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Majhi dialect

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Majhi
ਮਾਝੀ, ماجھی
Native toPakistan, India
RegionMajha of central Punjab
EthnicityMajhi (Majhail) Punjabis
Shahmukhi
Gurmukhī
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottologmajh1252
Dialects of Punjabi

Majhi (Gurmukhi: ਮਾਝੀ, Shahmukhi: ماجھی, Punjabi: [mä˦d̆.d͡ʒi˨][1]) is the standard dialect of Punjabi[2] and is spoken in the Majha region of the Punjab. The two most important cities in this area are Lahore and Amritsar because of their historic significance.

Notable features

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Verbs

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

Phrase Majhi Standard Written Punjabi
He was doing ṓ karan ḍíā sī

ਉਹ ਕਰਨ ਡਿਹਾ ਹੀ

اوہ کرن ڈہا سی

ṓ kar ríā sī

ਉਹ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਸੀ

اوہ کر رہا سی

She is doing ṓ karan ḍáī è

ਉਹ ਕਰਨ ਡਹੀ ਐ

اوہ کرن ڈہی اے

ṓ kar ráī è

ਉਹ ਕਰ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ

اوہ کر رہی ہے

- Alternate auxiliary verbs

han (ਹਨ / ہَن) is never used in spoken Majhi, it is replaced with (ਨੇ, ਨੇਂ / نے، نیں). E.g. ó kardē (ਉਹ ਕਰਦੇ ਨੇ / اوہ کردے نے)

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 future-habitual aspect

Phrase Majhi Standard Written Punjabi
I'll 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'll (f.) do asī̃ karniyā̃ ʷā̃̀

ਅਸੀ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ ਆਂ اسی کرنِیاں واں

asī̃ kardiyā̃ hā̃

ਅਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹਾਂ اسی کردِیاں ہاں

You'll (sing.) do tū̃ kar aĩ̀

ਤੂੰ ਕਰਨਾ ਐਂ تُوں کرنا ایں

tū̃ kardā haĩ

ਤੂੰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈਂ تُوں کردا ہیں

You'll (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

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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

Variation

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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

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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.

Northern Majhi

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Northern Majhi refers to the subdialect spoken in the northern side of the Majha region in Pakistan, such as in the areas of Gujrat and Sialkot.

In these areas, word-initial 'h' is very faint, acting more as a low-tone marker, until it completely disappears in upper dialects like Dogri. Words such as hatth ਹੱਥ ہَتّھ (hand) are pronounced more like àtth.

Northern Majhi also uses the ēñj class of adverbial pronouns for "how" in place of ēvẽ.

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

Standard Northern Majhi Meaning
karegā karedā [he] will do
khāvegī khāvedī [she] will eat
jāoge jāode [you] (pl.) will go

Examples of Majhi

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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?

References

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  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.

Notes

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