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Standard dialect of Punjabi From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
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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 nē (ਨੇ, ਨੇਂ / نے، نیں). E.g. ó kardē nē (ਉਹ ਕਰਦੇ ਨੇ / اوہ کردے نے)
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 future-habitual aspect
| Phrase | Majhi | Standard Written Punjabi |
|---|---|---|
| I'll 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'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 karnā 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.
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 | ਨਈਂ نئیں | /ˈnə.ĩ̀ː/ | no, not |
| ਤੁਹਾਡਾ تہاڈا | ਤੁਆਡਾ تواڈا | /tʊ.ˈàɖ̆.ɖaː/ | your/yours |
| ਹੈ ہے | ਐ اے | /ɛ̀ː/ | is |
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.
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.
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 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 |
| 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? |
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