Gurmukhi is the Sikh language of prayer in which the Guru Granth Sahib is written. The word "gurmukhi" means "guru's mouth." The second Sikh guru, Angad Dev, emphasized reading scripture daily. He developed a phonetic script, derived from a 16th century script, which could be easily learned by the common person. Guru Angad transcribed the compositions of his predecessor, Guru Nanak, into Gurmukhi.
Gurmukhi is similar to Punjabi, but differs in that it is a poetic rather spoken language. The Punjabi alphabet also has additional modern day characters which are not found in the scriptural verses of the Guru Granth Sahib.
Gurmukhi Consonants.
The Gurmukhi script alphabet has 35 main characters grouped in such a way as to form a grid. In the top row, the first three symbols are vowel holders followed by two consonants. The remaining 30 consonants are arranged in such a way so that the second through sixth rows are both horizontal and vertical as per the significance of their pronunciation. For example the last vertical row of letters all have a nasal inflection. The fourth horizontal row are all palatal and are pronounced with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth just behind the ridge in back of the teeth, while the fourth vertical row are aspirated, and pronounced with a puff of air, and so on.
Gurmukhi is similar to Punjabi, but differs in that it is a poetic rather spoken language. The Punjabi alphabet also has additional modern day characters which are not found in the scriptural verses of the Guru Granth Sahib.
Gurmukhi Consonants.
The Gurmukhi script alphabet has 35 main characters grouped in such a way as to form a grid. In the top row, the first three symbols are vowel holders followed by two consonants. The remaining 30 consonants are arranged in such a way so that the second through sixth rows are both horizontal and vertical as per the significance of their pronunciation. For example the last vertical row of letters all have a nasal inflection. The fourth horizontal row are all palatal and are pronounced with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth just behind the ridge in back of the teeth, while the fourth vertical row are aspirated, and pronounced with a puff of air, and so on.
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