The retroflex row

Recognise the row ਟ ਠ ਡ ਢ ਣ. Compare its first and third letters before locating them in words.[1]

The Language Department’s ਟ entry associates this group with a turned tongue-tip contacting the roof of the mouth. Retroflex is the label used here for that place of articulation. It distinguishes the row from the dental row in the next lesson; it does not make an ordinary English t a complete model for this Punjabi consonant.[2]

Keep the complete cap spelling

The checked entry supplies ਟੋਪੀ with a small-cap sense. Locate ਟ before attending to the other letters and vowel marks. Copy the whole word, then point back to the initial form in the displayed row. The vowel marks are preserved here as part of a real spelling, even though their separate lessons come later. Keep their position in your copy rather than replacing the full example with the consonants alone.[3]

Find a different row member in box

Maya Singh’s 1895 dictionary records ਡੱਬਾ for a small box. This exercise uses box. Its initial ਡ is different from ਟ in the cap example. Compare the two beginnings while covering the meanings, then restore the meanings as a memory check. Do not drop the mark over the box word when writing it. Choosing the correct initial letter is the present objective, while later lessons explain the additional signs.[4]

Your learning objective

Distinguish ਟ and ਡ in ਟੋਪੀ and ਡੱਬਾ while retaining their complete source-checked spellings.

Prerequisites: Complete Gurmukhi lesson 05 before this lesson. Level 6 · Gurmukhi.

Check your understanding

Which checked word begins with ਡ?

Answer: ਡੱਬਾ. ਡੱਬਾ begins with ਡ; ਟੋਪੀ begins with ਟ. The question concerns their different initial letters.

Interactive feedback and progress appear when the tools load. Answer evidence: PH-LAN-0036-S3 PH-LAN-0036-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 ਟ ਠ ਡ ਢ ਣ; 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 retroflex row, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. Punjab Kosh, volume 2; Punjab Language Department. Punjabi reference entry: ਟ ↗institutional dictionary or authored reference entry · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Opening paragraph: ਟ-varg and tongue-tip/roof-of-mouth description. 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. Only the stated articulatory place and letter identity are used. Indus-script/earliest-origin claims and speculative palaeography excluded.Return to The retroflex row, paragraph 2 ↑
  3. Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha; Language Department Punjab, Patiala, 1981 photo-offset publisher. Gurushabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh: ਟੋਪੀ (original text; 1981 photographic reproduction) ↗historical dictionary text in inspected photographic reproduction · Source date: 1981 · Locator: 1981 print553, left column, ਟੋਪੀ; source PH-LAN-0036-S3; zero-based leaf 638, PDF page 639; physical imprint leaf5/PDF6 and reproduction declaration leaf7/PDF8. Accessed 2026-11-01.The exact main-text headword and selected lexical sense were visually inspected in the photographic reproduction. The edition identifies the main text as a reproduction of the first four-volume work; later appendix and prefatory commentary are not the vocabulary source. The lesson directions and exercises are original teaching material, not a quotation from the dictionary.Return to Practice exercise ↑Return to Script form 2 ↑Return to Keep the complete cap spelling, paragraph 1 ↑
  4. Bhai Maya Singh; Munshi Gulab Singh & Sons. The Panjabi Dictionary (1895): ਡੱਬਾ ↗historical lexicon, inspected original 1895 text · Source date: 1895 · Locator: Original 1895 edition, printed 253, PDF 271 (one-based); right column, DABBA entry near 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 3 ↑Return to Find a different row member in box, paragraph 1 ↑
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Record PH-LAN-0036 · English edition · human review not performed