Shahmukhi script

Shahmukhi (Nastaliq|شاہ مکھی, Gurmukhi: ਸ਼ਾਹਮੁਖੀ), literally "from the King's mouth") is a local variant of the Arabic script used to record the Punjabi language. It is based on the Nasta'liq style of the Persian script and has traditionally been used by the Punjabi Muslims of India and Pakistan. However, since the middle of the 20th century it has mainly been used by those in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The Gurmukhi script is used to write Punjabi in India. The text is written in the right to left direction and from right page to left page.

*The Gurumukhi sounds ñ(ਞ), ng(ਙ), nh(ੰ/ં) are all written with :ں : nun ghunna (nun without dot). In initial and medial positions, the dot is retained.
*ے (Bari ye) is only found in the final position, when writing the sounds e (ਏ) or æ (ਐ), and in initial and medial positions, it takes the form of ي.
*There are three signs used when indicating a short vowel: َ (ਅ), ُ (ਉ), ِ (ਇ): a, u, i.Examples: قَلَم(ਕਲਮ) qalam-pen گھُپ (ਘੁਪ) ghup-dense لِحاظ (ਲਿਹਾਜ਼) lihāż-consideration
*at the beginning of a word, short vowels are written as follows: اَ, اُ, اِ
*Long vowels are expressed withا, ي, ے and و as follows:Initial- آ (ਆ): ā اَے (ਏ ਐ): e, æ اُو (ਊ): ū اِي (ਈ): ī اَو (ਔ ਓ): au, oMedial-َﺎ َﯧ ُﻮ ِﯧ َﻮFinal- َﺎ َﮯ ُﻮ ِﻲ َﻮ
*Consonants are doubled with ّ (ੱ) ex: ﷲ (ਅੱਲਾਹ): Allāh كَچَّا (ਕੱਚਾ): Kachchā: unripe

Additional Letters

There are a few additional letters that are occasionally used. They are:ﭓ bbe -ੱਬ

ﭲ jje -ੱਜ

ڋ Unicode|ḍḍe -ੱਡ

ڰ ggaf -ੱਗ

ڻ rnoonh -ਣ

Loan Words

In Punjabi, there are many Arabic and Persian loanwords, and many of the sounds of Arabic cannot be represented with Gurmukhi (many of these sounds, however, do not exist in Punjabi itself – especially the Arabic ones)

Arabic-only letters

ﺫ ﺹ ﺽ ﻁ ﻅ ﻉ ﻍ ﺡ ﺙ

Persian-only letters

گ چ پ ژ

Arabic/Persian letters

ﺥ ﺯ ﻑ ﻕ

External links

* [http://www.unics.uni-hannover.de/nhtcapri/western-panjabi-alphabet.html The Western Panjabi Alphabet]
* [http://www.apnaorg.com/shahmukhi/ Learn Shahmukhi]
* [http://www.likhari.org/shamukhi.htm Likhari in Shahmukhi]
* [http://apnaorg.com/poetry/nanak/ Kalam-e-Baba Nanak]