Dots and outlines

The layout reference explains that numerous Arabic-script letters share a skeleton and differ through added signs. Apply that general visual observation to the separately checked Punjabi examples below, whose meanings come from the dictionary. Inspect the lower dots before deciding which initial letter you have found.[1]

Recognise the beginning of child

The Punjabi dictionary records بچہ with a child sense. Locate ب at its beginning and notice its single lower dot. Follow the remaining letters before copying the whole word. Keep your attention on the initial letter without dropping the rest of the checked spelling. The entry also displays a vocalized form; those additional marks have a different teaching purpose from identifying the consonant’s dot. For this exercise use the unmarked headword shown above, then match it with the selected child meaning.[3]

Contrast the beginning of stone

The separate entry gives پتھر for stone or rock. Its first letter is پ, with three lower dots rather than the child word’s one. Compare the two beginnings before copying each complete word beside its meaning. Retain the later letters, including the he-shaped component that a later lesson studies. Cover the meanings and sort the words by their initial consonants, then uncover them to check your result. The exercise depends on the actual beginning of the word rather than a guess from its length.[4]

Your learning objective

Distinguish initial ب from پ in بچہ and پتھر and identify the checked child word.

Prerequisites: Complete Shahmukhi lesson 02 before this lesson. Level 3 · Shahmukhi.

Check your understanding

Which checked word begins with the single-dot ب and means child?

Answer: بچہ. بچہ is the checked child word and begins with ب. پتھر begins with the three-dot پ.

Interactive feedback and progress appear when the tools load. Answer evidence: PH-LAN-0053-S3 PH-LAN-0053-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. W 3 C Arabic Script Language Enablement community; editor Richard Ishida. Arabic & Persian Layout Requirements ↗technical Group Draft Note · Source date: 2025-10-02 · Locator: Section 4.1, opening paragraph on shared letter skeletons distinguished by diacritic signs; general script scope in section 2.4. Accessed 2026-11-01.Actual dated document inspected. This is a work-in-progress layout reference focused on Standard Arabic/Persian, used only for the specified shared script/layout principle. Its language samples are not relabelled Punjabi. Actual Punjabi words and passages come from the separate dictionary.Return to Dots and outlines, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. M. G. Abbas Malik; 27 th Internationalization and Unicode Conference, Berlin. Towards a Unicode Compatible Punjabi Character Set ↗primary conference paper · Source date: 2005-04 · Locator: Printed p 2, figure 1: isolated ب and پ. Accessed 2026-11-01.Actual 9-page PDF inspected; printed pp 2–3 rendered and figures visually checked. Used for specified Punjabi-script observations, not its inconsistent early-history account or a claim that its 2005 proposed repertoire is current Unicode. Chart images are not reproduced.Return to Script form 1 ↑
  3. Kanwal Bashir and Abbas Kazmi; Dunwoody Press, hosted by University of Chicago Digital Dictionaries of South Asia. Punjabi-English Dictionary: baccah ↗authored Punjabi dictionary entry · Source date: 2012; digital data updated August 2023 · Locator: Printed p 92, بچہ entry, child sense 1; displayed vocalized form بَچّہ. Accessed 2026-11-01.Actual full primary entry body retrieved and the specified spelling, sense or example inspected. This dictionary explicitly targets Pakistani Punjabi; native forms are its published text, not an automatic conversion. Unrelated senses and news examples are not adopted. Roman query keys are index labels, not verified learner pronunciation. Return to Practice exercise ↑Return to Script form 2 ↑Return to Recognise the beginning of child, paragraph 1 ↑
  4. Kanwal Bashir and Abbas Kazmi; Dunwoody Press, hosted by University of Chicago Digital Dictionaries of South Asia. Punjabi-English Dictionary: patthar ↗authored Punjabi dictionary entry · Source date: 2012; digital data updated August 2023 · Locator: Printed p 139, پتھر entry, stone/rock sense 1. Accessed 2026-11-01.Actual full primary entry body retrieved and the specified spelling, sense or example inspected. This dictionary explicitly targets Pakistani Punjabi; native forms are its published text, not an automatic conversion. Unrelated senses and news examples are not adopted. Roman query keys are index labels, not verified learner pronunciation. Return to Practice exercise ↑Return to Script form 3 ↑Return to Contrast the beginning of stone, paragraph 1 ↑
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Record PH-LAN-0053 · English edition · human review not performed