Understand the two written labels

The school dictionary uses ਮੁਕਤਾ for a letter without an attached vowel sign. Here the task is to recognise that written condition. Look for a separate sign rather than adding an invented mark to represent its absence. The entry also has nontechnical meanings, which are outside this lesson.[1]

The kanna entry identifies the sign associated with ਆ, and the Language Department’s entry explicitly displays ਾ. Compare its upright shape with the consonant beside it. In the examples below, locating this visible sign is more reliable than guessing from an English translation or counting consonants alone.[2][5]

Return to the checked water word

The dictionary records ਜਲ for water. Look at ਜ and then the final ਲ: neither carries kanna in this checked spelling. Copy the word without inserting a sign after its first consonant. Use it as the unmarked example for the comparison, preserving the two-letter sequence you have already encountered.[3]

See what changes in the net word

The separate ਜਾਲ entry includes a net sense. Its spelling adds kanna after ਜ before ਲ. Compare the complete words, locate the visible difference, and match each with its selected meaning. The exercise concerns these two checked spellings; do not create a general rule that every bare final consonant must be followed by an extra spoken vowel.[4]

Your learning objective

Recognise the visible kanna in ਜਾਲ and compare it with the checked unmarked spelling ਜਲ.

Prerequisites: Complete Gurmukhi lesson 10 before this lesson. Level 11 · Gurmukhi.

Check your understanding

Which checked spelling contains kanna after ਜ?

Answer: ਜਾਲ. ਜਾਲ has kanna after ਜ. The checked water spelling ਜਲ has no kanna there.

Interactive feedback and progress appear when the tools load. Answer evidence: PH-LAN-0041-S3 PH-LAN-0041-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. Joga Singh, editor; Punjabi University Punjabi Kosh (school level). Punjabi reference entry: ਮੁਕਤਾ ↗institutional dictionary or authored reference entry · Source date: 2014-02-25 (online block; print-edition date not established) · Locator: Exact named school-level Punjabi Kosh block under ਮੁਕਤਾ, before its author/source/date footer; web posting 2014-02-25 (print publication date not established). Accessed 2026-11-01.Actual complete named school-dictionary block inspected. Selected headword/gloss supplies lexical facts; copying, recognition and quiz directions are original teaching material. Other works on the aggregate page are separately identified.Return to Script form 1 ↑Return to Understand the two written labels, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. Joga Singh, editor; Punjabi University Punjabi Kosh (school level). Punjabi reference entry: ਕੰਨਾ ↗institutional dictionary or authored reference entry · Source date: 2014-02-24 (online block; print-edition date not established) · Locator: Exact named school-level Punjabi Kosh block under ਕੰਨਾ, before its author/source/date footer; web posting 2014-02-24 (print publication date not established). Accessed 2026-11-01.Actual complete named school-dictionary block inspected. Selected headword/gloss supplies lexical facts; copying, recognition and quiz directions are original teaching material. Other works on the aggregate page are separately identified.Return to Understand the two written labels, paragraph 2 ↑
  3. Bhai Maya Singh; Munshi Gulab Singh & Sons. The Panjabi Dictionary (1895): ਜਲ ↗historical lexicon, inspected original 1895 text · Source date: 1895 · Locator: Original 1895 edition, printed 470, PDF 486 (one-based); left column, JAL entry. 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 Return to the checked water word, paragraph 1 ↑
  4. Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha; Language Department Punjab, Patiala, 1981 photo-offset publisher. Gurushabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh: ਜਾਲ (original text; 1981 photographic reproduction) ↗historical dictionary text in inspected photographic reproduction · Source date: 1981 · Locator: 1981 print517, left column, ਜਾਲ sense2; source PH-LAN-0041-S4; zero-based leaf 600, PDF page 601; 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 4 ↑Return to See what changes in the net word, paragraph 1 ↑
  5. Language Department Punjab; hosted by Punjabi University. ਕੰਨਾ — Punjabi Kosh, Language Department Punjab ↗institutional lexical reference, exact displayed glyph · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Actual attributed Language Department Punjabi Kosh block under ਕੰਨਾ, explicitly displaying the isolated ਾ sign; separate from the school-level block’s reference to ਆ. Accessed 2026-11-01.The full named block was inspected. This source supports the displayed isolated glyph, while the separately credited school dictionary supplies its sign-name description. The same aggregate URL contains distinct attributed works.Return to Script form 2 ↑Return to Understand the two written labels, paragraph 2 ↑
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Record PH-LAN-0041 · English edition · human review not performed