Alphabet - ਪਹਿਲਾ

- ਥੱਥਾ - Thathaa - twenty-second letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet.


Name: Thathaa
Shape:
Spelling: ਥੱਥਾ
Sound: 'th' as the 'th' in 'think' but with the tongue further forward so that it touches the tips of your teeth
Type: Consonant

Mouth: Make a 't' shape with your tongue but instead of the front of your tongue touching the tooth ridge, make the tip of your tongue touch the tips of your teeth.
Tongue: Make the tip of your tongue touch the tips of your teeth.
Soft Palette: blocking nose
Lips: apart
Vocal Chords: Not used
Aspirated: yes

Confusion: ਪ ਖ ਧ ਥ ਬ
Reading: There are two ways that this can be confused:

1: There are four letters like this that can be confused - look at where the horizontal bars are. You just have to learn them (although it doesn't take long):
ਪ (Pappaa) - no bars;
ਖ (Khakhaa) - lower bar only;
ਧ (Dhadhaa) - upper bar only;
ਥ (Thathaa) - both bars;
This is just a matter of getting used to it. However -

2: ਥ (Thathaa) is very easy to confuse with ਬ (Babbaa), especially when you get down to small print sizes in books.
As large print, it is easy - ਥ ਬ - but with smaller font sizes, things start to get difficult like so - ਥ ਬ
Writing: Although you are less likely to make mistakes when writing, again, there are four letters like this that can be confused - look at where the horizontal bars are. You just have to learn them (although it doesn't take long):
ਪ (Pappaa) - no bars;
ਖ (Khakhaa) - lower bar only;
ਧ (Dhadhaa) - upper bar only;
ਥ (Thathaa) - both bars;
You have been warned. Note that it is unusual to get ਥ and ਬ confused when writing because they are formed in different ways. Just remember to make them look different enough

Copyright ©2007-2023 Paul Alan Grosse.