Shahmukhi (شاہ مکھی, Gurmukhi: ਸ਼ਾਹਮੁਖੀ, literally "from the King's mouth") is a local variant of the Arabic script, that is used to write and record the Punjabi language in Pakistan & some parts of India . It is based on the Nasta'liq style of the Persian script and has traditionally been used by the Punjabi Muslims of Pakistan and India. However, since the middle of the 20th century it has mainly been used by those in the Punjab region of Pakistan. It is the official script and format for writing the Punjabi language in 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 (ਕ਼ਲਮ) 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 with ا , 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, o Medial-َﺎ َﯧ ُﻮ ِﯧ َﻮ Final- َﺎ َﮯ ُﻮ ِﻲ َﻮ

• Consonants are doubled with ّ (ੱ) ex: ﷲ (ਅੱਲਾਹ): Allāh كَچَّا (ਕੱਚਾ): Kachchā: unripe

Contents 1 Additional Letters 2 Loanwords 2.1 Arabic-only letters 2.2 Persian-only letters 2.3 Arabic/Persian letters 3 External links

[edit] Additional Letters

There are a few additional letters that are occasionally used. They are:

ﭓ bbe -ੱਬ

ﭲ jje -ੱਜ

ڋ ḍḍe -ੱਡ

ڰ ggaf -ੱਗ

ڻ rnoonh -ਣ

[edit] Loanwords

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)

[edit] Arabic-only letters

ﺫ ﺹ ﺽ ﻁ ﻅ ﻉ ﻍ ﺡ ﺙ

[edit] Persian-only letters

گ چ پ ژ

[edit] Arabic/Persian letters

ﺥ ﺯ ﻑ ﻕ

[edit] External links

• The Western Panjabi Alphabet
• Learn Shahmukhi
• Likhari in Shahmukhi
• Kalam-e-Baba Nanak

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