Alif ا

1. If alif ا is at the start of a word and by itself, it is pronounced as a ਅ [a], but if positioned in the middle or end of a word, it is pronounced as the long ਆ [ā].
2. To represent the long ਆ [ā] instead of simple ਅ [a] at the beginning of a word, the maddah marker is added on top of alif ا as آ. For example:
3. Alif ا may also be used as a placeholder for expressing the short vowel sounds ਉ [u] or ਇ [i] at the start of a word using the pesh and zer vowel markers. These markers are often omitted meaning the pronunciation of alif ا as ਉ [u], ਇ [i], ਅ [a] must then be inferred from context.

Wāō و

1. If wāō و is written at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced simply as ਵ [v]
2. To indicate the wāō و at the beginning of a word is one of the long vowel ਓ [ō], ਊ [ū], ਔ [au], alif ا is added right before it. Notice how the short vowel markers zabar اَ and pesh اُ can be used to indicate which long vowel is being represented. Again, this is often left out so the exact long vowel must be inferred from context.
   A word beginning with alif ا and wāō و does not always indicate a long vowel.
3. If wāō و appears in the middle or end of a word however, it may be pronounced as ਵ [v] or the long vowels ਓ [ō], ਊ [ū], ਔ [au]. The correct sound must often simply be inferred from context.

Chhōṭī-ye ی

1. Chhōṭī-ye ی at the beginning word is simple pronounced as ਯ [y].
2. To indicate the chhōṭī-ye ی at the start of a word is one of the long vowels ਐ [ā], ਏ [ē], ਈ [ī], an alif ا is added right before. Notice how the short vowel markers zabar اَ and zer اِ can be used to indicate which long vowel is being represented. Again, this is often left out so the exact long vowel must be inferred from context.
   While rare, a word beginning with alif ا and chhōtī-ye ی is not always pronounced with a long vowel at the start.
3. A chhōṭī-ye ی in the middle of a word, may be pronounced as ਐ [ā], ਏ [e], ਈ [ī]. Without short vowel markers, the correct sound is simply to be inferred from context.
4. If used at the end of a word, chhōtī-ye ی is always pronounced as ਈ [ī].

Vaḍḍī-ye ے

1. Vaḍḍī-ye ے is used to pronounce the ਐ [ā], ਏ [e] sound and is always written at the end of a word.
2. To express the same ਐ [ae], ਏ [e] sound in the middle of a word, chhōṭī-ye ی is used as described above.

Zabar اَ

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Zabar is written as a small dash above the harf it modifies and is used to indicate that the ਅ [a] sound must be pronounced.

Note: Because an ਅ [a] sound is already produced after each harf by default, zabar is often not needed unless the exact pronunciation needs to be clarified. It is more commonly used to indicate the pronunciation of certain long vowels.

Zer اِ

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Zer is written as a small dash below a harf to pronounce the ਇ [i] sound.

Pesh اُ

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Pesh appears as a small dash with a loop written above the harf it modifies. Pesh is used to produce the short ਉ [u] sound.

Hamzā ء (Dipthong)

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Hamzā ء marks when two vowels are written and pronounced consecutively (dipthong). It is often written above and between two vowels, but may be written a couple different ways depending on font and writing style.

Tashdīd (Gemination)

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Tashdīd is a marker used to emphasize or extend the sound of a certain consonant and is written right above the harf being modified. This is technically referred to as gemination and is equivalent to the Gurmukhi adhak ੱ which serves the same function and is written similarly. It is sometimes written as a double consonant in Romanized spelling.

Sukūn / Jazm

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The sukūn or jazm marker is used to indicate that an ਅ [a] sound is not pronounced after the harf it is written over. It is effectively similar to the halant in Gurmukhi which is used to indicate two letters are joined and meant to be pronounced continuously. This marker is often not used, but is useful for clarifying precise pronunciation. This marker can be written in the following three ways:

ﹾ

ْ

ۡ

Consider the following examples:

Tanwīn اً اٍ اٌ

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The tanwīn is a marker used in Arabic origin words which, in the original Arabic, is used to indicate grammatical case. While it does not serve a grammatical purpose in Punjabi, the original Arabic spelling of some words including the tanwīn have been preserved and used in Punjabi. It has the following three forms created by simply doubling zabar, zer, pesh (applied to alif ا here):

اً	اٍ	اٌ
ਅਨ [an]	ਇਨ [in]	ਉਨ [un]

While rare in Punjabi, it is most commonly seen in Arabic-origin adverbs such as the following:

Ayn ع

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Ayn ع has a unique pronunciation that does not match any Gurmukhi letter and while it is not considered a vowel, it is often represented in Gurmukhi using the letters ੳ, ਅ, ੲ. Like alif ا, ayn ع by itself is often simply pronounced as ਅ [a] as in the words

When written together with short or long vowels, its pronunciation may be modified similarly to how alif ا is modified.

1. ayn + alif عا is pronounced as ਆ [ā].
2. ayn + chhōtī-ye عی is pronounced as ਐ [ae], ਇ [i], ਈ [ī].
3. ayn + wao عو is pronounced as ਔ [au].
   This is not to be confused in cases where wāō و represents the ਵ [v] sound.

The pronunciation of ayn ع may also be modified by short vowel-markers as follows:

1. ayn + zabar عَ is pronounced as ਅ [a] or ਆ [ā].
2. ayn + zer عِ is pronounced as ਇ [i].
3. ayn + pesh عُ is pronounced as ਉ [u].

Note some additional patterns with ayn ع:

• Note in some words, ayn ع is preserved from the original Arabic or Persian spelling, but not pronounced or expressed in the Gurmukhi spelling:
• An ayn ع at the end of a word may be expressed in Gurmukhi spelling with ਆ [ā], ਅ [a], ਹ [h]:

Note that because ayn ع is typically only used in Persio-Arabic loan-words, the above described patterns only describe how ayn ع is meant to be pronounced for such words. For spelling non Persio-Arabic words (and particularly Sanskrit-origin and native Punjabi words), alif ا is preferred for producing the same pronunciation. Consider the following Sanskrit-origin words:

Nūn ن & Nūn-ḡuna ں

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To express any nasalization (ਂ / ੰ) at the end of a word, nūn-ḡuna ں is used.

Nūn ḡuna ں is never used at the start or in the middle of a word. So, to express a nasalization (ਂ) or stressed nasalization (ੰ) in the middle of a word, nūn ن is simply used.

In these cases, a small diacritic mark called ultā jazm marked above nūn ن is used to clarify that the nūn ن is not pronounced the consonant ਨ [n]. This diacritic mark is often not used.

Nūn ن commonly represents a simple ਨ [n] sound, but may also represent ਣ [ṇ] (as aṛnūn ݨ is often not used), ਞ [ñ] or ਙ [ng]. The latter two may also sometimes be expressed with nūn + jīm نج and nūn + gāf نگ respectively.

Chhoṭī-he ہ

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A chhoṭī-he ہ at the start or middle of a word is pronounced as a simple ਹ [h].

At the end of a word, it is often pronounced as ਆ [ā]. In some cases, though, it is pronounced as ਹ [h].

The chhoṭī-he at the end of some words can be pronounced differently.

A double chhoṭī-he is sometimes used at the end of a word when the ਹ [h] sound is meant to be pronounced at the end.

Dō-chashmī-he ھ

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When added after any other harf, dō-chashmī-he ھ has the effect of a tonal sound by appending a half ਹ [h] to the end of a harf.