Punjabi/Gurmukhi/Neo-group

Eighth row of Gurmukhi - the Neo-group
In the previous chapters we have learnt all the letters of original Penti, the velars, the palatals, the retroflexes, the dentals, the labials and the sonorants in addition to the vowel carriers and ਸ and ਹ. Here we will learn the letters of the eighth row (ਨਵੀਨ ਵਰਗ) of Gurmukhi. This group of letters is called the Neo group because the letters have been added to Gurmukhi to represent sounds borrowed from Persian and other foreign languages. The Neo group consists of the following letters
 * ਸ਼ ਖ਼ ਗ਼ ਜ਼ ਫ਼ ਲ਼

These are called ਸ਼ - susse pair bindi, ਖ਼ - khukhe pair bindi, ਗ਼ - gugge pair bindi, ਜ਼ - jujje pair bindi, ਫ਼ - phuphe pair bindi and ਲ਼ - lulle pair bindi. ਸ਼ is pronounced as /sh/, ਖ਼ as /khh/, ਗ਼ as /ghh/, ਜ਼ as /jhh/, ਫ਼ as /phh/ and ਲ਼ as /lh/.


 * ਸ਼ - sasse pair bindi : This is how words shark and shore are written in Gurmukhi
 * ਸ਼ਾ + ਰ + ਕ = ਸ਼ਾਰਕ = shark
 * ਸ਼ੋ + ਰ = ਸ਼ੋਰ = shore


 * ਖ਼ - khakke pair bindi : This sound is not found in English. However here are some Punjabi examples
 * ਖ਼ + ਤ = ਖ਼ਤ = letter
 * ਤ + ਖ਼ + ਤ = ਤਖ਼ਤ = throne
 * ਖ਼ + ਰ + ਗੋ + ਸ਼ = ਖ਼ਰਗੋਸ਼ = rabbit
 * ਸ਼ਾ + ਖ਼ = ਸ਼ਾਖ਼ = branch


 * ਗ਼ - gagge pair bindi : This sound is also not found in English. However here are some Punjabi examples
 * ਗ਼ + ਮ + ਲਾ = ਗ਼ਮਲਾ = flower pot


 * ਜ਼ - jajje pair bindi : This sound is equivalent to /z/. Here are some examples
 * ਜ਼ਿ + ਪ = ਜ਼ਿਪ = zip
 * ਜੈ + ਬ + ਰਾ = ਜ਼ੈਬਰਾ = zebra


 * ਫ਼ - fufe pair bindi : As in
 * ਫ਼ਾ + ਰ + ਸੀ = ਫ਼ਾਰਸੀ = faarsi(persian)


 * ਲ਼ - lulle pair bindi :

Some of these letters merely represent the sounds borrowed from foreign languages but the use of others is lexically significant for that changes the word meanings. For example
 * ਗਲ = talk and  ਗਲ਼ = decompose
 * ਸੇਰ = a unit of measurement and ਸ਼ੇਰ = lion

Exercises
1. Read these English words written in Gurmukhi
 * 1) ਸ਼ੈੱਡ
 * 2) ਸ਼ਾਉਟ
 * ਐਸ਼
 * 1) ਗੱਸ਼

2. Write these English words in Gurmukhi
 * 1) Shop
 * 2) Shoe
 * 3) Rush
 * 4) Blush
 * 5) Push

Summary
In this lesson we have learnt the six letters of the eighth row of Gurmukhi script. These letter are ਸ਼ susse pair bindi, ਖ਼ khukhe pair bindi, ਗ਼ gugge pair bindi, ਜ਼ jujje pair bindi, ਫ਼ phuphe pair bindi and ਲ਼ lulle pair bindi. We have now learnt the complete Gurmukhi alphabet:
 * ੳ ਅ ੲ ਸ ਹ
 * ਕ ਖ ਗ ਘ ਙ
 * ਚ ਛ ਜ ਝ ਞ
 * ਟ ਠ ਡ ਢ ਣ
 * ਤ ਥ ਦ ਧ ਨ
 * ਪ ਫ ਬ ਭ ਮ
 * ਯ ਰ ਲ ਵ ੜ
 * ਸ਼ ਖ਼ ਗ਼ ਜ਼ ਫ਼ ਲ਼