ik - onkaar : how do different samparda's say it

[gupy]

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This is a question that i've always had, maybe its a really dumb question and im missing something obvious here, but when we see the symbol for what we call 'ik onkaar' were not really reading whats written are we?

I originally thought that i must be missing something about the grammer of Gurmukhi or something like that and it must me completely obvious to say the 'kaar' part.

But recently someone also asked the same question and also made two interesting points:

1. In another shabad, the word onkaar appears in the main body of a shabad (i.e. not the start, e.g. ikonkaar sat gurparsaad ), and in that instance it is written in i think four letters, i.e. each sound is described.

2. I was also told that there is a nirmala tradition of saying " ik-aauuuuuum...." (sorry about the transliterations... forgive my mistakes), i.e. like the AUM found in ancient Indian texts.

Like i said maybe im missing something really big here, but then again i dont understand why it isn't written out as 'onkaar' (with all the appropriate letters) if it is meant to be just that.

Through thinking along these lines, and taking into consideration other Gurbani and older indian texts, you start to look at things differently, so can anyone shed any light on this issue (if it is even an issue)?

Thanks