did I develop this? (1) I used Punjabi-English/English-Punjabi Dictionary and (2) Teach Yourself Panjabi (because the dictionary was missing Thursday in the English-Punjabi section…).

ਿੲਕ (ikk) - one
ਦੋ (do) - two
ਤਿੰਨ (tinn) - three
ਚਾਰ (chaar) - four
ਪੰਜ (panj) - five
ਛੇ (chhe) - six
ਸੱਤ (satt) - seven
ਅੱਠ (athth) - eight
ਨੌਂ (naun) - nine
ਦਸ (das) - ten

How did I develop this? I used Teach Yourself Panjabi.