The Gurmukhi alphabet: all 35 letters and the vowel signs
Kitab Hut, Moosa · updated 2026-09-29
Gurmukhi, the script Punjabi is written in, has 35 letters, set out in seven rows of five. It is called painti akhri, the thirty-five letters. Six more letters are made by adding a dot, and ten vowel signs are written around the letters.
The 35 letters, in order
Read the chart left to right, one row at a time. This is the order every dictionary, school book and index uses, so it is worth learning in order. Each square shows the letter, its name, and its sound.
- ੳ ura carries the vowels u and o
- ਅ aira a
- ੲ iri carries the vowels i and e
- ਸ sassa s
- ਹ haha h
- ਕ kakka k
- ਖ khakha kh
- ਗ gagga g
- ਘ ghagga gh
- ਙ ngannga ng
- ਚ chacha ch
- ਛ chhachha chh
- ਜ jajja j
- ਝ jhajja jh
- ਞ nyanya ny
- ਟ tainka hard t
- ਠ thattha hard th
- ਡ dadda hard d
- ਢ dhadda hard dh
- ਣ nahna hard n
- ਤ tatta soft t
- ਥ thatha soft th
- ਦ dadda soft d
- ਧ dhadda soft dh
- ਨ nanna n
- ਪ pappa p
- ਫ phapha ph
- ਬ babba b
- ਭ bhabba bh
- ਮ mamma m
- ਯ yaiya y
- ਰ rara r
- ਲ lalla l
- ਵ vava v or w
- ੜ rharha flapped r
You may print this page and copy the chart freely, for a class or for yourself.
How the rows are arranged
- Row one holds the three vowel carriers and the letters s and h.
- Rows two to six are grouped by where in the mouth the sound is made, from the back of the throat in row two to the lips in row six.
- Within each of those rows the order is always the same: the plain sound, the breathy sound, the voiced sound, the voiced breathy sound, and the nasal.
- Row seven holds the five letters that fit none of the groups.
Hard and soft matter in rows four and five. For the hard sounds of row four the tongue curls back to touch the roof of the mouth. For the soft sounds of row five it touches the back of the teeth. English has neither exactly, which is why both rows sound like t and d to a new learner.
The ten vowel signs
A vowel in Gurmukhi is a mark written before, after, above or below a letter. Here each sign is shown on the letter kakka.
- ਕ mukta a, as in the first sound of about
- ਕਾ kanna aa, as in father
- ਕਿ sihari short i, as in bit
- ਕੀ bihari long ee, as in feet
- ਕੁ aunkar short u, as in put
- ਕੂ dulainkar long oo, as in food
- ਕੇ lavan e, as in the Punjabi word ke
- ਕੈ dulavan ai, as in cat
- ਕੋ hora o, as in go
- ਕੌ kanaura au, as in caught
The six letters with a dot
Six letters are written with a dot beneath them, for sounds that came into Punjabi from Persian and other languages.
- ਸ਼ shasha sh
- ਖ਼ khakha kh, in the throat
- ਗ਼ gagga gh, in the throat
- ਜ਼ zazza z
- ਫ਼ faffa f
- ਲ਼ lalla hard l
Three more marks
- Bindi, a dot above the line, and tippi, a small curve above the line, both make the vowel nasal. Which one is used depends on the vowel sign.
- Addhak, a small crescent above the line, doubles the letter that follows it.
What to read once you know the letters
The letters take about a week at fifteen minutes a day. After that, read things you already know by heart, and then a short book written in everyday Punjabi.
How to start reading Punjabi when you only speak it — A four-week plan.
Punjabi short stories — Each one is finished in a sitting.
Motivational books in Punjabi — Familiar books, so the script is the only new thing.
Questions readers ask
How many letters are there in the Gurmukhi alphabet?
Thirty-five, arranged in seven rows of five, which is why the alphabet is called painti akhri. Six further letters are made by adding a dot to an existing letter.
What are the first five letters of Gurmukhi?
Ura, aira, iri, sassa and haha: ੳ ਅ ੲ ਸ ਹ.
How many vowel signs does Gurmukhi have?
Ten, counting mukta, which is the vowel a and has no written sign. The other nine are written before, after, above or below the letter.
Is Gurmukhi the same as Punjabi?
Punjabi is the language and Gurmukhi is the script it is written in on the Indian side of Punjab. In Pakistan the same language is written in the Shahmukhi script.