How to Type in Punjabi Without a Punjabi Keyboard
You can type Punjabi without learning a new keyboard layout. If you can write a Punjabi word the way it sounds, in English letters, as people do in messages, you can have it converted into Gurmukhi. This guide explains how that works, the few rules that make the biggest difference, and, just as importantly, the words that the simple rules can't get exactly right.
Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi
Punjabi is written in two scripts. In India's Punjab it's written in Gurmukhi, and in Pakistan's Punjab it's written in Shahmukhi, a version of the Perso-Arabic script that Urdu also uses. The Punjabi typing tool on Quikbench produces Gurmukhi. For Urdu, which is written right to left, there's a separate Urdu typing tool.
How phonetic typing works
You type the sound of a word using English letters and press space, and the word converts. Typing sat sree akaal gives ਸਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ. Quikbench converts each word instantly with its own rules, then asks Google's transliteration service for smarter suggestions, which appear as clickable chips for ambiguous spellings.
The rules that matter
| For this | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| The long ੀ | ee (not ii) | khushee → ਖੁਸ਼ੀ |
| The long ਾ | aa | kitaab → ਕਿਤਾਬ |
| The nasal bindi ਂ | capital M | maaM → ਮਾਂ |
| The hard ਟ | capital T | roTee → ਰੋਟੀ |
| The retroflex ਣ | capital N | paaNee → ਪਾਣੀ |
| ਸ਼ (with a dot) | sh | khush → ਖੁਸ਼ |
The most common slip is typing ii for the long ੀ. It doesn't work: ee does. Compare sree, which gives ਸ੍ਰੀ, with sri, which gives ਸ੍ਰਿ, the short vowel.
Words to try
Each of these was checked against the tool:
| Type | You get | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
sat sree akaal | ਸਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ | a greeting |
ghar | ਘਰ | home |
kitaab | ਕਿਤਾਬ | book |
paaNee | ਪਾਣੀ | water |
roTee | ਰੋਟੀ | bread |
khushee | ਖੁਸ਼ੀ | happiness |
tuseeM | ਤੁਸੀਂ | you |
piaar | ਪਿਆਰ | love |
bhaaee | ਭਾਈ | brother |
naam | ਨਾਮ | name |
What the simple rules can't do
Gurmukhi has marks that sound-based rules can't always choose between, so some very common words won't come out exactly right. Two examples from the tool:
- The tippi ੰ. The nasal M gives the bindi ਂ, but words like ਪੰਜਾਬ (Punjab) and ਧੰਨਵਾਦ (thank you) use the tippi. Typing paMjaab gives ਪਂਜਾਬ, with the bindi.
- Pairing marks and doubled sounds. dhanwaad gives ਧਨ੍ਵਾਦ rather than ਧੰਨਵਾਦ, and sohNaa gives ਸੋਹ੍ਣਾ rather than ਸੋਹਣਾ.
For words like these, check the suggestion chips, which often offer the right spelling, or fix the mark by hand after pasting. It's a good habit to read your text back before sending anything important.
Typing names
Say the name aloud, write each sound, use ee and aa for the long vowels, and check the result. Names often have more than one valid spelling, so choose the one you use, and save it somewhere you can copy it from.
Privacy
The instant conversion happens in your browser. When you use the smart suggestions, each word you finish is also sent to Google's transliteration service, in the way search autocomplete works. The whole document is never sent.
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