ਅ - ਐੜਾ - aerdaa - Second letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet.
Name: aerdaa Shape: ਅ Spelling: ਐੜਾ Sound: 'a' as the 'a' in 'pentagon' - see note*. Type: Vowel *Note: Being a vowel, it can take on a number of sounds:
- ਅ - (very) short 'a' like the 'a' in 'pentagon';
- ਆ - long 'a' like the 'a' in 'car';
- ਐ - cross-between: 'a' like the 'a' in 'cat' and the 'e' in 'pet' - a bit like the 'ae' in 'aeroplane';
- ਔ - long 'au' like the 'au' in 'Paul';
For more information on vowels, click on the Vowels link in the main menu on the left of the page.
Note that the ਅ sound is the default sound that occurs after each of the consonant sounds of the alphabet when it appears in a word, (except the last consonant of the word which doesn't have the 'a' sound), therefore, each consonant is effectively a syllable.
Mouth: For the basic 'a' sound, just relax your mouth and say the 'a' sound as in 'pentagon'. Tongue: flat along bottom of mouth - varies according to sound Soft Palette: not blocking nose Lips: apart - varies according to sound Vocal Chords: Used Aspirated: no
Confusion: ਅ ਘ ਪ ਮ Reading: When you first start, there is a slight chance that you might confuse ਅ with ਘ, ਪ or ਮ. Practice will sort this out fairly easily.
Also, remember that ਅ is an 'a' and not a Roman 'm' - you'll find this one out when you start reading Gurmukhi just after reading Roman text each time although this gets better as tie goes on.Writing: n/a
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