Majhi dialect
| Majhi | |
|---|---|
| |
| Native to | Pakistan, India |
| Region | Majha |
| Ethnicity | Punjabis |
| Shahmukhi Gurmukhī | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | majh1252 |
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.[opinion]
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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.
- Central Majhi, spoken in Kasur, Lahore, Nankana Sahib and Sheikhupura districts and nearby areas
- Eastern Majhi, spoken in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts as well as surrounding areas
- Western Majhi, spoken in Hafizabad and parts of Okara districts
- Northern Majhi, spoken in Gujranwala, Sialkot and Wazirabad districts as well as surrounding areas
- Northeastern Majhi, spoken in Narowal, Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts
- Northwestern Majhi (also known as Gujrati Majhi), spoken in Gujrat, Jhelum and Bhimber (Azad Kashmir) districts
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 jē (ਆਂ, ਜੇ / آں، جے) is used. E.g. mẽ karnā ʷā̃ / jē (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 ਈ / اوہ کردا ای)
- Use of -na verb ending instead of -da ending for habitual aspect
| Phrase | Majhi | Standard Written Punjabi |
|---|---|---|
| I do | mẽ karnā 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 karnā 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.
| Standard Written | Majhi | IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ਹਾਂ ہاں | ਆਂ آں | /ã̀ː/ | am |
| ਨਹੀਂ نہیں | ਨਈਂ نئیں | /ˈnə.ĩ̀ː/ | no, not |
| ਤੁਹਾਡਾ تہاڈا | ਤੁਆਡਾ تواڈا | /tʊ.ˈàɖ̆.ɖaː/ | your/yours |
| ਹੈ ہے | ਐ 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 |
Other Features
[edit]Nasalisation of tusī̃ (ਤੁਸੀਂ / تُسِیں) and asī̃ (ਅਸੀਂ / اَسِیں) are often not realised in Majhi, thus said as tusī (ਤੁਸੀ / تُسی) and asī (ਅਸੀ / اَسی) respectively.
In colloquial Majhi, the s sound in many words shifts to an h, such as in asī (ਅਸੀ / اَسی), sāḍā (ਸਾਡਾ / ساڈا) and pēse (ਪੈਸੇ / پیسے), being heard as ahī, hāḍā and pēhe respectively.
hē(gā) sī is used instead of sīgā.[clarification needed]
The ēvẽ class of adverbial pronouns are used for "how" rather than ēddā̃.[clarification needed]
Examples of Majhi
[edit]| Sentence | IPA | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shahmukhi | Gurmukhi | ||
| تُوں لہور جاندا سیں | ਤੂੰ ਲਹੌਰ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਸੈਂ | /tũː lə̯ɔ̂ːɾᵊ d͡ʒaːndaː sɛ̃ː/ | You used to go to Lahore |
| میں پہلوں ہی آکھدا ساں | ਮੈਂ ਪਹਿਲੋਂ ਹੀ ਆਖਦਾ ਸਾਂ | /mɛ̃ː pɛ̌ːlːõː îː aːkʰːᵊdaː sãː/ | I already said it |
| اودݨ بھرجائی کتھے سن | ਓਦਣ ਭਰਜਾਈ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਸਨ | /oːdːəɳᵊ pə̂ɾᵊd͡ʒaːiː kɪtʰːeː sənᵊ/ | Where were the sisters-in-law that day? |
Subdialectal differences
[edit]Eastern Majhi
[edit]Eastern Majhi refers to the subdialect native to region of Majha east of Lahore, i.e. the Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts and surrounding areas. It is also spoken by the descendants of those who migrated out of these areas.
Eastern Majhi often uses the past-tense inflection of the verb ḍahiṇā (ਡਹਿਣਾ / ڈہݨا) to form continuous tenses, rather than pēṇā (ਪੈਣਾ/ پَیݨا) which is used by most other Majhi and Punjabi dialects.
| Phrase | Eastern Majhi | General Majhi | Standard Punjabi |
|---|---|---|---|
| He(prox.) was doing | eh karaṇ ḍahiā sī
ਏਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹਿਆ ਸੀ |
eh kardā peā sī
ਏਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਪਿਆ ਸੀ |
eh kar rahiā sī
ਇਹ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਸੀ |
| She(dist.) is doing | oh karaṇ ḍahī hē
ਓਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹੀ ਹੈ |
oh kardī paī hē
ਓਹ ਕਰਦੀ ਪਈ ਹੈ |
oh kar rahī hē
ਉਹ ਕਰ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ |
Northwestern Majhi
[edit]Northwestern or Gujrati Majhi refers to the subdialect spoken in the northwestern side of the Majha region in Pakistan, primarily in the Gujrat district and extending into the Jhelum and Bhimber districts.
In these areas, word-initial 'h' is fainter and more tonal, eventually disappearing 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 the suffix -dā instead of -gā for indicative future tense.
| Standard / Central Majhi | Northwestern Majhi | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| kare gā
ਕਰੇਗਾ |
kare dā
ਕਰੇਗਾ |
[he] will do |
| khāṇ gīā̃
ਖਾਣਗੀਆਂ |
khāṇ dīā̃
ਖਾਣਦੀਆਂ |
[they] (f.) will eat |
| jāvo ge
ਜਾਵੋਗੇ |
jāvo de
ਜਾਵੋਦੇ |
[you] (pl. m.) will go |
| samjhā̃ gī
ਸਮਝਾਂਗੀ |
samjhā̃ dī
ਸਮਝਾਂਦੀ |
I (f.) will understand |
See also
[edit]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.