Alphabet - ਪਹਿਲਾ

- ਲੱਲਾ - Lallaa - thirty-third letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet.


Name: Lallaa
Shape: ਲ - see note*
Spelling: ਲੱਲਾ
Sound: 'l' as the 'l' in 'layer'.
Type: Consonant

Mouth: hold your mouth in exactly the same way that you would if you were saying the sound of the Roman alphabet letter 'l' as in the start of the word 'layer'.
Tongue: tip up against the teeth
Soft Palette: blocking the nose
Lips: apart
Vocal Chords: Used
Aspirated: no

Confusion: ਲ ਨ
Reading: You can confuse these two when reading a ਲ:
ਨ (Nannaa) - one bar at the top; and,
ਲ (Lallaa) - two bars at the top;
This is just a matter of getting used to it.
Writing: n/a
I happened to find this very confusing because I had already learned British Sign Language (BSL) and when signing an 'L', you put your index finger of your right hand across the middle of your left hand and when signing an 'N', you put your index and middle fingers of your right hand across the middle of your left hand so 'l' = 1 and 'n' = 2 whereas here, it is the other way around with the little lines at the top of the letters. I've got over it now though (took long enough). You shouldn't come across this unless you know BSL.

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