Punjabi diaspora
One day a week cannot carry a language.
This pilot is for Punjabi families in North America and other Western countries. Sunday school still teaches from a handwritten sheet. StudyChain brings the practice home, and matches it to the child.
Sunday school, as it is.
The average Punjabi school at a gurdwara runs on handwritten or photocopied worksheets. A teacher copies one page. The children trace the same letters for an hour. Then the week belongs to English.
One day is not enough to hold a language, and that single page is not the right page for every child in the room.
Brought to the door.
Between Sundays, each child works the letters and sounds they have not secured yet. The practice comes home. It is not another copy of the sheet the whole class already had.
Thirty-five letters.
Gurmukhi begins with a set called the painti, ਪੈਂਤੀ: thirty-five letters, in an order Sunday school still teaches, from ੳ to ੜ.
- ੳura
- ਅaira
- ੲiri
- ਸsassa
- ਹhaha
- ਕkakka
- ਖkhakha
- ਗgagga
- ਘghagga
- ਙnganga
- ਚchacha
- ਛchhachha
- ਜjajja
- ਝjhajja
- ਞnyanya
- ਟtainka
- ਠthattha
- ਡdadda
- ਢdhadda
- ਣnana
- ਤtatta
- ਥthatha
- ਦdada
- ਧdhadha
- ਨnanna
- ਪpappa
- ਫphapha
- ਬbabba
- ਭbhabba
- ਮmamma
- ਯyayya
- ਰrara
- ਲlalla
- ਵvava
- ੜrarha
The painti is the set Sunday school starts from. The vowel signs, and a few other marks, come after it.
Matras
A matra is the vowel sign on a letter. Each one here sits on ਕ, so the sign is easy to see. Sihari is the sign written in front of the letter.
- ਕmukta
- ਕਾkanna
- ਕਿsihari
- ਕੀbihari
- ਕੁaunkar
- ਕੂdulainkar
- ਕੇlavan
- ਕੈdulavan
- ਕੋhora
- ਕੌkanaura
Tippi, bindi, and adhak
Tippi and bindi both mark a nasal sound. Which of the two is written depends on the vowel. Adhak doubles the consonant.
- ਕੰtippi
- ਕਂbindi
- ਕੱadhak
Letters with a dot
A dot under the letter, the pair bindi, brings in a sound the painti does not have. Sunday school adds these for words that came into Punjabi from outside it: sh, kh, gh, z, f, and a related l.
- ਸ਼sha
- ਖ਼kha
- ਗ਼gha
- ਜ਼za
- ਫ਼fa
- ਲ਼lla
Sounds.
Each letter is a sound a child has to hear and write. The hard part is rarely the whole list. It is two shapes a dot or a headline apart. ਬ and ਭ differ by one stroke. ਸ and ਖ open into almost the same form. A generic worksheet never stays on the pair that slipped.
- ਕkakka
A clear k.
- ਸsassa
An s, as in sun.
- ਪpappa
A clear p.
- ਬbabba
A clear b.
- ਭbhabba
A breathy b. One stroke past ਬ.
- ਖkhakha
A breathy k. The shape sits near ਸ.
Where the script comes from.
Gurmukhi means “from the mouth of the Guru.” The script of Sikh scripture, and of most diaspora Sunday schools, was standardized in the 16th century with Guru Angad Dev Ji. Punjabi itself is spoken on both sides of Punjab. The families in this pilot are learning the Gurmukhi side of it, far from the place the language grew.
A few things worth knowing.
- Tone
Punjabi uses tone to change meaning. The same consonants can rise or fall, and the word changes with them. A child who speaks English at school still has a new thing to hear.
- Two scripts
The same language is written another way. In Pakistani Punjab it is written in Shahmukhi, a Perso-Arabic script. Sunday schools in North America and the West almost always teach Gurmukhi.
- A few mix-ups
The letters children mix up are specific and few. A shared worksheet moves on. The pair that slipped is still waiting on Monday.
What the pilot uses.
The pilot uses this structure. It finds which of the 35 letters, which matras, and which sounds are still weak, and it gives practice for those. The next Sunday starts further on.