The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Punjabi pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-pa}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Punjabi phonology, Gurmukhi, and Shahmukhi for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Punjabi.

Consonants
IPA Examples English Approximation
Gurmukhi Shahmukhi ISO 15919
b ਬਿਸਤਰਾ ابستر bistarā butter
d ਦਿੱਤਾ دتا dittā duck[1]
ਜਦੋਂ جدوں jadōṁ jug
ɖ ਡੰਗਰ ڈنگر angar guard[1]

(Rhotic dialects)

ɡ ਗੱਡੀ گڈی gaḍḍī gut
ɦ ਹਾਏ ہائے hāe ahead
j ਯਾਰੀ یاری yārī yuck
k ਕਿੱਖੇ
کتھے
گھر
kitthe
ghar
scab
ਔਖਾ اوکھا aukhā cab
l ਲਾਂਬਾ لانبا lāṉbā leaf
ɭ[lower-alpha 1] ਰੌਲ਼ਾ روࣇا rauā garlic

(Rhotic dialects)

m ਮਸੀਤ مسیت masīt much
n ਨੂਹ نوہ nūh not
ɳ[lower-alpha 1] ਸੋਹਣਾ سوہݨا sohā burn
ɲ ਉਂਜ انج uñj canyon
ŋ ਕੰਗਣ کنگݨ kagaṇ bang
p ਸੁਪਨਾ
ਭਰਿਆ
سپنا
بھریا
sup
bhariyā
spot
ਫੁੱਲ پھلّ‎ phull pot
ɾ ਵਾਰੀ واری rī American atom[2]
ɽ ਕੂੜ کوڑ garter (Rhotic dialects)
ɽʱ ਉਲੇੜ੍ਹ الیڑھ uleṛh guard her (Rhotic dialects)
s ਸਾਡਾ ساڈا sāḍā sun
t ਤਿੱਲੜ تلّڑ tillaṛ stub[1]
ਓਥੇ اوتھے othē tub[1]
ਚੜ੍ਹਦਾ
ਝੂਠ
چڑھدا
جھوٹھ
caṛhdā
jhūṭh
catch
tʃʰ ਛੱਡ چھڈّ‎ chaḍḍ choose
ʈ ਸੱਟ
ਢੀਠ
سٹ
ڈھیٹھ
saṭṭa
ḍhīṭh
carts[1]
ʈʰ ਕਾਠ کاٹھ ṭh trip[1]
ʋ ਵਹੁਟੀ وہوٹی vahuṭī vat[3]
Marginal consonants
f[lower-alpha 2] ਫ਼ੇਰ فیر fer fuss
ɣ[lower-alpha 3] ਕਾਗ਼ਜ਼ کاغذ ġaz similar to a French r
q[lower-alpha 3] ਕ਼ਲਮ قلم qalam somewhat like caught
r[lower-alpha 4] ਮੁਕ਼ੱਰਰ مقرّر muqarrar trilled r, like in Castillian Spanish
ʃ ਹੋਸ਼ ہوش hoś shoe
x[lower-alpha 2] ਖ਼ਾਲਿਸ خالص k͟hālis Scottish Loch
z[lower-alpha 3] ਹਜ਼ਾਰ ہزار hazār zoo
Vowels
IPA Examples English Approximation
Gurmukhi Shahmukhi ISO 15919
ə ਕਮ کم kam about
ਨਾਲ਼ ناࣇ nā father
e ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ واہِگرو vāhiguru say (shortened ē)
ਜੇਬ جیب jēb say
ɛ ਰਹਿਣਾ رَہݨا rahiṇā pen[5]
ɛː ਪੈਂਦਾ پَیندا painda fairy
ɪ ਇਮਲੀ اِملی imalī sit[6]
ਈਖ اِیکھ īkh seat[6]
i ਬੱਤੀ بَتّی battī happy[6]
ਬੋਲੋ بولو bōlō border (Received Pronunciation) go (General American)
ɔː ਕੌਣ کَوݨ kaun dog (Received Pronunciation) horse (General American)
ʊ ਤੁਕ تُک tuk book
ਸੂਤ سُوت sūt moon[6]
◌̃ ਹੰਸ ہن٘س has nasal vowel faun
([ãː, õː], etc.)
ਮੈਂ مَیں mai
Suprasegmentals
IPA Example Notes
ˈ◌ [pənˈdʒaːb] stress
(placed before stressed syllable)
◌ː [ˈʊtːəɾ pɾəˈdeːʃ] doubled consonant
(placed after doubled consonant)
á, é, ... ਕੋੜ੍ਹਾ کوڑھا kohṛā 'leper' high, or high-falling tone
à, è, ... ਘੋੜਾ گھوڑا ghoṛā 'horse' low, or low-rising tone

Notes

badlo
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Punjabi contrast dental [t] and [d] with apical postalveolar [ʈ] and [ɖ] (as well as aspirated variants). Both sets sound like /t/ and /d/ to most English speakers.
  2. /ɾ/ can surface as a trill [r] in word-initial and syllable-final positions. Geminate /ɾː/ is always a trill.
  3. [w] occurs as an allophone of [ʋ] when / و/ is in an onglide position between an onset consonant and a following vowel while [ʋ], which may phonetically be [v], occurs otherwise.
  4. Bhardwaj, Mangat (25 August 2016) (in English). Panjabi: A Comprehensive Grammar. Routledge. p. 390. ISBN 978-1-317-64326-5. "Almost all Panjabi speakers (and many Urdu speakers as well) pronounce the first two of these words with k instead of q."
  5. [ɛ] occurs as an allophone of /ə/ near an /ɦ/ that is surrounded on both sides by schwas. Usually, the second schwa becomes silent, which results in an [ɛ] preceding an /ɦ/.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 /iː, ɪ/ and /uː, ʊ/ are neutralised to [i, u] at the end of a word.
  1. 1.0 1.1 Considered an allophone of l and n in the Shahmukhi alphabet, though pronounced.
  2. 2.0 2.1 f and x are not considered native sounds and are present only in loanwords. f they can be considered as tonal sounds of for Indian dialects, though in Pakistani dialects and in the Shahmukhi alphabet, it is not considered a tonal sound, and some words are natively derived such as فیر 'fer' (ਫ਼ੇਰ 'pher' ~ ਫਿਰ 'phir'). x may, however, be considered a tonal sound for in Pakistani dialects but not written as such.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Not considered a native sound (nor a native letter in Gurmukhi, hence are represented with Gurmukhi characters paired with the Nuqta - unlike Shahmukhi, for which the original letter from Persian (which is derived from the Arabic script) is used. The phonology is, however, retained in Pakistani dialects except for /q/ for which only the spelling is retained, but it is pronounced interchangeably with /k/.[4] In Indian dialects, /ɣ/ is sometimes substituted with /[[Error using {{IPAsym}}: IPA symbol "g" not found in list|g]]/; /z/ with /d͡ʒ/, and /x/ with //.
  4. /ɾ/ can surface as a trill [r] in word-initial and syllable-final positions. Geminate /ɾː/ is always a trill.