Editing Gurmukhi (section)

====Subscript letters====

Three "subscript" letters, called ''duttă akkhară'' ("joint letters") or ''pairī̃ akkhară'' ("letters at the feet") are utilised in modern Gurmukhī: forms of ਹ ''ha'', ਰ ''ra'', and ਵ ''va''.{{sfn|Bāhrī|2011|p=183}}

The subscript ਰ ''ra'' and ਵ ''va'' are used to make consonant clusters and behave similarly; subjoined ਹ ''ha'' introduces tone.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
! Subscript letter !! Name, original form !! Usage
|- align="center" 
| bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="font-size:24px" | ੍ਰ || ''pairī̃ rārā''<br />ਰ→ ੍ਰ || align=left | For example, the letter ਪ (pa) with a regular ਰ (ra) following it would yield the word '''ਪਰ''' /pəɾə̆/ ("but"), but with a subjoined ਰ would appear as '''ਪ੍ਰ-''' (/prə-/),<ref name="Bright1996"/> resulting in a consonant cluster, as in the word ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧਕ (/'''pɾə'''bə́n̪d̪əkə̆/, "managerial, administrative"), as opposed to ਪਰਬੰਧਕ /'''pəɾ'''ᵊbə́n̪d̪əkə̆/, the Punjabi form of the word used in natural speech in less formal settings (the Punjabi reflex for Sanskrit /pɾə-/ is /pəɾ-/) . This subscript letter is commonly used in Punjabi{{sfn|Shackle|2007|p=596}} for personal names, some native dialectal words,{{sfn|Masica|1993|p=201}} loanwords from other languages like English and Sanskrit, etc.
|- align="center"
| bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="font-size:24px" | ੍ਵ || ''pairī̃ vāvā''<br />ਵ→ ੍ਵ || align=left | Used occasionally in [[Gurbani]] (Sikh religious scriptures) but rare in modern usage, it is largely confined to creating the cluster /sʋə-/{{sfn|Shackle|2007|p=596}} in words borrowed from Sanskrit, the reflex of which in Punjabi is /sʊ-/, e.g. Sanskrit ਸ੍ਵਪ੍ਨ /s̪ʋɐ́p.n̪ɐ/→Punjabi ਸੁਪਨਾ /sʊpə̆na:/, "dream", cf. Hindi-Urdu /səpna:/.

For example, ਸ with a subscript ਵ would produce '''ਸ੍ਵ''' (''sʋə-'') as in the Sanskrit word ਸ੍ਵਰਗ (/'''sʋə'''ɾᵊgə/, "heaven"), but followed by a regular ਵ would yield '''ਸਵ'''- (''səʋ-'') as in the common word ਸਵਰਗ (/'''səʋ'''əɾᵊgə̆/, "heaven"), borrowed earlier from Sanskrit but subsequently changed. The natural Punjabi reflex, ਸੁਰਗ /sʊɾᵊgə̆/, is also used in everyday speech.
|- align="center"
| bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="font-size:24px" | ੍ਹ || ''pairī̃ hāhā''<br />ਹ→ ੍ਹ || align=left | The most common subscript,{{sfn|Shackle|2007|p=596}} this character does not create consonant clusters, but serves as part of Punjabi's characteristic tone system, indicating a tone. It behaves the same way in its use as the regular ਹ (ha) does in non-word-initial positions. The regular ਹ is pronounced in stressed positions (as in ਆਹੋ ''āhō'' "yes" and a few other common words),{{sfn|Shackle|2007|p=590}} word-initially in monosyllabic words, and usually in other word-initial positions,{{refn|group=note|Word-initial /h/ in [[Stress (linguistics)|unstressed]] positions may also often be elided and yield a falling tone; for example, in the words ਹਿਸਾਬ ''hisābă'' /hɪsaːbə̆/ ("account, estimate") and ਸਾਹਿਬ ''[[sāhib]]ă'' /saːhɪbə̆/ (an honorific, "sir, lord", etc.). Unstressed short vowels may be [[Vowel reduction|reduced]]{{sfn|Shackle|2007|p=587}}<ref name=bashir1/> to yield h(a)sābă /həsaːbə̆/ and sāh(a)bă /saːhəbə̆/, and further h-[[elision]] in unstressed initial positions may yield near-[[homophone]]s only distinguished by tone: ਸ੍ਹਾਬ sā̀bă /sàːbə̆/ and ਸਾਬ੍ਹ sā́bă /sáːbə̆/ respectively. Word-initial /h/ may also produce a tone without being elided.<ref name=bashir1>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajrEDwAAQBAJ|title=A Descriptive Grammar of Hindko, Panjabi, and Saraiki (Volume 4 of Mouton-CASL Grammar Series)|last1=Bashir|first1=Elena|last2=Conners|author1-link=Elena Bashir|first2=Thomas J.|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG|location=Berlin, Germany|year=2019|isbn=978-1-61451-225-7|pages=72–74|access-date=2020-06-16|archive-date=2022-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125021434/https://books.google.com/books?id=ajrEDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>}} but not in other positions, where it instead changes the tone of the applicable adjacent vowel.<ref name="Bright1996"/>{{sfn|Grierson|1916|p=628}} The difference in usage is that the regular ਹ is used after vowels, and the subscript version is used when there is no vowel, and is attached to consonants.

For example, the regular ਹ is used after vowels as in ਮੀਂਹ (transcribed as ''mĩh'' ({{IPA|pa|míː}}), "rain").<ref name="Bright1996"/> The subjoined ਹ (''ha'') acts the same way but instead is used under consonants: ਚ (''ca'') followed by ੜ (''ṛa'') yields ਚੜ (''caṛă''), but not until the rising tone is introduced via a subscript ਹ (''ha'') does it properly spell the word ਚੜ੍ਹ (''cáṛĭ'', "climb").

This character's function is similar to that of the ''udātă'' character (ੑ U+0A51), which occurs in older texts and indicates a rising tone.
|}

In addition to the three standard subscript letters, another subscript character representing the subjoined /j/, the ''yakaśă'' or ''pairī̃ yayyā'' ( ੵ U+0A75), is utilized specifically in archaized ''sahaskritī''-style writings in Sikh scripture, where it is found 268 times<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06037r-yakash.pdf | title=N3073: Proposal to Encode Gurmukhi Sign Yakash | first1=Sukhjinder | last1=Sidhu | publisher=Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 | date=2006-01-27 | access-date=2020-12-31 | archive-date=2021-10-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022150831/https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06037r-yakash.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref> for word forms and inflections from older phases of Indo-Aryan,<ref name=idiom>{{cite journal |last=Shackle |first=Christopher |title=The Sahaskritī Poetic Idiom in the ''Ādi Granth'' |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |date=1973 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=297–313 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00124498 |jstor=615936 |s2cid=190033610 }}</ref> as in the examples ਰਖੵਾ /ɾəkʰːjaː/ "(to be) protected", ਮਿਥੵੰਤ /mɪt̪ʰjən̪t̪ə/ "deceiving", ਸੰਸਾਰਸੵ /sənsaːɾəsjə/ "of the world", ਭਿਖੵਾ /pɪ̀kʰːjaː/ "(act of) begging", etc. There is also a conjunct form of the letter ''yayyā'', '''ਯ→੍ਯ''',<ref name="Bright1996"/> a later form,{{sfn|Bhardwaj|2016|p=65}} which functions similarly to the ''yakaśă'', and is used exclusively for Sanskrit borrowings, and even then rarely. In addition, miniaturized versions of the letters ਚ, ਟ, ਤ, and ਨ are also found in limited use as subscript letters in Sikh scripture.

Only the subjoined /ɾə/ and /hə/ are commonly used;{{sfn|Masica|1993|p=149}} usage of the subjoined /ʋə/ and conjoined forms of /jə/, already rare, is increasingly scarce in modern contexts.