Punjabi/Shahmukhi/Lesson 2

Lesson 2 Welcome to Lesson 2. In this lesson, you will be taught the next row: ج چ ح خ د ڈ ذ Jīm, chē, baṛī hē, and xē all change form in the same way, only differing with dot diacritics. Likewise, dāl, ḍāl, and zāl all also change form in the same way with differing diacritics. A Note on Non-Connectors Dāl, ḍāl, and zāl are also what are called non-connectors. This means that when one of these letters occur in the beginning or the middle a word, the letter coming after the non-connector will be in its initial form. If the non-connector is the second last letter in the word, the letter coming after it will be in its independent form. An example of the first instance: ریڈیٔو - rēḍīō - radio Here, rē and ḍāl are the non-connectors. An example of the second instance: رباج - rabāj - fashion Here, alef is the non-connector. If a non-connector comes after another non-connector, it simply takes its independent form: درد - dard - pain Here, dāl and rē are the non-connectors. Now on to the lesson: jīm - ج Jīm is pronounced like the English "j". It will be represented by "j" in romanization. Initial جوکر - jōkar - joker جیل - jēl - jail Medial پجاما - pajāmā - pajama پنجاب - panjāb - Punjab Final سج - saj - decoration ججّ - jajj - judge chē - چ Chē is pronounced like the English "ch". It will be represented by "ch" in romanization. Initial چین - chīn - China چیتا - chīṭā - cheetah (animal) Medial سچل - sachal - Sachal (a name) چیچہ وطنی - chīchahwatnī - Chichawatni (a town in Punjab, Pakistan) Final نیمچ - nīmach - Nimach (a town in Madhya Pradesh, India) پنج - panj - five baṛī hē - ح Baṛī hē is pronounced like the English "h". It will be represented by "h" in romanization. Initial حیدرآباد - haidarābād - Hyderabad (a city in Sindh, Pakistan) حلايب - halāīb - Hala'ib (a town in Egypt) Medial/Final By looking at jīm and chē, it shouldn't be difficult to determine the medial and final forms of baṛī hē. xē - خ Xē is pronounced a little like the Scottish "ch" or the Russian "x". It will be represented by "x" in romanization. Initial خضدار - xuzdār - Khuzdar (a town in Balochistan, Pakistan) خرگوش - xargōsh - rabbit Medial سخت - saxat - strict مخّں - maxxaṇ - butter Final رخ - raxx - keep کخّ - kaxx - straw dāl - د Dāl is pronounced a little like the English "d" however, just like the dental t, this is a dental d. Therefore, you need to place the tip of your tongue behind your upper teeth instead of on the roof of your mouth to produce this sound. It will be represented by "d" in romanization. Initial دوات - davāt - ink pot دادا - dādā - grandfather Medial سدا - sadā - always ندان - nadān - innocent Final لدّ - ladd - load سدّ - sadd - call ḍāl - ڈ Ḍāl is pronounced like the English "d". It will be represented by "ḍ" in romanization. Initial ڈیسک - ḍaisk - desk ڈالر - ḍālar - dollar Medial اکیڈمی - akaiḍamī - academy ریڈیٔو - rēḍīō - radio Final پونڈ - paunḍ - pound چیڈ - chaiḍ - Chad (an African country) zāl - ذ Zāl is pronounced like the English "z". It will be represented by "z" in romanization. Initial/Medial/Final By looking at dāl, it shouldn't be difficult to determine zāl's forms. Just add a dot on top of the letter. Summary You have now completed Lesson 2. You have now learned jīm, chē, baṛī hē, xē, dāl, ḍāl, and zāl. That's 7 letters, but only 2 positional methods. Thus far you have been taught the following: ب پ ت ٹ ث ج چ ح خ د ڈ ذ Remember these well, and feel free to go through Lesson 1 or 2 again if you feel you need to do so to help you remember the letters. When you are ready, proceed to Lesson 3.