Majhi dialect

File:Dialects Of Punjabi.jpg

Dialects of Punjabi

Majhi (Shahmukhi: ; Gurmukhi: ; ), also known as Central Punjabi, is the most widely-spoken dialect of the Punjabi language, natively spoken in the Majha region of Punjab in present-day Pakistan and India.

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

Subdialects and geographic distribution

Below is a list of several of the subdialects of Majhi. Due to limited documentation on specific regions, certain varieties and their respective districts have been omitted.

• Central Majhi, spoken in the Gujranwala, Lahore and Sheikhupura districts.
• Northeastern Majhi, spoken in the Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Narowal and Sialkot districts.
• Northwestern Majhi, spoken in the Gujrat and Jhelum districts.

Majhi varieties are also spoken natively in the districts of Hafizabad, Kasur, Mandi Bahauddin, Nankana Sahib, Tarn Taran and Wazirabad, as well as parts of the Bhimber district of Azad Kashmir and parts of the Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

General features

Personal pronouns

Majhi does not use the second-person oblique pronoun tē̃, and instead uses tū̃.

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.

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

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, a pronominal suffix will entirely overtake the regular copula (of the same person and number) in Majhi.

This is most common with the third-person plural ne (ਨੇ / Template:Nq) or nẽ (ਨੇਂ / Template:Nq), 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.

Phrase	Majhi	Standard Punjabi
They sleep	oh sōṉde ne ਓਹ ਸੌਂਦੇ ਨੇ Template:Nq	oh sōṉde han ਉਹ ਸੌਂਦੇ ਹਨ Template:Nq

- Alternate auxiliary verbs

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

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

Other Features

hē(gā) sī is used instead of sīgā.

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:Nq	ēvẽ ਐਵੇਂ Template:Nq	ēdā̃ ਐਦਾਂ Template:Nq	iṉj ਇੰਞ Template:Nq	iṉjū ਇੰਞੂ Template:Nq	hiṉj, īvẽ ਹਿੰਞ, ਈਵੇਂ Template:Nq	iṉj ਇੰਞ Template:Nq
like that	oṉj, ovẽ ਓਂਞ, ਓਵੇਂ Template:Nq	ovẽ ਐਵੇਂ Template:Nq	odā̃ ਐਵੇਂ Template:Nq	uṉj ਐਵੇਂ Template:Nq	uṉjū ਐਵੇਂ Template:Nq	huṉj / ūvẽ ਐਵੇਂ Template:Nq	uṉj ਐਵੇਂ Template:Nq
how?	kiṉj, kivẽ ਕਿੰਞ, ਕਿਵੇਂ Template:Nq	kivẽ ਕਿਵੇਂ Template:Nq	kiddā̃ ਕਿੱਦਾਂ Template:Nq	kiṉj ਕਿੰਞ Template:Nq	kiṉjū ਕਿੰਞੂ Template:Nq	kiṉj, kīvẽ ਕਿੰਞ, ਕੀਵੇਂ Template:Nq	kiṉj ਕਿੰਞ Template:Nq
how	jiṉj, jivẽ ਜਿੰਞ, ਜਿਵੇਂ Template:Nq	jivẽ ਜਿਵੇਂ Template:Nq	jiddā̃ ਜਿੱਦਾਂ Template:Nq	jiṉj ਜਿੰਞ Template:Nq	jiṉjū ਜਿੰਞੂ Template:Nq	jiṉj, jīvẽ ਜਿੰਞ, ਜੀਵੇਂ Template:Nq	jiṉj ਜਿੰਞ Template:Nq

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

Examples of Majhi

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

Subdialectal differences

Northeastern Majhi

Northeastern Majhi refers to the subdialect spoken in a belt from the Sialkot District to the Ravi river.

It has considerable Doabi influence.

Northeastern Majhi uses the past-tense inflection of the verb ḍahṇā (ਡਹਿਣਾ / Template:Nq) to form continuous tenses, rather than pēṇā (ਪੈਣਾ/ Template:Nq) which is used by 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:Nq	eh kardā pyā sī ਏਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਪਿਆ ਸੀ Template:Nq	eh kar rahyā sī ਇਹ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਸੀ Template:Nq
She(dist.) is doing	oh karaṇ ḍahī hē ਓਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹੀ ਹੈ Template:Nq	oh kardī paī hē ਓਹ ਕਰਦੀ ਪਈ ਹੈ Template:Nq	oh kar rahī hē ਉਹ ਕਰ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ Template:Nq

In Northeastern Majhi, on top of the copula-replacement by ne, it is also common for the second-person plural pronominal suffix je (ਜੇ / Template:Nq) to overtake ho.

Phrase	Northeastern Majhi	General Majhi
You will go home	tusī̃ ghar jāṉde je ਤੁਸੀਂ ਘਰ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਜੇ Template:Nq	tusī̃ ghar jāṉde ho ਤੁਸੀਂ ਘਰ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹੋ Template:Nq

This variety of Majhi also tends to debuccalize all its non-initial non-geminated voiceless alveolar fricatives () into glottal fricatives (); i.e. the s sound is heard as a h. This h is distinguished from the regular phonetic h by its lack of tonality.

Word	Punjabi spelling	General pronunciation	Northeastern pronunciation	Translation
tusī̃	ਤੁਸੀਂ Template:Nq	[tʊsĩ]	[tʊɦĩ]	you (pl./honorific)
asāḍā	ਅਸਾਡਾ Template:Nq	[ɐ̆saˑɖˑa]	[ɐ̆ɦaˑɖˑa]	our(s) / my/mine (honorific)
paise	ਪੈਸੇ Template:Nq	[pɛˑsˑe]	[pɛːɦe]	money

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. I.e., words like hatth (ਹੱਥ / Template:Nq) "hand" are said more as àtth.

Another notable difference is the use of the suffix dā instead of gā for indicative future tense:

General Majhi	Northwestern Majhi	Translation
kare gā ਕਰੇਗਾ Template:Nq	kare dā ਕਰੇਦਾ Template:Nq	[he] will do
khāṇ giyā̃ ਖਾਣਗੀਆਂ Template:Nq	khāṇ diyā̃ ਖਾਣਦੀਆਂ Template:Nq	[they] (f.) will eat
jāvo ge ਜਾਵੋਗੇ Template:Nq	jāvo de ਜਾਵੋਦੇ Template:Nq	[you] (pl. m.) will go
samjhā̃ gī ਸਮਝਾਂਗੀ Template:Nq	samjhā̃ dī ਸਮਝਾਂਦੀ Template:Nq	[I] (f.) will understand

Northwestern Majhi also has its own past-tense copula, which declines on gender and number, unlike other Majhi subdialects, whose copula declines on person and number.

General Majhi	Northwestern Majhi	Translation
tū̃ nhāyā sēṉ ਤੂੰ ਨ੍ਹਾਇਆ ਸੈਂ Template:Nq	tū̃ nhāyā āhā ਤੂੰ ਨ੍ਹਾਇਆ ਆਹਾ Template:Nq	You (s. m.) had bathed
oh kiddhar sī? ਓਹ ਕਿੱਧਰ ਸੀ? Template:Nq	oh kiddhar āhī? ਓਹ ਕਿੱਧਰ ਆਹੀ? Template:Nq	Where was she?
mēṉ paṉchī vekhe san ਮੈਂ ਪੰਛੀ ਵੇਖੇ ਸਨ Template:Nq	mēṉ paṉchī vekhe āhe ਮੈਂ ਪੰਛੀ ਵੇਖੇ ਆਹੇ Template:Nq	I had seen birds
bakkriyāṉ mamyāiyāṉ san ਬੱਕਰੀਆਂ ਮਮਿਆਈਆਂ ਸਨ Template:Nq	bakkriyāṉ mamyāiyāṉ āhiyāṉ ਬੱਕਰੀਆਂ ਮਮਿਆਈਆਂ ਆਹੀਆਂ Template:Nq	The goats had bleated

See also

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