Jump to content

Majhi dialect

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Majhi
  • ਮਾਝੀ
  • ماجھی
Native toPakistan, India
RegionMajha
EthnicityPunjabis
Shahmukhi
Gurmukhī
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottologmajh1252
Dialects of Punjabi

Majhi (Shahmukhi: ماجھی; Gurmukhi: ਮਾਝੀ; Punjabi: [mä˦d̆.d͡ʒi˨][1]), also known as Central Punjabi, is the most widely-spoken dialect of the Punjabi language,[2] natively spoken in the Majha region of Punjab in present-day Pakistan and India. The dialect forms the basis of Standard Punjabi.

The two most important cities in this area are Lahore and Amritsar because of their historic significance.

Subdialects and geographic distribution

[edit]

There are various varieties of Majhi spoken across Majha. Although each city speaks slightly differently from the next, there are a few major categories of Majhi.

Notable features

[edit]

Grammatical Tenses

[edit]

Some more eastern Majhi sub-dialects use the past-tense inflection of ḍahiṇā ਡਹਿਣਾ / ڈہݨا verb to form continuous tenses.

Phrase Majhi Standard Written Punjabi
He was doing oh karaṇ ḍaheā sī

ਓਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹਿਆ ਸੀ

اوہ کرن ڈہیا سی

oh kar rihā sī

ਉਹ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਸੀ

اوہ کر رہیا سی

She is doing oh karaṇ ḍahī hē

ਓਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹੀ ਹੈ

اوہ کرن ڈہی اے

oh kar rahī hē

ਉਹ ਕਰ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ

اوہ کر رہی ہے

- Alternate auxiliary verbs

First person singular ā̃ or (ਆਂ, ਜੇ / آں، جے) is used. E.g. mẽ karnā ʷā̃ / (ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਆਂ, ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਜੇ / میں کرنا آں، میں کرنا جے)

Third person singular ī or è (ਏ, ਵੇ, ਈ / اے، وے، ای) is used. E.g. ṓ kardā ī (ਉਹ ਕਰਦਾ / اوہ کردا ای)

- Use of -na verb ending instead of -da ending for habitual aspect

Phrase Majhi Standard Written Punjabi
I do mẽ kar ʷā̃̀

ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਆਂ میں کرنا آں

mẽ kardā hā̃

ਮੈਂ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ میں کردا ہاں

Let's (m.) go home asī kàr jāne ā̃̀

ਅਸੀ ਘਰ ਜਾਨੇ ਆਂ اسی گھر جانے آں

asī̃ kàr jānde hā̃

ਅਸੀਂ ਘਰ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਾਂ اسی گھر جاندے ہاں

We (f.) do asī̃ karniyā̃ ʷā̃̀

ਅਸੀ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ ਆਂ اسی کرنِیاں واں

asī̃ kardiyā̃ hā̃

ਅਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹਾਂ اسی کردِیاں ہاں

You (sing.) do tū̃ kar aĩ̀

ਤੂੰ ਕਰਨਾ ਐਂ تُوں کرنا ایں

tū̃ kardā haĩ

ਤੂੰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈਂ تُوں کردا ہیں

You (f.pl.) do tusī karniyā̃ ò/je

ਤੁਸੀ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ ਓ/ਜੇ تسی کرنِیاں او/جے

tusī̃ kardiyā̃ ho

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹੋ تسی کردِیاں ہو

- Absent subject realised in auxiliary verb

ਕੀ ਕੀਤਾ ਈ کی کیتا ای : What have you (sing.) done?

ਕੀ ਕੀਤਾ ਜੇ کی کیتا جے : What have you (sing. formal / pl.) done?

ਕੀ ਕੀਤਾ ਸੂ کی کیتا سُو : What has he/she done?

ਕੀ ਕੀਤਾ ਨੇ کی کیتا نے : What have they done?

ਲੜਾਈ ਕੀਤੀ ਸਾਈ لڑائی کیتی ساای : You (sing.) made a fight.

ਲੜਾਈ ਕੀਤੀ ਸਾਜੇ لڑائی کیتی ساجے : You (sing. formal / pl.) made a fight

ਲੜਾਈ ਕੀਤੀ ਸਾਸੂ لڑائی کیتی ساسُو : He/She made a fight.

ਲੜਾਈ ਕੀਤੀ ਸਾਨੇ لڑائی کیتی سانے : They made a fight.

Tone

[edit]

Unlike typical Punjabi, Majhi does not always write tonal h in script. Thus, syllables often drop the h letter (ਹ / ہ) when written although this does not affect the pronunciation.

Standard Written Majhi IPA Meaning
ਹਾਂ ہاں ਆਂ آں /ã̀ː/ am
ਨਹੀਂ نہیں ਨ​ਈਂ نئیں /ˈnə.ĩ̀ː/ no, not
ਤੁਹਾਡਾ تہاڈا ਤੁਆਡਾ تواڈا /tʊ.ˈàɖ̆.ɖaː/ your/yours
ਹੈ ہے اے /ɛ̀ː/ is

Copula

[edit]

The Majhi copula does not differ from Standard Punjabi, except for in the third-person plural, where instead of han (ਹਨ / ہَن), it uses ne (ਨੇ / نے) or nẽ (ਨੇਂ / نیں).

Phrase Majhi Standard Punjabi
They sleep oh sōnde nẽ

ਓਹ ਸੌਂਦੇ ਨੇਂ

اوہ سوندے نیں

oh sōnde han

ਉਹ ਸੌਂਦੇ ਹਨ

اوہ سوندے ہن

Variation

[edit]

Because of the lack of standardisation in Shahmukhi, words with the six tonal consonants (gh, jh, ḍh, dh, bh, ṛh) which are now unaspirated and voiceless word-initially[a] (k, c, ṭ, t, p)[3] have multiple spellings. The word kàr (house) for example is sometimes written as ghar گھر or kar کر.

^a ṛh does not occur word-initially and is always voiced.

Falling-tone, in general, is not well represented, and low-tone words in both major scripts have various spellings, e.g. tuā̀ḍḍā (your/yours): تواڈا ਤੁਆਡਾ, ਤਵਾਡਾ, تاڈا ਤਾਡਾ, تہاڈا ਤੁਹਾਡਾ etc., though the pronunciation remains consistent.

Other Features

[edit]

Nasalisation of tusī̃ (ਤੁਸੀਂ / تُسِیں) and asī̃ (ਅਸੀਂ / اَسِیں) are lost in Majhi; pronounced tusī (ਤੁਸੀ / تُسی) and asī (ਅਸੀ / اَسی) respectively.

Sometimes when speaking fast in Majhi, the s sound rounds to a h sound, as in words like asī (ਅਸੀ / اَسی), sāḍā (ਸਾਡਾ / ساڈا), pēse (ਪੈਸੇ / پیسے), being heard as ahī, hāḍā, and pēhe respectively.

hē(gā) sī is used instead of sīgā.

The ēvẽ class of adverbial pronouns are used for "how" rather than ēddā̃.

Examples of Majhi

[edit]
Sentence IPA Translation
Shahmukhi Gurmukhi
تُوں لہور جاندا سیں ਤੂੰ ਲਹੌਰ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਸੈਂ /t̪ũː ləɔ̀ːɾᵊ d͡ʒaːn̪d̪aː sɛ̃ː/ You used to go to Lahore
میں پہلوں ای آکھدا ساں ਮੈਂ ਪਹਿਲੋਂ ਈ ਆਖਦਾ ਸਾਂ /mɛ̃ː pɛ́ːlːõː ìː aːkʰːᵊdaː sãː/ I used to tell it from before
اودݨ بھرجائی کتھے سن ਓਦਣ ਭਰਜਾਈ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਸਨ /oːdːəɳᵊ pə̀ɾᵊd͡ʒaːiː kɪtʰːeː sən̪ᵊ/ Where were the sisters-in-law that day?

Subdialectal differences

[edit]

Northwestern Majhi

[edit]

Northwestern, Northern or Gujrati Majhi refers to the subdialect spoken in the northwestern side of the Majha region in Pakistan, primarily in Gujrat district and extending into Jhelum and Bhimber districts.

In these areas, tone is stronger; word-initial 'h' is very faint, acting more as a falling-tone marker, until it completely disappears in upper dialects like Pahari-Pothwari, Hazarewal Hindko, and Dogri. Words like hatth (ਹੱਥ / ہَتّھ) "hand" are said more as àtth.

Another notable difference is the use of -dā instead of -gā to indicate future tense.

Standard Northwestern Majhi Meaning
karegā kare dā [he] will do
khāvegī khāve dī [she] will eat
jāvoge jāvo de [you] (pl.) will go
jāvanga jāvã da I will go

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Mangat Rai Bhardwaj (2016). Panjabi: A Comprehensive Grammar. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-138-79385-9. LCCN 2015042069. OCLC 948602857. OL 35828315M. Wikidata Q23831241.
  2. ^ Grierson, George A. (1916). Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. IX Indo-Aryan family. Central group, Part 1, Specimens of western Hindi and Pañjābī. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India. p. 609.
  3. ^ Bowden, A.L. (2012). "Punjabi Tonemics and the Gurmukhi Script: A Preliminary Study" Archived 17 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine.