Letter 20 of 35
Ta-Row (retroflex) · Nasalਣ — Nahna
A retroflex 'n' — tongue curled back. Rarely starts words.
Why it matters: ਣ is a curled-tongue 'n' — tongue tip pulled back, sound through the nose. Rare at word starts.
ਣ with each vowel mark
ਣ
mukta
"nna"
ਣਾ
kanna
"nnaa"
ਣਿ
sihari
"nni"
ਣੀ
bihari
"nnee"
ਣੁ
aunkar
"nnu"
ਣੂ
dulainkar
"nnoo"
ਣੇ
lanv
"nnay"
ਣੈ
dulanvan
"nnai"
ਣੋ
horha
"nno"
ਣੌ
kanaurha
"nnau"
Each vowel mark changes how ਣ sounds. The mark stays the same across every consonant.
Other letters in the Ta-Row (retroflex)
Trace ਣ
Free Printable Tracing Worksheet
Practise writing ਣ (Nahna) with this free printable. Large reference letter at the top, dotted rows below — print at home on US Letter or A4.
ਣ (Nahna) is the twentieth letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet and closes the retroflex row. Like ਙ and ਞ, it almost never starts words — its job is to live inside other words as a soft, curled n sound.
How to teach a 4-year-old
Don’t worry about words for ਣ — just learning to recognize its shape and tell it apart from the regular ਨ (Nanna) is enough for now. They’re easy to mix up because they sound similar; the visual difference is the small loop at the bottom.
Practice ਣ (Nahna)
📖 Read about Nahna in context
See ਣ alongside the rest of the Ta-Row (retroflex) in the free alphabet teaching guide. Open the guide →
Practise Nahna on the go
Six interactive Gurmukhi games — tracing, recognition, memory match — free, offline, no ads.