Punjabi/Gurmukhi/Conjuncts
Conjuncts
[edit | edit source]Three consonants are used in Punjabi as conjuncts. These are half haha - ਹ੍ as in ਨ੍ਹ = ਨ+ਹ੍; half rara - ਰ੍ as in ਪ੍ਰ = ਪ+ਰ੍; and half vava - ਵ੍ as in ਸ੍ਵ = ਸ+ਵ੍. They are used only as inferior conjugates in the conjugal pair of consonants. The principal use of such conjuncts is in the words borrowed from other languages like Sanskrit, English etc. Here are some examples of the use of conjugate haha
- ਜਿੰਨ੍ਹਾ /jinnaa/ = whom
- ਯਗ੍ਹਾ /jaggaa/ = place
- ਵਜ੍ਹਾ /vajjaa/ = reason
In the above examples the conjugate haha is not spoken as normal haha but a low tone following the conjugate full consonant. Let us now see some illustrations of the use of conjugate rara.
- ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ /amrit/ = nectar
- ਪ੍ਰਿੰਟਰ /printar/ = printer
- ਪ੍ਰੋਫੈਸਰ /profesar/ = professor
Here are some illustrations of conjugate vava
- ਸ੍ਵੈਮਾਨ /svemaan/ = self-respect
- ਸ੍ਵੈਜੀਵਨੀ /svejiivanii/ = auto-biography
- ਸ੍ਵੀਕਾਰ /sviikaar/ = accept
Among these conjugate consonants half vava i.e. ਵ੍ is used only with ਸ (ਸ੍ਵ).
In the above examples where ever a lag matra is added to a conjunct the matra actually combines with the conjugate diacritic which is invariantly spoken before the full consonant.
Exercises
[edit | edit source]Write three examples each of conjugate haha, rara and vava.
- ਜਿੰਨ੍ਹਾ
- ਯਗ੍ਹਾ
- ਵਜ੍ਹਾ
- ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ
- ਪ੍ਰਿੰਟਰ
- ਪ੍ਰੋਫੈਸਰ
- ਸ੍ਵੈਮਾਨ
- ਸ੍ਵੈਜੀਵਨੀ
- ਸ੍ਵੀਕਾਰ