Open main menu

Gurmukhī , (Punjabi: ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ, IPA: [ˈɡʊɾmʊkʰiː]) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552).[1][2][3] Gurmukhi is used in the state of Punjab as the official script of the Punjabi language,[3] a language that is also written in Perso-Arabic Shahmukhi script.[2][3]

Guru Granth Sahib By Bhai Pratap Singh Giani.jpg
A handwritten Guru Granth Sahib in Gurmukhī
Time period
16th century CE-present
Parent systems
Sister systems
ISO 15924Guru, 310
Unicode alias

The primary scripture of Sikhism, Guru Granth Sahib is written in Gurmukhī, in various dialects often subsumed under the generic title Sant Bhasha,[4] or saint language.

Modern Gurmukhī has thirty-five original letters plus six additional consonants, nine vowel diacritics, two diacritics for nasal sounds, one diacritic that geminates consonants, and three subscript characters. It is also known as Lindohi by Sindhi community

History and developmentEdit


In current scholarship, the Gurmukhī script is generally believed to have roots in the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet[5] by way of the Brahmi script,[6] which developed further into the Northwestern group (Sharada, or Śāradā, and its descendants, including Landa and Takri), the Central group (Nagari and its descendants, including Devanagari, Gujarati and Modi) and the Eastern group (evolved from Siddhaṃ, including Bangla, Tibetan, and some Nepali scripts),[7] as well as several prominent writing systems of Southeast Asia and Sinhala in Sri Lanka, in addition to scripts used historically in Central Asia for extinct languages like Saka and Tocharian.[7] Gurmukhi is derived from Sharada in the Northwestern group, of which is the only major surviving member,[8] with full modern currency.[9] Notable features:

  • It is an abugida in which all consonants have an inherent vowel, /ə/. Diacritics, which can appear above, below, before or after the consonant they are applied to, are used to change the inherent vowel.
  • To form consonant clusters, Gurmukhi uniquely affixes subscript letters at the bottom of standard characters, rather than using the true conjunct symbols used by other scripts,[9] which merge parts of each letter into a distinct character of its own.

Gurmukhi evolved in cultural and historical circumstances notably different from other scripts,[8] for the purpose of recording scriptures of Sikhism, a far less Sanskritized cultural tradition than others of the subcontinent.[8] This independence from the Sanskritic model allowed it the freedom to evolve unique orthographical features.[8] These include:

  • a drastic reduction in the number and importance of conjunct characters[10] (similar to Brahmi, and characteristic of Northwestern abugidas as opposed to others);[9]
  • a unique standard ordering of characters that somewhat diverges from the traditional vargiya, or Sanskritic, ordering of characters;[10]
  • the omission of consonants representing sounds found in Sanskrit (e.g. sibilants like /ʃ/ and /ʂ/), but naturally lost in most modern Indo-Aryan languages, though such characters were often retained in their respective consonant inventories as placeholders and archaisms,[10] and the sounds frequently reintroduced through later circumstances;
  • the development of distinct new letters for sounds better reflecting the vernacular language spoken during the time of its development (e.g. like for /ɽ/, and the sound shift that merged Sanskrit /ʂ/ and /kʰ/ to Punjabi /kʰ/);
  • a gemination diacritic, a unique feature among native subcontinental scripts,[8] which help to illustrate the preserved Middle Indo-Aryan geminates distinctive of Punjabi;[9]

and other features.

Historical geographical distribution of Sharada script[11]

Tarlochan Singh Bedi (1999) writes that the Gurmukhī script developed in the 10-14th centuries from the Devasesha stage of the Śāradā script,[citation needed] the intermediate phase being Siddha Matrika, before the final evolution into Gurmukhī. His argument is that from the 10th century, regional differences started to appear between the Śāradā script used in Punjab, the Hill States (partly Himachal Pradesh) and Kashmir. The regional Śāradā script evolved from this stage until the 14th century, when it starts to appear in the form of Gurmukhī. Indian epigraphists call this stage Devasesha, while Bedi prefers the name Pritham Gurmukhī or Proto-Gurmukhī.

The Sikh gurus adopted proto-Gurmukhī to write the Guru Granth Sahib, the religious scriptures of the Sikhs. Other contemporary scripts used in the Punjab were Takri and the Laṇḍā scripts. The Takri alphabet developed through the Devasesha stage of the Śāradā script and is found mainly in the Hill States such as Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, where it is called Chambyali, and in Jammu Division, where it is known as Dogri. The local Takri variants got the status of official scripts in some of the Punjab Hill States, and were used for both administrative and literary purposes until the 19th century. After 1948, when Himachal Pradesh was established as an administrative unit, the local Takri variants were replaced by Devanagari.

Example of a Multani variant of Landa script, a mercantile shorthand script of Punjab, from 1880[12]

Meanwhile, the mercantile scripts of Punjab known as the Laṇḍā scripts were normally not used for literary purposes. Landa means alphabet "without tail",[9] implying that the script did not have vowel symbols. In Punjab, there were at least ten different scripts classified as Laṇḍā, Mahajani being the most popular. The Laṇḍā scripts were used for household and trade purposes. Compared to the Laṇḍā, Sikh Gurus favored the use of Proto-Gurmukhī, because of the difficulties involved in pronouncing words without vowel signs.

The usage of Gurmukhī letters in the Guru Granth Sahib meant that the script developed its own orthographical rules. In the following epochs, Gurmukhī became the prime script applied for the literary writings of the Sikhs. The Singh Sabha Movement of the late 1800s, a movement to revitalize Sikh institutions which had declined during colonial rule after the fall of the Sikh Empire, also advocated for the usage of the Gurmukhi script for mass media, with print media publications and Punjabi-language newspapers established in the 1880s.[13] Later in the 20th century, after the struggle of the Punjabi Suba movement, from the founding of modern India in the 1940s to the 1960s, the script was given the authority as the official script of the Punjab, India.[2][3]

The term GurmukhīEdit

The prevalent view among Punjabi linguists is that as in the early stages the Gurmukhī letters were primarily used by the Guru's followers, Gurmukhs (literally, those who face, or follow, the Guru, as opposed to a Manmukh); the script thus came to be known as Gurmukhī, "the script of those guided by the Guru."[8] Guru Angad is credited in the Sikh tradition with the creation and standardization of Gurmukhi script from earlier Śāradā-descended scripts native to the region. It is now the standard writing script for the Punjabi language in India.[14] The original Sikh scriptures and most of the historic Sikh literature have been written in the Gurmukhi script.[14]

Although the word Gurmukhī has been commonly translated as "from the Mouth of the Guru," the term used for the Punjabi script has somewhat different connotations. The opinion traditional scholars for this is that as the Sikh holy writings, before they were written down, were uttered by the Gurus, they came to be known as Gurmukhī or the "Utterance of the Guru". Consequently, the script that was used for scribing the utterance was also given the same name. The term that would mean "by the Guru's mouth" would be "Gurmū̃hī̃," which sounds considerably different but looks similar in Latin script.



Phonetic organization of the Gurmukhi characters

The Gurmukhī alphabet contains thirty-five letters (akkhar, plural akkharā̃). The first three are distinct because they form the basis for vowels and are not consonants (vianjan) like the remaining letters are, and except for the second letter ɛṛa are never used on their own. See the section on vowels for further details.

Name Pron.(IPA) Name Pron.(IPA) Name Pron.(IPA) Name Pron.(IPA) Name Pron.(IPA)
uːɽaː  – ɛːɽaː ə iːɽiː  – səsːaː ɦaːɦaː ɦə
kəkːaː kʰəkʰːaː kʰə gəgːaː ɡə kə̀gːaː kə̀ ŋə̀ŋːaː ŋə
t͡ʃət͡ʃːa t͡ʃə t͡ʃʰət͡ʃʰːaː t͡ʃʰə d͡ʒəd͡ʒːaː d͡ʒə t͡ʃə̀d͡ʒːa t͡ʃə̀ ɲəɲːa ɲə
ʈɛŋkaː ʈə ʈʰəʈʰːaː ʈʰə ɖəɖːaː ɖə ʈə̀ɖːaː ʈə̀ ɳaːɳaː ɳə
t̪ət̪ːaː t̪ə t̪ʰət̪ʰːaː t̪ʰə d̪əd̪ːaː d̪ə t̪ə̀d̪ːaː t̪ə̀ nənːaː
pəpːaː pʰəpʰːaː pʰə bəbːaː pə̀bːaː pə̀ məmːaː
jəjːaː ɾaːɾaː ɾə ləlːaː ʋɑʋːaː ʋə ɽaːɽaː ɽə

The letters ਙ /ŋəŋːaː/ and ਞ /ɲəɲːaː / are not used in modern Gurmukhi. They cannot begin a syllable or be placed between two consonants, and the sounds they represent occur most often as allophones of [n] before specific consonant phonemes.

The pronunciation of ਵ can vary allophonically between /ʋ/ and /w/.

  • à – grave accent = tonal consonant.
  • To differentiate between consonants, the Punjabi tonal consonants kà, chà, ṭà, tà, and pà are often transliterated in the way of the Hindi voiced aspirate consonants gha, jha, ḍha, dha, and bha respectively, although Punjabi does not have these sounds.
  • Tones in Punjabi can be either rising or falling; in the pronunciation of Gurmukhī letters they are falling, hence the grave accent as opposed to the acute.

In addition to these, there are six consonants created by placing a dot (bindi) at the foot (pair) of the consonant (these are not present in Sri Guru Granth Sahib). These are used most often for loanwords, though not exclusively:

Name Pron.(IPA)
ਸ਼ səsːaː pɛ:ɾᵊ bɪnd̪iː ʃə
ਖ਼ kʰəkʰːaː pɛ:ɾᵊ bɪnd̪iː
ਗ਼ gəgːaː pɛ:ɾᵊ bɪnd̪iː ɣə
ਜ਼ d͡ʒəd͡ʒːaː pɛ:ɾᵊ bɪnd̪iː
ਫ਼ pʰəpʰːaː pɛ:ɾᵊ bɪnd̪iː
ਲ਼ ləlːaː pɛ:ɾᵊ bɪnd̪iː ɭə

|ləlːɑ pɛɾ bɪnd̪iː| was only recently added to the Gurmukhī alphabet. It was not a part of the traditional orthography, the phonological difference between 'l' and 'ɭ' was not reflected in the script. Some sources do not consider it a separate letter.

Subscript lettersEdit

Three "subscript" letters, called pairī̃ akkhar, or "letters at the foot" are utilised in Gurmukhī: forms of ਹ(h), ਰ(r), and ਵ(v).

The subscript ਰ(r) and ਵ(v) are used to make consonant clusters and behave similarly; subjoined ਹ(h) raises tone.

Subscript letter Original form Usage
੍ਰ Subjoined /ɾ/ ਰ→ ੍ਰ For example, the letter ਪ(p) with a regular ਰ(r) following it would yield the word ਪਰ /pəɾᵊ/ ("but"), but with a subjoined ਰ would appear as ਪ੍ਰ- (/prə-/), resulting in a consonant cluster, as in the word ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧਕ (/pɾəbə́nd̪əkᵊ/, "managerial, administrative"), as opposed to ਪਰਬੰਧਕ /pəɾᵊbə́nd̪əkᵊ/, the Punjabi form of the word used in natural speech in less formal settings (the Punjabi reflex for Sanskrit /pɾə-/ is /pəɾ-/) . This subscript letter is commonly used in Punjabi,[15] not just for Sanskritized words, but also for personal names, some native dialectal words, loanwords from other languages like English, etc.
੍ਵ Subjoined /ʋ/ ਵ→ ੍ਵ Used occasionally in Gurbani (Sikh religious scriptures) but rare in modern usage, it is largely confined to creating the cluster /sʋə-/[15] in words borrowed from Sanskrit, the reflex of which in Punjabi is /sʊ-/,

e.g. Sanskrit ਸ੍ਵਪ੍ ਨ /s̪ʋɐ́p.n̪ɐ/→Punjabi ਸੁਪਨਾ /'sʊpᵊna:/, "dream," cf. Hindi-Urdu /səpna:/

For example, ਸ with a subjoined ਵ would produce ਸ੍ਵ (sʋə-) as in the Sanskrit word ਸ੍ਵਰਗ (/svəɾəgə/, "heaven"), but followed by a regular ਵ would yield ਸਵ- (səv-) as in the common word ਸਵਰਗ (/səʋəɾəgᵊ/, "heaven"), borrowed earlier from Sanskrit but subsequently changed. The natural Punjabi reflex, ਸੁਰਗ /sʊɾəgᵊ/, is also used in everyday speech.

੍ਹ Subjoined /ɦ/ ਹ→ ੍ਹ The most common subscript,[15] this character does not create consonant clusters, but serves as part of Punjabi's characteristic tone system, indicating a raised tone. It behaves the same way in its use as the regular ਹ(h) does in non-word-initial positions. The regular ਹ(h) is pronounced at the beginning of words but not in other positions, where it instead raises the tone. The difference in usage is that the regular ਹ is used after vowels and the subscript version when there is no vowel, and is attached to consonants.

For example, the regular ਹ is used after vowels as in ਮੀਹ (transliterated as mih, to show tonality, mī́, "rain"). The subjoined ਹ(h) acts the same way but instead is used under consonants: ਚ(ch) followed by ੜ(ṛ) yields ਚੜ (chəṛ), but not until the rising tone is introduced via a subscript ਹ(h) does it properly spell the word ਚੜ੍ਹ (chə́ṛ, "climb").

In addition to the three subjoined letters, there is a half-form of the letter Yayya, /j/ ਯ→੍ਯ, also used exclusively for Sanskrit borrowings, and even then rarely. Use of the subjoined /ʋ/ and conjunct /j/, already rare, is increasingly scarce in modern contexts.[1]

Vowel diacriticsEdit

To express vowels, Gurmukhī, as an abugida, makes use of obligatory diacritics called lagā mātarā (plural lagē matarē). Gurmukhī is similar to Brahmi scripts in that all consonants are followed by an inherent 'a' sound (unless at the end of a word when the 'a' is usually dropped). This inherent vowel sound can be changed by using dependent vowel signs which attach to a bearing consonant. In some cases, dependent vowel signs cannot be used – at the beginning of a word or syllable for instance – and so an independent vowel character is used instead.

Independent vowels are constructed using three bearer characters: Ura (ੳ), Aira (ਅ) and Iri (ੲ). With the exception of Aira (which represents the vowel 'a') they are never used without additional vowel signs.

Vowel Transcription IPA Closest English equivalent
Ind. Dep. with /k/ Name Usage
(none) Muktā a [ə] like a in about
ਕਾ Kannā ā [aː] , [äː] like a in car
ਿ ਕਿ Sihārī i [ɪ] like i in it
ਕੀ Bihārī ī [iː] like i in litre
ਕੁ Onkaṛ u [ʊ] like u in put
ਕੂ Dulenkaṛ ū [uː] like u in spruce
ਕੇ Lāvā̃ ē [eː] like e in Chile
ਕੈ Dulāvā̃ e [ɛː] like e in sell
ਕੋ Hōṛā ō [oː] like o in more
ਕੌ Kanoṛā o [ɔː] like o in off

Dotted circles represent the bearer consonant. Vowels are always pronounced after the consonant they are attached to. Thus, Sihari is always written to the left, but pronounced after the character on the right.

Other signsEdit


Ṭippī ( ੰ ) and bindī ( ਂ ) are used for producing a nasal phoneme depending on the following obstruent or a nasal vowel at the end of a word. All short vowels are nasalized using ṭippī and all long vowels are nasalized using bindī except for Dulenkar ( ੂ ), which uses ṭippi instead.

Diacritic usage Result Examples (IPA)
Ṭippī on short vowel (/ə/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/), or long vowel /u:/, before non-nasal consonant Adds nasal consonant at same place of articulation as following consonant
(/ns/, /n̪t̪/, /ɳɖ/, /mb/, /ŋg/, /nt͡ʃ/ etc.)
ਹੰਸ /ɦənsᵊ/ "goose"
ਅੰਤt̪ᵊ/ "end"
ਗੰਢ /gə́ɳɖᵊ/ "knot"
ਅੰਬmbᵊ/ "mango"
ਸਿੰਗ /sɪŋgᵊ/ "horn, antler"
ਕੁੰਜੀ / kʊɲd͡ʒiː/ "key"
ਗੂੰਜ /guːɲd͡ʒᵊ/ "roar"
ਲੂੰਬੜੀ /luːmbᵊɽiː/ "fox"
Bindī over long vowel (/a:/, /e:/, /i:/, /o:/, /u:/, /ɛ:/, /ɔː/)
before non-nasal consonant not including /h/
Adds nasal consonant at same place of articulation as following consonant (/ns/, /n̪t̪/, /ɳɖ/, /mb/, /ŋg/, /nt͡ʃ/ etc.).
May also secondarily nasalize the vowel
ਕਾਂਸੀ /kaːnsiː/ "bronze"
ਕੇਂਦਰ /keːd̯əɾᵊ/ "center, core, headquarters"
ਗੁਆਂਢੀ /gʊáːɳɖiː/ "neighbor"
ਚੌਂਕ /t͡ʃɔːŋkᵊ/ "crossroads, plaza"
ਜਾਂਚ /d͡ʒaːɲt͡ʃᵊ/ "trial, examination"
Ṭippī over consonants followed by long vowel /u:/ (not stand-alone vowel ),
at open syllable at end of word, or ending in /ɦ/
Vowel nasalization ਤੂੰ /t̪ũː/ "you"
ਸਾਨੂੰ /saːnũː/ "to us"
ਮੂੰਹ /mũːɦ/ "mouth"
Ṭippī on short vowel before nasal consonant (/n̪/ or /m/) Gemination of nasal consonant.
Ṭippī is used to geminate nasal consonants instead of addhak
ਇੰਨਾ /ɪn̪:a:/ "this much"
ਕੰਮ /kəm:ᵊ/ "work"
Vowel nasalization ਬਾਂਹ /bã́h/ "arm"
ਮੈਂ /mɛ̃ː/ "I, me"
ਅਸੀਂ /əsĩː/ "we, us"
ਤੋਂ /t̪õː/ "from"
ਸਿਊਂ /sɪ.ũː/ "sew"

Older texts may follow other conventions.


The use of addhak ( ੱ ) (IPA: ['ə́d̪:əkᵊ]) indicates that the following consonant is geminate, meaning that the subsequent consonant is doubled or reinforced. Consonant length is distinctive in the Punjabi language and the use of this diacritic can change the meaning of a word, for example:

Without addhak Transliteration Meaning With addhak Transliteration Meaning
ਦਸ das 'ten' ਦੱਸ dass 'tell' (verb)
ਪਤਾ patā 'aware' (of something) ਪੱਤਾ pattā 'leaf'
ਸਤ sat 'essence' ਸੱਤ satt 'seven'
ਕਲਾ kalā 'art' ਕੱਲਾ kallā 'alone' (colloquialism)


Station sign in the Latin and Gurmukhī scripts in Southall, UK

The halant ( ੍ ) character is not used when writing Punjabi in Gurmukhī. However, it may occasionally be used in Sanskritised text or in dictionaries for extra phonetic information. When it is used, it represents the suppression of the inherent vowel.

The effect of this is shown below:

ਕ – kə
ਕ੍ – k


The danda (।) is used in Gurmukhi to mark the end of a sentence. A doubled danda (॥) marks the end of a verse.[16]


The visarg symbol (ਃ U+0A03) is used very occasionally in Gurmukhī. It can represent an abbreviation, as the period is used in English, though the period for abbreviation, like commas, exclamation points, and other Western punctuation, is freely used in modern Gurmukhi.[16]


The udāt symbol (ੑ U+0A51) occurs in older texts and indicates a high tone.



Numeral Name, IPA Simple Transliteration Number
ਸਿਫ਼ਰ [sɪfəɾᵊ] sifar zero
ਇੱਕ [ɪkːᵊ] ikk one
ਦੋ [d̪oː] do two
ਤਿੰਨ [t̪ɪnːᵊ] tinn* three
ਚਾਰ [t͡ʃaːɾᵊ] chār four
ਪੰਜ [pənd͡ʒᵊ] panj five
ਛੇ [t͡ʃʰeː] chhe six
ਸੱਤ [sət̪ːᵊ] satt seven
ਅੱਠ [əʈʰːᵊ] aṭṭh eight
ਨੌਂ [nɔ̃:] nauṃ nine
੧੦ ਦਸ [d̪əsᵊ] das ten

*In some Punjabi dialects, the word for three is trai,[17] (IPA: [t̪ɾɛː]) spelled ਤ੍ਰੈ in Gurmukhī.



The Unicode block for Gurmukhī is U+0A00–U+0A7F:

Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
U+0A3x ਿ
1.^ As of Unicode version 12.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Digitization of Gurmukhī manuscriptsEdit


Panjab Digital Library[18] has taken up digitization of all available manuscripts of Gurmukhī Script. The script has been in formal use since the 1500s, and a lot of literature written within this time period is still traceable. Panjab Digital Library has digitized over 5 million pages from different manuscripts and most of them are available online.


  • Following books/articles have been written on the origins of the Gurmukhī script (all in the Punjabi language):
  • Kartar Singh Dakha. Gurmukhi te Hindi da Takra. 1948.
  • Sohan Singh Galautra. Punjab dian Lipiã.

See alsoEdit


  1. ^ The Gurmukhi character ਖ [kha] may have been originally derived from the Brahmi character denoting [ṣa], as the Sanskrit sounds /ʂə/ and /kʰə/ merged into /kʰə/ in Punjabi. Any phonemic contrast was lost, with no distinct character for [ṣa] remaining.


  1. ^ a b Mandair, Arvind-Pal S.; Shackle, Christopher; Singh, Gurharpal (December 16, 2013). Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity. Routledge. p. 13, Quote: "creation of a pothi in distinct Sikh script (Gurmukhi) seem to relate to the immediate religio–political context ...". ISBN 9781136846342. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Peter T. Daniels; William Bright (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press. p. 395. ISBN 978-0-19-507993-7.
  3. ^ a b c d Danesh Jain; George Cardona (2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
  5. ^ Danesh Jain; George Cardona (2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
  6. ^ Danesh Jain; George Cardona (2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. pp. 94–99, 72–73. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
  7. ^ a b Danesh Jain; George Cardona (2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Danesh Jain; George Cardona (2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
  9. ^ a b c d e Danesh Jain; George Cardona (2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 594. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
  10. ^ a b c d e Danesh Jain; George Cardona (2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
  14. ^ a b Shackle, Christopher; Mandair, Arvind-Pal Singh (2005). Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures. United Kingdom: Routledge. pp. xvii–xviii. ISBN 978-0-415-26604-8.
  15. ^ a b c Danesh Jain; George Cardona (2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 596. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
  16. ^ a b Holloway, Stephanie (19 July 2016). "ScriptSource - Gurmukhi". ScriptSource. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  18. ^ Panjab Digital Library

External linksEdit