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Summary of Question:	I Need To Know The Phonetic Sounds For Certain Sikh Words
Category:	Sikh Practices
Date Posted:	Thursday, 10/06/2005 4:01 AM MDT

Hi,

Hope you can help! I am doing some reserach on how to say certain words and I am finding some difficulties. I was wondering if you could tell me phonetically how to pronounce 'Waheguru', 'Guru Granth Sahib' 'Granthi', 'Gurmukhi', 'guru Hargobind's', 'Baisakhi' and 'gurdwara.'

Thank you

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RESPONSE
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There is no sound in Gurmukhi like the 'r' in English, so anywhere you see an 'r' it is rolled, very similar to the 'r' sound in Spanish. If you've ever heard an Asian or Middle Eastern person speak English (with an accent), you have probably heard the rolled 'r' sound.

I am a native English speaker, but I have strived to learn pronunciation of Gurmukhi, so hopefully these recordings will be helpful to you.

Waheguru - there are no separate letters in Gurmukhi for 'v' and 'w' - there is a single letter that represent a mix of both, or either sound. Some people say 'waheguru,' while others say 'vaheguru.' It is also often pronounced as a mix, with the 'v' being very soft and flowing right into the 'w' sound - 'vwaheguru.'

Baisakhi - I'm not sure of the origins of the word 'baisakhi,' because the Punjabi spelling of the word is much closer to 'visakhi.' However, similar to Spanish, there are some words that use the sounds of 'b' and 'v' almost interchangeably.



Humbly,
MSSSK