TypingPunjabi InScript: the home row
The InScript layout for Punjabi types Gurmukhi in Unicode, so the text works in any modern font, such as Raavi or Nirmala UI, and on any website. It is the Punjabi keyboard that comes with Windows. This lesson teaches the middle row.
You can practise here without installing anything. The practice tool can turn your English keys into Gurmukhi letters. To type Punjabi in other programs, see the guide on adding a Punjabi keyboard.
How the layout is arranged
InScript uses one plan for all Indian scripts. If you know the Hindi InScript layout, the Punjabi one puts the matching letter on the same key.
- Left hand: vowel signs. The key alone types the sign (the lagan or matra). With Shift it types the full vowel.
- Right hand: consonants. The key alone types the plain consonant. With Shift it types its aspirated partner, for example ਕ alone and ਖ with Shift.
A Punjabi syllable is usually a consonant followed by a vowel sign, so the hands alternate, right then left.
The home row
Rest the fingers where you rest them for English: left hand on A S D F, right hand on J K L ;. The bumps on F and J guide the index fingers.
little finger ring middle index (left hand: keys on the left half; right hand: the right half; thumbs: space bar)
Small grey letter: the key's English label. Large: what it types. Top corner: with Shift.
| English key | Types | Name | Finger |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ੋ | hora | Left little |
| S | ੇ | lavan | Left ring |
| D | ੍ | halant | Left middle |
| F | ਿ | sihari | Left index |
| G | ੁ | aunkar | Left index, reaching right |
| H | ਪ | pappa | Right index, reaching left |
| J | ਰ | rara | Right index |
| K | ਕ | kakka | Right middle |
| L | ਤ | tatta | Right ring |
| ; | ਚ | chacha | Right little |
| ' | ਟ | tainka | Right little, reaching right |
Consonant first, then the sign
Type in the order you speak. For ਕਿ, type ਕ and then the sihari ਿ, although the sihari is drawn before the letter. The computer puts it in the right place. So ਕਿ is K then F, and ਕੇ is K then S.
The halant in Punjabi
The halant on D is used far less in Punjabi than in Hindi, because Gurmukhi has few joined letters. Its main use is for the subscript forms, the letters written at the foot of another: ਰ in ਪ੍ਰ, ਹ in ਪੜ੍ਹ and ਵ in ਸ੍ਵ. To type ਪ੍ਰ, type ਪ, then the halant, then ਰ.
Drill
Every word below uses only home row keys without Shift.
ਕਰ ਪਰ ਤਕ ਚਰ ਕਟ ਪਟ ਚਟ ਤਟ
ਰਕ ਪਕ ਟਕ ਰਟ ਟਪ ਕਪ ਚਕ ਤਰ
ਕਿ ਕੇ ਕੋ ਕੁ ਪਿ ਪੇ ਪੋ ਪੁ
ਰੋਕ ਟੋਕ ਚੋਰ ਪੇਟ ਰੇਤ ਕੇਕ
ਚੁਪ ਤੁਕ ਪੁਰ ਕਿਟ ਟਿਕ ਚਿਤ
ਪੁਤ ਰੁਤ ਕੋਟ ਚੋਟ ਤੋਪ ਟੋਪ
ਚੋਰ ਕੋਟ ਪਰ ਟਿਕ ਕੇ ਚੁਪ
ਪੇਟ ਪਰ ਰੋਕ ਟੋਕ, ਤੁਕ ਪਰ ਤੁਕ
What to watch
- Keep the English home position. Only the letters change.
- The sihari and the aunkar are both typed by the left index finger.
- If a vowel sign shows alone on a dotted circle, you typed it before its consonant. Delete it and type the consonant first.
Some drill words are plain syllable practice and not dictionary words. That is deliberate at this stage: the aim is for each finger to learn its key. The next lesson adds the kanna ਾ and the bihari ੀ, and real words follow.
This is an independent practice site. It is not connected with any examination body, keyboard maker or software company. A typing speed measured here is for your own practice. It is not a certificate, and an examination may measure speed in its own way.