Updated 10 May, 2018 • tags scriptnotes, gurmukhi
This page lists characters in the following Unicode block and provides information about them.
This is not authoritative, peer-reviewed information – these are just notes I have gathered and copied from various places.
For a summary of the script and its use in writing systems, see the page Gurmukhi script summary. For similar information related to other scripts, see this list.
We have usage data for only 1 language that uses the Gurmukhi script: Punjabi.
The transliteration is based on ISO 15919, with some additions to ensure one-to-one mapping of characters.
Find
If you click on any red example text, you will see at the bottom right of the page a list of the characters that make up the example.
To find a character by codepoint, type #char0000 at the end of the URL in the address bar, where 0000 is a four-figure, hex codepoint number, all in uppercase. Or type the character or the hex number in the Find control above.
To view this page as intended, you need a Gurmukhi font. This page comes with a Gurmukhi webfont. Click the blue vertical bar at the bottom right of the page to apply other fonts, if you have them on your system. For transcriptions I recommend the excellent and free Doulos SIL font. The large character in the box will not be rendered unless the webfont downloaded with the page or a system font has a glyph for it. (If there is no glyph and you want to see what it looks like, click on See in UniView.)
Information about languages that use these characters is taken from the list maintained for the Character Use app. The list is not exhaustive.
Transliterations are based largely on ISO 15919 but with some changes, mainly intended to ensure a one-to-one correspondence between characters. For example, two-letter sequences are handled by superscripting the second letter, such as ʰ in kʰ. Also, ᵃ is used to indicate the inherent vowel, and the virama is shown using a diacritic, as in k͓.
References are indicated by superscript characters. Wherever possible, those contain direct links to the source material. When such a pointer is alongside an arrow → it means that it's worth following the link for the additional information it provides. Digits refer to the main sources, which are listed at the bottom of a set of notes.
When you are using UniView and you turn on Show notes, UniView will pull in information about characters from this page.
U+0A15 GURMUKHI LETTER KA
U+0A16 GURMUKHI LETTER KHA
U+0A17 GURMUKHI LETTER GA
U+0A18 GURMUKHI LETTER GHA
Consonant gʰ
Punjabi kə̀gːɑ kə̀
Pronounced without aspiration, and without voicing when initial. Used to indicate a low tone when at the beginning of a word or syllable, eg. ਘੋੜਾ gʰoṛā kòɽɑ horse, or medially between a short and long vowel, eg. ਪਘਾਰਨਾ pᵃgʰārnā pəɡɑ̀rnɑ to melt.
Indicates a high tone when elsewhere, eg. ਕੁਝ kujʰ kúʤ something.o
U+0A19 GURMUKHI LETTER NGA
Consonant ṅ
Punjabi ŋɑŋːɑ̃ ŋə
Rarely used. It cannot begin a syllable or be placed between two consonants, and occurs most often as an allophone of ਨ [U+0A28 GURMUKHI LETTER NA] before specific consonant phonemes.w
U+0A1A GURMUKHI LETTER CA
U+0A1B GURMUKHI LETTER CHA
U+0A1C GURMUKHI LETTER JA
U+0A1D GURMUKHI LETTER JHA
Consonant jʰ
Punjabi ʧə̀ʤːɑ ʧə̀
Pronounced without aspiration, and without voicing when initial. Used to indicate a low tone when at the beginning of a word or syllable, or medially between a short and long vowel.
Indicates a high tone when elsewhere, eg. ਕੁਝ kujʰ kúʤ something.o
U+0A1E GURMUKHI LETTER NYA
Consonant ñ
Punjabi ɲəɲːɑ̃ ɲə
Rarely used. It cannot begin a syllable or be placed between two consonants, and occurs most often as an allophone of ਨ [U+0A28 GURMUKHI LETTER NA] before specific consonant phonemes.w
U+0A1F GURMUKHI LETTER TTA
U+0A20 GURMUKHI LETTER TTHA
U+0A21 GURMUKHI LETTER DDA
U+0A22 GURMUKHI LETTER DDHA
Consonant ḍʰ
Punjabi ʈə̀ɖːɑ ʈə̀
Pronounced without aspiration, and without voicing when initial. Used to indicate a low tone when at the beginning of a word or syllable, or medially between a short and long vowel.
Indicates a high tone when elsewhere.o
U+0A23 GURMUKHI LETTER NNA
U+0A24 GURMUKHI LETTER TA
U+0A25 GURMUKHI LETTER THA
U+0A26 GURMUKHI LETTER DA
U+0A27 GURMUKHI LETTER DHA
Consonant dʰ
Punjabi t̪ə̀d̪ːɑ tə̀
Pronounced without aspiration, and without voicing when initial. Used to indicate a low tone when at the beginning of a word or syllable, or medially between a short and long vowel.
Indicates a high tone when elsewhere.o
U+0A28 GURMUKHI LETTER NA
U+0A2A GURMUKHI LETTER PA
U+0A2B GURMUKHI LETTER PHA
U+0A2C GURMUKHI LETTER BA
U+0A2D GURMUKHI LETTER BHA
Consonant bʰ
Punjabi pə̀bːɑ pə̀
Pronounced without aspiration, and without voicing when initial. Used to indicate a low tone when at the beginning of a word or syllable, or medially between a short and long vowel.
Indicates a high tone when elsewhere.o
U+0A2E GURMUKHI LETTER MA
U+0A2F GURMUKHI LETTER YA
U+0A30 GURMUKHI LETTER RA
Consonant r
Punjabi ɾɑɾɑ rə
Also appears in subjoined form as a syllable medial consonant, eg. ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧ prəbə́nd̪ management, government.
U+0A5C GURMUKHI LETTER RRA
U+0A32 GURMUKHI LETTER LA
U+0A35 GURMUKHI LETTER VA
Consonant v
Punjabi ʋɑʋːɑ ʋə, wə
The pronunciation varies between ʋə and wə depending on the word.w
Can also appear in subjoined form as a syllable medial consonant, eg. ਸ੍ਵਰਗ svərəg heaven. However, this is much less common than the subjoined form of ਰ [U+0A30 GURMUKHI LETTER RA].
U+0A38 GURMUKHI LETTER SA
U+0A39 GURMUKHI LETTER HA
Consonant h
Punjabi ɦɑɦɑ ɦə
Only pronounced ɦ when it occurs word initially, eg. ਹਰੀ hᵃrī həri green. In other locations it is unpronounced and indicates that the preceding vowel has a high tone, eg. ਮੀਹ mīh mí rain. When used after a consonant, it appears subjoined below that consonant, eg. ਚੜ੍ਹ cᵃṛ͓h ʧə́ɽ climb.d
When it follows a short i or u, it changes the vowel's phonetic value from [ɪ] and [ʊ] to [é] and [ó], respectively, and indicates a high tone.
According to Omniglot, the conjuncts ਗ੍ਹ gʰa, ਜ੍ਹ jʰa, ਢ੍ਹ ḍʰa, ਦ੍ਹ dʰa, and ਬ੍ਹ bʰa indicate a level tone when at the beginning of a word or syllable, and a low rising tone when elsewhere.o
U+0A59 GURMUKHI LETTER KHHA
Description in the Unicode standard:
Consonant x
NFC produces the sequence ਖ + ਼ [U+0A16 GURMUKHI LETTER KHA + U+0A3C GURMUKHI SIGN NUKTA].
Punjabi kʰəkʰːɑ pɛɾ bɪnd̪i xə
Represents an extended sound used for foriegn words, particularly Urdu or Persian.
U+0A5A GURMUKHI LETTER GHHA
Description in the Unicode standard:
Consonant ġ
NFC produces the sequence ਗ + ਼ [U+0A17 GURMUKHI LETTER GA + U+0A3C GURMUKHI SIGN NUKTA].
Punjabi gəgːɑ pɛɾ bɪnd̪i ɣə
Represents an extended sound used for foriegn words, particularly Urdu or Persian.
U+0A33 GURMUKHI LETTER LLA
Description in the Unicode standard:
Consonant ḷ
NFC produces the sequence ਲ + ਼ [U+0A32 GURMUKHI LETTER LA + U+0A3C GURMUKHI SIGN NUKTA].
Punjabi ləlːɑ pɛɾ bɪnd̪i ɭə
Was only recently added to the Gurmukhī alphabet. It was not a part of the traditional orthography, the phonological difference between 'l' and 'ɭ' is not reflected in the script. Some sources do not consider it a separate letter.w
Represents an extended sound used for foriegn words, particularly Urdu or Persian.
U+0A5B GURMUKHI LETTER ZA
Description in the Unicode standard:
Consonant z
NFC produces the sequence ਜ + ਼ [U+0A1C GURMUKHI LETTER JA + U+0A3C GURMUKHI SIGN NUKTA].
Punjabi ʤəʤːɑ pɛɾ bɪnd̪i zə
Represents an extended sound used for foriegn words, particularly Urdu or Persian.
U+0A5E GURMUKHI LETTER FA
Description in the Unicode standard:
Consonant f
NFC produces the sequence ਫ + ਼ [U+0A2B GURMUKHI LETTER PHA + U+0A3C GURMUKHI SIGN NUKTA].
Punjabi pʰəpʰːɑ pɛɾ bɪnd̪i fə
Represents an extended sound used for foriegn words, particularly Urdu or Persian.
U+0A72 GURMUKHI IRI
Description in the Unicode standard:
Vowel support ‘
Punjabi iɽi ∅
Functions as a vowel-sign carrier for independent vowels (ie. vowels with no preceding consonant).
Never used on its own, and the Unicode Standard advises against using it at all, but advises authors to instead use the precomposed characters ਈ [U+0A08 GURMUKHI LETTER II], ਇ [U+0A07 GURMUKHI LETTER I], and ਏ [U+0A0F GURMUKHI LETTER EE].
U+0A73 GURMUKHI URA
Description in the Unicode standard:
Vowel support ’
Punjabi uɽɑ ∅
Functions as a vowel-sign carrier for independent vowels (ie. vowels with no preceding consonant).
Never used on its own, and the Unicode Standard advises against using it at all, but advises authors to instead use the precomposed characters ਉ [U+0A09 GURMUKHI LETTER U], ਊ [U+0A0A GURMUKHI LETTER UU], and ਓ [U+0A13 GURMUKHI LETTER OO].
U+0A05 GURMUKHI LETTER A
Description in the Unicode standard:
Vowel support & independent vowel a
Punjabi æɽɑ ə
Functions as a vowel-sign carrier for independent vowels (ie. vowels with no preceding consonant).
Used on its own, it is regarded as a null consonant with an inherent vowel. Usage with other vowel-sign characters is discouraged by the Unicode Standard in favour of the precomposed characters ਆ [U+0A06 GURMUKHI LETTER AA], ਐ [U+0A10 GURMUKHI LETTER AI], and ਔ [U+0A14 GURMUKHI LETTER AU].
U+0A06 GURMUKHI LETTER AA
Independent vowel ạ̄
The corresponding vowel-sign is ਾ [U+0A3E GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN AA].
Punjabi kannā ɑ, ä
U+0A07 GURMUKHI LETTER I
Independent vowel ị
The corresponding vowel-sign is ਿ [U+0A3F GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN I].
Punjabi sihārī ɪ
U+0A08 GURMUKHI LETTER II
Independent vowel ị̄
The corresponding vowel-sign is ੀ [U+0A40 GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN II].
Punjabi bihārī i
U+0A09 GURMUKHI LETTER U
Independent vowel ụ
The corresponding vowel-sign is ੁ [U+0A41 GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN U].
Punjabi onkaṛ ʊ
U+0A0A GURMUKHI LETTER UU
Independent vowel ụ̄
The corresponding vowel-sign is ੂ [U+0A42 GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN UU].
Punjabi dulankaṛ u
U+0A0F GURMUKHI LETTER EE
Independent vowel ẹ
The corresponding vowel-sign is ੇ [U+0A47 GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN EE].
Punjabi lāvā̃ e
U+0A10 GURMUKHI LETTER AI
Independent vowel ạʲ
The corresponding vowel-sign is ੈ [U+0A48 GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN AI].
Punjabi dulāvā̃ ɛ
U+0A13 GURMUKHI LETTER OO
Independent vowel ọ
The corresponding vowel-sign is ੋ [U+0A4B GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN OO].
Punjabi hōṛā o
U+0A14 GURMUKHI LETTER AU
Independent vowel ạʷ
The corresponding vowel-sign is ੌ [U+0A4C GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN AU].
Punjabi kanōṛā ɔ
U+0A3E GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN AA
Description in the Unicode standard:
Vowel sign ā
The corresponding independent vowel is ਆ [U+0A06 GURMUKHI LETTER AA].
Punjabi kannā ɑ, ä
U+0A3F GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN I
Description in the Unicode standard:
Vowel sign i
The corresponding independent vowel is ਇ [U+0A07 GURMUKHI LETTER I].
U+0A40 GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN II
Description in the Unicode standard:
U+0A41 GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN U
Description in the Unicode standard:
Vowel sign u
The corresponding independent vowel is ਉ [U+0A09 GURMUKHI LETTER U].
U+0A42 GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN UU
Description in the Unicode standard:
Vowel sign ū
The corresponding independent vowel is ਊ [U+0A0A GURMUKHI LETTER UU].
Punjabi dulankaṛ u
U+0A47 GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN EE
Description in the Unicode standard:
U+0A48 GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN AI
Description in the Unicode standard:
Vowel sign aʲ
The corresponding independent vowel is ਐ [U+0A10 GURMUKHI LETTER AI].
Punjabi dulāvā̃ ɛ
U+0A4B GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN OO
Description in the Unicode standard:
U+0A4C GURMUKHI VOWEL SIGN AU
Description in the Unicode standard:
Vowel sign aʷ
The corresponding independent vowel is ਔ [U+0A14 GURMUKHI LETTER AU].
Punjabi kanōṛā ɔ
U+0A4D GURMUKHI SIGN VIRAMA
Virama ͓
Punjabi halant
Mostly used to indicate subjoined characters in syllable-initial clusters, eg. ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧ prəbə́nd̪ government. Otherwise, unlike other indic scripts, Gurmukhi generally doesn't use the virama to indicate dropped vowel sounds. The reader just needs to know how to pronounce the word.
The virama may also be used occasionally to suppress the vowel in Sanskritised text, or in dictionaries for extra phonetic information.w
U+0A3C GURMUKHI SIGN NUKTA
Description in the Unicode standard:
Nukta ̣
Punjabi
Used with an existing consonant to represent an extended sound used for foriegn words, particularly Urdu or Persian.
U+0A70 GURMUKHI TIPPI
Description in the Unicode standard:
Vowel nasalisation ṃ
Punjabi tippi
Used with vowels a, i, u, and with final ū to indicate nasalisation, eg. ਮੂੰਡਾ mūṃḍā muɳɖɑ boy. ( ਂ [U+0A02 GURMUKHI SIGN BINDI] is used for all other vowels.)
Geminated mm and nn may be written using a nasalisation diacritic associated with the preceding vowel, eg. ਲੰਮੀ ləmmi long.d
U+0A02 GURMUKHI SIGN BINDI
Vowel nasalisation ṁ
Punjabi bindi
Used to indicate nasalisation, except for vowels a, i, u, and with final ū (for those, see ੰ [U+0A70 GURMUKHI TIPPI]).
U+0A03 GURMUKHI SIGN VISARGA
Visarga ḥ
Punjabi visarg
Used only very occasionally. In some cases it acts like a Sanskrit visarga, producing a voiceless h sound, but in others it represents an abbreviation, in the same way the period is used in English.w
U+0A75 GURMUKHI SIGN YAKASH
Description in the Unicode standard:
Medial y ʸ
Punjabi yakash
Occasionally, a cluster ending with y is rendered using this diacritic, eg. .ਕਲੵਚਰੈ.
U+0A51 GURMUKHI SIGN UDAAT
High tone marker ˊ
Punjabi udaat
Used in older texts to indicate a high tone.
U+0A71 GURMUKHI ADDAK
Description in the Unicode standard:
Gemination marker ʺ
Punjabi addak
Doubling or reinforcement of a consonant sound is indicated, unusually for an indic script, using this diacritic. It is typed before the consonant (in this way it resembles the small tsu in Japanese), and is placed to the left of the consonant it affects (not over it), eg. ਪੱਕੀ pəkki ripe.
The diacritic may appear over the right side of the preceding consonant, but if that consonant has a vowel sign or extension above the horizontal topline, it may be displayed on a short extension of the joining line. See for example ਭੁੱਲ ਭੇੱਲ ਉੱਛਲ (effect may vary by font).
U+0A74 GURMUKHI EK ONKAR
Description in the Unicode standard:
Symbol
Punjabi ek onkar
Religious symbol that can have various different forms. Unicode classes it as a letter. The shape in the Unicode charts is highly stylised.
U+0A66 GURMUKHI DIGIT ZERO
U+0A67 GURMUKHI DIGIT ONE
U+0A68 GURMUKHI DIGIT TWO
U+0A69 GURMUKHI DIGIT THREE
U+0A6A GURMUKHI DIGIT FOUR
U+0A6B GURMUKHI DIGIT FIVE
U+0A6C GURMUKHI DIGIT SIX
U+0A6D GURMUKHI DIGIT SEVEN
U+0A6E GURMUKHI DIGIT EIGHT
U+0A6F GURMUKHI DIGIT NINE