PRONUNCIATION

Guide to the Romanized version of quotations from the Guru Granth Saheb.

A. CONSONANTS
Gurmukhi Roman Word in Roman letters Word in Gurmukhi letters Meaning
letter Letter using the relevant letter using the relevant letter
from the second column from the first column
s s Sabh sB All
h h Het ihq Affection
k k Krodh kroD Anger
K kh Khayl Kyl Play
g g Guru gurU Teacher
G gh Ghar Gr House
| ng Ngyani / gyani i|AwnI / igAwnI Possessing divine knowledge
c c Cor cor Thief
C ch Chaata Cwqw Umbrella
j j Jahaaj jhwj Ship
J jh Jhaaroo JwVU Broom
\ ny Sunyi su\I Quiet
t t Tap t`p Jump
T th Thag Tg Robber
f d Dar fr Fear
F dh Dholak Folk Drum
x n Hun hux Now
q t Tan qn Body
Q th Thuk Quk Sputum
d d Den idn Day
D dh Dhan Dn Wealth
n n Net inq Everyday
p p Peta ipqw Father
P f Fal Pl Fruit
b b Ben ibn Without
B bh Bhagat Bgq Saint
m m Man mn Mind
X y Yam Xm Messenger of death
r r Roti rotI Bread
l l Loha lohw Iron
v v Vasai vsY Dwell
V r Koora kUVw Rubbish
(n) in brackets, and (g) in brackets after the consonant 'n' both indicate a nasalised sound - Eg. 'Tu(n)'
meaning 'you'; 'saibhan(g)' meaning 'by himself'. All consonants in Punjabi / Gurmukhi are sounded - Eg. 'pai-r'
meaning 'foot' where the final 'r' is sounded.
 B. VOWELS

Vowels Symbols in Roman Word in Roman Word in Meaning

Gurmukhi letter letters Gurmukhi letters
Mukhta a man mn Mind
Kanna w aa taap qwp Fever
Sehari i e ek iek One
Behari I i moti (short vowel) moqI Pearl
I ee jeet (long vowel) jIq Win
Aunkar u u put puq Son
Dulainkray U oo noor nUr Light
Laa(n) y ay khayl Kyl Play
Dulaava(n) Y ai bhai BY Fear
Hora o o bol bol Speak
Kanaura O au caurasih cOrwsIh Eighty - four

Points to note:
(a) The use of 'a' for the kanna as a short vowel or the use of 'aa' for the long vowel is
a matter of discretion. For Bwxw some might use bhaana whilst some might write
it as bhana. In these articles an attempt has, as far as possible, been made to
differentiate between the short and long vowel sounds of the kanna by using one
'a' for the short sound and 'aa' for the long vowel sound.

(b) Words pey, pwey; gey, gwey; are written thus in Roman: pa-ay, paa-ay; ga-ay,
gaa-ay.

(c) The sehari is used as a short version of the laa(n) 'ay' . Eg. 'ek' is the short version
of 'ayk' meaning one and they are written as iek, eyk. Exception to this has
however been made in (1) the use of 'i' instead of 'e' in certain proper nouns as in
'Sikh', 'Singh', and (2) the use of 'e' instead of 'ay' in proper nouns as in 'Dev',
'Teg', 'Ved'.

(d) The 'u' for aunkar is used as short form of the hora. Eg. 'ehu' and 'eho' meaning
'this' - iehu, ieho.

(e) When a number of vowels are used an attempt has been made to separate the
syllables by using the hyphen, to avoid confusion. Eg. Pa-ee-ai - pweIAY.

(f) Vowels 'a-ee' are used for words: bha-ee, ma-ee, la-ee … BweI, mweI, lweI.

(g) Vowels 'a-i' are used for words: bha-i, ma-i, la-i … BeI, meI, leI.

(h) Vowels 'ai' are used for words: bhai, mai, lai … BY, mY, lY.

(h) 'y' is used as a vowel in words such as maya, gyan, pyar , dayal.
TEXT GUIDE
1. All Gurmukhi words written in Roman script are given in italics.

2. To relate what is mentioned in the text to the quotation from the Guru Granth
Saheb, hyphens, or hyphen and some other appropriate punctuation mark, are
used to give the equivalent word or phrase from the relevant quotation which
follows the text. Sometimes this method is used to give the meaning of a word
even though it is not in the quotation. In some places where the Gurmukhi word
or phrase is found in the text the meaning in English is given subsequently by
using hyphens, or hyphen and another punctuation mark.

3. An oblique line i.e. slash, is used separating:

(a) Two or more Gurmukhi words with a slight difference in spelling due to the
way it is spoken in different areas. Eg: shaant / saant meaning 'quiet and
peace'; kaagar / kaagad meaning 'paper'; koel / kokel which is the name of a
bird.

(b) Two or more words different completely in spelling but having the same
meaning. Eg: Nermal / pavetar / soocay meaning 'clean or pure'; neer / jal /
paani meaning 'water'. (c) Inflected forms of a word having the same root.
Eg: doojai / dooja / dooji referring to 'maya'; Kartai / karta / kartaar
meaning ‘creator’; dhaul / dhaulaa meaning 'white bull’.