Punjab - Literature - Gurmukhi

Punjabi (also Panjabi) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan . It is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Iranian subfamily.

Gurmukhi alphabets and how to write them     Transliteration and translation of passage above

There are several different scripts used for writing the Punjabi language, depending on the region and the dialect spoken, as well as the religion of the speaker. Sikhs and others in the Indian state of Punjab tend to use the Gurmukhi ( from the mouth of the Gurus ) script. Hindus, and those living in neighbouring states such as Haryana and Himachal Pradesh sometimes use the Devanagari script. Finally, Muslims , and in general Pakistani Punjabis, use a modified Arabic script called Shahmukhi.

Modern Punjabi has borrowed extensively from other languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Persian and English. Like other North Indian languages, it is derived from Sanskrit and is therefore Indo-European . In addition, like Hindi and Urdu, it has a substantial number of loanwords from Arabic, Persian, and even a few from Turkish.

The Gurmukhi script was standardised by Guru Angad Dev in the 16th century , was designed to write the Punjabi language. The whole of the Guru Granth Sahib 's 1430 pages are written in this script. The word Gurmukhi is commonly translated as "from the Mouth of the Guru".

Gurmukhi is a form of alphabet called an abugida , as each consonant has an inherent vowel (a), that can be changed using vowel signs.

Modern Gurmukhi has forty-one consonants (Vianjans), nine vowel symbols ( Laga Matra ), two symbols for nasal sounds (Bindi and Tippi) and one symbol which duplicates the sound of any consonant (Addak). In addition, four conjuncts are used: three subjoined forms of the consonants Rara, Haha and Vava, and one half-form of Yaiyya. Use of the conjunct forms of Vava and Yaiyya in increasingly scarce in modern contexts.

Gurmukhi Origins

Like most of the North Indian writing systems, the Gurmukhi script is a descendant of the Brahmi script. The Proto-Gurmukhi letters evolved through the Gupta script , from 4th to 8th century, followed by the Sharada script , from 8th century onwards, and finally adapted their archaic form in the Devasesha stage of the Later Sharada script , dated between the 10th and 14th centuries.

There are two major theories on how the Proto-Gurmukhi script emerged in the 15th century. G.B. Singh (1950), while quoting Abu Raihan Al-Biruni 's Ta'rikh al-Hind (1030 AD), says that the script evolved from Ardhanagari. Al-Biruni writes that the Ardhanagari script was used in Bhatinda , including Sindh and western parts of the Punjab in the 10th century. For some time, Bhatinda remained the capital of the kingdom of Bhatti Rajputs of the Pal clan, who ruled North India before the Muslims occupied the country. Because of its connection with the Bhattis, the Ardhanagari script was also called Bhatachhari . According to Al-Biruni, Ardhanagari was a mixture of Nagari , used in Ujjain and Malwa , and Siddha Matrika or the Siddham script, a variant of the Sharada script used in Kashmir.

Tarlochan Singh Bedi (1999) writes that the Gurmukhi script developed in the 10-14th centuries from the Devasesha stage of the Sharada script . His argument is that from the 10th century, regional differences started to appear between the Sharada script used in Punjab, the Hill States (partly Himachal Pradesh) and Kashmir. The regional Sharada script evolves from this stage till the 14th century, when it starts to appear in the form of Gurmukhi. Indian epigraphists call this stage Devasesha, while Bedi prefers the name Pritham Gurmukhi or Proto-Gurmukhi.

Gurus adopted the Proto-Gurmukhi script to write the Guru Granth Sahib , the religious scriptures of the Sikhs. Other contemporary scripts used in the Punjab were Takri and the Lande alphabets. Also Takri was a script that developed through the Devasesha stage of the Sharada script , and is found mainly in the Hill States, such as Chamba , where it is called Chambyali and in Jammu , where it is known as Dogri . The local Takri variants got the status of official scripts in some of the Punjab Hill States , and were used for both administrative and literary purposes until the 19th century. After 1948, when Himachal Pradesh was established as an administrative unit, the local Takri variants were replaced by Devanagari.

Meanwhile, the mercantile scripts of Punjab known as the Lande were normally not used for literary purposes. Landa means alphabet "without tail", applying that the script did not have vowel symbols. In Punjab, there were atleast ten different scripts classified as Lande , Mahajani being the most popular. The Lande alphabets were used for household and trade purposes. Compared to the Lande , Sikh Gurus favoured the use of Proto-Gurmukhi , because of the difficulties involved in pronouncing words without vowel signs.

The usage of Gurmukhi letters in Guru Granth Sahib meant that the script developed its own orthographical rules. In the following epochs, Gurmukhi became the prime script applied for literary writings of the Sikhs. Later in the 20th century, the script was given the authority as the official script of the Eastern Punjabi language. Meanwhile, in Western Punjab a form of the Urdu script, known as Shahmukhi is still in use.

Shahmukhi is a script used to record the Punjabi language. It is based on the Nasta'liq style of the the Arabic script and has traditionally been used by the Punjabi Muslims of India and Pakistan. The text is written in the right to left direction and from right page to left page.

Gurmukhi Alphabets

The Gurmukhi alphabet contains thirty-five distinct letters. The first three letters are unique because they form the basis for vowels and are not consonants. Except for Aira, the first three characters are never used on their own.

OORA	AIRA	EEREE	SASSA	HAHA

KAKAA	KHAKHAA	GAGAA	GHAGHAA	NGANGAA

CHACHAA	CHHACHHAA	JAJAA	JHAJHAA	NJANJA

TAINGKAA	THATHAA	DADAA	DHADAA	NANAA

TATTAA	THATHAA	DADDAA	DHADHAA	NAANAA

PAPPAA	PHAPHAA	BABAA	BHABHAA	MAMMAA

YAYAA	RAARAA	LALLAA	VAVAA	RAADAA

SHASHSHA	KHAKHKHA	GHAGHGHA	ZAZZA	FAFFA

LALLA

In addition to these, there are six consonants created by placing a dot (bindi) at the foot (pair) of the consonant:

Gurmukhi Vowels

Gurmukhi follows similar concepts to other Brahmi scripts and as such, all consonants are followed by an inherent‘a'sound (unless at the end of a word when the ‘a' is usually dropped). This inherent vowel sound can be changed by using dependent vowel signs which attach to a bearing consonant. In some cases, dependent vowel signs cannot be used – at the beginning of a word or syllable for instance – and so an independent vowel character is used instead.

Independent vowels are constructed using three bearer characters: Ura, Aira and Iri. With the exception of Aira (which represents the vowel 'a') they are never used without additional vowel signs.



Dotted circles represent the bearer consonant. Vowels are always pronounced after the consonant they are attached to. Thus, Sihari is always written to the left, but pronounced after the character on the right.

Sample text

Transliteration

Sārē insān āzād tē ḥuqū tē ‘izzat dē liḥāẓ nāl barābar pædā hūndē næn. Oh ‘aqal samajh tē changē mundē dī pachān tē aḥisās rakhadē ne is laē ohnān nūn ikk dūjē nāl bhā´īcārē wālā salūk karna cāhī dā æ.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)