Consonants

I:v  RETROFLEX AND DENTAL

In this lesson you will be introduced to the t, d , r and n sounds.

You will notice that Punjabi has four t sounds and four d sounds, as well as two r sounds and two n sounds – how is one to differentiate between them?  One pair of each sound (two “t’s” and two “d’s”) occur in the back of the throat (retroflex sounds) and one pair of each sound (two “t’s” and two “d’s”) occur in the front of the mouth (dental sounds).  The first sound of the pair is the unaspirated sound and the second sound of the pair is the aspirated sound.

When representing these sounds using the Roman symbols for transliteration, the dental sounds will be represented using capital letters.

ex/   ਟ= t,  ਠ= th   (retroflex sounds)

ਤ= T, ਥ = TH  (dental sounds)

ਟ ਠ ਡ ਢ

These four letters are from the fourth row and are called the “Retroflex”.  They are pronounced with the tongue curling up and touching the back of the throat.

ਟ =    soft tu

ਠ =      thu

ਡ =      soft du

ਢ =      dhu

*tonal sound. The pronunciation differs depending upon whether it’s at the beginning (t) or end of the word (g).

The next four sounds come in the fifth line of the alphabet.  They are called “Dental” because they are pronounced with the tongue touching the teeth, or the bridge just behind the teeth.

ਤ ਥ ਦ ਧ

ਤ = T sound but pronounced in the front of the mouth, by the teeth, as opposed to the back of the throat [ as in retroflex sounds].

Soft “t” sound

ਥ =  TH.  Pronounced similarly to the retroflex Th, but in the front of the mouth.]

ਦ = D sound, but pronounced in the front of the mouth, with the tongue touching the bridge behind the upper teeth, as opposed to the back of the throat [as in retroflex]

ਧ = DH. No English equivalent.  [Pronounced similarly to the retroflex Dh, but in the front of the mouth.]

The last letters in each of these rows represent an “n” sound, the retroflex n and the dental n.

• – the Nasal Sounds
• – the the R sounds

ਨ ਣ ਙ ਞ

These four letters occur in the last column of the second to fifth rows.

ਨ =      n as in no.

ਣ =      N.  It is pronounced in the back of the throat.

ਙ         “ng” Obsolete sound.  Like the “ng” in ring.

ਞ         “nj” Obsolete sound.

ਰ ੜ 

These next two sounds are the “r” sounds.

ਰ = r sound as in rat.

ੜ =   R.  No English equivalent.  Pronounced in the back of the throat.

Listen to the practice quiz at the end of this section and see if you can correctly identify the t, d, r and n sounds.