| Shahmukhi شاہ مُکھی | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | |
Time period | 17th century–present |
| Direction | Right-to-left script  |
| Region | Punjab,Hazara,Azad Kashmir |
| Languages | Punjabi (incl.dialects and varieties) |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
| Unicode | |
| This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
| Shahmukhi alphabet |
|---|
| ابپتٹثجچحخدڈذرڑزژسشصضطظعغفقکگلࣇمنݨ (ں)وه (ھ)ءیے |
ExtendedPerso-Arabic script |
Shahmukhi (Shahmukhi:شاہ مُکھی,pronounced[ʃäː(ɦ)˦.mʊ.kʰiː],lit. 'from theShah's or king's mouth',Gurmukhi:ਸ਼ਾਹਮੁੱਖ਼ੀ) is theright-to-leftabjad-based script developed from thePerso-Arabic alphabet used for thePunjabi language varieties, predominantly inPunjab, Pakistan.[1][2] It is generally written in theNastaʿlīqcalligraphic hand,[3][4] which is also used forPersian andUrdu.[5] Shahmukhi is one of the two standard scripts used for Punjabi, the other beingGurmukhi used mainly inPunjab, India.[6] Shahmukhi is written from right to left and has 36 primary letters with some other additional letters.[7][8]
Before the advent of Shahmukhi, writing systems were not popular for theOld Punjabi varieties.[citation needed]
The name 'Shahmukhi' is a recent coinage, imitating its counterpart 'Gurmukhi'.[9] However, the writing of Punjabi in thePerso-Arabic script is well-attested from the 17th century onwards.[10] According to Dhavan, Punjabi began to adopt the script as a "side effect" of educational practices inMughal-eraPunjab, when Punjabi Muslims learned thePersian 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.[11]
Shackle suggests that the Gurmukhi script was not favoured by Punjabi Muslims due to its religious (Sikh) connotations.[10]
Shahmukhi script is a modified version of theArabic script'sPersian alphabet. It is identical to theUrdu alphabet, but contains additional letters representing thePunjabi phonology. For writingSaraiki, anextended Shahmukhi is used that includes 4 additional letters for theimplosive consonants (ٻ, ڄ, ݙ, ڳ).[12]
Like Urdu, Shahmukhi also has diacritics, which are implied - a convention retained from the originalArabic script, to express short vowels.[4][13]
| 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 adiphthong between two vowels, examples such as: ‘ئ’, ‘ۓ’, ‘ؤ‘, andأ , not written as a separate diacritic | ||
| No. | Name[14] | 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[15] | 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[15] | ݨون | ṇūn | /ɳ/ | ـݨ | ـݨـ | ݨـ | |
| 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 withں,ھ, orے. Words which begin withڑ are exceedingly rare, but some have been documented in Shahmukhi dictionaries such as Iqbal Salahuddin'sWaddi Punjabi Lughat.[16]Thedigraphs ofaspirated consonants are as follows. In addition,ل andلؕ form ligatures withا:لا (ـلا) andلؕا (ـلؕا).
| No. | Digraph[17] | Transcription[17] | 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[18] |
| 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 | اَو | ||
Shahmukhi has more letters than its Persian base and related Urdu alphabet, to represent the special sounds that are only in Punjabi, which already have additional letters added to the Arabic base itself to represent sounds not present in Arabic. Characters added which differ from Persian but not Urdu include:ٹ to represent/ʈ/,ڈ to represent/ɖ/,ڑ to represent/ɽ/,ں to represent/◌̃/, andے to represent/ɛ:/ or/e:/. Furthermore, a separate do-cashmi-he letter,ھ, exists to denote a/ʰ/ or a/ʱ/, this letter is mainly used as part of the multitude of digraphs, detailed above. Characters added which differ from Urdu include: لؕ to represent/ɭ/ andݨ to represent/ɳ/. These characters, however are seldom used.
The letterژ is pronounced 'j' in French or as vision in English and the letterع is often transliterated in many ways due to its changing sound in various Arabic and Persian words.
It is an ancient Arabic writing tradition (carried on in Persian, Urdu and Shahmukhi) to omit the diacritics (except the Hamza) in ordinary writing and to depend on the context to interpret a word.
