Help:IPA/Punjabi

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Punjabi on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Punjabi in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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This page contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

This page contains the Shahmukhi character lam with tah above. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Punjabi pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Punjabi phonology, Gurmukhi, and Shahmukhi for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Punjabi.

Consonants
IPA	Examples			English Approximation
IPA	Gurmukhi	Shahmukhi	ISO 15919	English Approximation
b	ਬੂਹਾ ਸਭ	بوہا سَبھ	būhā sabh	butter
d̪	ਦਿੱਤਾ	دِتّا	dittā	duck^[1] then
d͡ʒ	ਜਦੋਂ ਮਾਝ	جدوں ماجھ	jadōṁ mājh	jug
ɖ	ਡੰਗਰ ਕੱਢ	ڈَنگر کڈھ	ḍaṅgar kaḍḍh	guard^[1] (Rhotic dialects)
ɡ	ਗੱਡੀ	گڈّی	gaḍḍī	gut
ɦ	ਹਾਏ	ہائے	hāē	ahead
j^[a]	ਯਾਰੀ	یاری	yārī	yuck
k	ਕਿੱਥੇ ਘਰ	کِتّھے گھر	kitthē ghar	scab
kʰ^[b]	ਖੰਡ	کھنڈ	khaṇḍ	cab
l	ਉਲਾਂਭਾ	الانبھا	ulāṉbhā	leaf
ɭ^[c]^[d]	ਰੌਲ਼ਾ	رَوࣇا	rauḷā	garlic (Rhotic dialects)
m	ਮਸੀਤ	مسِیت	masīt	much
n	ਨੂਹ	نُوہ	nūh	panther
ɳ^[c]	ਸੋਹਣਾ	سوہݨا	sōhṇā	burn
ɲ	ਉਂਜ	اُنج	uñj	canyon
ŋ	ਕੰਗਣ	کنگݨ	kaṅgaṇ	bang
p	ਪਰ ਭਰਿਆ	پَر بھریا	par bhariyā	spot
pʰ^[b]	ਫੁੱਲ	پُھلّ‎	phull	pot
ɾ^[e]	ਵਾਰੀ	واری	wārī	American atom^[2]
ɽ	ਕੂੜ	کُوڑ	kūṛ	garter (Rhotic dialects)
s	ਸਾਡਾ	ساڈا	sāḍā	sun
t̪	ਤਿੱਲੜ ਧੀ	تِلّڑ دھی	tillaṛ dhī	stub but dental^[1] think
t̪ʰ	ਓਥੇ	اوتھے	ōthē	tub but dental^[1]
t͡ʃ	ਚੜ੍ਹਦਾ ਝੂਠ	چڑھدا جُھوٹھ	caṛhdā jhūṭh	catch
t͡ʃʰ^[b]	ਛੱਡ	چھڈّ‎	chaḍḍ	choose
ʈ	ਸੱਟ ਢੀਠ	سٹّ ڈِھیٹھ	saṭṭa ḍhīṭh	carts^[1]
ʈʰ	ਕਾਠ	کاٹھ	kāṭh	trip^[1]
ʋ^[f]	ਵਹੁਟੀ	وَہُٹی	vahuṭī	vat^[3]

Marginal consonants
f^[g]^[b]	ਫ਼ੇਰ	فیر	fēr	fuss
ɣ^[g]	ਕਾਗ਼ਜ਼	کاغَذ	kāġaz	similar to a French r
q^[g]	ਕ਼ਲਮ	قلَم	qalam	somewhat like caught
r^[e]	ਮੁਕ਼ੱਰਰ	مُقرّر	muqarrar	trilled r, like in Castillian Spanish
ʃ^[g]^[h]	ਹੋਸ਼	ہوش	hōś	shoe
x^[g]^[b]	ਖ਼ਾਲਿਸ	خالِص	k͟hālis	Scottish Loch
z^[g]	ਹਜ਼ਾਰ	ہزار	hazār	zoo
ʒ^[g]^[i]	ਅਝ਼ਦਹਾ	اژدہا	aždahā	fusion

Vowels
IPA	Examples			English Approximation
IPA	Gurmukhi	Shahmukhi	ISO 15919	English Approximation
ə	ਕਮ	کم	kam	about
aː	ਨਾਲ਼	ناࣇ	nāḷ	father
e	ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ	واہِگرو	wāhiguru	say (shortened ē)
eː	ਜੇਬ	جیب	jēb	say
ɛ	ਮੈਨੂੰ	مینوں	mainū̃	pen^[5]
ɛː	ਪੈਂਦਾ	پَیندا	painda	fairy
ɪ	ਇਮਲੀ	اِملی	imalī	sit
iː	ਈਖ	اِیکھ	īkh	seat
i	ਕੀਤੀ	کیتی	kītī	happy^[5]^[6]
o	ਉਹਨਾਂ	اوہناں	uhnā̃	gold (Received Pronunciation) go (General American)^[5]^[7]^[5]
oː	ਕਰੋੜ	کروڑ	karōṛ	border (Received Pronunciation) goal (General American)
ɔ	ਔਖਾ	اَوکھا	aukhā	hard (General American) dog (Received Pronunciation) horse (General American)^[5]
ɔː	ਕੌਣ	کَوݨ	kauṇ	roar (Received Pronunciation) horse (General American)
ʊ	ਤੁਕ	تُک	tuk	book
uː	ਸੂਤ	سُوت	sūt	moon^[6]
u	ਦੂਜਾ	دُوجا	dūjā	moon^[5]
◌̃	ਬਾਂਸ	بان٘س	bām̐s	nasal vowel faun ([ãː, õː], etc.)
◌̃	ਮੈਂ	میں	maiṁ	nasal vowel faun ([ãː, õː], etc.)

Suprasegmentals
IPA	Example	Notes
ˈ◌	/pənˈdʒaːb/	stress (placed before stressed syllable)
◌ː	/ˈkəʈːaː/	doubled consonant (placed after doubled consonant)
á, é, ...	ਕੋੜ੍ਹਾ کوڑھا koṛhā 'leper'	rising or high tone
à, è, ...	ਘੋੜਾ گھوڑا ghoṛā 'horse'	falling or low tone

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Punjabi contrast dental [t] and [d] with apical postalveolar [ʈ] and [ɖ] (as well as aspirated variants). Both sets sound like /t/ and /d/ to most English speakers although the dental [t] and [d] are used in place of the English /θ/ and /ð/ for some speakers with th-stopping.
^ /ɾ/ can surface as a trill [r] in word-initial and syllable-final positions. Geminate /ɾː/ is always a trill (/rː/).
^ [w] occurs as an allophone of [ʋ] when /व و/ is in an onglide position between an onset consonant and a following vowel while [ʋ], which may phonetically be [v], occurs otherwise.
^ Bhardwaj, Mangat (25 August 2016). Panjabi: A Comprehensive Grammar. Routledge. p. 390. ISBN 978-1-317-64326-5. Almost all Panjabi speakers (and many Urdu speakers as well) pronounce the first two of these words with k instead of q.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Long vowels are shortened in closed syllables.
^ ^a ^b /iː/ and /uː/ are neutralised to [i, u] at the end of a word.
^ In Gurmukhi, ih and uh are usually read as /éː/ (ē with rising tone) and /óː/ (ō with rising tone) respectively.

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[coronal-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Punjabi contrast dental [t] and [d] with apical postalveolar [ʈ] and [ɖ] (as well as aspirated variants). Both sets sound like /t/ and /d/ to most English speakers although the dental [t] and [d] are used in place of the English /θ/ and /ð/ for some speakers with th-stopping.

[rhotic-7] /ɾ/ can surface as a trill [r] in word-initial and syllable-final positions. Geminate /ɾː/ is always a trill (/rː/).

[V-9] [w] occurs as an allophone of [ʋ] when /व و/ is in an onglide position between an onset consonant and a following vowel while [ʋ], which may phonetically be [v], occurs otherwise.

[Bhardwaj2016-10] Bhardwaj, Mangat (25 August 2016). Panjabi: A Comprehensive Grammar. Routledge. p. 390. ISBN 978-1-317-64326-5. Almost all Panjabi speakers (and many Urdu speakers as well) pronounce the first two of these words with k instead of q.

[Close-14] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Long vowels are shortened in closed syllables.

[Vowels-15] /iː/ and /uː/ are neutralised to [i, u] at the end of a word.

[Tone_Rule-16] In Gurmukhi, ih and uh are usually read as /éː/ (ē with rising tone) and /óː/ (ō with rising tone) respectively.

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