This is a companion post to a previous post that lists the consonants of the Punjabi alphabet. Or, in other words, now I can finally provide some closure to being able to read Punjabi. (Making sense of what I read, of course, is a totally different problem.) The first three letters of the alphabet -- ੳ, ਅ, and ੲ -- are not used by themselves. Each serves as a foundation on which independent vowels are formed. Vowels take two forms: (1) independent vowels, which stand alone or can be used as the first letter in a word, are formed by adding a vowel sign to one of the three bases; and (2) dependent vowels, which are formed by adding a vowel sign to a consonant (in the second case, the vowel can not be the first letter of the word).
Dependent Vowels
Vowel sign |
Transliteration |
Name |
Joined with ਮ |
(invisible) |
a |
ਮੁਕਤਾ muk-tā |
ਮ |
ਾ |
ā |
ਕਾੱਨਾ kaṃ-nā |
ਮਾ |
ਿ |
i |
ਸਿਹਾਰੀ si-hā-rī |
ਮਿ |
ੀ |
ī |
ਬਿਹਾਰੀ bi-hā-rī |
ਮੀ |
ੁ |
u |
ਔਂਕੜ auṃ-kaṛ |
ਮੁ |
ੂ |
ū |
ਦੁਲੈਂਕੜੇ du-laiṃ-ka-ṛe |
ਮੂ |
ੇ |
e |
ਲਾਂਵ lāṃv |
ਮੇ |
ੈ |
ai |
ਦੁਲਾਂਵਾਂ du-lāṃ-vāṃ |
ਮੈ |
ੋ |
o |
ਹੋੜਾ ho-ṛā |
ਮੋ |
ੌ |
au |
ਕਨੌੜਾ ka-nau-ṛā |
ਮੌ |
Independent Vowels
Base + Vowel Sign |
Independent Vowel |
Transliteration |
ੳ + ੁ |
ਉ |
u |
ੳ + ੂ |
ਊ |
ū |
ੳ + ੋ |
ਓ |
o |
ਅ + (invisible) |
ਅ |
a |
ਅ + ਾ |
ਆ |
ā |
ਅ + ੈ |
ਐ |
ai |
ਅ + ੌ |
ਔ |
au |
ੲ + ਿ |
ਇ |
i |
ੲ + ੀ |
ਈ |
ī |
ੲ + ੇ |
ਏ |
e |