About the Punjabi Script
Gurmukhi was standardized in the 16th century by Guru Angad, the second Sikh Guru — the name means 'from the mouth of the Guru'. It descends from the Landa and Sharada scripts of the Brahmi family, and it is the script of the Guru Granth Sahib, compiled in 1604. The core alphabet is the painti — 'the thirty-five' — later extended with six dotted pair-bindi letters (ਸ਼ ਖ਼ ਗ਼ ਜ਼ ਫ਼ ਲ਼) to write Persian and Arabic loan sounds. Punjabi is a two-script language: India writes Gurmukhi, Pakistan writes the same language in Shahmukhi (Arabic script). This keyboard types Gurmukhi. Gurmukhi's ordering is also unusual: it begins with the vowel bearers and ਸ ਹ before the classical consonant rows — an arrangement credited to the Gurus' pedagogical redesign, made to teach literacy fast to ordinary people rather than scholars.
The Punjabi Alphabet — Every Letter
Here is the full Punjabi character set. You can click any letter on the Kactyl Punjabi keyboard to type it instantly — no need to memorize positions.
- Script: Gurmukhi script, left-to-right, 35 primary characters
- Speakers: 125 million worldwide
- Writing direction: Left-to-right
- Distinctive feature: Punjabi is one of the very few tonal Indo-European languages — three tones (low, high, level) that arose when the old voiced-aspirate letters ਘ ਝ ਢ ਭ ਧ lost their breathiness and left pitch behind: ਕੋੜਾ (whip) and ਘੋੜਾ (horse) differ by tone, and the spelling encodes it.
The Punjabi Alphabet, Letter by Letter
Every Punjabi letter with its name, the sound it makes, and a real example word. Tap any letter to copy it — keep this reference open while you learn to read or type:
| Letter | Name | Sound | Example word |
|---|---|---|---|
| ūṛā | vowel carrier | ਉੱਲੂ — ullū (owl) | |
| aiṛā | a | ਅਨਾਰ — anār (pomegranate) | |
| īṛī | vowel carrier | ਇਮਲੀ — imlī (tamarind) | |
| sassā | s | ਸੇਬ — seb (apple) | |
| hāhā | h | ਹਾਥੀ — hāthī (elephant) | |
| kakkā | k | ਕਮਲ — kamal (lotus) | |
| khakhā | kh | ਖਰਗੋਸ਼ — khargosh (rabbit) | |
| gaggā | g | ਗਾਂ — gāṇ (cow) | |
| ghaggā | voiced g + breath | ਘਰ — ghar (house) | |
| ṅaṅṅā | ng (rare) | — | |
| chachā | ch | ਚੰਦ — chand (moon) | |
| chhachhā | ch + breath | ਛਤਰੀ — chhatrī (umbrella) | |
| jajjā | j | ਜਹਾਜ਼ — jahāz (ship) | |
| jhajjā | voiced j + breath | ਝੰਡਾ — jhanḍā (flag) | |
| ñañña | ny (rare) | — | |
| ṭainkā | retroflex t | ਟਮਾਟਰ — ṭamāṭar (tomato) | |
| ṭhaṭṭhā | retroflex t + breath | ਠੰਢ — ṭhanḍh (cold) | |
| ḍaḍḍā | retroflex d | ਡੱਬਾ — ḍabbā (box) | |
| ḍhaḍḍā | retroflex d + breath | ਢੋਲ — ḍhol (drum) | |
| ṇāṇā | retroflex n | — | |
| tattā | dental t | ਤਾਰਾ — tārā (star) | |
| thatthā | dental t + breath | ਥਾਲੀ — thālī (plate) | |
| daddā | dental d | ਦਰਵਾਜ਼ਾ — darwāzā (door) | |
| dhaddā | dental d + breath | ਧਨੁਸ਼ — dhanush (bow) | |
| nannā | n | ਨਦੀ — nadī (river) | |
| pappā | p | ਪੰਛੀ — panchhī (bird) | |
| phaphā | ph | ਫੁੱਲ — phull (flower) | |
| babbā | b | ਬੱਕਰੀ — bakrī (goat) | |
| bhabbā | voiced b + breath | ਭਾਲੂ — bhālū (bear) | |
| mammā | m | ਮੱਛੀ — machhī (fish) | |
| yaiyyā | y | ਯਾਦ — yād (memory) | |
| rārā | r | ਰੱਥ — rath (chariot) | |
| lallā | l | ਲੱਸੀ — lassī (lassi) | |
| vāvā | v / w | ਵਣ — van (forest) | |
| ṛāṛā | retroflex flap ṛ | ਸੜਕ — saṛak (road) |
Click any letter to copy it to your clipboard.
What Makes the Punjabi Alphabet Distinctive
These are the features of the Punjabi script that trip up learners coming from the Latin alphabet — the things worth understanding before you start reading or typing:
- Punjabi is written in Gurmukhi — “from the Guru’s mouth” — the script standardised by the second Sikh Guru, Angad, in the 16th century to record the Sikh scriptures.
- The 35 core letters are called the Painti (literally “thirty-five”) and are learned in a fixed traditional order, like a song.
- Punjabi is tonal — rare for an Indo-Aryan language. The historically voiced-aspirate letters (ਘ ਝ ਢ ਧ ਭ) and ਹ shift the pitch of a syllable, so tone can change a word’s meaning.
- Modern Gurmukhi adds dotted letters — ਸ਼ (sha), ਜ਼ (za), ਫ਼ (fa), ਖ਼ (kha), ਗ਼ (gha) — for sounds that came in with Persian and English words.
- Like other Brahmic scripts it’s an abugida with a top line, but Gurmukhi’s letters have a distinctive squared, upright shape.
Punjabi Script — The Facts
- Unicode block: Gurmukhi, U+0A00–0A7F
- ISO 15924 script code: Guru (310)
- Script family: Brahmic abugida (Gurmukhi, 16th century)
- First attested: 16th century CE (standardised by Guru Angad)
- Speakers: 125 million (Ethnologue)
Sources: Unicode Gurmukhi block (U+0A00) · Ethnologue — Punjabi · ISO 15924 — Guru
Common Punjabi Words to Learn
These everyday words are a fast way to start recognizing Punjabi letters in real context:
- ਸਤਿ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ (sat sri akal = hello)
- ਧੰਨਵਾਦ (dhannavaad = thank you)
- ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਹੋ (tuseen kiven ho = how are you)
Common Punjabi Phrases
| Punjabi Script | Romanized | English |
|---|---|---|
| ਸਤਿ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ | sat sri akal | Sikh greeting / hello |
| ਧੰਨਵਾਦ | dhannavaad | thank you |
| ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਹੋ? | tuseen kiven ho | how are you? |
| ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ | Waheguru | Wonderful Lord (Sikh invocation) |
Type Punjabi Online Without Learning the Layout
You don't need to memorize where each Punjabi letter sits on a physical keyboard. Open kactyl.com/punjabi/, click the letters you see on screen (or type phonetically), then copy your text anywhere — WhatsApp, documents, social media.
Tips for Typing Punjabi
- Gurmukhi is the script of the Guru Granth Sahib
- Each letter has a consistent pronunciation
- Phonetic typing follows Punjabi sounds
About the Punjabi Language
Punjabi is spoken by 125 million people across Pakistan (using Shahmukhi/Arabic script) and India (using Gurmukhi script). Indian Punjabi uses Gurmukhi — the script of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhism. The Punjabi diaspora in the UK (especially Birmingham and Wolverhampton), Canada (Vancouver, Toronto), and the US is one of the most culturally cohesive South Asian communities.
Gurmukhi — The Script of the Guru Granth Sahib
Gurmukhi script was standardized by Guru Angad Dev in the 16th century for the Sikh community to read and share the sacred compositions of the Gurus. The Guru Granth Sahib — the eternal Guru of Sikhism — is written entirely in Gurmukhi. For Sikhs, the script carries deep spiritual significance. In the diaspora, Gurmukhi literacy is actively taught at gurdwaras and Punjabi schools. The script has 35 primary letters and several vowel markers (lagaan matras). Unlike Devanagari, Gurmukhi has a consistent one-letter-one-sound correspondence, making it phonetically regular. The Punjabi diaspora's vibrant Bhangra music culture, which went global in the 1990s through UK Bhangra and later through Bollywood and international collaborations, keeps Punjabi culturally present worldwide.