Shahmukhi
Shahmukhi شاہ مُکھی
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Script type | |
Time period |
12th century–present |
Direction | right-to-left script |
Official script | Pakistan |
Region | Punjab, Hazara, Azad Kashmir |
Languages | Punjabi (incl. dialects and varieties) |
Related scripts | |
Parent systems |
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Unicode | |
Shahmukhi (Punjabi: شاہ مُکھی, pronounced [ʃaːɦmʊkʰiː], lit. 'from the mouth of the Shah'; Gurmukhi: ਸ਼ਾਹਮੁਖੀ) is the right-to-left abjad-based script developed from the Perso-Arabic alphabet used for the Punjabi language varieties, predominantly in Punjab, Pakistan. It originated in the 12th century medieval Punjab through Sufi literature. It is generally written in the Nastaʿlīq calligraphic hand, which is also used for Persian and Urdu. Shahmukhi is one of the two standard scripts used for Punjabi, the other being Gurmukhi used mainly in Punjab, India.
Shahmukhi is written from right to left, while Gurmukhi is written from left to right. Shahmukhi has 36 primary letters with some other additional letters.
History
Before the advent of Shahmukhi, writing systems were not popular for the Old Punjabi varieties.
The earliest form of Shahmukhi was introduced by the Sufi poets of the 12th century medieval Punjab. It eventually became the standard and conventional writing style amongst the Punjabi Muslims, while Gurmukhi was adopted by the Sikhs in the 16th century.
The name 'Shahmukhi' is a recent coinage, imitating its counterpart 'Gurmukhi'. However, the writing of Punjabi in the Perso-Arabic script is well-attested from the 12th 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 in writing and standardising the Punjabi language; prior to this, Punjabi was primarily a spoken language, not formally taught in schools.
Shackle suggests that the Gurmukhi script was not favoured by Punjabi Muslims due to its religious (Sikh) connotations.
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.
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 | |
Noon Gunna | ◌٘ | ṉ | [◌̃], [ŋ] | Nasal vowel diacritic | ‘مُون٘ہہ’ (‘face’) |
Tashdeed | ◌ّ | Geminate | [ː] | Doubles a consonant - goes above the letter being prolonged | ‘کّ’ ('kk') |
Loan diacritics | |||||
Khari Zabar | ◌ٰ | á | [äː] | Used in certain Arabic loanwords only | ‘عیسیٰ’ (‘Jesus’) |
Zabar Tanwīn | ◌ً | an | [ən] | ‘فوراً’ (‘Immediately’) | |
Other diacritics | |||||
Hamza | ◌ٔ | varied | Indicates a diphthong between two vowels, examples such as: ‘ئ’, ‘ۓ’, ‘ؤ‘, and أ , not written as a separate diacritic |
Consonants
No. | Name | 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 | jīma | /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 | dāla | /d/ | ـد | ـد | د | د |
12 | ڈال | ḍāla | /ɖ/ | ـڈ | ـڈ | ڈ | ڈ |
13 | ذال | ẕāla | /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 | sīna | /s/ | ـس | ـسـ | سـ | س |
19 | شین | shīna | /ʃ/ | ـش | ـشـ | شـ | ش |
20 | صاد | ṣwāda | /s/ | ـص | ـصـ | صـ | ص |
21 | ضاد | ẓwāda | /z/ | ـض | ـضـ | ضـ | ض |
22 | طوئیں | t̤oʼēṉ | /t/ | ـط | ـطـ | طـ | ط |
23 | ظوئیں | z̤oʼēṉ | /z/ | ـظ | ـظـ | ظـ | ظ |
24 | عین | ʻaina | /∅/, /äː/, /ə/, /eː/, /oː/, | ـع | ـعـ | عـ | ع |
25 | غین | ġaina | /ɣ/ | ـغ | ـغـ | غـ | غ |
26 | فے | fē | /f/ | ـف | ـفـ | فـ | ف |
27 | قاف | qāfa | /q/ | ـق | ـقـ | قـ | ق |
28 | کاف | kāfa | /k/ | ـک | ـکـ | کـ | ک |
29 | گاف | gāfa | /g/ | ـگ | ـگـ | گـ | گ |
30 | لام | lāma | /l/ | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | ل |
31 | ࣇام | ḷāma | /ɭ/ | ـلؕ | ـلؕـ | لؕـ | لؕ |
32 | میم | mīma | /m/ | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | م |
33 | نون | nūna | /n, ɲ/ | ـن | ـنـ | نـ | ن |
34 | ݨون | ṇūna | /ɳ/ | ـݨ | ـݨـ | ݨـ | ݨ |
35 | نون غنّہ | nūn ġunnah | /◌̃, ŋ/ | ـں | ـن٘ـ | ن٘ـ |
ں
(ن٘) |
36 | واؤ | vāʼoa | /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 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).
Aspirates
No. | Digraph | Transcription | IPA | Example |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | بھ | bh | بھاری | |
2 | پھ | ph | پھل | |
3 | تھ | th | تھم | |
4 | ٹھ | ṭh | ٹھیس | |
5 | جھ | jh | جھاڑی | |
6 | چھ | ch | چھوکرا | |
7 | دھ | dh | دھوبی | |
8 | ڈھ | ḍh | ڈھول | |
9 | رھ | rh | بارھویں | |
10 | ڑھ | ṛh | [ɽʱ] | کڑھنا |
11 | کھ | kh | کھولنا | |
12 | گھ | gh | گھبراہٹ | |
13 | لھ | lh | [lʱ] | کولھ |
14 | مھ | mh | [mʱ] | ڈمھ |
15 | نھ | nh | [nʱ] | چنھاں |
16 | وھ | wh | [ʋʱ] | No example? |
17 | یھ | yh | [jʱ] | یھاوا |
- ے (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:
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 |
Difference from Persian and Urdu
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 /◌̃/, and ے 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 below. Characters added which differ from Urdu include: ࣇ to represent /ɭ/ and ݨ to represent /ɳ/. These characters, however are rarely used.
Pronunciation
The letter ژ is pronounced 'j' in French or as vision in English and the letter ع is often transliterated in many ways due to its changing sound in various Arabic and Persian words.
Gallery
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"Shahmukhi" written in Shahmukhi script
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Another example of poetry by Bulleh Shah in Shahmukhi