One of the best resources for self learning Punjabi (Gurmukhi) through English.
In this book we will gain the practical and real life knowledge of Gurmukhi Alphabets. By the end of this book you will be able to read and understand the Gurmukhi Scrip...
You are going to be on a journey to learn one of the world's most beautiful scripts: Gurmukhi! Welcome to this journey! Gurmukhi Alphabets have a rounded structure which makes it look aesthetically pleasing. Gurmukhi is one of the scripts of the Punjabi language. The other two scripts are Devanagari and Shahmukhi script. Punjabi is written in three different scripts. The Perso-Arabic script used by the people of Pakistan to write Punjabi is called Shahmukhi. The other script, used mostly by the Sikhs* , is Gurmukhi. Hindu Punjabis use either the Gurmukhi script or infrequently, the Devanagari script (which is used to write Hindi), to write Punjabi. Gurmukhi means from the mouth of the Guru*
* For learning Punjabi we must have a little knowledge about Sikhs:
Sikhism is a religion prominently found in the Punjab region of India, founded by Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The word Guru means a teacher. The Sikh Gurus refers to the spiritual teachers/ leaders/ masters of the Sikh community. There are in total ten gurus and the present guru, Guru Granth Sahib Ji which are the holy scriptures. Gurmukhi was formed by the second Sikh Guru, Guru Angad Dev Ji. The Sikh prayers and the holy scriptures are written in the Gurmukhi Script.
ABOUT THE LANGUAGE
1) Gurmukhi has a total of 35 Alphabets. There are also some additional alphabets which are taken from foreign languages. Here is an overview:
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2) The Punjabi counting has different way of writing the numbers:
1 2 3 4...
੧ ੨ ੩ ੪...
3) There are no upper/ lower case in Punjabi
4) The full stop (.) is replaced by (।)
5) There are only 3 main vowels. Other vowel sounds are formed by combining Matras* and vowel alphabets (*substitute symbols for vowels// we will talk at length about it in upcoming lessons)
6) All the Gurmukhi alphabets/words are written with a line on their top. for example: ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ
7) All the Gurmukhi Alphabets are written on the upper line of the two ruled lines of a notebook.
8) The like convering the alphabets holds a very big significance in writing the alphabets. For example ਪ and ਧ, ਮ and ਸ are two different alphabets even though they look same, just because one of them is covered from the top while the other isn't.
9) the direction of writing the words in Gurmukhi is left to write.
This is all the prior knowledge you need to start learning Punjabi (Gurmukhi)
