Chapter 1: SOUNDS/ GREETINGS AND INTRODUCTIONS
Vowels
VOWELS
In addition to the 41 consonants, there are ten vowel symbols to be learned. These sounds have to be attached to a consonant symbol – either to its left, its right, above or below. You can never write a vowel sound without a consonant.
A brief summary of the vowel sounds and their symbols is as follows:
| VOWEL | Mukta | Kunna | Sihari | Bihari | Aunkar | |
| 1 | Symbol |
Invisible |
ਾ | ਿ | ੀ | ੁ |
| 2 | Symbol with m | ਮ | ਮਾ | ਿਮ | ਮੀ | ਮੁ |
| 3 | Vowel Carrier | ਅ | ਅਾ | ਿਅ | ਅੀ | ਅੁ |
| 4* | Sound | “u”
bug |
“a”
car |
“i”
sit |
“e”
see |
“u”
put |
| 5* | Representation in their Book |
a |
aa |
i |
ee |
u |
| VOWEL | Dulankar | Lanv | Dolanv | Hora | Kanaura | |
| 1 | Symbol | ੂ | ੇ | ੈ | ੋ | ੌ |
| 2 | Symbol with m | ਮੂ | ਮੇ | ਮੈ | ਮੋ | ਮੌ |
| 3 | Vowel Carrier | ਅੂ | ਅੇ | ਅੈ | ਅੋ | ਅੌ |
| 4* | Sound | “oo”
pool |
“a”
make |
“aa”
cat |
“o”
go |
“au” Kaur |
| 5* | Representation in their Book |
oo |
e |
ai (ae) |
o |
au |
It is difficult to accurately represent a Punjabi sound using Roman characters. Ensure that you are making use of the audio resources to practise listening to these sounds.