Go̅rmukhī is a standard script for writing punjabi, derived from common English script.
The common use of English script for the Panjābī or Gurmukhī language is ambiguous. For example, "ਤਰਖਾਣ" written as "Tarkhan" can be misinterpreted as "ਤਰਖਾਨ", "ਟਰਖਾਨ", "ਤਰਖਨ", "ਟਰਖਨ", or anything based on the reader's intuition. A non-Punjabi speaker can unintentionally misspell such words easily. This is simply because English is non-phonetic, unlike Punjabi, meaning that the words are not written exactly like how they sound. For example, the word "mention" is not written as "mencion" and "suspicion" is not "suspition".
Go̅rmukhi script standardizes the sounds assigned to the English script alphabets. It also adds a few more symbols for other unique sounds, not found in the common set of English alphabets.
- The new added alphabets look similar to the alternative closest sounding alphabets, so that anyone not knowing Go̅rmukhi can still read the text.
- The writing structure is easy to grasp and a dedicated keyboard is available (Current support: PC and Android)