Shahmukhi Alphabet

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. Diacritics used in ShahmukhiNameSymbolUsageIPANotesExamplesShort vowelsZabar◌َ‎ a[ə]Written above a letterZer◌ِ‎ i[ɪ]Written below a letterPesh◌ُ‎ u[ʊ]Written above a letterNūn Ġunna◌٘‎ṉ[◌̃], [ŋ]Nasal vowel diacritic‘مُون٘ہہ‎’ (‘face’)Tashdīd◌ّ‎Geminate[ː]Doubles a consonant - goes above the letter being prolonged‘کّ’ ('kk')Loan diacriticsKhaṛī Zabar◌ٰá[äː]Used in certain Arabic loanwords only‘عیسیٰ’ (‘Jesus’)Zabar Tanwīn◌ًan[ən]‘فوراً’ (‘Immediately’)Other diacriticsHamza◌ٔvariedIndicates a diphthong between two vowels, examples such as: ‘ئ’, ‘ۓ’, ‘ؤ‘, and أ , not written as a separate diacriticConsonants No.NameIPAFinal glyphMedial glyphInitial glyphIsolated glyph1الفalif/äː/, /ə/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/ـاـااا2بےbē/b/ـبـبـبـب3پےpē/p/ـپـپـپـپ4تےtē/t/ـتـتـتـت5ٹےṭē/ʈ/ـٹـٹـٹـٹ6ثےs̱ē/s/ـثـثـثـث7جيمjīm/d͡ʒ/ـجـجـجـج8چےcē/t͡ʃ/ـچـچـچـچ9وڈّی حےwaḍḍi ḥē/ɦ/ـحـحـحـح10خےk͟hē/x/ـخـخـخـخ11دالdāl/d/ـدـددد12ڈالḍāl/ɖ/ـڈـڈڈڈ13ذالẕāl/z/ـذـذذذ14رےrē/r/ـرـررر15ڑےṛē/ɽ/ـڑـڑڑڑ16زےzē/z/ـزـززز17ژےžē/ʒ/ـژـژژژ18سینsīn/s/ـسـسـسـس19شینshīn/ʃ/ـشـشـشـش20صادṣwād/s/ـصـصـصـص21ضادẓwād/z/ـضـضـضـض22طوئیںt̤oʼēṉ/t/ـطـطـطـط23ظوئیںz̤oʼēṉ/z/ـظـظـظـظ24عینʻain/∅/, /äː/, /ə/, /eː/, /oː/,ـعـعـعـع25غینġain/ɣ/ـغـغـغـغ26فےfē/f/ـفـفـفـف27قافqāf/q/ـقـقـقـق28کافkāf/k/ـکـکـکـک29گافgāf/ɡ/ـگـگـگـگ30لامlām/l/ـلـلـلـل31ࣇامḷām/ɭ/ـࣇـࣇـࣇـلؕ32میمmīm/m/ـمـمـمـم33نونnūn/n, ɲ/ـنـنـنـن34ݨونṇūn/ɳ/ـݨـݨـݨـݨ35نون غنّہnūn ġunnah/◌̃, ŋ/ـںـن٘ـن٘ـں36واؤvāʼo/ʋ, uː, ʊ, oː, ɔː/ـوـووو37نکی ہے گول ہےnikkī hē gol hē/ɦ, ɑː, e:/ـہـہـہـہ38دو چشمی ہےdo-cashmī hē/ʰ/ or /ʱ/ـھـھـھھ39ہمزہhamzah/ʔ/, /∅/ءءءء40چھوٹی يےchoṭī yē/j, iː/ـیـیـیـی41وڈّی يےwaḍḍi yē/ɛː, eː/ـےN/AN/AےNo 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). AspiratesNo.DigraphTranscriptionIPAExample1بھbh[bʱ]بھاری2پھph[pʰ]پھل3تھth[t̪ʰ]تھم4ٹھṭh[ʈʰ]ٹھیس5جھjh[d͡ʒʱ]جھاڑی6چھch[t͡ʃʰ]چھوکرا7دھdh[d̪ʱ]دھوبی8ڈھḍh[ɖʱ]ڈھول9رھrh[ɾʰ]بارھویں10ڑھṛh[ɽʰ]کڑھنا11کھkh[kʰ]کھولنا12گھgh[ɡʱ]گھبراہٹ13لھlh[lʰ]کولھ14مھmh[mʰ]سامھنا15نھnh[nʰ]چنھاں16وھwh[ʋʰ]وھایا17یھyh[jʰ]یھاواے (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:FinalMiddleInitialـہـَاَیٰـَاآN/Aـِاِـِىـِيـاِیـے‬ـيـاےـَے‬ـَيـاَےN/Aـُاُـُواُوـواوـَو