Punjabi Varnmala in Hindi
All 41 Gurmukhi letters, matched to the Devanagari letter you already know. If you read Hindi, you are closer to reading Gurmukhi than you think — most letters line up almost exactly.
But five of them look the same and are said differently, and most charts don’t tell you which. This one does.
Read this before the chart
Punjabi is a tonal language. Hindi is not. Punjabi has lost the breathy sounds it once shared with Hindi and uses a change of pitch instead. So at the start of a word, these five letters are still written the same as in Hindi, but they are no longer said the same:
- ਘ घ
- ਝ झ
- ਢ ढ
- ਧ ध
- ਭ भ
ਘਰ (house) is not said “ghar” the way घर is. It is closer to “kàr” — a plain क sound with the voice dipping low straight after. Note there is no h left in it at all. Same with ਭਰਾ (brother): closer to “parà” than “bharā”.
This rule is about the start of a word. In the middle or at the end the pitch behaves differently, so don’t apply it everywhere — and don’t worry about mastering it either. You only need to know the trap is there, so you don’t teach your child five letters wrongly.
One more thing that will look wrong: The order will look wrong at first. Hindi puts all the vowels first and ends with श ष स ह. Gurmukhi runs ੳ ਅ ੲ, then ਸ and ਹ straight away at positions four and five — before the ka group — and finishes on ੜ rather than ਹ.
The chart
Tap the speaker on any letter to hear it said aloud. The six dotted letters have no recording yet.
First, the three carriers
Devanagari has eleven separate vowel letters. Gurmukhi has just three carriers that hold vowel marks. They make no sound on their own, so two of them have no single Hindi letter at all — which is why you will not find ੳ = उ anywhere on this page.
The engine for u / oo / o. On its own it is silent and never stands alone. Add a matra and it becomes ਉ = उ, ਊ = ऊ; add the looping top stroke and it becomes a separate letter, ਓ = ओ — the long "o" of "soap".
The one engine that is also a letter you say, matching Hindi अ exactly. With matras: ਆ = आ, ਐ = ऐ, ਔ = औ.
The engine for i / ee / e. It never appears bare. With matras it becomes ਇ = इ, ਈ = ई, ਏ = ए.
The 32 consonants
| Gurmukhi | Hindi | Name | Sounds like | Hear it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ਸ | स | Sassa | sa (Hindi स) | |
| ਹ | ह | Haha | ha (Hindi ह) | |
| ਕ | क | Kakka | ka (Hindi क) | |
| ਖ | ख | Khakha | kha (Hindi ख) | |
| ਗ | ग | Gaga | ga (Hindi ग) | |
| ਘ | घ | Ghagha | starts like क, then the voice dips low Sounds different in Punjabi At the start of a word, written like घ but said like क with the voice dipping low straight after. ਘਰ (house) ≈ "kàr", not "ghar". Note there is no h sound left at all. | |
| ਙ | ङ | Nganga | ng (Hindi ङ — the sound inside गंगा) Rarely used Almost never starts a word in either script — learn to recognise it, not to use it. | |
| ਚ | च | Chacha | cha (Hindi च) | |
| ਛ | छ | Chhachha | chha (Hindi छ) | |
| ਜ | ज | Jajja | ja (Hindi ज) | |
| ਝ | झ | Jhajha | starts like च, then the voice dips low Sounds different in Punjabi At the start of a word, written like झ but said like च with the voice dipping low. ਝੰਡਾ (flag) ≈ "chànda", not "jhanda". | |
| ਞ | ञ | Nyanya | ny (Hindi ञ — the sound inside चंचल) Rarely used Almost never starts a word in either script — learn to recognise it, not to use it. | |
| ਟ | ट | Tainka | ta (Hindi ट — as in टमाटर) | |
| ਠ | ठ | Thatha | tha (Hindi ठ) | |
| ਡ | ड | Dadda | da (Hindi ड) | |
| ਢ | ढ | Dhadha | starts like ट, then the voice dips low Sounds different in Punjabi At the start of a word, written like ढ but said like ट with the voice dipping low. ਢੋਲ (drum) ≈ "tòl", not "dhol". | |
| ਣ | ण | Nahna | na (Hindi ण — as in बाण) | |
| ਤ | त | Tatta | ta (Hindi त) | |
| ਥ | थ | Thatha | tha (Hindi थ) | |
| ਦ | द | Dadda | da (Hindi द) | |
| ਧ | ध | Dhadha | starts like त, then the voice dips low Sounds different in Punjabi At the start of a word, written like ध but said like त with the voice dipping low. ਧੁੱਪ (sunshine) ≈ "tùpp", not "dhoop". | |
| ਨ | न | Nanna | na (Hindi न) | |
| ਪ | प | Pappa | pa (Hindi प) | |
| ਫ | फ | Phaphha | pha (Hindi फ) | |
| ਬ | ब | Babba | ba (Hindi ब) | |
| ਭ | भ | Bhabbha | starts like प, then the voice dips low Sounds different in Punjabi At the start of a word, written like भ but said like प with the voice dipping low. ਭਰਾ (brother) ≈ "parà", not "bharā". | |
| ਮ | म | Mamma | ma (Hindi म) | |
| ਯ | य | Yayya | ya (Hindi य) | |
| ਰ | र | Rarra | ra (Hindi र) | |
| ਲ | ल | Lalla | la (Hindi ल) | |
| ਵ | व | Vavva | va (Hindi व, but softer) | |
| ੜ | ड़ | Rarra | ra (Hindi ड़ — as in पेड़, लड़का) |
The six letters with a dot
These are the easiest on the page. Both scripts add a dot underneath for the same borrowed Persian and Arabic sounds — if you write ज़ and फ़ in Hindi, you already know how these work.
| Gurmukhi | Hindi | Name | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|---|
| ਸ਼ | श | Shashsha | sha (Hindi श) |
| ਖ਼ | ख़ | Khhakhha | kha (Hindi ख़ — from the throat) |
| ਗ਼ | ग़ | Ghhaghha | gha (Hindi ग़ — a gargled g) |
| ਜ਼ | ज़ | Zazza | za (Hindi ज़) |
| ਫ਼ | फ़ | Faffa | fa (Hindi फ़) |
| ਲ਼ | ळ | Llalla | an "l" with the tongue curled back Not used in Hindi ळ is a real Devanagari letter, but it belongs to Marathi and Sanskrit. Standard Hindi has neither this letter nor this sound. |
Where the two scripts differ
A plain letter-for-letter table would be tidy, and wrong in four places. These are the gaps.
In Gurmukhi, with nothing like it in Hindi
ੱ Adhak
Doubles the consonant that follows it. Hindi does this by joining letters instead: ਪੱਕਾ is पक्का. Adhak is extremely common, so this mark is worth learning early.
ੰ ਂ Tippi and Bindi
Hindi nasalises with a single dot (ं). Gurmukhi uses two marks: tippi ੰ over short vowels, bindi ਂ over the tall and wide matras (ਾ ੀ ੇ ੈ ੋ ੌ). Picking the wrong one is the commonest mistake a Hindi reader makes when writing Punjabi.
੍ਰ ੍ਹ ੍ਵ Pairin (foot) letters
Do not go looking for half-letters. Where Hindi writes प्र or क्या, Gurmukhi tucks a small ਰ, ਹ or ਵ underneath the foot of the letter instead: ਪ੍ਰ, ਪ੍ਹ.
ੳ ਅ ੲ Vowel carriers
Devanagari has eleven separate vowel letters. Gurmukhi builds every vowel from these three carriers plus nine matras.
In Hindi, with nothing like it in Gurmukhi
- ष Punjabi folded this sound into ਸ਼ and ਸ.
- ऋ A vowel in Hindi. Gurmukhi has nothing like it.
- क्ष / त्र / ज्ञ Hindi charts list these as letters. They are joined pairs, and Gurmukhi writes them as ordinary combinations.
- ः Visarga. No Gurmukhi equivalent (and rare in Hindi too).
What Punjabi actually calls it
Varnmala is a Sanskrit word that Hindi uses. Punjabi’s own name for these letters is ਪੈਂਤੀ ਅੱਖਰੀ (Paintī Akkharī) — literally “the thirty-five letters”. If you say paintī to a Punjabi speaker, they will know exactly what you mean.
Start teaching
Every letter above links to its own page, with a picture word, an audio clip and a note on how to teach it to a four-year-old. All free.