The name ‘Shahmukhi’ is a recent coinage, imitating its counterpart ‘Gurmukhī’. However, the writing of Punjabi in the Perso-Arabic script is well-attested from the 17th century onwards. According to Dhavan, Punjabi began to adopt the script as a “side effect” of educational practices in Mughal-era Punjab, when Punjabi Muslims learned the Persian language in order to participate in Mughal society. Educational materials taught Persian to Punjabi speakers by using Punjabi written in Persian’s alphabet, which was a novel innovation. This was one of the first attempts at standardising the Punjabi language; prior to this, Punjabi was primarily a spoken language, not formally taught in schools.
Shackle suggests that the Gurmukhī script was not favoured by Punjabi Muslims due to its religious (Sikh) connotations.[10] Shahmukhi Punjabi was added to Google Translate in 2024.
Alphabet
Shahmukhi script is a modified version of the Arabic script’s Persian alphabet. It is identical to the Urdu alphabet, but contains additional letters representing the Punjabi phonology. For writing Saraiki, an extended Shahmukhi is used that includes 4 additional letters for the implosive consonants (ٻ, ڄ, ݙ, ڳ).
Vowel diacritics
Like Urdu, Shahmukhi also has diacritics, which are implied – a convention retained from the original Arabic script, to express short vowels.
| Name | Symbol | Usage | IPA | Notes | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short vowels | |||||
| Zabar | ◌َ | a | [ə] | Written above a letter | |
| Zer | ◌ِ | i | [ɪ] | Written below a letter | |
| Pesh | ◌ُ | u | [ʊ] | Written above a letter | |
| Nūn Ġunna | ◌٘ | ṉ | [◌̃], [ŋ] | Nasal vowel diacritic | ‘مُون٘ہہ’ (‘face’) |
| Tashdīd | ◌ّ | Geminate | [ː] | Doubles a consonant – goes above the letter being prolonged | ‘کّ’ (‘kk’) |
| Loan diacritics | |||||
| Khaṛī Zabar | ◌ٰ | á | [äː] | Used in certain Arabic loanwords only | ‘عیسیٰ’ (‘Jesus’) |
| Zabar Tanwīn | ◌ً | an | [ən] | ‘فوراً’ (‘Immediately’) | |
| Other diacritics | |||||
| Hamza | ◌ٔ | varied | Indicates a diphthong between two vowels, examples such as: ‘ئ’, ‘ۓ’, ‘ؤ‘, and أ , not written as a separate diacritic | ||
Consonants
| No. | Name | IPA | Final glyph | Medial glyph | Initial glyph | Isolated glyph | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | الف | alif | /äː/, /ə/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/ | ـا | ـا | ا | ا |
| 2 | بے | bē | /b/ | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | ب |
| 3 | پے | pē | /p/ | ـپ | ـپـ | پـ | پ |
| 4 | تے | tē | /t/ | ـت | ـتـ | تـ | ت |
| 5 | ٹے | ṭē | /ʈ/ | ـٹ | ـٹـ | ٹـ | ٹ |
| 6 | ثے | s̱ē | /s/ | ـث | ـثـ | ثـ | ث |
| 7 | جيم | jīm | /d͡ʒ/ | ـج | ـجـ | جـ | ج |
| 8 | چے | cē | /t͡ʃ/ | ـچ | ـچـ | چـ | چ |
| 9 | وڈّی حے | waḍḍi ḥē | /ɦ/ | ـح | ـحـ | حـ | ح |
| 10 | خے | k͟hē | /x/ | ـخ | ـخـ | خـ | خ |
| 11 | دال | dāl | /d/ | ـد | ـد | د | د |
| 12 | ڈال | ḍāl | /ɖ/ | ـڈ | ـڈ | ڈ | ڈ |
| 13 | ذال | ẕāl | /z/ | ـذ | ـذ | ذ | ذ |
| 14 | رے | rē | /r/ | ـر | ـر | ر | ر |
| 15 | ڑے | ṛē | /ɽ/ | ـڑ | ـڑ | ڑ | ڑ |
| 16 | زے | zē | /z/ | ـز | ـز | ز | ز |
| 17 | ژے | žē | /ʒ/ | ـژ | ـژ | ژ | ژ |
| 18 | سین | sīn | /s/ | ـس | ـسـ | سـ | س |
| 19 | شین | shīn | /ʃ/ | ـش | ـشـ | شـ | ش |
| 20 | صاد | ṣwād | /s/ | ـص | ـصـ | صـ | ص |
| 21 | ضاد | ẓwād | /z/ | ـض | ـضـ | ضـ | ض |
| 22 | طوئیں | t̤oʼēṉ | /t/ | ـط | ـطـ | طـ | ط |
| 23 | ظوئیں | z̤oʼēṉ | /z/ | ـظ | ـظـ | ظـ | ظ |
| 24 | عین | ʻain | /∅/, /äː/, /ə/, /eː/, /oː/, | ـع | ـعـ | عـ | ع |
| 25 | غین | ġain | /ɣ/ | ـغ | ـغـ | غـ | غ |
| 26 | فے | fē | /f/ | ـف | ـفـ | فـ | ف |
| 27 | قاف | qāf | /q/ | ـق | ـقـ | قـ | ق |
| 28 | کاف | kāf | /k/ | ـک | ـکـ | کـ | ک |
| 29 | گاف | gāf | /ɡ/ | ـگ | ـگـ | گـ | گ |
| 30 | لام | lām | /l/ | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | ل |
| 31 | ࣇام | ḷām | /ɭ/ | ـࣇ | ـࣇـ | ࣇـ | لؕ |
| 32 | میم | mīm | /m/ | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | م |
| 33 | نون | nūn | /n, ɲ/ | ـن | ـنـ | نـ | ن |
| 34 | ݨون | ṇūn | /ɳ/ | ـݨ | ـݨـ | ݨـ | ݨ |
| 35 | نون غنّہ | nūn ġunnah | /◌̃, ŋ/ | ـں | ـن٘ـ | ن٘ـ | ں |
| 36 | واؤ | vāʼo | /ʋ, uː, ʊ, oː, ɔː/ | ـو | ـو | و | و |
| 37 | نکی ہے گول ہے | nikkī hē gol hē | /ɦ, ɑː, e:/ | ـہ | ـہـ | ہـ | ہ |
| 38 | دو چشمی ہے | do-cashmī hē | /ʰ/ or /ʱ/ | ـھ | ـھـ | ھ | ھ |
| 39 | ہمزہ | hamzah | /ʔ/, /∅/ | ء | ء | ء | ء |
| 40 | چھوٹی يے | choṭī yē | /j, iː/ | ـی | ـیـ | یـ | ی |
| 41 | وڈّی يے | waḍḍi yē | /ɛː, eː/ | ـے | N/A | N/A | ے |
No Punjabi words begin with ں, ھ, or ے. Words which begin with ڑ are exceedingly rare, but some have been documented in Shahmukhi dictionaries such as Iqbal Salahuddin’s Waddi Punjabi Lughat. The digraphs of aspirated consonants are as follows. In addition, ل and لؕ form ligatures with ا: لا (ـلا) and لؕا (ـلؕا).
Aspirates
| No. | Digraph | Transcription | IPA | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | بھ | bh | [bʱ] | بھاری |
| 2 | پھ | ph | [pʰ] | پھل |
| 3 | تھ | th | [t̪ʰ] | تھم |
| 4 | ٹھ | ṭh | [ʈʰ] | ٹھیس |
| 5 | جھ | jh | [d͡ʒʱ] | جھاڑی |
| 6 | چھ | ch | [t͡ʃʰ] | چھوکرا |
| 7 | دھ | dh | [d̪ʱ] | دھوبی |
| 8 | ڈھ | ḍh | [ɖʱ] | ڈھول |
| 9 | رھ | rh | [ɾʰ] | بارھویں |
| 10 | ڑھ | ṛh | [ɽʰ] | کڑھنا |
| 11 | کھ | kh | [kʰ] | کھولنا |
| 12 | گھ | gh | [ɡʱ] | گھبراہٹ |
| 13 | لھ | lh | [lʰ] | کولھ |
| 14 | مھ | mh | [mʰ] | سامھنا |
| 15 | نھ | nh | [nʰ] | چنھاں |
| 16 | وھ | wh | [ʋʰ] | وھایا |
| 17 | یھ | yh | [jʰ] | یھاوا |
- ے (waddi 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 ی.
- Vowels are expressed as follows:
| Final | Middle | Initial | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ـہ | ـَ | اَ | |
| یٰ | ـَا | آ | |
| N/A | ـِ | اِ | |
| ـِى | ـِيـ | اِی | |
| ـے | ـيـ | اے | |
| ـَے | ـَيـ | اَے | |
| N/A | ـُ | اُ | |
| ـُو | اُو | ||
| ـو | او | ||
| ـَو | |||