Majhi dialect

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File:Dialects Of Punjabi.jpg

Dialects of Punjabi

Majhi (Shahmukhi: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; Gurmukhi: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; {{#invoke:IPA|main}}<ref name="bhardwaj">Template:Cite Q</ref>), also known as Central Punjabi, is the most widely-spoken dialect of the Punjabi language,<ref>Template:Cite LSI</ref> natively spoken in the Majha region of Punjab in present-day Pakistan and India. The dialect forms the basis of Standard Punjabi.

The native speakers of the dialect are known by the demonym 'Majhail'.

Subdialects and geographic distribution

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

• 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
• 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, spoken in Gujrat, Jhelum and Bhimber (Azad Kashmir) districts

Notable features

Personal pronouns

Majhi does not use the second-person oblique pronoun tē̃.

In urban Majhi, the plural oblique pronouns tusā̃ and asā̃, as well as the ablative pronouns, are sometimes lost.

Pronominal suffixes

One of Majhi's most noteworthy features is the usage of pronominal suffixes, which it shares with Western Punjabi.

Pronominal suffixes are auxiliary replacements of the copula which act like pronouns. They function as a particular thematic role and agree to it in person and number (as a pronoun would).

The thematic/syntactic roles a pronominal suffix can function as are:

• the direct case subject
• the ergative agent
• the possessive determiner
• the addressee

Majhi uses pronominal suffixes for the second and third persons and for both present and past tense.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Tense	Present		Past
Person	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
2nd	ī ਈ Template:Resize	je ਜੇ Template:Resize	sāī ਸਾਈ Template:Resize	sāje ਸਾਜੇ Template:Resize
3rd	sū ਸੂ Template:Resize	ne ਨੇ Template:Resize	sāsū ਸਾਸੂ Template:Resize	sāne ਸਾਨੇ Template:Resize

Examples in perfect transitive verbs (marking the ergative agent):

Tense	Person	Number	Majhi	Standard Punjabi	Translation
present	2nd	sing.	kī kītā ī?	tē̃ kī kītā hē?	What hast thou done?
		pl.	jinnā khādhā je	jinnā tusā̃ khādhā hē	As much as you have eaten
	3rd	sing.	mēnū̃ suṇāī sū	os ne mēnū̃ suṇāī hē	He/She hath told me
		pl.	pāṇī pītā ne	ehnā̃ ne pāṇī pītā hē	They have drunk water
past	2nd	sing.	jēs tarhā̃ ghalliyā̃ sāī	jis tarhā̃ tē̃ ghalliyā̃ san	In the way thou had sent them
		pl.	cacer syātā sāje	tusā̃ cacer syātā sī	You had recognised cousin
	3rd	sing.	aṉḍe nū̃ riddhe sāsū?	es ne aṉḍe nū̃ riddhe san?	Had he/she boiled the egg?
		pl.	laṛāī kītī sāne	ehnā̃ ne laṛāī kītī sī	They had had a fight

Copula

Oftentimes, the two plural present-tense pronominal suffixes will entirely overtake the regular copula in Majhi.

This is most common with the third-person ne (ਨੇ / Template:Resize) or nẽ (ਨੇਂ / Template:Resize), used instead of han. It has become so widespread that it is now regarded as a fundamental characteristic of Majhi, used to distinguish it from other dialects.

In some Majhi varieties, particularly in areas like Lahore and Gurdaspur, it is also common with the second-person je (ਜੇ / Template:Resize), used instead of ho.

Phrase	Majhi	Standard Punjabi
They sleep	oh sōṉde ne ਓਹ ਸੌਂਦੇ ਨੇ Template:Resize	oh sōṉde han ਉਹ ਸੌਂਦੇ ਹਨ Template:Resize
You will go home	tusī̃ ghar jāṉde je ਤੁਸੀਂ ਘਰ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਜੇ Template:Resize	tusī̃ ghar jāṉde ho ਤੁਸੀਂ ਘਰ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹੋ Template:Resize

- Alternate auxiliary verbsTemplate:Clarify

First person singular ā̃ or jē (ਆਂ, ਜੇ / Template:Resize) is used. E.g. mẽ karnā ʷā̃ / jē (ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਆਂ, ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਜੇ / Template:Resize)

Third person singular ī or è (ਏ, ਵੇ, ਈ / Template:Resize) is used. E.g. ṓ kardā ī (ਉਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਈ / Template:Resize)

Other Features

In Majhi, more often in certain regions, the s sound shifts to an h. This causes words like asī (ਅਸੀਂ/ Template:Small), asāḍā (ਅਸਾਡਾ / Template:Small) and pēse (ਪੈਸੇ / Template:Small), to be heard as ahī̃, ahāḍā and pēhe respectively. This h is distinguished from the regular h from its lack of tonality.

hē(gā) sī is used instead of sīgā.Template:Clarify

Adverbial pronouns

Majhi uses the kiññ and kivẽ classes of adverbial pronouns of manner, which, at their base, are common with Western Punjabi dialects.

Adverbial pronoun	Majhi	Malwai	Doabi	Pahari-Pothwari	Hindko	Saraiki	Jatki
like this	ēṉj, ēvẽ ਐਂਞ, ਐਵੇਂ Template:Resize	ēvẽ ਐਵੇਂ Template:Resize	ēdā̃ ਐਦਾਂ Template:Resize	iṉj ਇੰਞ Template:Resize	iṉjū ਇੰਞੂ Template:Resize	hiṉj, īvẽ ਹਿੰਞ, ਈਵੇਂ Template:Resize	iṉj ਇੰਞ Template:Resize
like that	oṉj, ovẽ ਓਂਞ, ਓਵੇਂ Template:Resize	ovẽ ਐਵੇਂ Template:Resize	odā̃ ਐਵੇਂ Template:Resize	uṉj ਐਵੇਂ Template:Resize	uṉjū ਐਵੇਂ Template:Resize	huṉj / ūvẽ ਐਵੇਂ Template:Resize	uṉj ਐਵੇਂ Template:Resize
how?	kiṉj, kivẽ ਕਿੰਞ, ਕਿਵੇਂ Template:Resize	kivẽ ਕਿਵੇਂ Template:Resize	kiddā̃ ਕਿੱਦਾਂ Template:Resize	kiṉj ਕਿੰਞ Template:Resize	kiṉjū ਕਿੰਞੂ Template:Resize	kiṉj, kīvẽ ਕਿੰਞ, ਕੀਵੇਂ Template:Resize	kiṉj ਕਿੰਞ Template:Resize
how	jiṉj, jivẽ ਜਿੰਞ, ਜਿਵੇਂ Template:Resize	jivẽ ਜਿਵੇਂ Template:Resize	jiddā̃ ਜਿੱਦਾਂ Template:Resize	jiṉj ਜਿੰਞ Template:Resize	jiṉjū ਜਿੰਞੂ Template:Resize	jiṉj, jīvẽ ਜਿੰਞ, ਜੀਵੇਂ Template:Resize	jiṉj ਜਿੰਞ Template:Resize

- Use of -na verb ending instead of -da ending for first-person and second-person point of view

Phrase	Majhi	Standard Written Punjabi
I do	mẽ karnā ʷā̃̀ ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਆਂ Template:Resize	mẽ kardā hā̃ ਮੈਂ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ Template:Resize
Let's (m.) go home	asī kàr jāne ā̃̀Template:Efn ਅਸੀ ਘਰ ਜਾਨੇ ਆਂ Template:Resize	asī̃ kàr jānde hā̃ ਅਸੀਂ ਘਰ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਾਂ Template:Resize
We (f.) do	asī̃ karniyā̃ ʷā̃̀ ਅਸੀ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ ਆਂ Template:Resize	asī̃ kardiyā̃ hā̃ ਅਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹਾਂ Template:Resize
You (sing.) do	tū̃ karnā aĩ̀ ਤੂੰ ਕਰਨਾ ਐਂ Template:Resize	tū̃ kardā haĩ ਤੂੰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈਂ Template:Resize
You (f.pl.) do	tusī karniyā̃ ò/je ਤੁਸੀ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ ਓ/ਜੇ Template:Resize	tusī̃ kardiyā̃ ho ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹੋ Template:Resize

Examples of Majhi

Sentence		Transliteration	Translation
Shahmukhi	Gurmukhi
lang}}	lang}}	tū̃ lahaur jāndā saĩ	You used to go to Lahore
lang}}	lang}}	maĩ pahlõ hī ākhdā sā̃	I've already said it
lang}}	lang}}	oddaṇ bharjāī kitthe san	Where were the sisters-in-law that day?

Subdialectal differences

Eastern Majhi

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.

The subdialect has considerable Doabi influence, and often uses the past-tense inflection of the verb ḍahiṇā (ਡਹਿਣਾ / Template:Resize) to form continuous tenses, rather than pēṇā (ਪੈਣਾ/ Template:Resize) which is used by most other Majhi subdialects and Punjabi dialects.

Phrase	Eastern Majhi	General Majhi	Standard Punjabi
He(prox.) was doing	eh karaṇ ḍahyā sī ਏਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹਿਆ ਸੀ Template:Resize	eh kardā pyā sī ਏਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਪਿਆ ਸੀ Template:Resize	eh kar rahyā sī ਇਹ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਸੀ Template:Resize
She(dist.) is doing	oh karaṇ ḍahī hē ਓਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹੀ ਹੈ Template:Resize	oh kardī paī hē ਓਹ ਕਰਦੀ ਪਈ ਹੈ Template:Resize	oh kar rahī hē ਉਹ ਕਰ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ Template:Resize

Northwestern Majhi

Northwestern Majhi refers to the subdialect spoken in the northwestern side of the Majha region in Pakistan, primarily in the districts of Gujrat, Jhelum, and Bhimber.

In these areas, word-initial 'h' is fainter and more tonal, eventually disappearing in upper Punjabi dialects like Pahari-Pothwari and Hazarewal Hindko, as well as Dogri. Words like hatth (ਹੱਥ / Template:Resize) "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 Template:Resize	kare dā ਕਰੇਦਾ Template:Resize	[he] will do
khāṇ giyā̃ ਖਾਣਗੀਆਂ Template:Resize	khāṇ diyā̃ ਖਾਣਦੀਆਂ Template:Resize	[they] (f.) will eat
jāvo ge ਜਾਵੋਗੇ Template:Resize	jāvo de ਜਾਵੋਦੇ Template:Resize	[you] (pl. m.) will go
samjhā̃ gī ਸਮਝਾਂਗੀ Template:Resize	samjhā̃ dī ਸਮਝਾਂਦੀ Template:Resize	[I] (f.) will understand

See also

• Punjabi dialects
• Punjabi literature
• Jhangvi dialect
• Shahpuri dialect
• Dhanni dialect