Script guide › Brahmic / Indic
How to recognize Punjabi (Gurmukhi)
Punjabi (Gurmukhi) is one of 14 languages in Grafle's Brahmic / Indic group. Here's what it looks like, where you'll see it on signs, and how to tell it apart from its lookalikes.
Spot it fast
- Top bar like Devanagari, but simpler and more open letters below it, with fewer stacked marks.
What Punjabi (Gurmukhi) looks like
ਸਾਰੇ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਆਜ਼ਾਦ ਅਤੇ ਬਰਾਬਰ ਇੱਜ਼ਤ ਨਾਲ ਜੰਮਦੇ ਹਨ।
ਸਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ, ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਹੋ?
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਇੱਕ ਸੋਹਣੀ ਬੋਲੀ ਹੈ।
Brahmic / Indic scripts: The scripts of South and Southeast Asia — letters hang from top bars, curl into loops, or stack vowel marks above and below.
Where you'll see it on signs
- India
Easy to confuse with
- Hindi / Nepali (Devanagari) — Both have top bars — Gurmukhi's letters are simpler and more open below the bar, with fewer stacked marks.
- Bengali — Both barred scripts — Bengali runs angular with hooks; Gurmukhi is rounder and simpler below the bar.