Vowels

In English, 5 vowels (A, E, I, O, and U) are used to make 15 vowel sounds. In Punjabi, 10 vowel accents are used to make 10 vowel sounds. Whereas in English specific letters in the alphabet are used as vowel sounds, in Punjabi specialized characters known as vowel accents modify the sound of any script character to create vowel sounds.

The 10 vowel accents are derived from the 3 vowel characters ੳ, ਅ, and ੲ. ਅ is the only vowel that may be used without a modifying vowel accent. The other two vowels must be used alongside their corresponding vowel accents. Remember from lesson 2 that every consonant letter is followed by an inherent “a” sound. That “a” sound is the first of the 10 vowel sounds of the Punjabi language. The rest of the vowel sounds are created by vowel accents. Any Gurumukhi script character can be modified using a vowel accent to produce a different sound from the inherent “a” sound that follows every letter. Let’s look at which modifying vowel accents are derived from which vowel.

1. ਉ is like oo in look. ਊ is like oo in room. ਓ is like o in open.
2. ਆ is like a in father. ਐ is like a in app. ਔ is like a in odd.
3. ਇ is like i in it. ਈ is like ee in meet. ਏ is like a in aim.

Before I start explaining each of these sounds, I want to make clear that you don’t need to remember the names of these vowel accents, only their sounds. If you would still like to learn the sounds in relation to their names, that option will also be there. Also, wherever you see an o-shaped figure before, after, under, or on top of a vowel sound, that symbol means that the character should go in its place. For example, ੀ is a vowel sound on its own, but ਕ takes the place of the o and becomes ਕੀ. Let’s begin by seeing the placement of vowel accents on ਕ.

• ਕ (mukta) means free in Punjabi. ਕ just by itself is a free character, so it would be pronounced without any accents. For example, think of the “word” cup in English.

ਕ + ਪ = ਕਪ = cup

• ਕਾ (kanna ਾ) is equivalent to an elongated “a” sound that can be seen in the English word “car”. An easy way to remember this vowel sound is that “kanna” means ear in Punjabi, so ਕਾ looks like the character ਕ with an ear.

ਕਾ + ਰ = ਕਾਰ = car

• ਕਿ (sihari ਿ) is equivalent to the soft “i” sound in the English word kit.

ਕਿ + ਟ = ਕਿਟ = kit

• ਕੀ (bihari ੀ) is equivalent to an elongated “ee” sound that can be seen in the English words keep and cream. An easy way to remember it is that bihari comes behind the character.

ਕੀ + ਪ = ਕੀਪ = keep

• ਕੇ (lavan ੇ) is equivalent to the “a” sound in the English words cape and Kate. The best way to remember the name of this vowel sound is that lavan is similar to the English word line; you are adding a line on top of the character.

ਕੇ + ਪ = ਕੇਪ = cape

• ਕੈ (dolavan ੈ) is equivalent to the lazy “a” sound in the English word cat. “Do” in Punjabi means two. The best way to memorize this vowel accent is to see it as two lines instead of one (lavan). Doubling the weight on the character would make the sound lazy from exhaustion.

ਕੈ + ਟ = ਕੈਟ = cat

• ਕੁ (ankard ੁ) is equivalent to the soft “u” sound in the English word cook. The best way to remember this vowel accent is that it literally looks like as if a U was placed under the character.

ਕੁ + ਕ = ਕੁਕ = cook

• ਕੂ (dolankard ੂ) is equivalent to the heavy “u” or “oo” sound in the English word cool. Think of this vowel accent like this: two Us under a character would add an elongated “u” or “oo” sound.

ਕੂ + ਲ = ਕੂਲ = cool

• ਕੋ (horda ੋ) is equivalent to the “oh” sound in the English word cone.

ਕੋ + ਨ = ਕੋਨ = cone

• ਕੌ (kanaurda ੌ) is equivalent to the “o” sound in the English word cop. Here again you see the prefix kan which means ear. This vowel accent also looks like an ear, just on top of the character.

ਕੌ + ਪ = ਕੌਪ = cop

Rules for Using Vowel Accents

1. One letter, whether it is a vowel or a consonant, can be modified by only one vowel accent.
2. If a word is composed of two vowel sounds in a row, a vowel letter and its corresponding vowel accent must be used to create the second vowel sound.

An important thought to keep in mind: whereas each English vowel can create different sounds depending on the specific word in which it appears, each Punjabi vowel accent creates only one specific vowel sound. For example, the sound of the English vowel ‘a’ is different in the word mat than it is in the word mate. In Punjabi, each vowel accent creates only one vowel sound so two different vowel accents would create these two sounds.