I realized that there are two forms types of alphabets used when writing Punjabi:
Gurmukhi script
Shahmukhi script
Gurmukhi (meaning from the mouth of the Guru) is mostly used in Hindu Punjabis in eastern Punjab in India. According to C.P., Gurmukhi is derived from the ancient language of Sanskrit-one of the oldest languages in use today. Also, the Gurmukhi script is used in Hindi, Braj Bhasha and other Hindustani dialects.
Shahmukhi (meaning from the mouth of the king) is mostly used in Muslim Punjabis in the Punjabi provinces in Pakistan. The script is derived from ancient Persian text dating back to the 14-15th century. It is currently still used in many languages and is considered a form of art. Shahmukhi is also used in other Pakistani languages such as Urdu and Pashto.
Since I am familiar with the Persian text, C.P and I decided to work with Gurmukhi script, which encompasses a very complex alphabet. All together we found forty one consonants and three main vowels. However there are ten different vowel sounds. Out of all the consonants, we feel only eight are similar to the English language. Besides this commonality, there are few similarities. When working with C.P to develop a contrastive consonant chart I noticed that the two languages are really different. Punjabi is a very tonal language, C.P explained that Punjabi has three tones: high, middle and low.
Starting from Bilabial to Glottal with the exceptions Uvular and Post alveolar sounds, C.P and I noticed that there are no stops when uttering these sounds. The use of fricatives and nasal tones are also used frequently. Punjabi tones are distinguished by symbols above the letter. For example, placing a [/] symbol on top of a letter would change the tone and thus, the meaning of the word.
English does not use symbols, and also uses stops when speaking. Tones are not as significant in English as they are in Punjabi. Overall, this was the first assignment in which we were asked to study the alphabet of C.P’s language. I found my first experience very enlightening, and I hope that my next experience will be the same.
