Vowels.
These are fairly similar and as you already know about mukta, I have ommitted it.
ਆ ਕਾ The reason for a kannaa to go only half way down from the bar to the bottom is so that it is unlikely that you would confuse a ਰਾ with a ਗ.
However, that is not an issue here because we don't use the bar and ਗ (
) is joined anyway so it can't be confused.
With this in mind, there is no reason why you need to be careful about it only going half way down so, if you want, you can write it so that it goes all of the way down.
ਇ ਕਿ The sihari is a lot taller than when writing it Gurbani-style. This just makes it easier to read so that you don't confuse it with a tippee (ਗੰ for instance).
When you are writing it with eerdee, ਇ, you can use the end of it to make the line in the errdee so that effectively you are writing a taenka and using the sihari to make it into an eerdee-sihari.
Note that you don't need to bother to draw the horizontal bar. It is not needed here.
ਈ ਕੀ The bihari is pretty much the same are the sihari above.
It is a lot taller than when writing it Gurbani-style, making it easier to read so that you don't confuse it with a tippee kanna (ਗੰ ਰਾੰ for instance (which is why you have a bindi over the kanna instead of a tippee when there is room enough for a tippee - this writing system is very well designed when you start looking into how it has been put together)).
Again, when you are writing it with eerdee, ਇ, you can use the end of it to make the line in the errdee so that effectively you are writing a taenka and using the bihari to make it into an eerdee-bihari.
And, you don't need to bother to draw the horizontal bar because it is not needed here.
ਉ ਕੁ Oordaa Aunkard is simplified to the point of there being the middle of the '3' missed out and the pen not lifted between finishing the oordaa and starting the aunkard.
When writing the aunkard with another letter, it is just a simple, straight dash - it doesn't even have to be particularly horizontal.
ਊ ਕੂ Oordaa Dulaenkarday, again, is simplified to the point of there being the middle of the '3' missed out and the pen not lifted between finishing the oordaa and starting the dulaenkarday.
When writing the aunkard with another letter, it is just a simple, double straight dash with the pen barely leaving the paper between the dashes
Again, they don't have to be particularly horizontal as there is nothing to confuse them with.
ਏ ਕੇ Forget angled lines, this is all about speed and recognition.
Just use a simple, vertical line.
It doesn't even have to be particularly short - it can be as high as the sihari and bihari.
Being vertical, you are saving on horizontal space as well.
ਐ ਕੈ Like the laanv above, dulaavaan is just vertical lines.
Unlike the Gurbani-style dulaavaan, these don't meet where they touch the letter.
Writing them like this is very easy to get used to and if you have Punjabi lessons, you will probably have wondered why your teacher writes them like this. Now you know.
ਓ ਕੋ The oordaa form of hordaa is even quicker to write.
You don't have to make the end of it meet anything in particular so you can just write it freely.
Horda, on the other hand is a little more exagerated in its curves.
Make it almost loop, as though you were writing an elongated 's'.
Doing this makes it completely unambiguous and quite easy to read.
ਔ ਕੌ Like the Hordaa above, loop the Kanaurdaa.
Once you have the Hordaa part of it, you can either loop back to make the extra line or you can just draw in a short line.
Kanaurdaa doesn't appear anything like as much as the other vowels so taking a little bit of extra time to write it isn't going to impact that greatly upon your writing speed.
Copyright ©2007-2023 Paul Alan Grosse.
