The velar row

The alphabet table groups ਕ ਖ ਗ ਘ ਙ together. Locate the first and fourth forms before studying the example words.[1]

The Language Department’s entry for ਕ describes contact involving the back of the tongue and soft palate. This is the place associated with the term velar. Knowing that label helps organise the row, while accurate spoken production still needs an appropriate listening model. This lesson’s exercise checks recognition of the written forms.[2]

Recognise ਕ in the pen word

Maya Singh’s 1895 dictionary includes ਕਲਮ with a pen or writing-instrument sense. Identify ਕ at the beginning, then follow the remaining letters without dropping them. Copy the whole checked word and mark its first letter in your notes. The meaning supplies a memory cue, while the displayed spelling supplies the evidence. Keep the reference example beside your copy so that your memory does not turn a similar-looking shape into a different letter.[3]

Contrast it with the house word

The dictionary gives ਘਰ with house and dwelling senses. Its first letter is ਘ, the fourth member of the displayed row. Compare the beginnings of ਘਰ and ਕਲਮ, then answer the exercise using the checked spelling. Do not assume that adding an English h to a roman label reproduces Punjabi tone or pronunciation. The practical result here is recognising two different consonants inside real words.[4]

Your learning objective

Locate ਕ and ਘ within the velar row and identify them at the beginnings of ਕਲਮ and ਘਰ.

Prerequisites: Complete Gurmukhi lesson 03 before this lesson. Level 4 · Gurmukhi.

Check your understanding

Which checked word starts with ਘ?

Answer: ਘਰ. ਘਰ starts with ਘ; ਕਲਮ starts with ਕ. These are different members of the checked row.

Interactive feedback and progress appear when the tools load. Answer evidence: PH-LAN-0034-S3 PH-LAN-0034-S4

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Gurdev Singh; Sahit Kosh Paribhashak Shabdavali, Punjabi University. Punjabi reference entry: ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ ਲਿਪੀ ↗institutional dictionary or authored reference entry · Source date: 2015-08-11 (online posting; print date not established) · Locator: Gurdev Singh entry: current alphabet-order table, row ਕ ਖ ਗ ਘ ਙ; web posting 11 August 2015. Accessed 2026-11-01.Actual named entry inspected in the university-hosted page. Other entries and reader comments on the aggregated topic page are not automatically adopted. No history, religious origin, blanket sound correspondence or unsupported pronunciation rule is adopted. Chart/typeface not reproduced as an image.Return to Script form 1 ↑Return to The velar row, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. Punjab Kosh, volume 1; Punjab Language Department. Punjabi reference entry: ਕ ↗institutional dictionary or authored reference entry · Source date: 2018-07-19 · Locator: Opening paragraph on the back of the tongue/soft palate; Punjabi Kosh entry lists fellow members ਖ ਗ ਘ ਙ. Accessed 2026-11-01.Actual named entry inspected in the university-hosted page. Other entries and reader comments on the aggregated topic page are not automatically adopted. Articulation description is a place-of-contact explanation, not an audio demonstration. No historical origin, numbered earliest claim or universal dialect rule adopted.Return to The velar row, paragraph 2 ↑
  3. Bhai Maya Singh; Munshi Gulab Singh & Sons. The Panjabi Dictionary (1895): ਕਲਮ ↗historical lexicon, inspected original 1895 text · Source date: 1895 · Locator: Original 1895 edition, printed 536, PDF 552 (one-based); right column, KALAM entry at bottom. Accessed 2026-11-01.The original printed entry and exact Gurmukhi headword were visually checked. Only the selected supported sense is used. Modern introductions, later additions and digital search results are not substituted for the printed entry.Return to Practice exercise ↑Return to Script form 2 ↑Return to Recognise ਕ in the pen word, paragraph 1 ↑
  4. Bhai Maya Singh; Munshi Gulab Singh & Sons. The Panjabi Dictionary (1895): ਘਰ ↗historical lexicon, inspected original 1895 text · Source date: 1895 · Locator: Original 1895 edition, printed 381, PDF 397 (one-based); right column, GHAR entry at top. Accessed 2026-11-01.The original printed entry and exact Gurmukhi headword were visually checked. Only the selected supported sense is used. Modern introductions, later additions and digital search results are not substituted for the printed entry.Return to Practice exercise ↑Return to Script form 3 ↑Return to Contrast it with the house word, paragraph 1 ↑
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Record PH-LAN-0034 · English edition · human review not performed